Basically every major product category has seen massive inflation over the past decade. Every category, that is, except TVs. For some reason, year in and year out, brands compete not only to make the best and brightest but also the best cheap models.

The new Vizio 4K TV (its literal model name) costs $328 for a 55-inch model, has excellent built-in casting and every app you could possibly want, and does Dolby Vision high dynamic range. It doesn’t have fancy backlighting for perfect black levels, but if you need a screen for cheap for a bedroom, office, garage, vacation home, corner bar, what have you, there really isn’t much this one can’t do pretty darn well.

Five years ago, a TV with specs like this would have been around a thousand bucks. Reverse inflation sure is nice for average viewers. Now you can get the massive 86-inch model for under a thousand bucks.

A New Black Box

TVs have gotten so good that the vast majority of us really don't need to follow trends on the high end anymore. For well under $500, this model has all the features we’ve come to expect from higher-end TVs, including fit and finish.

It's a simple black box with legs on either side of the screen. I'd prefer a pedestal mount, but I can't get picky at this price, and you may or may not have a wall mount or other type of mount planned. The legs keep it steady enough on my TV stand, and a nice 2-inch thick case makes it easy to move the TV around without fear of breaking it.

Like all modern TVs, this one has super-thin bezels and is nearly all screen when turned on. It runs on Vizio's SmartCast operating system, which is one of the better in-house smart TV interfaces we regularly test. It makes for easy casting between both androids phoness (thanks to Chromecast) and iphonesss (thanks to AirPlay 2), and it has its own variety of decent built-in apps for everything from Netflix to Apple TV. All of them work just fine in my testing, though I prefer my trusty Roku interface when given the choice.

Setup is quick and painless. Just plug in the TV, log in to your apps, and it's off to the races. It comes with three built-in HDMI ports (one eARC for soundbar or receiver setup), which is more than enough for most modern homes. I plugged in my Nintendo Switch and Panasonic 4K Blu-Ray player and was watching Ferris Bueller in no time.

An Easy Choice

Vizio has made some of our favorite affordable A/V products for a really long time. It has a way of taking higher-end specs to bargain-basement prices, with options like its Dolby Atmos soundbars especially punching above their weight in terms of performance.

Vizio’s TVs have historically been no different, but in recent years has aimed more squarely at the bottom of the market than the mid or top range. This means that where we used to see Vizio TVs that directly competed with high-end models from Samsung and LG, we now see them copping the style of other bargain brands, like TCL and Hisense.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Those brands make exceptional TVs for the money, although stiff competition between them has recently meant they edge out Vizio in their offerings above the bottom end.

At the entry level, which is where this new Vizio 4K model squarely fits, there are actually very few TVs I have liked this much. It has every spec that I’d reasonably want in a streaming-era TV, from the ability to do Dolby Vision (something that Samsung TVs lack altogether), to a reasonably fast 120-Hz refresh rate when gaming in high definition.

Changing between Sport, Cinema, and Filmmaker modes offers clear differences in color, refresh rate, and brightness, just like you'd expect on higher-end models, and shows that this isn't a horrific cheap screen from a nameless Chinese factory (I'm looking at you, Sceptre-brand TVs), but rather a cheap model made by a real TV brand.

It's especially awesome when paired with a soundbar—you'll never find a TV in this price bracket with decent speakers.

How Long Will It Last?

My main concern in buying a TV this cheap is longevity. I have had the 55-inch model powered on for weeks straight at this point, aiming to check for any burn-in, screen deformities, or general wonkiness you might expect from extended use, and I haven't seen anything wrong so far.

My guess is that you can expect to at least get a couple years of solid use out of it, maybe many more if you're not constantly moving it around and risking damage (as you would if you bought this as a college kid or young adult). That said, it's super light (about 29 pounds) and easy to move, and if you hold on to the box that came with it, you could easily repackage it and move it, as long as you're careful.

I really haven't found a model under $500 I prefer to this simple little Vizio. Plus, given the fact that it ranges in size from 48 to 85 inches, you really can get one for any situation. Comparable models from Amazon and Roku don't feature Dolby Vision, and in the case of Amazon have a much worse interface. If you're on a budget and want a new TV that still looks decent, this is a great place to start.