When you are shopping for TVs for your Short Term Rental property you will find many options: Sony, Samsung, LG, Vizio and so on. How do you sort through all the brands and pick the “best” one? Well, that depends on your purchasing criteria. I will share below how we found the “Best Smart TV” for our short-term rentals (STR).
First we have specific criteria:
1. The TV must be a Smart TV
A “Smart” TV is equipped with all the major streaming applications (Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Disney Plus etc) and has wifi capabilities. You will need wifi or a direct Ethernet connection to run these streaming services. Think of a Smart TV as a combination of a TV and a streaming device (Amazon Fire stick, Apple TV, Roku, etc). When it comes to STR less is sometimes more. Allowing your guests to access all of their streaming services from the TV without having to access a streaming device will make providing instructions much easier.
2. The TV must have a Universal Remote
A Universal remote falls under the “less is more” category. If you can provide your guests with ONE remote to control the TV, Cable, Blu-ray, Streaming services and the inputs to access gaming (ex Wii) then you will be winning the STR game. You can provide all of your instructions on a single page to run your guest’s entire entertainment experience. This will also simplify your managing life.
ONE remote to rule them all is the way to go.
3. The TV must be 4K or better
TVs are literally outdated the second you buy them. There are newer and better TVs every year. You are still in good shape with a 4K TV and they should last you for years to come.
4. The TV should be 55 inches or bigger
This is the only criteria that was not a “must” for us because sometimes a room may be too small for a 55 inch TV. With that said, that usually is a very small room. If you think a TV is too big…… you are probably wrong. Guests like their big TVs.
5. The TV must fit your budget
This is the category that can be tricky. How can you meet the first 4 criteria and still stay in budget? I think the answer is to find the Smart TV that fits all 4 criteria. You might have to compromise on TV size to get the “Smart TV”, Universal Remote, etc.
You can buy a budget TV at 75 inches with subpar image quality, lack of streaming and no Universal remote, but hey the TV is big.
Or you can buy a High End TV without a universal remote and still need to make an additional purchase.
Or buy a TV with a “universal remote” that only controls the TV and Blu-ray players and cannot program a cable box. That is the most frustrating because you still end up with multiple remotes.
SO…. What is the Best Smart TV?
The Best Smart TV for your Short Term Rental (Airbnb, VRBO) is the…..
LG 4K Nano-Cell TV with the Magic Remote
(LG – 55″ Class NanoCell 81 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV)
The LG 4k Nano Cell TV provides excellent picture quality and a user friendly “Home screen” that allows your guests to access all their streaming services with the “Magic Remote”. (Criteria 1)
The “Magic Remote” is the most important part to remember when looking for an LG Smart TV. Like all TVs, LG has multiple entry level TVs with “Universal Remotes” but those remotes only control the TV and Blu-ray.
The Magic Remote is unique to Smart TVs because it can be programmed to control your cable box. The result: the Magic Remote controls them all (TV, Cable Box, Streaming and inputs (Wii)). (Criteria 2)
The LG TV models with Magic Remote controls are all 4k or better and you can buy 55inch sizes and above. (Criteria 3 and 4)
Lastly the price for LG TVs is very reasonable…….
55inch: $699 (LG – 55″ Class NanoCell 81 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV)
65inch: $949 (LG – 65″ Class NanoCell 81 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV)
75inch: $1,199 (LG – 75″ Class NanoCell 80 Series LED 4K UHD Smart webOS TV)
You may pay slightly more for an LG TV when compared to a Vizio but I think the extra cost is worth it for the convenience of your guests and you. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have all of the guest entertainment instructions on one page. (See Below)
If cost is a concern you can try to time your TV purchases around holidays sales. It feels like there is a sale every holiday but the BIG TV holidays are Super Bowl week and the biggest sale “week” Black Friday.
We bought three TVs (ONE 65inch and Two 55inch LG TVs) from Best Buy the week of Thanksgiving. It was quite a sight to see when I loaded three TVs into the back of a Subaru. We saved about $200 per TV by buying last year’s model.
In Summary, we believe that the LG Smart TVs with Magic Remote are the best TVs for Short Term Rentals. We hope this will save you a lot of time on your TV research.
What a useful post for anyone hoping to get into short term rental! I’m sure this post will be a big time saver for many people.