Readers’ Choice: Your Favorite TV and Home Entertainment Brands Ranked
The ways we watch television at home have changed a lot in recent years. Two years ago, streaming overtook broadcast TV for the first time, according to Nielsen. As of this summer, Pew Research Center says 83% of US adults use streaming services, but only 36% still subscribe to cable or satellite TV at home.
That’s probably because we consume so much more video on laptops, tablets, and phones than we did a decade ago. (Younger generations are driving mobile viewing numbers up.) But the television itself isn’t going anywhere. According to Statista, this year the TV market in the US is projected to generate $18.34 billion in revenue, up slightly from 2024. Modern TVs create an immersive experience that people crave, even if their attention is split: One survey finds that 90% of people multitask (typically using their phones) while watching TV.
This Readers’ Choice survey delves deep into home entertainment gear and video streaming. We’re not just looking at TVs themselves but also soundbars, streaming devices, and services. After all, for the full experience, those big screens also require excellent audio and killer content.
The Top TV Brands for 2025
From 2018 to 2020, TCL owned our Readers’ Choice award for TVs with its low-cost sets. Then Sony earned the top spot for four years straight with higher-end screens. But this year, after a long absence from the top (not since 2017), Samsung TVs take the crown.
When it comes to overall satisfaction, there isn’t much variation between competitors, whose ratings range from 8.2 (out of 10) to a high of 8.8. Insignia (the private label brand owned by Best Buy), LG, Samsung, and Sony all earn the latter score. What puts Samsung over the top is its high likelihood-to-recommend rating. The brand also has the best scores for setup and gaming use.
(Note: Click the arrows in our interactive charts to view various elements of our survey results.)
Our readers have positive things to say about Samsung, though a handful don’t care for the included remote control (one even calls it “pathetic”). Many say they’ve owned one or more Samsung sets for years.
One survey respondent praises Samsung’s Frame line in particular: “I bought the Frame TV that has an art mode, which is included free for the first two years. Pretty cool!” They add, “This is my third Samsung TV, and I’ve never had any issues or needed any repairs.” Another hails the image quality on a Samsung: “Overall, I’m impressed. The 4K resolution and Neo QLED technology provide stunning picture quality, while the HDR really enhances the colors and contrast.”
Will Greenwald is PCMag’s lead TV and home entertainment reviewer. “There’s no question Samsung makes excellent TVs, from an engineering standpoint,” he says. “The company’s high-end models like the QN90F Neo QLED and S95F OLED look stunning and have plenty of features, including built-in spatial audio systems.
“That quality comes with a premium price, though, and I’ve been less impressed by its budget and midrange models in the past,” he adds. “I also find the Samsung Tizen OS smart TV platform to be unwieldy and frustrating compared with other interfaces.”
Elsewhere in the top four, LG and Sony are tied for best picture quality. The generally lower-cost Insignia brand gets a 9.5 for value and a high rank for reliability, at 9.3.
Interestingly, a previous multi-year winner, TCL, which comes in at number seven on the list this year, has the best rating for smart TV features—a couple of years ago, it switched from exclusively using the Roku platform to Google TV.
Read The Best TVs to see which TVs currently lead in our lab tests.
The Top Soundbar Brands for 2025
While the Walmart-owned Vizio sits at the bottom of the TV brands list, it captures a resounding win in the soundbars category. The brand earns top scores in almost every category, including overall satisfaction, value, reliability, and likelihood to recommend. In a dramatic switch, TV winner Samsung is at the very bottom of the soundbars list.
“My Dolby Atmos (virtualized) Vizio soundbar has been rock solid throughout the years,” offers one survey taker. “It was very inexpensive compared with other virtualized Dolby Atmos soundbars, and I feel that it’s perfect for a bedroom TV that doesn’t have the space for a full home theater system.”
Greenwald, who also reviews soundbars, has a slightly less enthusiastic take. “Vizio soundbars are solid workhorses you can find for far less than comparable models, but they don’t usually wow me,” he says. “I recommend the Vizio 2.1 Soundbar as a very cheap option, more for the subwoofer than for the soundbar itself, and while I haven’t tested Vizio’s most recent high-end spatial audio soundbar, the 2023 model I last tried offered a pretty good 5.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos experience for a reasonable price.”
Read The Best Soundbars for 2025 to see which soundbars currently lead in our lab tests.
To stream video content, you need either a smart TV or a separate streaming media device that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port. While most TVs have smart capabilities (79% as of a year ago), the majority of PCMag readers still prefer a separate device.
