00:00Hey guys, welcome back to Buy or Skip. Today we're looking at pretty much the most budget-friendly
00:05mainstream OLED TV. So welcome to my LG B5 review. If you've been eyeing the C5 that I've already
00:12reviewed here on the channel, but maybe it's a little out of budget, the B5 is meant to be the
00:18approachable alternative. But does it hold up where it counts? Let's break it down. Now don't
00:25get me wrong, this is not a cheap TV, but it actually is affordable relative to OLED standards.
00:31I've got the 65-inch size here. It's $2,000 at full MSRP, but it's pretty much permanently discounted.
00:38You could find it as low as $1,000, like literally half off. So I'll put a link to the best LG B5
00:44OLED deal in the description. The B5 is going to undercut the C5 by a couple hundred bucks,
00:49depending on the size, but the G5 is in a completely different price bracket. Honestly,
00:55not comparable. And you're also giving up some things by spending less. You don't get the brighter
01:00MLA panel you'd find on the C5 and G5, and you're capped at 120Hz instead of 144Hz. But the picture
01:07quality is still OLED level, and if you're stepping up from an older LED or a mid-range TV, the B5 is
01:13going to look like a massive upgrade that hopefully shouldn't hurt your wallet too much.
01:20Now let's talk software, what it's like to actually start using and watching content on this TV.
01:26LG's proprietary WebOS is generally lean, fast, and easy to navigate. You've got all the major apps,
01:32you've got personalized content rows, plus very solid support for airplay and casting. It's still a
01:38little ad heavy on the home screen, but what smart TV isn't these days, am I right? If at a glance
01:44this doesn't seem like your thing, you've got so many options. You've got Roku, Apple TV 4K, Google TV
01:50Streamer. In fact, let me know if you'd want to see a video just about all of the different plug-in
01:56streaming devices that are out there these days. Okay, let's get into performance. The short version,
02:02the B5 doesn't disappoint. Colors are rich, accurate, and genuinely cinematic right out of the box.
02:08Skin tones look natural, neons pop, and animated content looks incredible. And our benchmarks back
02:15that all up. I'll drop a link below that has all of the numbers charted out if you're interested in
02:20taking a closer look. Speaking of taking a closer look, these perfect blacks and infinite contrast,
02:26that's just part of the OLED package. But even compared to the C5, the B5 holds its own. You do
02:33definitely lose some brightness, which I'll talk about in just a sec, but color quality, top tier.
02:38So now it's time for the reality check. This is the B series OLED, and the B could stand for
02:46brightness compromise. This set is noticeably dimmer than the C5. It's about 650 nits HDR brightness in
02:53a 10% window on the B5 versus almost 1,200 nits on the C5. If your living room gets flooded with
02:59sunlight, you will see a ton of reflections making the picture look flat. That's the trade-off here.
03:06Those great OLED black levels, but not enough punch to fight bright environments.
03:11Evening viewing? Perfect. Midday with big windows? Not so perfect. So you're going to be limited
03:16depending on where you plan to put this thing. If it is a brighter environment and you do not have
03:22a premium OLED budget, you're going to be better off with more of a mid-range mini-LED TV.
03:27This would be a great TV for a gaming cave though. Seriously, gamers, the B5 is absolutely playable.
03:34You get 120Hz, VRR, ALLM, and the big one, super low input lag. The default input lag measured at 13
03:42milliseconds, but with the boosted lag with the TV's game optimizer mode activated, it clocked in at 9
03:49milliseconds, which is one of the lowest we've seen on any TV we've ever tested. Speaking of which,
03:54LG has one of the best game optimizer dashboards around. And when you consider the B5 is available
03:59in a 48-inch size, you could build a pretty sweet setup around this thing as your gaming monitor. Just
04:06saying. A small thing, but I do have to call it out. LG's Magic Remote is still one of my all-time
04:13favorites. You've got the scroll wheel, the pointer controls, and actual short buttons that aren't placed
04:18in awkward spots. If you're coming from a bare-bones remote, you will appreciate this immediately.
04:23Anytime I use a Samsung remote or a Roku remote, I'm always happy to come, you know,
04:29back to a remote that actually has buttons that take me where I want to go.
04:34So buy or skip the LG B5 OLED. If you want OLED picture quality, accurate colors, smooth gaming
04:41performance, and an actually nice smart TV interface at a great price, I think you'll be happy with the
04:48B5. But if your room is bright, or you want the very best HDR performance LG offers, or you're picky
04:55about having all the nits on there with you, you should stretch for the C5 or maybe skip LG OLED
05:01altogether. But last I saw, the C5 is really just a couple of hundred dollars more, so I'll link it for
05:07you to compare. Let me know which TV you want me to check out next, and subscribe to the channel so I
05:12can see you in the next episode of Buy or Skip. Thanks for watching guys, I will catch you next time.
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