Best 32-inch Smart TVs – best apps, price, 4K
Depending on your age, you might remember 32-inch TVs being the typical size that you would have as your main TV. But over the last decade, we’ve seen much bigger TVs becoming a lot more popular. Now, putting a 32-inch TV into your average living room would be extremely rare. And you’d probably feel like you were squinting at a tiny box in the corner.
But the 32-inch screen size continues to live on in popularity, thanks mainly to the fact that it’s often the perfect size as a secondary TV in the home. Either for the bedroom, the kids’ room, or in the kitchen, the best 32-inch smart TVs are a great fit.
In the living room, your TV will likely dominate the space. But in other rooms, you want something that’s usable but also fits in without becoming the only focal point. So a 32-inch TV is often the ideal choice. You likely don’t want to have to worry about an aerial connection, so it’s vital you pick a smart TV to give you plenty of choice on what to watch over the Internet.
With that in mind, here are our top picks of the best 32-inch smart TVs that you can buy today.
Products at a Glance
How we picked the best 32-inch smart TVs
When you’re shopping for a 32-inch TV, you going to be met with a lot of choices. But often, the models are all just basic TVs from different budget manufacturers with very little to differentiate them.
So how have we settled on our picks for the best 32-inch TVs? There aren’t generally a lot of exciting features to pick out from (there are some), so where it’s worth mentioning we’ve made sure to find the TVs that offer something different or unique.
In reality, though, don’t expect a lot of gaming features, or extra tech to really boost the picture or sound quality. These aren’t 50-inch or even 43-inch TVs. 32-inch TVs are, by design, relatively simple in order to keep costs down.
The brand does play a factor though. The bigger TV brands still do a better job of creating a bright and vibrant picture. And their software is usually higher quality too. Samsung tends to be one of the better TV brands that offer choices in 32-inch models. But we’ve also looked at LG’s best offering at this screen size as well.
Top features and considerations
Here’s a breakdown of the top features and considerations when buying a 32-inch TV.
As we’ve said, there’s not a massive selection of amazing tech in this screen size. So it’s more about getting back to the basics of what makes a TV great and finding the better options in each category.
Chief among those is the resolution – the quality of the picture you’ll see in terms of the number of pixels. While 4K TVs are all the rage, it’s not a resolution you’ll often find in a 32-inch TV, and with good reason. When the screens are this small, the difference between Full HD and 4K is marginal.
4K is nice to have, but it’s really not essential. A Full HD 32-inch TV is perfectly adequate when you want a sharp, crisp image. But there are also some good value HD (720p) options that look fine, so we’ve made sure to browse the whole range.
Screen type
In terms of screen type, most 32-inch smart TVs are standard LED, and again that’s normally fine. There are two QLEDs that we’ve highlighted in our best picks, which offer brighter and more accurate colors, but otherwise a standard LED is to be expected.
The other key feature to look for is the smart platform. While you aren’t going to get the best processors, some platforms are still easier and faster to use than others, and they may offer a wider choice of app downloads that you can enjoy. We’ve highlighted where there’s a good app selection or where the smart operating system will offer a good user experience.
And then finally there’s price. While some of the better 32-inch TVs do cost a bit more, you can get some great low-price deals on a screen this size without sacrificing a lot of quality. So where there’s a great budget choice, we’ve made sure to include it. After all, if you’re going to be getting an HD LED TV without a huge amount of extra features, cost is likely to be one of your most important decision factors.
Best 32-inch Smart TVs – best apps, price, 4K
- Bright, vivid colors thanks to QLED tech
- Matte display is great for cutting down glare
- Art Mode is a nice feature for your home
- More expensive than many larger TVs
- Custom bezels are expensive if you want one
Samsung’s range of Frame TVs is excellent if you want a feature piece that can also blend into a room. They’re designed to be wall-mounted and have a stunning matte-effect screen. This cuts down on reflections and glare and also looks incredible when the TV is in Art Mode.
This is where, when you aren’t watching anything, it’ll show off your photos or random artwork so that it doesn’t just become a black rectangle sitting in a space. And the matte effect means that it almost looks like a canvas.
The Frame is a QLED too, so colors are really bright and vivid when you are watching something. Addiitonally, the Tizen smart platform is nice and responsive.
In terms of downsides, this is an expensive TV for this size. You could easily find a 50-inch screen for the same price, or indeed even lower. And while one of the benefits of The Frame is the option to add a custom bezel to make it look even more like a piece of art, these don’t come cheap either.
- Fantastic selection of apps through Roku
- Parental controls built-in
- Good price
- Picture quality is average
- Doesn’t handle glare well
The TCL 3-Series has one major advantage compared to others, in that it has the Roku smart platform built in. Roku is still a fantastic platform when it comes to the selection of apps, and you’ll have no trouble getting this set up with every subscription you have going.