Of the five brands that we covered in the results last year, only three got enough votes to be included in 2025: Amazon (via its Fire TV products), Apple, and Roku. Google didn’t have enough responses this year to make our results; last year, it released the Google TV platform and devices while phasing out the Chromecast products it has sold for years.
Apple remains the top streaming device brand. Its tvOS platform is the only one that isn’t licensed to other manufacturers—you can only get it on Apple TV devices (the most recent being the 2022 Apple TV 4K 3rd Gen.) Readers obviously don’t mind. Apple TV has especially high numbers—well over 9.0—for ease of use, reliability, picture quality, and 4K support. It’s also on top for menu navigation and screencasting.
“Best streaming box out there,” says one survey respondent of Apple TV. “Simple, easy to use, and no ads junking up the interface.” They add that it “works well with all my other Apple devices.”
Greenwald, however, isn’t so enamored. “The physical Apple TV 4K is fine if you’re a dedicated Apple fan, want Siri on your media streamer, and don’t mind the price,” he says. “It feels mostly unnecessary now, though, when the Apple TV app is on every major media streamer and smart TV, and many TVs and all Roku devices also have Apple AirPlay for streaming from your iPhone or iPad.”
Roku’s score for its standalone streaming devices is up half a point in satisfaction from last year. It also has the best score for value, well ahead of Apple (even Amazon scores better there). Roku and Amazon tie for setup.
The only area where the Amazon Fire TV devices win is for the included remote control (readers mention hating the Apple TV remote a few times). Amazon is also the only brand to earn a score for gaming, since Fire TV still supports some games specific to the platform.
To see which streaming devices currently lead in Greenwald’s lab tests, read The Best Media Streaming Devices for 2025.
The Top Video Streaming Services for 2025
On-demand streaming—where viewers watch what they want, when they want—is now very similar to old cable TV: The majority of subscribers currently pay for the service and still watch ads. The option is available on almost every paid service. It saves viewers money on the subscription price and also delivers the streamer even more revenue.
However, some viewers remain willing to pay higher prices to avoid the onslaught of advertising. There are still a few “FAST” services (marketing speak for free ad-supported streaming), though less than before—RIP, Crackle and FreeVee. And don’t forget the live TV streamers that have always essentially been a cable TV replacement delivered over the internet.
When we look at the overall satisfaction numbers of all the services, it’s not surprising that users favor one with no ads—even if they do have to pay extra. Paid-without-ads is preferred over “borrowing” (via password sharing with someone not in the same household, something Hulu, Netflix, and HBO Max are cracking down on) or getting service via bundles (where the streaming option comes as an extra with another purchase).
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The least-liked service tiers are—no surprise—those that cost money but still have ads. Yet, according to Emarketer, 46% of US streaming subscribers gravitate to that option. Half of Netflix’s new sign-ups opt for the ads. That doesn’t mean they have to like things that way, of course.
The top overall streamer, according to the readers of PCMag, is a bit of a surprise. The Roku Channel is a free-with-ads service that is a cornerstone of the Roku streaming platform, though anyone can access it via apps or the web. For overall satisfaction, it beats the next five contenders in a row—ESPN+, HBO Max, Netflix, Tubi, and YouTube—which all tie for second. In addition, the Roku Channel is the top-ranked free ad-supported streaming service.
The Roku Channel’s limitations—the ads, no apps on non-Roku platforms, and a random-feeling library of older content—do not deter our readers from giving it the highest overall satisfaction score, plus high marks for reliability (equal to HBO Max’s).
One reader describes the Roku Channel as a “surprisingly good 24/7 free streaming service that features a decent amount of older and newer content, with minimally intrusive ads.”
Senior writer Jordan Minor reviews streamers for PCMag. “As premium streaming services become steadily more expensive, free options like the Roku Channel are more appealing than ever,” he says. “ There’s a fun, almost scrappy quality to the library with its older content and weird hidden gems. Where else will you see a Weird Al biopic?”
This year, we’ve added a new award, for best original or exclusive programming. HBO Max (which was still going by the Max moniker when this survey ran) tops Apple TV+, Disney+, and Netflix, all of which are just a tenth of a point behind it for originals.
HBO Max is also on top for movie selection, though it trails Paramount+ on TV show selection—we assume that’s because the Trekkies and Western fans in our audience give it high marks. (Paramount+ hosts Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, plus Yellowstone and spinoffs.)
“For years, the HBO name has stood for high-quality, boundary-pushing television,” Minor says. “So for that reason alone, having access to the HBO catalog makes HBO Max a streaming no-brainer. But I would be lying if I said I didn’t also love watching all the Discovery Channel reality show garbage on there, too.”
