'It would be my pick': I tested the LG C6 and LG C5 OLED TVs side-by-side, and I'm impressed by the upgrade — but it's not all clear-cut | Tech Radar

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'It would be my pick': I tested the LG C6 and LG C5 OLED TVs side-by-side, and I'm impressed by the upgrade — but it's not all clear-cut

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The LG C5 was easily one of the best TVs released in 2025, as it continued the C-series OLED lineup's long legacy of delivering excellent picture quality and a full range of features at a mid-range OLED price.

When I tested the C5 last year, I awarded it the full five stars in my LG C5 review – thanks to its vibrant yet accurate picture, and its top-tier gaming performance – so its successor, the LG C6, has some big shoes to fill.

On paper, the C6 is very similar to the C5… in its 42- to 65-inch sizes at least. In its larger 77- and 83-inch models, the C6 becomes the C6H and uses a Primary Tandem RGB 2.0 OLED panel, the same in the flagship LG G6, rather than WOLED EX panel used in the smaller sizes, which is similar to the panels from the last few versions.

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Still, all models of the C6 does come with a new processor: the Alpha 11 AI Gen 3, which is the same used in the flagship LG G6. This means it should get a nice brightness boost and improved color output, like the G6 does.

The 65-inch C6 recently arrived in our testing labs so I decided to put it against our C5 model we use for reference testing to see what changes, and hopefully improvements, had been made on the C6.

The LG C6 (left) boasts a nice brightness boost over the LG C5 (right) which works well for bright scenes and scenes with white, as pictured above (Image credit: Future)

We weren't sure if we'd get much of a brightness boost in the C6, rather than the C6H, but I've been very pleasantly surprised. As soon as I loaded up some snow scenes from the Spears & Munsil demo footage I always use for reference material, the C6’s higher brightness was obvious. Whites had a much bolder, vibrant look that made the snow really pop on screen. Crucially, it never overexerted the brightness either, keeping it well controlled in peak areas.

Other scenes where the sun sits on the horizon or in the sky showed the benefits of the peak brightness boost. As it sat on horizons or in the sky in movies such as Top Gun: Maverick or Wicked, these peak areas on screen looked more impactful and noticeably brighter, even compared to the already solid LG C5.

But here's the interesting twist: I measured the C6’s peak HDR brightness (in a 10% window) at 1,438 nits and its fullscreen HDR brightness at 245 nits, both in Filmmaker mode. This is a big jump from the C5’s 1,180 nits peak HDR and 195 fullscreen HDR brightness in the same Filmmaker Mode. That all makes sense, given that I could see a clear brightness increase.

However, the C6 actually measured lower in brightness on 25%, 50% and 75% brightness windows. It measured 694 nits at 25% (C5: 775 nits), 389 nits at 50% (C5: 443 nits), and 287 nits at 75% (C5: 317 nits).

Despite this, in real-world use, all scenes looked brighter, even if they seemed like they would fall into these categories. We've reached out to LG to discuss this result, in case it could be a quirk of the measurement process.

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One area where the C6 hasn’t made a big change, however, is in its reflection handling. The C5 struggled with reflections and the C6 is no different. Despite a brightness increase, dark scenes can still be a struggle in brighter rooms on the C6, as it didn’t receive the anti-glare upgrade that G6 did, which I found very effective when comparing it to the Samsung S95F.

The C6 (left) boasts bolder colors and a more accurate picture over the C5 (right), thanks to the former's more accurate color temperature across the screen (Image credit: Universal Pictures / Future)

To compare the C6 and C5’s color reproduction, I decided to return to an old favorite reference testing disc in Wicked. With both TVs set to Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, it was clear that the C6’s colors were indeed an upgrade over the C5’s. For one, color accuracy seemed to be improved, because by comparison the C5 had a slightly green tinge, but the C6 looks just how I'd expect.

In the ‘Wizard & I’ scene, while both TVs delivered strong, vibrant colors, the C6’s demonstrated greater accuracy. The C6’s color saturation appears to be dialled back compared to the C5, which is something I also found when testing the step-up G6 and G5 side-by-side. This decision was by design, and I feel it’s benefitted the C6.

But colors on the C6 still had a lovely punch, with the pink flowers in the tree looking vibrant and the green of Elphaba’s skin and the blue details on the wall and other student’s uniforms striking a nice balance between authentic and bold.