Beyond that, the TV is relatively basic. The picture and sound quality are fine, but not great, but with a TV at this price you can’t expect a lot. Built-in parental controls are a nice touch too. Especially since you can make sure your kids can enjoy this TV in their room without worrying that they’ll stumble onto something inappropriate.
Based on its apps above and beyond everything else, still one of the best 32-inch smart TVs on the market.
- Screen brightness is good for the price
- Android smart platform is responsive
- Virtual surround sound tech
- Resolution is not the best
- Missing a couple of key apps
The Hisense H55 is one of the best 32-inch TVs you can buy for under $200. And the fact that it’s often available for less than $150 is what really pushes it into being the best budget TV. That’s a killer price for a TV from a reliable brand, with a bright and vibrant screen and the Android smart platform that is quick and simple to use.
It’s missing a couple of key apps that may not be available to download immediately but the basics – Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video etc. – are there. And it’s a nice touch that it has DTS Studio Sound. The speakers aren’t exactly amazing but it’ll do an OK job of creating virtual surround sound.
It is a 720p display though, so don’t expect it to look super crisp in shows that have a lot going on.
- Screen is fairly bright and sharp
- Speedy smart platform that’s easy to use
- Voice control is a nice feature to have
- Resolution is not the best
- Ugly bezel
LG’s entry into the 32-inch market is surprisingly understated, considering how tech-packed its larger screens are.
It has a bright LED screen and it comes with webOS, which has always been one of the smoother and easier to use smart platforms. With a Quad Core Processor powering it, you’ll have no trouble navigating your favorite shows and finding new apps to download.
But the TV isn’t Full HD. While you won’t notice it on some content, on more modern shows or movies you might think it could be a little grainy, which is disappointing.
Plus, that bezel is fairly awful. Come on LG, you’re better than that.
However, for the price, it’s a solid option with nice brightness and a reliable smart platform. And it has voice control too. This might be the ideal TV for a kids’ bedroom, since it’s sturdy, vibrant and they won’t care about the thick bezel. If anything it might keep it safer from bumps.
- Bright, vivid colors thanks to QLED tech
- Great upscaling of older content
- Limited gaming features available
- More expensive than many larger TVs
- 4K resolution is unnecessary
Samsung’s second top-end offering for a 32-inch TV is also a QLED. That means you’re still getting that really impressive brightness and color from the smaller screen. How important that is depends on what you’re using the TV for.
If you want to watch nature documentaries in bed then it’ll burst to life. But if it’s for watching cartoons in the kids’ room, then the difference, while visible, isn’t as important.
It’s also a 4K TV, which is really unusual for a 32-inch display – and, to be honest, is pretty unnecessary. Anything you watch in Full HD is going to look sharp on a screen this size. What you do get, though, is Samsung’s Quantum Processor 4K Lite. That means non-HD content is upscaled really well.
This TV bucks another trend too, by offering some gaming features. Nothing too extravagant, but Motion Xcelerator can ensure blur is reduced during fast-paced action. Also, the Game Bar lets you customize more settings to eke out your best performance.
Again, it’s an expensive TV, and you could buy two budget 32-inch TVs for the same price. So it’s up to you how important QLED and the gaming features are.
Is 4K good for a 32-inch TV?
4K is probably overkill for a 32-inch TV. You aren’t going to notice the difference in quality between Full HD and 4K resolutions on a screen this size, because there just isn’t the real estate to make that number of pixels so visible. If you want a 4K TV you’re probably better choosing something that’s 48 inches or bigger.
Which brand of 32-inch Smart TVs is best?
Normally, the discussions around the best TV are dominated by Samsung, LG, and Sony. At the 32-inch screen size though, both LG and Sony are lacking in their offerings, with only a handful (if any) TVs released each year. Samsung at least does offer a couple of unique, quality TVs that are 32-inches and so if you want the best tech, Samsung is probably the best brand.
However, they’re not the cheapest, so the ‘best’ brand for your 32-inch TV depends on your priorities.
What’s the difference between HD, Full HD, and UHD?
HD, Full HD, and 4K (UHD) refer to different screen resolutions. HD is often called 720p and has 1280 horizontal pixels and 720 vertical ones. Full HD (called 1080p) has 1920 horizontal pixels and 1080 vertical ones. UHD, or Ultra HD, is the same as 4K and has 3840 horizontal pixels along with 2160 vertical ones, meaning it has four times the resolution of a Full HD screen.
Our Verdict
While there are a lot of 32-inch TVs out there, don’t expect a huge variety when it comes to features. Most of the TVs you can buy at this screen size are pretty basic, but there are some gems in the range.
If your priority is the best viewing experience, then either the Samsung Frame or the Q60A will be the ones to go for. The Q60A is probably a little unnecessary, seeing as you’re paying for a 4K resolution you’ll barely notice, and while the Frame is also expensive, that matte finish and Art Mode are cool features to have. But, if you’re shopping on a budget, any of the other picks on this list would be a solid choice.