January 02,2022

The LG C1 is the successor to the best OLED 4K TV

by David Stewart

If you’re in the market for an OLED TV, LG has long been the brand to go for and last year’s LG CX 55in model remains the top pick in our guide to the best TVs . Now LG has unveiled its newcomers for 2021, and it looks like we’ll soon have a new favourite: the LG C1.

Just as the CX was an incremental improvement on the C9, it feels like we’ll have a similar story here and, while the company did talk about brightness improvements thanks to its new OLED evo technology, that’s limited to the G1 ‘Gallery’ family of screens, which are thinner and will inevitably cost that bit extra.

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Still, the new LG C1 will benefit from a few quality of life improvements, including the fourth generation of A9 processors which, as well as presumably making things a bit slicker in day-to-day use, also brings some fancy AI-based functionality. The A9 chip can apparently automatically adjust to the genre of programme you’re watching, as well as identify scenery to optimise picture quality on the fly. We’ll have to wait for our review unit to find out if this is truly worth having, or a feature best turned off but, in principal, it sounds a lifesaver for those that don’t want to tinker with settings.

Similarly, LG seems to be focusing on gamers this time around, not only with a dedicated game mode but also presets specific to the genre of title you’re playing. How much difference there is between an FPS and a driving game remains to be seen, but given the company has been championing HDMI 2.1 ports for 120fps gameplay on the Sony PS5 and Xbox Series X , it does feel like LG is well aware of its appeal to gamers.

Both the C1 and G1 TVs also benefit from a new version of LG Sound Pro, which promises to offer a virtual 5.1.2 surround sound from the TV’s built-in speakers. Bluntly, we don’t expect this to be anywhere near as convincing as even an entry-level surround sound setup but it’s promising for those who unaccountably want to spend a fortune on an OLED screen but neglect to invest in quality audio equipment.

The LG Magic Remote has been upgraded to be more ergonomic, with dedicated buttons taking you straight to streaming services like Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. It also has built-in NFC, allowing you to directly send content from your phone to your TV, or vice versa.

Finally, there’s good news for those that liked the LG CX but didn’t think it was quite big enough. The LG C1 is still available in 48in, 55in, 65in and 77in sizes, as before, but now also comes in a jumbo 83in format, too.

No word on release date or price yet, but our bet is “soon” and “very expensive.” The CX line started at £1,499 for the 48in version last year, and jumped all the way up to £5,000 for the 77in model and, while prices have come down over the months, you’re still looking at between £1,300 and £3,500 if you want last year’s LG CX line in your home. Hopefully, this upcoming member of the LG family will see price drops for our current King of OLED sets.

  • David Stewart
  • January 02,2022

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