55″ LG OLED evo C3 Review – The Next Evolutionary Standard
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Appearance - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Features - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Materials - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Performance - 9/10
9/10
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User Experience - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Value - 7.5/10
7.5/10
Summary
The LG OLED evo C3 is a great addition to any home entertainment setup, whether it’s for the living room or your own bedroom. It might be a bit overkill if you don’t plan on playing games on it.
Overall
8.4/10Pros
+ Centered stand is had solid build and is space-friendly
+ Good colour accuracy after calibration
+ Excellent visuals, especially after some tweaking
+ Class-leading input lag among TVs, especially with ALLM
+ Magic Remote is still the best TV remote around
+ Good array of ports
+ Intuitive OSD UI, especially the gaming one
+ G-SYNC and FreeSync support
Cons
– Brightness needs improvement
– Subpar speakers
– Stand installation in included guide is confusing
– Pricey
Unboxing the LG OLED evo C3
Starting off the LG OLED evo C3 review with the unboxing, the packaging is certainly larger than your average display with the same size, noticeably thicker to be precise. This shouldn’t be a surprise as the stand is already built into the display due to its mechanical design. While it looks like your standard cardboard box, it is made with recyclable, eco-friendly materials as part of LG’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions for a greener tomorrow. Inside the box, you can find the following items:
- IR Blaster cable
- Magic Remote
- 2 x AA batteries
- Stand
- Screws
- Cable clips
- Plastic piece for rear cable management
- The LG OLED evo C3 TV itself
The power cable is non-detachable and it’s already attached to the rear of the TV.
Specifications
| Processor | Quad-core α9 Gen6 AI Processor 4K |
| Panel Size | Wide Screen 54.6″, 16:9, 95.8% screen-t0-body ratio |
| Panel Type | OLED evo |
| True Resolution | 3840 x 2160 |
| Display Surface | Anti-reflective coating, glossy finish |
| Colour Support | 1.07B |
| Curvature | None |
| Pixel Pitch | 0.315 mm |
| Brightness | 270 cd/m2 800 cd/m2 (HDR) |
| Contrast | Infinite |
| Viewing Angle (CR≧10) | 178°(H) / 178°(V) |
| Response Time | 0.1 to 10ms |
| HDR Support | HLG, Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10 Pro |
| Refresh Rate | 120Hz |
| Low Blue Light | Yes |
| HDCP Support | Yes |
| Viewing Modes | Vivid, Standard, Eco, Cinema, Sports, Game, Filmmaker, (ISF) Expert (Bright Room), (ISF) Expert (Dark Room) |
| Adaptive Refresh Rate | Yes, FreeSync and G-SYNC compatible |
| Signal Input | 4 x HDMI 2.1 3 x USB 2.0 1 x RJ45 1 x Satellite In 1 x Antenna (RF) 1 x S/PDIF 1 x IR Out 1 x CI+ 2.0 |
| Audio | 2 x 10W AI Sound Pro, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital, LG Sound Sync, WiSA Ready |
| Built-in OS | Yes, webOS Smart TV |
| Power | 0.5W (standby) 81W (average) 143W (max) |
| Mechanical Design | Metal stand (detachable, separate) |
| Dimensions | 1222 x 757 x 231 mm, 16 kg |
Performance
As part of the LG OLED evo C3 review process, we measured the brightness at 100% using the Standard picture mode and found the figure to be 272.8cd/m2. It’s certainly on the dimmer side but thanks to the anti-reflective coating, you don’t have to be sitting in a dark room to make full use of it. If you’re using the TV in a room that very bright, you might want to consider the LG’s G3 TVs instead, which are essentially the same but with a brighter panel.
Running the display uniformity test with a 3×3 grid, the LG OLED evo C3 showed excellent performance, likely the most even we’ve seen among all the displays we’ve reviewed thus far. The majority passed with recommended tolerance, with only three squares in the upper region passing with nominal tolerance. In simple terms, this means that whatever you view with the TV, it will be evenly lit.
Colour Accuracy
| Standard | Gaming | Vivid | Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL | |
| Whitepoint | 11400K | 10600K | 13000K | 11500K |
| Average ΔE*00 | 2.97 | 1.47 | 3.85 | 0.41 |
| Maximum ΔE*00 | 7.66 | 4.86 | 7.37 | 1.53 |
Arguably the most important part of the LG OLED evo C3 review process, colour accuracy. By default, the colour accuracy abysmal across the three different Picture Modes used, though I’m surprised that the Gaming mode had noticeably better results in comparison. This is likely due to much lesser picture processing happening in this mode. After calibrating it using SpyderX and DisplayCAL, we see significant improvements in average and maximum Delta-E figures. This means that it can show colours accurately, just that it’s likely not doing so from default to show visuals in a more pleasant way given its nature as a TV.
