In terms of ports, the C1 has four full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K at 144Hz, plus you’ve got three USBs, RF tuner, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and optical digital audio output.
Outside of that one sore spot, however, the rest of the design gets full marks. Sure, that glare subsides some when you’ve got bright and colorful content playing on the screen, but any night or space scene will have a glare if you can’t close the blinds. Put it in a moderately lit room with streams of light coming in and it’s easy to catch a glare. In fact, the only real problem with the C1’s design is that the front all-glass screen is fairly reflective. Toward the bottom of the TV, near where the stand screws in, the TV’s a bit thicker to house the components and the speakers, but even that section isn’t larger than most full array LED-LCD TVs.
Spin the TV around to the side and you’ll see the razor-thin OLED screen it’s thinner than your smartphone and it looks a lot nicer, too. That extra heft prevents the TV from wobbling and gives the C1 a low center of gravity. If you were to mount it, pretty much all you’d see is the screen, but putting it on its (quite hefty) stand still looks great.
The front of the TV is pure minimalism – there’s a long silver stand that holds the TV upright and only a millimeter or two between the picture and the edge of the display. It can feel silly to talk about how a TV looks on the outside – it’s the picture that matters most, after all – but you can’t ignore how nice the LG C1 OLED is design-wise. There are some drawbacks to both those TVs (starting with the lack of HDMI 2.1 ports) but they are cheaper and provide similarly deep black levels. There are cheaper alternatives, however, like the Vizio OLED TV that starts at just $1,199 for a 55-inch model or the Panasonic HZ980 that costs just £1,098 from Currys. It makes sense that last year’s TV is now cheaper, but how does the C1 OLED’s price compare to other OLED TVs? Compared to the new Sony A80J OLED that costs $2,799 for the 65-inch version, the C1 OLED is a bit cheaper for US buyers, but UK buyers will be paying £4,199 for the 65-inch Sony A80J so the £2,499 C1 OLED is a steal in comparison. Because there’s not a significant difference between the two other than the processor, it’s probably worth picking up last year’s model at a steep discount if you can find one. If you compare those prices to last year, the LG C1 OLED costs the exact same as the LG CX OLED cost when it first came out last year, though you can now find the latter at a discount now that the LG C1 is readily available.