Best Buy has cut the 48-inch LG B5 OLED to $599.99, a 54% drop from its $1,299.99 list price that returns LG's entry-level OLED to the record low it last hit on Black Friday, with the deal live as of Wednesday, June 10, 2026 (ET). Anyone who has been waiting for a sub-$600 doorway into OLED picture quality should treat this as a closing window, because the discount is model-year clearance on outgoing 2025 stock and the 48-inch size is typically the first to sell through.
Sub-$600 pricing makes the B5 the cheapest credible OLED on the market
The offer covers the 48-inch LG B5 (model OLED48B5PUA), the smallest screen in LG's 2025 entry OLED line. TechRadar's June 2026 OLED deals roundup lists the set at $599.99 at Best Buy and calls out the 54% discount, and the publication separately named the B5 its best budget OLED TV of 2026. Android Central pegs the cut at a flat $700 off list, while Tom's Guide confirms the price matches the TV's Black Friday low, the cheapest this model has ever been.
For that money, buyers get LG's Alpha 8 AI Processor Gen 2, which handles 4K upscaling and AI-driven picture and sound processing, the webOS 25 smart platform, a native 120Hz panel, and four HDMI 2.1 inputs, according to LG's official spec sheet. AI Sound Pro adds virtual 9.1.2 upmixing from the TV's built-in speakers. None of that is unusual in a midrange set in 2026. What is unusual at this price is the panel underneath it.
Self-emissive pixels are why a $600 OLED outclasses pricier LED sets
The reason reviewers treat any OLED price collapse as news comes down to how the panel makes light. An LED or Mini LED TV is a liquid crystal layer lit from behind by a backlight, and even the best sets manage that backlight in a few thousand dimming zones at most. An OLED panel has no backlight at all. Each of the roughly 8.3 million pixels in a 4K OLED emits its own light and can shut off completely, which is per-pixel dimming in the most literal sense.
That architecture is what produces true black, effectively infinite contrast, and the absence of blooming halos around bright objects on dark backgrounds. It also gives OLED its wide viewing angles, since there is no backlight diffusing through a crystal layer. TechRadar's review of the B5 credits the self-lit WOLED panel with perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control that keeps shadow detail intact where LCD TVs wash out. Until this clearance cycle, that experience started well above $1,000 at this size.
The 2026 RGB Mini LED wave is pushing 2025 sets down a pricing waterfall
The timing is not random. RTINGS has dubbed 2026 the year of RGB Mini LED, with Samsung, Hisense, TCL, and Sony shipping sets whose backlights use discrete red, green, and blue LEDs instead of blue LEDs behind a phosphor layer. Those 2026 flagships are landing at flagship prices. Samsung's 65-inch Micro RGB models start between $2,100 and $3,200, TCL's new QM7L and QM8L series opened from $999.99 with launch promotions, and Best Buy has been pushing Hisense's UR9 RGB Mini LED sets at up to $2,000 off list, per 9to5Toys.
To clear floor and warehouse space for that wave, retailers are running 2025 stock down a familiar pricing waterfall: launch at list price in spring, deepening cuts through summer, then stock-outs by fall. TechRadar reports that Best Buy is clearing out OLED TVs ahead of the 2026 releases, with the 65-inch LG C5 down $1,300 to $1,399.99, the 65-inch LG C4 at $1,189.99, and Sony's Bravia 8 II at a record low after a cut of more than $800. The B5's 54% discount sits at the steep end of that waterfall, which is exactly where the outgoing entry model always lands, and it will not sit there once the 48-inch allocation is gone.
Four HDMI 2.1 ports at 48 inches make the B5 a monitor-size gaming display
At 48 inches, the B5 occupies the overlap zone between living-room TV and oversized desktop monitor, and its gaming spec sheet supports both jobs. All four HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1 with 4K 120Hz support, alongside variable refresh rate compatibility spanning AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Nvidia G-Sync, and HGiG, plus auto low latency mode and Dolby Vision gaming. TechRadar's review measured input lag at 9.1 milliseconds, a figure it ranks alongside the best gaming TVs on sale.
That makes the B5 a full-bandwidth match for a PS5, an Xbox Series X, and a gaming PC simultaneously, with no port juggling, a step up on the many midrange sets that ship only two full-speed inputs. It also undercuts much of the dedicated OLED monitor market, where 42-inch and larger 4K gaming displays routinely cost more than this 48-inch TV while running similar 120Hz panels.
Is the LG B5 OLED worth buying in 2026?
The honest answer requires naming the tradeoff. The B5 uses LG's standard WOLED panel rather than the brighter OLED Evo panel in the step-up C5, and it lacks the Brightness Booster processing of larger C-series sets. What Hi-Fi? puts the gap in numbers, citing HDR highlights of roughly 650 nits on the B5 versus about 1,200 nits on the C5. In a sun-filled living room, the C5 and the new Mini LED sets will hold up visibly better, and HDR highlights on the B5 will look more restrained.
Two factors soften that verdict at this specific size. Tom's Guide notes that Brightness Booster is reserved for C5 models above 48 inches, so the 48-inch C5's advantage over this set is narrower than the series-wide comparison suggests. And the C5 still costs hundreds more at every size, even on clearance. For movie nights in a dim room, console gaming, and bedroom or office duty, the B5 delivers the core OLED experience of per-pixel light control at a price no Evo panel touches. At $1,299.99 the B5 was a tough sell against its own C-series siblings. At $599.99 the calculus flips.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the LG B5 and the LG C5?
The B5 uses LG's standard WOLED panel, while the C5 uses the brighter OLED Evo panel; What Hi-Fi? cites roughly 650 nits of HDR highlight brightness on the B5 against about 1,200 nits on the C5. Both run native 120Hz panels with four HDMI 2.1 ports, so the gap is brightness and processing power, not features.
Does the LG B5 support 4K 120Hz gaming on PS5 and Xbox Series X?
Yes. All four HDMI inputs are HDMI 2.1 and support 4K at 120Hz, with VRR (AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Nvidia G-Sync, HGiG), ALLM, and Dolby Vision gaming, and TechRadar measured input lag at just 9.1ms.
Is $599.99 the lowest price ever for the 48-inch B5?
It matches the record low the set hit on Black Friday, according to Tom's Guide. Prices could in theory dip further as clearance deepens, but stock at the 48-inch size usually runs out before that happens.
Can the 48-inch B5 work as a desktop monitor?
It can, with caveats. You get 4K 120Hz over HDMI and very low input lag, but there is no DisplayPort input, and owners who display static toolbars all day should lean on the TV's pixel-care features to manage burn-in risk.
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