The C6’s added brightness also helped with other scenes. As the train arrived into Emerald City, the dazzling greens of the train really popped on screen and the gold details of the train's mechanisms dazzled more on the C6 than the C5.

Skin tones also appeared more accurate on the C6, looking more true-to-life across each person on screen. The C5’s didn’t look bad by any means, but the C6’s authenticity really gave it the edge.

One element I'm going to dig deeper into before completing my full LG C6 review is how it handles color banding — the LG G6 is much improved in this area in HDR10 in my experience, and it's thanks to the processor, so I'm hoping for the same here. Watch this space for the full review.

The C6 (left) creates stronger perceived contrast due to punchier brightness in the lamps while still maintaining deep black tones(Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

Both TVs show strong contrast, but again the C6's more accurate color temperature across the screen gives it a more true-to-source look(Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

Again, contrast looks great on both the C6 (left) and C5 (right) but the C6 looks more refined(Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

To do an initial comparison of the C6 and C5’s contrast, I used my go-to disc: The Batman. Throughout the movie, there are plenty of high-contrast scenes which are perfect for showing off what an OLED is capable of.

The C5 did a superb job with The Batman when I first tested it and while it still looked great here, as you’d expect from one of the best OLED TVs, the C6 again looked better.

While both TVs delivered strong contrast with a good balance between dark and light tones, the C6’s higher peak brightness gave stronger perceived contrast. As Batman walks down a hallway of a crime scene in Mayor Mitchell’s House, the wall lamps had more shine on the C6.

Where the C6 really succeeded was in the finer details. Black tones were a little bit richer and shadow detail was better. As Batman and Catwoman first meet in the darkened office, portraits on walls were more visible on the C6. The same was true of the opening subway scene, as more of Batman’s armor and the platform’s surroundings were visible on the C6.

Crucially, the C6 didn’t raise black tones to do so. In fact, in some scenes, the C5’s blacks appeared crushed at times, with some detail loss in the aforementioned armor.

Both the C6 (left) and C5 (right) do a great job with black and white movies such as Sunset Boulevard, but the more accurate color temperature proves the difference maker for the C6 (Image credit: Paramount Pictures / Future)

Another contrast test was to see how these TVs displayed black and white movies. I opted for Sunset Boulevard. As you’d expect from two OLED TVs, screen uniformity was excellent and both demonstrated deep blacks, punchy whites and a full range of gray tones to deliver a more complete picture.

Whether it was the daytime scenes as Joe walks to the gates of Paramount Pictures studio or in Norma’s gloomy drawing room as she’s clad in black, both TVs did a good job with the contrast of the movie.

Once again though, with both TVs side-by-side, the C6’s more accurate color temperature came across. The C5 again had the slight green hue across the screen, while the C6 had the cooler, blue look I would expect, which meant it looked more accurate with a black-and-white movie.

In isolation, the C5 was still great for black-and-white pictures — you don't really notice the green hue unless you have something to compare it to — but the C6 showed how much of an improvement it was.

Having put these two TVs side-by-side, I would say the C6 is a nice upgrade over the C5. Not only do colors look more natural, but it demonstrates slightly better and more balanced contrast, a nice brightness boost and a more accurate color tone across the whole screen. The C5 is still a brilliant TV that deserved every bit of its five-star rating, but the C6’s adjustments give it a more complete picture.

However, if you’re looking to buy right now, in early 2026, the C5 is clearly the better option. For a 65-inch C5 you’ll be paying

While the C6’s price won’t stay that high for long — the C-series is often the first model in LG’s TV lineup to get a discount — the C5 is a much better value option as it stands.

If you’re not in a rush to buy, the C6 delivers better picture quality based on this test, so it would be my pick once price drops are happening. But, the C5 is still a superb TV that won’t really let you down so if you’re looking to buy a C-series model soon, the C5 is the better choice.

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James is the TV Hardware Staff Writer at Tech Radar. Before joining the team, he worked at a major UK based AV retailer selling TV and audio equipment, where he was either telling customers the difference between OLED and QLED or being wowed by watching a PS5 run on the LG 65G2. When not writing about the latest TV tech, James can be found gaming, reading, watching rugby or coming up with another idea for a novel.

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• 'It would be my pick': I tested the LG C6 and LG C5 OLED TVs side-by-side, and I'm impressed by the upgrade — but it's not all clear-cut

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission