LG’s Blazingly BrilliantG5 OLED is the pacesetter for Best TV of the Year
What’s even more annoying is the fact that the TV froze me several times while streaming on both Apple TV+ and Disney+usually when you try to re-watch or fast forward a scene. a Streaming Box A simple solution, but I hope that LG will address these issues in future updates.
The G5 gaming portal is the only place that appears to have failed to kill ads, but the 2025 iteration compensates for it with the addition of Xbox cloud streaming, along with options such as Amazon Luna, Nvidia Geforce Now, and more. The TV is built for gaming in all aspects, with four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs, support VRR Up to 165 Hz with compatible PC and automatic degradation mode (ALLM). The game looks stunning by default, and LG’s Game Optimizer offers numerous customization options.
There are many other ways to customize your experience, including multiple “AI” features, such as LG’s AI images and sound modes. AI is a major theme for G5 (also his full name). This includes the new AI Concierge, where Crunky Navigation Tool can help.
Speaking of navigation, the new remote is more stylish and confusing. I’m happy that LG keeps point and click curls like the Wii, but there’s no mute key so I need to keep the volume keys muted. The lack of dedicated input keys tripped me up until I pulled up the full input list along with a dedicated smart hub, and tried the enclosed home key. Both Google Assistant and Alexa are supported for AI themes, and are streamed in addition to Airplay and Google Cast.
Photo: Ryan Waniata
Image mode
There is a detailed guide Lock your amazing photosand you can certainly put weeds in many options and cinema forward mode in the G5, but the most accurate photos have proven to be fun and easy to achieve. After using modes and settings like Professional mode for accurate tone mapping at various mastering levels, the filmmaker mode looked almost perfect as it did not support SDR (standard dynamic range) and HDR10 (LG does not support Fancy HDR10+).
If the filmmaker is too thin, you can use SDR to turn on the backlight or turn on tone mapping on the HDR10 for a serious boost. This is not available in Dolby Vision, so I used some small tweaks to the slightly brighter movie house, such as turning off motion smoothing. For consistent testing, I also turned off the light sensor on my TV in ECO and Image Mode settings.
The perfect picture
LG’s innovative MLA OLED panels have pushed the TV to an entirely new level proven by the G4 and Z95A last year. Adding truly shocking HDR brightness to a screen that emits light from a completely black void is an experience that inspires everything from menus to menus that appear to emerge from ink-like blackness painted with flames to flickering candles. These TVs are bright enough for almost any use case, especially since most streaming content is capped at just 1,000 knits.
The G5 is still brighter, but like Sony’s excellent BRAVIA 9, LG is wise with a new brightness booster. Most of the scenes seemed refined and he also resigned in filmmaker mode. It keeps the film and prestige drama rich, saturated, almost gorgeous, just as television follows the director’s intentions, and preserves true glamour and punch for selected highlights. But when this TV comes on, it really pops, especially when it comes to supplying high nut 4K Blu-ray.