LG G3 OLED TV review: supreme picture quality outshines confusing OS

The LG G3 OLED TV is one of respected screenmaker LG's flagship products, a 4K HDR television with an OLED panel, and stacked with software and hardware innovations. We reviewed the LG C2 last year, and as the G3 is supposed to be even better, we decided to borrow one for a few weeks to try it out.

Already ranked at the top of our list of the best TVs for PS5 based on our initial impressions and other expert reviews, we decided to test it properly ourselves, and after three weeks of putting the LG G3 through its paces, we can definitely see the appeal of that gorgeous OLED panel and its Micro Lens Array tech (which makes it 70% brighter than entry-level OLEDs). 

If only the remote and navigation weren't so infuriating, it would be perfect...

LG G3 OLED TV review: Key specifications

LG G3 OLED TV review: Design & build

As we noted with the LG C2 last year, LG has truly mastered the art of super-thin televisions. With a thickness of only 2.7 centimetres at its thickest point, it's an ideal candidate for wall-mounting, as it won't protrude far from the wall. 

As I usually have a table-mounted 43-inch TCL 4K TV, I opted for the stand-mounted solution. While that did bump up the thickness to about 24 centimetres, the central-mounted stand means I could fit this 55-inch television on the same table as that one. Yes, the edges protruded almost comically from over the edge of it, but it was stable, and the focus would be on the image anyway.

Weighing 17.8 kilograms without the stand, it's only the size that stopped me from setting it up on the desk by myself. With the sturdy stand attached, the weight goes up to 22 kilos, still very manageable.

It's packed with connectivity options too, both wired and wireless. This includes 4 HDMI inputs, one of which is also an eARC port, an Ethernet input, an Optical port, a Simplink (HDMI CEC) input, 3 USB-A inputs, 2 antenna/cable inputs, and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 as well. 

Most of the ports are fairly easy to access, apart from the power cable port, which is tucked in a rather fiddly position, but that's something you won't have to worry about past the initial setup. 

The bezels are astonishingly thin too, presenting a near-edgeless picture when set up. Even so, and even with the smallest 55-inch version, it's not exactly a TV for compact spaces, so you'll need to factor that in.

LG G3 OLED TV review: Features

The main feature here is the impressive, innovative OLED display. Offering a 4K Ultra HD picture with a 120Hz refresh rate and High Frame Rate of up to 120fps, it has LG's strong α9 AI 4K Gen6 processor underpinning the performance. 

It's Dolby Vision-certified, with HDR10 picture quality and a host of AI features to make the viewer's life more enjoyable. AI Picture Pro with AI Genre Selection can detect what you're watching and adjust the image automatically, based on the content's lighting, colours and genre, to maximise the viewing quality. AI Brightness Control also helps with this, and as I switched between sports, news, games and films, I could see the processor get to work and adjust the image for me, often to exactly what I wanted, without any manual adjustment needed. Really, really smart.

It's got Filmmaker Mode too, which turns off any pesky motion-smoothing to present cinema as any proper filmmaker intends it. 

For gaming, it's got G-Sync and FreeSync compatibility, and it worked very nicely when I hooked my gaming laptop up to it for a Starfield gaming session, although the 12.8ms response time doesn't quite match the ultra-low latency of a gaming PC.

It's certainly a fantastic option for console gaming, though, with my PlayStation gaming showing me colour detail I had never experienced before, even with my existing 4K television.

The LG G3 comes equipped with 60W down-firing speakers in a 4.2 channel, with AI sound adjusting the sound balance based on whether I was gaming, watching sport or other talk-heavy content, or a film. It offered fairly impressive sound, with good depth and bass, and decent mids and highs, but I still recommend external speakers or a soundbar for a truly immersive audio experience.

Another nice feature is the option to turn the TV into an art frame when not in active use, with loads of both classic and new art, along with themed photo packs, available to download for free. So instead of a hulking black rectangle, you can have Van Gogh's Sunflowers hanging in your living room.

LG G3 OLED TV review: User interface

While the image is fantastic and the AI features are intuitive and genuinely helpful, where the LG G3 causes some frustration, for me at least, is in the user experience. the OS is webOS 23 with LG's ThinQ and accompanying phone app available, and it's frustratingly cluttered, with some serious learning needed to know where things are, including frequently visited streaming services and access to the gaming console via HDMI. 

The menus are full of clutter pushing LG's own digital channels, random services and software, and the Magic Remote Control doesn't help either, with its errant and fiddly wand-like control. I quickly got so fed up with it that I switched the 'magic' option off completely, in favour of the more traditional and consistent button control. Compared with the imperfect but more streamlined menus on my daily Roku-powered TV, I found the LG's offering often hugely frustrating.

LG G3 OLED TV review: Price

And now for the other bad news: The LG G3 OLED TV is expensive, and I mean expensive. The entry-level 55-inch option will set you back around $1,999/£2,399, and the price for the range-topping, and ludicrously big, 83-inch flagship is $4,999/£5,999. Thankfully there are frequent discounts that routinely knock several hundred pounds/dollars off the RRP, so at the time of writing, you can get the 55-inch one for around £1,699 in the UK, for example.

Should I buy the LG G3 OLED TV?

If you want a television with near-unrivalled picture quality, a host of clever little AI features to maximise your viewing experience, and one that can become a living-room showpiece with its art-frame mode, the LG G3 OLED is mightily hard to beat. But it's not exactly cheap, so if you're budget-conscious, we recommend opting for the still-excellent LG C2, which comes in at least a grand cheaper than this model. And if the red mist descends easily when things are hard to find, then we wouldn't recommend the UX and menu here either, for your health's sake. But if those are mere inconveniences for you, then by all means, go for it.