At least when it comes to making TVs, LG apparently can do no wrong. Year after year, the company's OLED sets top most reviewers' recommendation lists. They've overcome the Achilles heel of older models (brightness) thanks to clever innovations like the Micro Lens Array, which made last year's G3 and G4 bright enough for HDR to shine in any viewing environment.
So it should come as no surprise that LG's 2025 OLED TV lineup raises the bar once again. At the top of the line is the M5, which is the latest series to use the company's Zero Connect Box for a wireless link between your TV screen and your gaming consoles, streaming boxes, and other external devices. The M5 will be available in 65, 77, 83 and 97 inch sizes. The Zero Connect Box is an impressive hack that, by all indications, works quite well. This year the wireless connection seems to be even more reliable. But no one really needs that. That's why I tend to see the G series as the most practical LG flagship for consumers.
Luckily for us TV nerds, the G5 is (somehow) getting even brighter. LG says its latest Brightness Booster Ultimate technology “improves light control architecture and light boosting algorithms to achieve three times the brightness of conventional OLED models.” (To contextualize, that comparison is made with OLED which No (Includes Micro Lens Array technology found in the M5 and G5.) LG is also raising the refresh rate on its premium G5 up to 165Hz, which it claims is an industry first and delivers a new level of smooth PC gaming. crew. You'll be able to get the G5 in sizes ranging from 55 inches to 83 inches. There are also 48- and 97-inch models, but they won't offer the same maximum brightness.
The two higher-end models feature LG's latest Alpha 11 Gen 2 processor, which improves image processing and upscaling so lower bitrate content looks its best on these 4K displays. LG says many of those processing tricks are also coming to the more conventional C5. With so many people watching Internet TV services and other streaming content today, that magic sauce can make a noticeable difference. Sony is known for being the best at this, but LG has made great strides in recent years.
Goodbye input button, hello endless ai features
This year's Magic Remote no longer has a dedicated input button. In what could prove to be a controversial decision, LG is making the Home Hub button do double duty: you can press it to access webOS's Home Hub panel or hold down the button to open your input list. That's not the end of the world, but it's another thing to remember in a pivotal television interaction.
And then comes the avalanche of ai features. The usual ai Picture Pro and ai Sound Pro optimization modes are present. The C5 series gets the same 11.1.2-channel virtualized surround sound that debuted on the G4 last year. LG is also expanding the picture assistant it introduced two years ago, where viewers choose from a series of images to arrive at their ideal picture settings, with a similar process for audio.
How much ai is too much for a TV?
But this year, the focus on ai is much, much bigger than that. LG has a new brand “LG ai” – that's what now activates the microphone button. Oh, sorry. Did I call it Magic Remote before? The remote control has been renamed ai Remote. And there's a damn LLM chatbot built into these TVs. Heck, even Microsoft's Copilot is getting on board.
The risk LG faces here is getting in the way and pushing these things on customers too aggressively. The company's OLEDs are some of the best TVs on the market. They offer brilliant images with all the features home theater enthusiasts want. In 2025, that includes an improved Filmmaker Mode that takes into account the ambient lighting in your room and adjusts image settings accordingly, while also making sure to “maintain the filmmaker's original intent.”
For its part, LG claims that the latest webOS home screen is faster and easier to use. And the company has committed to maintaining software updates for the next five years, in the same way our smartphones gain new features over time.
Still, at this stage, I find myself placement with webOS and spend most of my usage time on a different interface, whether it's Apple TV, Google TV, or something else. I'm hoping LG's mega push into ai isn't too harsh, but we'll have to see how it all comes together once the 2025 TV lineup starts shipping this spring. If customers find that their usual flows are interrupted by ai tricks, there may be some complaints.
We'll have a much better idea of how LG ai fits into these gorgeous TVs, and whether it ultimately detracts from them, when the M5, G5, C5, and B5 OLEDs hit stores in a few months. By then, we'll also know how much they will cost.
