Vizio's 86-Inch 4K TV For $999 Joins The Budget Behemoth Party
Vizio is expanding its refreshed 2024 smart TV lineup with a ginormous 86-inch 4K model that's set to retail for just $999 when it releases next month. The announcement comes just just weeks after Walmart said it had reached a deal to buy Vizio for around $2.3 billion and is being pitched as a "refreshed brand identity" consisting of a "reimagined lineup" focused on providing "incredible value."
"We’re thrilled to be able to evolve our lineup of 4K, Full HD, and HD TVs, which have been a staple of at Vizio for years, and to continue to bring unprecedented value and quality to our customers," said John Schindler, Vice President of Product Management at Vizio. "With even more sizes and display ranges to select from, customers can enjoy precise picture quality and built-in entertainment content no matter what room in the home they are in."
Indeed, Vizio had built a reputation for delivering a value at a time when big screen TVs were still generally expensive. It's a different landscape now, however, with companies like TCL and Hisense putting the pressure on brands like Samsung and LG to deliver more bang for a buyer's buck. And they've responded, which we'll get to in a moment.
As for Vizio's 2024 lineup, the massive 86-inch model joins its existing lineup that consists of 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 70-inch, and 75-inch display sizes within its 4K collection. The 86-inch model is fairly well configured, with three HDMI 2.1 ports, support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 support, and for gamers, 120fps at 1080p, along with auto low latency mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR) support).
The problem for Vizio (and by extension, Walmart) is that announcing an 86-inch 4K TV for $999 doesn't have the same impact these days. A quick jaunt to Best Buy reveals several similar-size TVs selling for around the same price, and even less. Here's a look...
- 85-Inch Hisense A7 Series 4K TV: $749.99 (on sale from $899.99)
- 85-Inch TCL S4 4K TV: $849.99 (on sale from $899.99)
- 86-Inch LG UR7800 4K TV: $899.99
- 85-Inch TCL Q6 4K QLED TV: $899.99
- 86-Inch LG UQ75 4K TV: $949.99 (on sale from $1,099.99)
- 85-Inch Samsung TU690T 4K TV: $999.99 (on sale from $1,299.99)
- 85-Inch Samsung CU7000 4K TV: $1,099.99 (on sale from $1,299.99)
Yes, several of those are on sale, but when are TVs not on sale these days? The only name brand exception to the sub-$1,000 category in this size class is Sony, though it's not far off—Sony's 85-inch X77L 4K TV goes for $1,299.99 on Best Buy, and its 85-inch X80K sells for $1,399.99.
Big screen TVs are more affordable than ever these days, as manufactures save high pricing for premium models with high-end features such as mini LED or OLED displays. For users who just want a giant, serviceable display, there are plenty of sub-$1,000 models to choose from, all the way down to $749.99.
All the same, we applaud Vizio for throwing its hat into the ring with an 86-inch model that's priced in the ballpark. Hopefully the performance and quality are competitive as well. To that end, one of this author's TVs is Vizio's M75-E5 purchased in early 2018, which is still going strong (knock on wood).