The bottom of the range for originals actually goes to Roku Channel—despite some eclectic output. The worst score for originals goes to Peacock; it does better for TV shows since it has exclusive streaming rights for modern classics like The Office and Parks & Recreation.
Recommended by Our Editors
The list of services that are completely free but supported by ads has contracted. Crackle and FreeVee are both dead, and Peacock has done away with its free, ad-supported tier of service. That leaves just a few, with the Roku Channel on top.
Last year, this award went to Tubi. It scored 8.2 then and jumps to 8.5 this year. But that’s nothing compared with Roku Channel’s almost full-point satisfaction score increase, from 7.7 to 8.6. YouTube and Pluto TV also see satisfaction increases—perhaps an indication of general acceptance by the audience that ads on streamers are now a fact of life. Tubi does manage to have a slightly better likelihood-of-recommendation score than even Roku.
The chart below looks at paid services: Every paid streamer is lumped together, followed by paid services with no ads, and finally paid services with ads.
Across paid streamers overall and for paid services without ads, YouTube Premium is the clear winner. It won’t win any medals for original programming, movies, or TV shows—but that’s not surprising. YouTube’s existence owes itself to video sharing by users; over time, it’s become the primary place for sharing by professional outlets as well.
However, YouTube’s paid service is absolutely the favorite in both charts, based on its scores for overall satisfaction, reliability, and likelihood to recommend.
When it comes to streaming services that are paid with ads, Netflix wins. It’s worth noting that its overall satisfaction rating is a full point below that of YouTube Premium’s service without commercials; in fact, satisfaction ratings for Netflix with commercials are half a point below Netflix without commercials.
(Note: To see all the charts, click the arrows below.)
Many viewers claim they’ll unsubscribe from Netflix over price hikes and crackdowns on password sharing, but it never seems to stick. Introducing ads has been nothing but a major success for Netflix. As noted earlier, people don’t really want to pay for a service and get stuck with commercials, but if they have to, they’ll do it with Netflix first and foremost.
“Netflix is pretty good at keeping ads short and not annoying, so saving money on the subscription is not as painful,” says one reader. Another points out that “the almost nonstop price increases are getting tiresome.” (The last increase was in January; it now costs $18 per month to go ad-free.) Pricing aside, many readers call Netflix their go-to streaming destination. “Netflix tops my list when I want to watch a movie,” says a respondent. “It’s the one streaming service I go to first every night,” says another.
“Netflix is practically the default choice for video streaming, and deservedly so,” Minor says. “Its library is so vast, especially when it comes to original shows and films, algorithmically designed to target all possible audiences.”
Bundles—when a third-party throws in access to a streaming service as an incentive to buy—are a key way for many people to access paid streamers. For instance, you can get HBO Max with a Cricket Wireless phone plan. Most bundles typically offer the advertising-laden tier of service; users can, of course, upgrade to the more expensive ad-free version. For the second year in a row, Netflix is the favorite streaming service to get with a bundled package. Netflix’s likelihood to recommend is an impressive 9.1.
Our final category is live TV streamers—services that mimic the look and feel of cable programming, down to the digital video recording (DVR) aspect.
YouTube TV—the favorite live TV streaming service every year since we included them in our survey in 2019—once again takes the top spot.
The competition is sparse this year, with only Comcast’s Xfinity Stream and Hulu + Live TV making the list. YouTube TV beats the others despite its overall satisfaction score dropping from 8.5 to 8.1. But it leads in every single criterion we ask about, except cost—Hulu has the edge there. Both YouTube TV and Hulu outrank Xfinity in every subcategory.
A few readers mention that the price of YouTube TV ($82.99 per month for the base plan) now comes awfully close to a full cable bill. But overall, the feeling is that it’s still worth it. “I’ve recommended YouTube TV to so many friends who are looking to ditch cable,” one survey respondent says. “It’s a great service.”
YouTube TV, which is a PCMag Editors’ Choice for live TV streaming, “makes a strong case that online video streaming can fully replace cable, as long as you’re willing to pay cable-like prices,” Minor says. “There’s still something to be said for the experience of watching traditional live TV channels.”
To see which services currently lead in our testing, read The Best Video Streaming Services for 2025 and The Best Live TV Streaming Services for 2025.
Full Results
The PCMag Readers’ Choice survey for TVs and Home Entertainment was in the field from April 10 to June 23, 2025. For more information on how we conduct surveys, read our methodology.
PCMag Readers’ Choice: How Our Surveys Help You Find the Best Products
About Eric Griffith
Senior Editor, Features
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