I visited LG’s TV demo room at CES 2025 and got to see their new flagship TVs, the LG G5 and M5 (our review of them will be published later). But while I was there, I also got to see the LG C5 mid-range OLED TV and talk to LG about it. Which was helpful, because LG hadn’t officially announced it until that point.
LG was able to confirm many details about the device, and the team also talked about the more affordable LG B5 model that is coming, although it was not on display.
Here’s the headline: The LG C5 promises to be a little brighter, but don’t expect any major changes compared to the LG C4 that’s currently available; and the LG B5 will take a big step back in availability compared to last year’s LG B4.
LG C5: specifications and details
There are actually two major changes coming for the LG C5. Firstly, LG says it should be a little brighter than the LG C4, but declined to confirm any figures (not even as a percentage), so I suspect it will only be a small increase, probably driven by management improvements. of power in your processor. .
There’s definitely not a big panel change here; For example, there is no upgrade to MLA OLED, even though the LG G5 moved from MLA to another new brightness technology. The display will also remain a 144Hz 4K display and won’t go up to 165Hz like the LG G5 does.
The LG C5 will also get webOS 25, which will come with smart personal profiles and AI chatbot features, just like the LG G5 and M5. This will include voice recognition, so if different people in your house have different profiles, when you ask the TV to do something, it will recognize it’s you and switch to your profile while executing the command.
Not only does the personal profile include different layouts for the home screen (i.e., with the apps and services you like the most given more prominence), but you can now also change the picture modes. LG gave the example that if each profile has gone through the Image AI wizard to customize the image to your preferences, it will use those settings when you switch to your profile. I think this sounds a bit annoying (I prefer consistency), but it’s a novel idea.
Like last year, the LG C5 will be available in sizes from 42 inches to 83 inches.
Now, the LG B5
While the LG B5 wasn’t at the show, LG confirmed that it will come, that it will use an Alpha 7 processor, and that it will feature roughly the same brightness as the LG B4, although the team at CES again declined to give any figures (aside from say that the LG G5 will be three times brighter than it).
However, LG did confirm one item: it will be available in “limited sizes.” Despite being available in 48 inches for the first time in 2024, in 2025 there will only be two sizes of LG B5. LG couldn’t confirm exactly what sizes, but my understanding is it’s likely 65 inches and then 55 or 77 inches, but I’ll update you with confirmation if I receive it.
This is obviously a big disappointment: LG has already stopped its A series of cheaper OLED TVs, and now it looks like the B series may also be coming to an end. Maybe the price difference between the B series and the C series just isn’t big enough and more people will opt for the C, but I hope the B continues in the future to keep OLED more affordable, even if it’s just in these few sizes . .
Read more from CES 2025
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