Antonio Di Benedetto started out working on The Verge’s deals beat, where he searched out the best prices for the best tech purchases. However, since then, he’s become our resident laptop reviewer. “So, as you’ll see,” he says, “I like staring at nice screens (preferably large ones) and I love getting a sweet deal.” One of those nice screens — and sweet deals — were LG’s 77-inch C3 OLED TV, and Antonio decided to take advantage of it.
Where did you first hear about the 77-inch LG C3 OLED TV?
I recall when the C3 OLEDs were first announced back at CES 2023. I had just gotten a pair of 42-inch C2 OLEDs on a hefty discount, with the aim of using them as jumbo-sized monitors for my wife and myself. I knew I was jumping into the OLED pool late for the C2, but I was fine with that. These TVs are usually pretty iterative with year-over-year changes, after all. And I got even more familiar with the C3, as I occasionally covered it for the site when it would go on sale. The C3 frequently saw notable discounts, and it’s common knowledge at this point that if you’re shopping for a TV, you should wait for a good deal (usually around Black Friday, the Super Bowl, and other similar sales events).
When did you buy it, and what went into the decision to buy one?
So, yeah, fast forward to the beginning of 2025, and I see a surprise weekend deal from Best Buy that really stood out. The massive 77-inch LG C3 OLED was just $1,500 (about $2,000 less than its original MSRP at launch). It was obvious Best Buy was clearing stock ahead of the Super Bowl, especially as C5s are just around the corner. But like my smaller C2 purchase, I didn’t mind being a late-adopter.
My wife and I were big TV-pilled a while back when we got a 70-inch Vizio in our living room over eight years ago, and a cheaper 75-inch LG in our basement shortly after. We had the wall space, so we went for it. But those were fairly inexpensive LED TVs. The “Costco specials,” as I call them.
It actually didn’t take much convincing of my wife that we spring for the C3. We knew it was a bit of a reckless on-a-whim purchase, but it was a damn fine deal and we felt like treating ourselves to the upgrade.
Where did you set it up in your home? And how difficult was it to install?
Once it arrived, we went through the rigamarole of taking down the old TV and hanging the C3 on a new wall mount that allows easy access to all its ports. Since our wall has a small cutout in the sheetrock to run cables through it, all hidden away, I fully prepared myself with lengthy HDMI cables and a handy switcher from Ugreen. My goal was to maximize the C3’s four HDMI 2.1 ports and their 4K / 120Hz picture as much as I could.
It was all a pain, and took up an entire evening into the late night. I’m sure a more handy person would have done it faster, but it worked out. It’s sturdy and it’s not crooked (at least not in any noticeable way) — which is a relief, since it’s a pretty prominent piece of our living room.
What do you like about it?
The picture quality, vivid colors, and punchy contrast of LG OLEDs is just so damn good. I brought our PS5 back out from our office, and the first time I played Astro Bot that large, looking that good — it put a smile on my face. I think it’s the perfect size for our wall, though my wife quips that we still could have gone bigger. LG makes these OLEDs as big as 82 inches, but that’s really pushing it.
Is there anything about it that you dislike, or that you think could be improved?
Like most modern TVs, the built-in speakers are terrible. But we thankfully still have a big Zvox sound bar that continues working just fine for us. Otherwise, I don’t really have any gripes. The LG menus and smart apps are decent enough — especially after I deleted a bunch of unneeded apps.
Who would you recommend it to?
If you can justify the expense of an OLED TV, just get the dang OLED. But keep in mind if you want a huge size you start paying exponentially more once you go above 65 inches. So if you want a giant TV of really nice quality, without spending a ton, have a lot of patience and get comfortable with buying a last- or last-last-gen model. Really, it’s fine.
