As a company that owns almost half of the global OLED market, LG has already solidified its position as one of the best smart TV brands. That’s according to customer satisfaction scores, mind you, which means an LG falls into the no-brainer category when it comes to reliability. However, given that LG displays (especially larger OLED displays) tend to be more expensive, it’s reasonable to want to make every dollar count and get an LG TV that owners say will last a long time.
Good news: According to several Reddit threads online, the most commonly cited lifespan is five years. An owner, who complained that his LG died after five and a half years, contacted LG customer service. The agent reportedly told them that most TVs are designed to last exactly that long: half a decade. However, this figure is not set in stone. Aside from LG TVs lasting over 10 years without issue (one user claims their LG OLED was 11 years old), some users have been unlucky enough to have their OLEDs die after just 14 months.
Fortunately, RTINGS did the job by performing an accelerated aging test on several units from different brands. According to its findings, out of 24 LG displays tested, only one experienced a complete failure and eight experienced partial failures. To put things into perspective, 23 Samsung TVs tested experienced four complete failures and six partial failures. Meanwhile, Hisense (often considered the most budget-friendly smart TV brand) fares even worse. Of 13 TVs tested, five died completely, with three partial failures. Simply put, LG is rugged with a capital R.
What users say about LG TVs
The majority of owners say that LG TVs last an average of five years and don’t rust at all, especially when you combine that with excellent Accelerated Aging Test results. What do owners who have had the misfortune of witnessing the untimely death of their television think? Well, not much. One user reported that a TV that showed a few blinking lines for three years randomly died, and another said lines appeared on the screen after a year (right after the warranty expired).
Apart from that, the overwhelming majority complained of partial failures, mainly the scourge of OLEDS: the dreaded burn-in. Despite using an LG OLED for 11 years, one commenter said the only problem was burn-in. However, it doesn’t happen that quickly anymore. For example, one Reddit user noted that the problem materialized seven years after heavy play, and another said they noticed a carryover after, believe it or not, nine years. It is difficult to predict how soon this will happen because the numbers can vary wildly. It appears one owner was unlucky as he suffered burnouts after two and a half years of use, while a Reddit user said his LG OLED lasted a decade without any faults.
Overall, you are safe with LG. Newer OLED panels have come a long way since their “infancy” and are, for the most part, less susceptible to burn-in. Sure, you may run into common tiny issues with LG TVs (which you can fix yourself), but other than that, there’s a good chance you’ll get what you pay for with an LG – at least if satisfied online users can be trusted.
