Design

• Unibody stand feels sturdy and secure
• Ultra-thin near the top
• Reflective glass surface
• Gorgeous magic remote

The picture is what matters most on a TV, but we have to somehow talk about how it looks from the outside as well. In that regard, we can’t ignore how good the LG C1 OLED looks design-wise. On the front, this TV is pure square – there’s a tall silver stand that holds it upright and only thin bezels separate the edge of the picture and display.

A screen is pretty much what you’ll see if you’re going to mount it on a wall, but it still feels great to have it on a heavy stand. The extra heavy stand keeps the TV from wobbling and gives the LG OLED65C1PUB a low center of gravity.

Viewed from the side, the C1 sports a razor-thin OLED screen; In fact, it is thinner than your smartphone and it looks great too. On the downside, the panel is a bit thicker than where they stand screws into to hold components and speakers, but even so, that section isn’t as large as most full array LED-LCD TVs.

Perhaps the only downside to the C1’s design is the front all-glass screen which is quite reflective. Placed in a moderately lit room with streams of light coming in, the TV is likely to catch some glare. However, when you play bright and colorful content on the screen, the glare is somewhat reduced.

The rest of the design gets full marks outside the reflective glass. For connectivity, the OLED65C1PUB has four full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K support at 144Hz; Three USB, RF tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and optical digital audio outputs. Plus, one of the HDMI ports supports eARC/ARC, which is handy for those with an AVR or soundbar but doesn’t like to have more than one remote in use.

Coming to the remote, the LG C1 OLED gets the amazing LG Magic Remote with Bluetooth support and has a built-in microphone for voice search. It feels great in the hand and runs off two AA batteries. We just love the fact that the UI can be controlled using Wii-style motion controls or the directional pad, or you can use the four quick launch buttons at the bottom below the most popular apps.

Smart TV

• Almost every major streaming service supported
• Fast, Reactive UI with AirPlay and Castin
• Built-in Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant

If you’ve been using an LG TV for the past few years, you definitely know what to do with the OLED65C1PUB OLED – yes, it runs on webOS. Its versatility and flexibility make webOS a signature feature on LG TVs, adding new channels as you go, and support for multiple partners. Simply put, as it is not tied to Google, Amazon, or Apple, WebOS supports all of the above services together with a peppy UI and robust customization system.

In the 2023 model, the only change is that it puts more focus on the actual ThinQ AI home screen that you’ll see every time you press the home button. Here you’ll have quick access to your most-used apps as well as any device you have connected to the ThinQ AI.

As for apps, almost every major app is supported and available here, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu, Sling TV, Disney Plus, Paramount Plus, and Apple TV. Music streaming options, on the other hand, are a bit more limited, but you can still roll with Spotify, Plex, Pandora, Amazon Music, and a few more.

While WeOS hasn’t added many new features this year, save for the home screen with more lines, there are still some nice additions from last year that are still very relevant. Top of the list is sports integration, wherever if you tell C1 your favorite sports team(s), WebOS can present you with score updates and reminders once groups are enjoying.

Most important, though, the TV has support for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant integrated into it, and is easily accessed by pressing the respective buttons on the remote. Even better, support for Airplay and casting from your phone and tablet makes the entertainment experience even more seamless.

Picture Quality

• LG OLED still looks good
• Brilliant growth with one minor exception
• Supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision, no HDR10+. No

LG’s 2023 OLED TV lineup is set in two categories: OLED TVs with LG’s new OLED Evo panel and those without it. For those wondering, the OLED65C1PUB is without—and yet, even without the new panel, it’s still one of the best OLED TVs we’ve seen.

What the OLED Evo panel adds is increased brightness, though a new lighting element via self-emitting pixels. It’s not available in the LG C1 OLED we’re reviewing, but it’s not lacking in brightness. In a normally bright living room, the picture looks gorgeous. As mentioned earlier, there is some reflected glare that eats into the ink-black levels, but the screen brightness compensates nicely for ambient light.

The reason the LG OLED65C1PUB reflector is able to adapt well to glare is that the light sensor built into the TV measures ambient light levels and calibrates the picture accordingly. For example, if the TV detects that there is more light in the room, it adds some extra brightness to the screen. The screen’s peak brightness still isn’t quite as high as, say, the new Samsung QN900A QLED’s peak brightness, but we’re glad it’s closer to the 1,000-nit mark than competing LED-LCD TVs want to deliver.

To increase the brightness and contrast levels. The LG C1 OLED supports most of the most important versions of HDR – together with HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG – with the minor exception of HDR10+. The last omitted bit means you won’t be watching Amazon Prime’s shows live to their full potential, but services like Netflix, Vudu, and Disney will have Dolby Vision content enabled.

Now on the engineering half, LG has supplementary new gaming options and alternative hardware parts that allow excellent upscaling – additionally to AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync support. For starters, there’s the new Game Optimizer setting that allows quick adjustments of White Stabilizer, Black Stabilizer, and VRR – all on the fly. There’s also support for ALM when the OLED detects an incoming game signal through one of the four HDMI 2.1 ports and an input delay that drops input latency to sub-10ms.

Of course, not every game will run native 4K/120Hz right now – very few titles run at 1440/120hz or 1080p/120Hz – but you’ll be impressed with those that do. Forza Horizon 4 is among the few that do, and it looks immersive on the LG C1 OLED.

Long story short, if you are a gamer-turned-cine lover or contrariwise, the LG C1 OLED is capable enough to satisfy the demands of each camp within the visual department, and at this point, is a well-deserved upgrade. Make an LED-LCD TV.

Audio Performance

• Dolby Atmos’ 40W Excellence
• A 2.2-channel system
• Dolby Atmos Passthrough with eARC

The LG OLED65C1PUB OLED’s picture enhancement isn’t the only trick at play here – it also gets a pretty neat AI sound upscaling feature that turns basic stereo audio tracks into 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos sound with some nice verticality that the LG C1 OLED makes a sound. Better than your standard TV speaker.

We must admit that it’s not much better than a standalone soundbar—especially if you pit it against the best soundbars like the Sonos Arc—but the out-of-the-box sound should be enough for most people. needed.

If you own a soundbar or will own one in the future, the LG C1 supports ARC and eARC through one of four HDMI ports. With a feature like this, you can pass Dolby Atmos sound from the TV to the soundbar and use a single remote to control the volume. It’s a handy, convenient, and useful feature you can take advantage of if you haven’t already.

Our Rating | Excellent