The 3 Best Outdoor TVs of 2023

The Ultimate Outdoor TV Buying Guide

Whether you've got a nice cozy cottage getaway or simply a back deck, it's nice to have the option of watching your favorite shows and staying up to date on the latest news and sports while lounging around in the great outdoors.

Unfortunately, most premium TVs you can buy aren't exactly suited for this purpose. You might be okay with moving them outside temporarily for short periods, but who wants to lug a 55-inch TV around all the time? At the very least, it's awkward, and at worst, you may damage your set by moving it around, especially with the relative fragility of modern ultra-thin screens. 

On top of that, what might make for a great picture indoors isn't necessarily cutting it when the sun is bearing down on your deck. A TV you plan on using outside has to offer high brightness levels so you can enjoy what's on the screen and be durable enough to survive the elements, including heat, humidity, and even actual rain.

Screen Quality

If you're setting up a TV outdoors, chances are you're not looking for movie-theatre quality anyway, and that's a good thing since, realistically, you're not going to be able to take advantage of modern OLED screens—they won't get bright enough for an outdoor setting, leaving your screen looking dim and washed out. 

That means you'll most likely rely on the more traditional LED screen technology that offers significantly better brightness. Even though you'll get lower contrast levels than OLED, this isn't something you'll care about unless you plan on watching it in the dark of night. 

Also, be sure to think about where you're going to put the TV, as you'll need a lot more screen brightness in direct sunlight than you will if you're able to keep it on a shaded deck, and this is where anti-glare screens and anti-reflective coatings will be crucially important. 

Laser TVs

If you’re looking to go big, however, some premium outdoor TVs have adopted an older idea that you’ll rarely find on traditional indoor television sets: front projection. This was a way of building large-screen TVs back in the 1980s. While it’s been superseded by the much better LCD, QLED, and OLED display technologies, big-screen outdoor TV manufacturers have developed it in light years beyond its more primitive beginnings to the point where you can now get short-range laser-projected screens that offer bright and bold 4K UHD resolutions in cinematic sizes. You don’t need a lot of distance in front of the screen either, as most of these laser TVs will let you put the projector less than a foot away from the screen. 

You’ll pay a massive premium for this technology right now, but a laser TV might be worth the investment if you’re looking to set up a home theatre in your backyard. 

Screen Size and Resolution

The other question that can be tricky when dealing with larger outdoor spaces is precisely how big of a TV you should get. With indoor TVs, you'll always be constrained by the size of the room you're in, but you could easily be 20 feet or more away from your screen when you're outside. 

If you want to view it from longer distances, you'll need a bigger screen, but this is also where the decision between 4K UHD and the more common (and more affordable) 1080p HD sets comes in. Unless you're willing to shell out for a giant screen, you must be pretty close to benefiting from a higher 4K resolution; otherwise, you're just wasting your money.

The rule of thumb is that the optimal viewing distance for a 4K UHD set is anywhere from 1x-1.5x the screen size. Any closer than that, you'll see too much detail; any further away, you won't see enough. This means that for a 55-inch set, you should generally be viewing it from around 4.5 feet to 7 feet, so if you're almost always sitting further away, either buy a bigger set or consider simply getting a 1080p HD panel instead.

For 1080p HD, this ratio increases to 2x–2.5x, which means for a 55-inch screen, you'll be good at anywhere from 9–12 feet away. Of course, these numbers are approximations, so your experience may differ slightly. However, it's still worth considering the viewing distance when choosing the optimal screen size and resolution for your outdoor TV. There's no point in spending money on 4K UHD if you won't be able to see it.

Sound Performance

Much like your screen needs to be bright to be viewable in outside light, you're going to need to ensure that the speakers can get loud enough to be heard, especially if you have a lot of other ambient noise to deal with, such as car or boat traffic or even just nearby streams.

This is somewhat subjective, and it isn't easy to know whether a TV will be loud enough without checking it out first. Still, you can usually also add external speakers, provided you find a TV with the necessary outputs available for them. Some TVs even now offer Bluetooth support, which will let you hook up a set of wireless headphones for private listening or even a wireless speaker, which can help provide better quality and volume of sound while also saving you the trouble of running wires from your TV. 

As one last caution, however, note that while some TVs offer "virtual" surround sound, you'll probably be disappointed if you expect to get much out of this in an outdoor environment. The spatial audio technology behind these sound systems is designed to work in enclosed spaces and relies on having enough walls around to reflect the sound, so most of this soundstage will be lost when listening outdoors. If you genuinely want surround sound for your outdoor TV, be prepared to invest the time and effort into deploying actual physical speakers around your deck. 

Durability

However, there's more to an outdoor TV than simply making sure it looks and sounds good since you'll also need it to last, especially if you plan on permanently mounting it outside. 

This means water resistance and the ability to withstand heat and even direct sunlight since, unless you have a perfectly shaded area; you'll likely have the sun beating down on your set during at least some periods of the day. A screen not adequately designed to withstand direct sunlight can deteriorate over time, losing some color quality. The sunlight can also cause the outer bezel and casing to discolor or fade.

Also, at the very least, your outdoor TV will need to be plugged into a power source, but it will also likely have several other ports. Even if you're streaming over Wi-Fi and not using any other ports, you'll want to ensure that it offers proper seals to protect them when not in use since they become ingress points for moisture and dirt that can damage the TV's electronics. 

Smart TV Features and Streaming

Outdoor TVs are a special breed, so none of the mainstream brands offer models suited for outdoor use. As a result, you'll find yourself turning to manufacturers specializing in building rugged TVs for outdoor use. 

This means that you're unlikely to get all of the bells and whistles you'd find in most smart TVs, so if you're buying an outdoor set for streaming, you might need to add a Roku or an Apple TV set-top box to the mix as well. Still, since these aren't designed for outdoor use, you'll need to consider purchasing a weatherproof case to keep the set-top box in if you plan to leave it near the TV. Alternatively, you could keep your set-top box indoors and run a longer HDMI cable out to the TV; the Apple TV and higher-end Roku boxes use Bluetooth remotes, so direct line-of-sight isn't necessary to operate them.

Remember that you'll need a strong Wi-Fi connection to stream content, which can be challenging outside of your home, meaning you may need to pick up a longer-range router or Wi-Fi extender to get the kind of reach you'll need.