BBy Bikram Nath·Researched from UK Amazon listings·Updated 2026-09-21·7 products compared
What are the best TVs under £400 to buy in the UK?
Our top pick for TVs Under £400 in the UK is the Hisense 43E6QTUK 43" 4K Ultra HD Smart AI TV.
For most UK buyers with £400 to spend, the Hisense 43E6QTUK is the strongest choice: Hi-View AI upscaling handles the upscaled broadcast content that fills most British evenings, a direct-lit full-array backlight keeps brightness even across the panel, and Freely means live BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 arrive over broadband without an aerial. If you would rather have the more polished smart platform, the LG 43UA75006LA brings webOS with AirPlay 2 and Filmmaker Mode on the same 43-inch size.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This guide contains Amazon affiliate links, and we may earn a commission — at no extra cost to you — but it never changes our rankings.
Under £400 is where a UK television stops being a compromise. Every pick in this guide is 4K and every one is 43 inches — the size that fits the alcove-and-chimney-breast layout of a typical British sitting room. What you do not get at this price is a high-refresh gaming panel: none of these sets publishes 120Hz or 144Hz, so if you want your PS5 or Xbox Series X running above 60fps, that budget starts higher. What you do get is a real choice of smart platform and a real choice about live TV. Fire TV appears on two picks, Roku on one, and Hisense's VIDAA, LG's webOS, Philips' Titan OS and Samsung's Tizen on one each — and the platform, not the panel, is what you will notice every evening. On live television the split is between Freely, which streams BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 over your broadband with no aerial at all, and Freeview Play, which still expects an aerial socket in the room. One pick here lists Freely and one lists Freeview Play; on the rest, live UK channels come from an aerial or from individual catch-up apps. Sort that out before you sort out the panel.
Buying guide
What should you look for in TVs Under £400?
1Every pick here is 43 inches, which suits a UK sitting room at roughly 1.6–2.2 metres — measure from the sofa to the wall before you decide, because the alcove usually decides for you.
2Every pick here is 4K, but almost no UK broadcast television is: Freeview and Freely output at 1080i or below, so the upscaling engine — Hisense's Hi-View AI, LG's α7, Philips' Pixel Precise — is doing most of the visible work.
3Check the live-TV route before you buy: Freely needs only broadband and no aerial, Freeview Play needs an aerial socket in that room, and a set with neither leaves you on catch-up apps or a set-top box.
4None of these sets publishes a refresh rate above 60Hz. For 4K console gaming at 60fps they are fine; for 120fps you need to look above this price bracket.
5HDR formats are not interchangeable — HDR10+ does dynamic, scene-by-scene tone mapping while plain HDR10 applies one fixed curve to the whole film, and which one you get depends entirely on the set, so check the label before you buy.
6Look for the published energy label class: at 43 inches the gap between classes shows up on a UK electricity bill over a few years, and it is the only efficiency figure retailers must state.
Our process
How do we choose our picks?
We don’t lab-test products ourselves. Instead we synthesise current Amazon UK listings and published specs into clear, honest recommendations. We earn a commission if you buy through our links, but that never changes which products we rank.
Current UK availability
We check each pick against live Amazon UK catalogue data rather than last year’s model lists. Stock moves fast, so a listing can sell out after we publish.
Published specs
We compare manufacturer specifications so each pick is right for a real budget and use-case.
UK-specific fit
We factor in UK voltage and plug/fitting standards — details that generic global lists miss.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of 12 Oct, 01:00 (London time) and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.co.uk at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
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The Hisense 43E6QTUK takes the top spot on the safest pairing in the bracket: Hi-View AI upscaling plus a direct-lit full-array backlight is a sensible combination when most of what you watch is upscaled broadcast content rather than native 4K, and Freely means live BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 arrive over broadband with no aerial. The LG 43UA75006LA is the alternative if platform polish matters more than the backlight — webOS with Google Cast, AirPlay 2 and Filmmaker Mode, and the only published refresh rate anywhere in this guide at 60Hz. The HYE 43-inch is the only pick here to publish a Quantum Dot panel, which is a genuine point of difference, but it is thin on published specification: no HDR format, no refresh rate and no brightness figure to support the QLED claim.
Our Take
The honest summary of this bracket: every panel is a 43-inch 4K panel, so buy on smart platform and live-TV route, not on spec sheet. The Hisense gives you the best upscaling for British broadcast content and the only aerial-free route to live TV, the LG gives you the most polished platform with AirPlay 2 and Filmmaker Mode, and the Amazon Ember is the one to take if the house already runs on Prime Video and Alexa. Everything else here is a variation on those three arguments at a slightly lower price.
Questions & answers
Frequently asked questions
Can you get a decent 4K TV for under £400 in the UK?
Yes — every pick in this guide is 4K, and the bracket now includes 43-inch sets from LG, Hisense, Philips, Amazon, HYE, Xiaomi and VELTECH. What you sacrifice compared with more expensive sets is panel technology and refresh rate: none of these publishes above 60Hz, and only one publishes a Quantum Dot panel. Picture processing has improved enough that upscaled HD broadcast content looks noticeably better than it did on budget sets a few years ago.
What size TV should I buy for a UK living room under £400?
43 inches is the default at this price and suits most British sitting rooms, where the sofa typically sits 1.6–2.2 metres from the TV wall. Every pick in this guide is 43 inches. If your room is deeper — an open-plan kitchen-diner or a through lounge at 2.5 metres or more — you will want a 50-inch set. That size sits outside this guide; our Best 50 Inch TVs in the UK guide covers it.
Do TVs under £400 support Freely?
Some do. In this guide the Hisense 43E6QTUK lists Freely, which streams live BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 over your broadband and removes the need for an aerial entirely. The VELTECH pick lists Freeview Play instead, which still requires an aerial for live channels but adds catch-up. The remaining picks leave live UK television to individual apps or a set-top box.
Is a £400 TV good enough for PS5 or Xbox Series X?
For 4K at 60fps, yes. None of the sets in this guide publishes a refresh rate above 60Hz, so games that support 120fps modes will not run at their full frame rate. The LG 43UA75006LA publishes 60Hz explicitly and is the clearest about what you are getting. If high-frame-rate gaming is your main use, budget above this bracket for a 120Hz panel with HDMI 2.1.
Which smart TV platform is best under £400?
Fire TV is the most common at this price — the Amazon and Xiaomi picks both run it — and it is the natural fit for a Prime Video household with Alexa elsewhere in the house. Roku, on the VELTECH, is the simplest interface. LG's webOS adds Google Cast and Apple AirPlay 2 for mirroring, Philips runs Titan OS, and HYE licenses Samsung's Tizen with the Gaming Hub. All of them carry the main UK streaming apps; the differences are in interface, voice assistant and how heavily the home screen promotes its own content.
Affiliate disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. UKPicks earns a small commission from qualifying purchases made via links on this page. This does not affect our editorial recommendations or the price you pay.
