LG C4 OLED TV: everything you need to know
The LG C3 gets a lot of things right. It has a superbly balanced picture, its webOS interface is very user-friendly, and being an LG OLED, it offers flawless gaming specs. We don't award four stars lightly – the C3 had to earn them like any TV we review.
But there's room for improvement – which the C4 hopes to provide. Now it's been announced, we have some concrete details to go on, though of course we won't know for sure how it performs until we've tested it for ourselves.
On paper, it looks impressive. LG's C-series is usually where the smart money is, providing great picture and gaming specs for less money than its G- and M-series sets. But this year, there is a bigger gap between the C4 and its G4 and M4 siblings. Let us explain...
LG C4 OLED TV: pricing and availability
LG hasn't announced pricing for its OLED TVs yet. The C3 was more expensive than its predecessor, so brace yourself: we could see another price rise this year.
Here are the C3's launch prices.
LG OLED42C3: £1500 / $1400 / AU$2595
LG OLED48C3: £1600 / $1500 / AU$2895
LG OLED55C3: £2100 / $1900 / AU$3295
LG OLED65C3: £2900 / $2600 / AU$4295
LG OLED77C3: £4000 / $3600 / AU$6795
LG OLED83C3: £6500 / $5300 / AU$8995
As with all TVs, these prices have come down since launch. LG's TVs seem to be discounted more than others – at time of writing, you can pick up the 65-inch C3 for £1699, which is £1200 cheaper than at launch. So even if the C4 does have a higher price than the C3, hold firm and it's sure to drop significantly, especially around big sale events like Black Friday.
As for availability, again, we're still awaiting an announcement. But LG's OLEDs are usually unveiled in January before going on sale in the spring, so we would expect to see the C4 in shops around April/May time.
LG C4 OLED TV: design
Despite officially announcing the C4, at time of writing LG hasn't actually released any pictures of it (the same goes for the lower-end B4). All we've seen are the M4 and G4.
But considering the spec similarities between the C4 and C3, we're expecting the new model to look remarkably like the old. That's not necessarily a bad thing: the C3 is a slim TV with a premium feel, and one that – thanks to the pedestal stand on the 48-inch variants and above – is easy to accommodate.
LG C4 OLED TV: specs
The first thing to know about the C4 is that it's very similar to the C3 in terms of specs. It still has four HDMI 2.1 ports which is good news for gamers, as even with a soundbar plugged into one of them, they can still get the full-fat gaming experience from three consoles or gaming PCs plugged in simultaneously, with no swapping out required.
Gamers will also be pleased to know that LG's game mode menu is still present and correct. For the first time, full Nvidia G-Sync certification comes as standard – which, coupled with the new 144Hz refresh rate (up from 120Hz on the C3) will be music to the ears of PC gamers.
The C4 again uses an OLED Evo panel without the heatsink or MLA tech of the higher-end G4 or M4. But even without these, the picture should be brighter than the C3's. LG's David Seperson told us that "all of the C4s will get brighter this year than they were last year", with the 42- and 48-inch models expected to be only marginally less bright than the larger variants.
The C- and G-series models usually have the same processor, but this year LG has gone rogue. It has given the G4 a new Alpha 11 chip – the C4 gets a new processor too, in the form of an upgraded Alpha 9. But it will miss out on some the features of the Alpha 11, like 'Peak Highlighter', which boosts the brightness of small highlights within the picture.
The new beefed-up Alpha 9 processor will also allow AI Sound Pro to process virtual 11.1.2 surround upmixing, up from 9.1.2 on the C3. And we can expect the voice remastering feature to improve dialogue clarity.
LG C4 OLED TV: operating system
Like LG's other new OLED TVs, the C4 runs LG's webOS 24 operating system. The most eye-catching feature is that it supports five years of free software updates. So much like with a mobile phone, you'll be able to update it over the air every year to get some new features.
It won't be like getting a new TV every year, however. That's because some features will require the extra hardware that only comes with a new TV. So owners of older LG TVs will miss out on these.
Still, if you buy a C4, it will get free updates until at least 2028, with some new features enabled. These updates won't arrive on day one, but they will come "eventually", according to LG.
There's plenty new about webOS 24 straight out of the box. Recommendations now appear on the home screen, with the Quick Cards being shrunk and made dynamic to reveal more information when you mouse over them. You can now password-protect your user accounts, and each has its own Picture Wizard AI setting. Chromecast built-in is now supported, and the new Accessibility tab acts as a handy repository for anyone who's sight- or hearing-impaired.
Voice recognition for individual users is also coming, though not until later in the year. There's no word if this will be exclusive to models with the Alpha 11 processor, or if the C4 will be included. It will launch in the US and South Korea first.
LG C4 OLED TV: early verdict
The C4 will undoubtedly be one of the most popular TVs of the year. We didn't get a heatsink or MLA tech, which we were hoping for, and the difference in processor widens the gap between it and the G4 (years ago, the only difference between the C- and G-series was the design). Meanwhile, with the lower-end B4 now sporting four HDMI 2.1 ports for the first time, the gap between it and the C4 just became narrower.
In previous years, the C-series was the sweet spot in LG's OLED range, thanks to its top picture tech and lower price. But with the price rising last year and the G4 putting some distance between it and the C4, could the B4 be the best LG OLED TV for most people? Stay tuned for a full C4 review.
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