Gamut
| Gamut | Standard | Gaming | Vivid | Standard mode, calibration with DisplayCAL | |
| sRGB | Coverage | 95.6% | 93.1% | 95.8% | 96.5% |
| Volume | 127.1% | 120% | 127.3% | 128.5% | |
| Adobe RGB | Coverage | 75.6% | 72.8% | 75.9% | 77.4% |
| Volume | 87.6% | 85.8% | 87.8% | 89.9% | |
| DCI-P3 | Coverage | 87.8% | 87.5% | 88% | 88.6% |
| Volume | 90% | 89.8% | 90.1% | 90.7% | |
For the gamut coverage and volume, there were slight improvements after calibration. Overall with 96% sRGB, 77% Adobe RGB, and 88% DCI-P3, you do get a wide range of colours but it’s not as wide compared to most other TVs today so some nuances might be lacking. With that being said however, you will not feel like you’re missing out on anything given its intended use; home entertainment.
The Good
There are a good number of reasons to consider getting the LG OLED evo C3. For starters, the stand is built like a tank, and it’s centered, making it easier put in households even if you opt for the bigger sizes as you don’t need a table that’s just as wide as the TV. It’s also easy to install, which is always a plus. However, we do have on complaint about it but we will leave it for the next section.
Next up, the visuals look amazing on the TV. You can get some really vivid, punchy colours with good dynamic range, and the HDR support further adds to its value. If you’re looking to watch movies and play games on it, it’s capable of giving you an excellent cinematic experience throughout, especially if it’s playing in 4K resolution. Upscaling from Full HD is still pretty amazing, though you may notice some small artifacts / pixelation in high speed movement but that doesn’t happen often.
As for speed, the LG OLED evo C3 is by far the best TV in terms of response time / input lag, especially when you have ALLM (automatic low latency mode) enabled and set the Picture Mode to Game Optimiser (though this mode will make the colours look noticeably bland). To me, it feels like it responds faster than the LG OLED Flex, and it is definitely class-leading when it comes to TVs but if this is what’s most important to you in a display, you would be better off with a gaming-focused monitor instead as it’s still slower, albeit slightly, compared to your standard 120Hz / 144Hz monitors.
The Magic Remote is, and has been for a while, the best TV remote you can ever get. With just two AA batteries, you can navigate through the TV’s UI using the directional buttons, the scroll wheel in the center, or motion like a magic wand. The latter might just sound like a gimmick but once you’re used to the sensitivity of the movement, it’s so easy to use as you can just point to specific parts of UI and go directly there. You can expand its functionality with the included IR Blaster cable, which lets you use it as a universal remote to control certain devices connected via HDMI, like TV set top boxes. However, its functions may be limited depending on the connected device. In the future, I hope they have a variant of this that is rechargeable via USB-C.
Speaking of the UI, you have your standard UI, which is visually different from the one found in the LG OLED Flex but still the same functionally. When you enable Game Optimiser, there is a specific gaming-focused UI that activates instead. This will give you a rundown of the settings you have enabled so if you needed to change something, you’ll know what to look for. It may seem small but it was useful enough to help me confirm my suspicions as to why Overwatch 2 was running rather choppy at first as it immediately lets me know that it’s stuck on 60Hz refresh rate.
Lastly, you get a good array of ports with the LG OLED evo C3. You have a total of four HDMI 2.1 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, an Antenna In port, and RS232 as well if you still use this. For audio, you have S/PDIF, 3.5mm audio out, and ARC / eARC support via the second HDMI port. Furthermore, you can wireless connect to it as well so you can effortless stream from music, movies and games from your smartphones even, with no issues on Apple products since it has AirPlay 2 support. This means you can connect it to a wide variety of devices with ease, which is a major plus in this heavily digital lifestyle era.
The Bad
As good as the LG OLED evo C3 is, it does have its fair share of drawbacks. For starters, the built-in speakers are not good. It sounds hollow, tinny, and lacking any semblance of depth with a narrow soundstage. The only good thing it has going for it is volume, so if you want a truly immersive cinematic / gaming experience, you will need to invest in either a speaker system, soundbar, or a good pair of headphones. I would treat it as a backup option, to only use when I really have no other choice.
Secondly, while the installation of the stand is easy, the included guide for it makes it seem very confusing. Essentially, you just need to insert a metal plate in the center of the stand, screw it to the back of the TV and you’re good to go but the guide looks like it will be an arduous process. This isn’t really an issue in this day and age as you can easily look up YouTube for a much clearer idea as even LG has an official video dedicated to it.
Lastly, and this is where you really need to consider your needs in a display, is the price. At RM10,999, it can be pretty hard to swallow, especially considering you can get the older C2 for lesser, and spending a bit more will get you the LG OLED Flex. If you’re coming from an old TV, or no TV at worst, this is definitely worth the jump if you enjoy movies and plan on playing current generation games either on PC or consoles like the PS5 / Xbox Series X. If you’re already using the C2, I would recommend waiting for a newer version to launch unless you need something similar but brighter, like LG’s G3 OLED TVs.
LG OLED evo C3 Verdict
The LG OLED evo C3 is a great addition to any home entertainment setup, whether it’s for the living room or your own bedroom. It might be a bit overkill if you don’t plan on playing games on it given its gaming-centric features but if you do, you’ll be happy with this for several years at least. Personally, I believe this will be the standard bearer for TVs moving forward, especially with current gen consoles pushing for 120Hz refresh rate already, and I doubt we’d see a significant bump up so soon.
At the end of our 55″ LG OLED evo C3 review, we award this TV with our Gold Pokdeward.
Big thanks to LG Malaysia for sending us this TV for the purpose of this review.
