Hey everyone,

I'm not well versed in smart tvs as I'm on my PC for all my entertainment needs. But I'm looking for a 32 inch tv for my grandma who is in a long term care center. They only have basic cable there, and she wants to watch her favorite channel that she used to watch when she was living at home. She can get it on a smart tv with an app for that channel, in that long term care center, using wifi. Here is what's important to me when purchasing a smart tv for her:

1. Resolution doesn't matter for my grandma. 1080p is fine. It's a budget smart tv, she's not into OLED etc...

2. First and foremost, a snappy user interface with the least amount of lag possible, for the 32 inch smart tv market. I bought my mom a 43" LG smart tv a year ago and the UI feels really laggy.

3. Something that's user friendly for elderly people. So she can turn on the tv, and just choose that one app/channel to watch her one show/channel

4. I tried to ask chatgpt and to my surprised it recommended me a 32" TCL class S3 smart tv. I always thought Roku tvs were the lowest tiers of smart tvs. Chatgpt ranked this over all other brands when I searched for a snappy and easy UI 32 inch tv. Are 32" Roku smart tvs bad compared to LG? The model in question is 32S357 / 32S359 (its the same tv)

I appreciate any input you guys can give me. Thank you

EDIT: Has to be a 32 inch for her room in this long term care center

Here are some key things I think they're good for you to know before making a puschase right now.

• High resolution screens. 1080p is the bare minimum. UltraHD screens (aka 4k ) are rarer on 32" TVs. Seek out a crisp 4k resolution display if possible, but know that full HD 1080p is perfectly satisfactory.

• HDR...High dynamic range expands color ranges. The more colors a TV can hold, the more lifelike the content displayed. Blacks are deeper , colors are richer. Look for labels like hdr10 and Dolby Vision as hdr standards

• Refresh rate. A comfortable 60Hz is fine for regular sitcoms and older content. For modern action movies andfast sporting events.....120Hz is superior, eliminating nasty motion blurring and strange display artifacts.

• Display technology. Words like oled (Organic Light Emitting Diode) and qled abound. They represent bleeding- edge screen technologies, using quantum dot filters and special backlights to eliminate color bleeding while keeping blacks deep and colors saturated.

• Smart TV features. Should contain all popular screening apps, like Apple TV+ and Netflix. Access to the google storre or Tizen keep viewers abreast of the latest and greatest multimedia programs, including Plex and Kodi

• Fast processor. A fast soc ( system on chip ) processor ensures smooth access to streaming apps and new display technologies. Basically, shorter attention spans dont get along with stutters and hiccups when apps start. Snappy performance is essential.

• Connectivity options. Lots of hdmi ports, an eArc (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) for wired surround system audio, and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth compatibility (preferably both)should all be available as standard.

• Built-in speakers. All sorts of innovative designs have been incorporated to improve the sound quality on whats essentially a thin black panel. Slimmed down speaker arrays are one possibility, with some models using their fast processors to calculate advanced acoustic algorithms that boost clarity.

Other technologies to look forward to as the review progresses are slim, near bezel-less builds, super -wide viewing angles, and modes that focus on gaming performance. That being said, press pause again to geton with the 32"smart TV ratings, each expertly benchmarked by our team of discerning multimedia consumers.

Best 32-inch Smart TVs On The Market Now

• Samsung Q60D 32-inch Smart TV

• LG LQ6300 32-inch Smart TV

• Roku Smart TV 32R3B5 32-inch Smart TV

• Vizio VFD32M-0807 32-inch Smart TV

• Samsung ‘The Frame’ LS03C 32-inch Smart TV

• TCL 3-Series 32S359 32-inch Smart TV

• Hisense 32A5KQTUK 32-inch Smart TV

Some Final Musings on 32" Smart TVs!

Are the best 32" smart TVs necessarily packed with 4k displays? We'd have to say the answer is NO . With a smaller screen....a full HD 1080p display is perfectly acceptable. Even a 720p screen works, but we tried our very best to stick stubbornly to 4k and 1080p, just on general principle. All of these devices also feature solid digital tuners as well, so hookups to terrestrial broadcasting services are onboard and ready to tune.Also, as they;re small, it shouldnt be too difficult to mount them. In fact, the SamsungLS03C is designed to be mounted, filling its second role as a wall-hung digital art piece.

Of course, if an aesthetics-focused 32-inch smart TV is out of the question, and it is for many when they see the expensive investment required,then we'd suggest buying the Samsung Q60D, a screen with quantum dot visuals and AI upscaling. Stepping out of the shadow of Samsung, the Vizio and LG sets are also attractive offerings. We based this opinion on picture quality, obviously, but also on the maturity of the smart OSwhich is why we experienced such a magnetic pull towards the snappy performance and SmartThings support found on Tizen loaded Samsung sets

LG and Vizio have similarly mature streaming interfaces, so we have few reservations when recommending their 32'' offerings. Only, we would say to beware of audio limitations. It's different with physical connectivity, as a quick look to the rear or side exposed all of the HDMI, USB and extraneous ports immediately. eARC and ARC support is different. It stands for Audio Return Channel, in case you're interested. eARC is the current standard and supports modern surround formats, like Dolby Atmos. Older ARC enabled TVs, well, they dont support those newer surround sound standards. Be careful with that!!

All of these smart TVs are worthy purchases, to some degree or another. Even the Hisense television is a tempting option, a qled display on offer, but its OS (Operating System) isnt as mature as others.

That said, if you're looking for a TV with a more refined user experience, and better support, you might want to lean toward brands with more polished software ecosystems. We're talking Samsung and Vizio, for theres none better in the smart tv game.

Goodluck!

I recently purchased the Samsung Q60 32 inch 2024 model. I hate it. It's crisp and punchy, but the black levels are ridiculous and I can't stand the way the tv reacts differently to each thing I view. I liked my ten year old samsung regular HD better. More natural. Not as crisp, but not as annoying to watch. I should have listened to those who posted warnings about this set. The combo of edge lighting and no black level control make for a poor viewing experience. So if this is the best 32 inch tv there is right now as some say, I'm going to buy a cheap TV and wait. I would like to buy something that would be decent. What would be the best option? Is there an older model that was 32 inches that was very good that I could buy used or refurb. Or are there any recommendations for a regular 1080 P HD TV for half the price? I would pay up to $600 for a really good 32 incher, so I'm open to any recommendations on a set that has a more natural image and doesn't try to wow me with exaggerated colors and black so deep you could fall into a black hole watching it. I'm not going to use a 42 inch oled which I know would look a lot better. But I had a large screen in a small room. It's even worse.

Every review of the Q60 from Wallmart or Best Buy was 4 or 5 stars. Do these people know anything about what a proper tv set image should look like? Obviously not.

That's why I made the mistake of buying this piece of misguided tech.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.