Need to know
- Aldi is selling a 55-inch TV for $429 in its Special Buy sale on Saturday 12 October
- We've tested Aldi Bauhn TVs in our labs and they haven't performed particularly well
- Our experts test TVs, headphones and speakers from popular brands including LG, Sony, Bose, Samsung, Hisense, TCL and more
It's TV time again in the Aldi Special Buys sale: on Saturday 12 October, you can pick up a 55-inch HD TV for $429 alongside your groceries.
This is significantly cheaper than models with similar specifications from other brands.
The TV is from Aldi's house label Bauhn, and it's powered by LG's webOS. It comes pre-installed with streaming apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video.
At such a low price, it's certainly a tempting deal. But how does this Aldi bargain really rate for quality – and is it worth buying?
This is significantly cheaper than models with similar specifications from other brands
Aldi products pop up at short notice and usually sell out quickly, so by the time we finish testing these TVs, you often can't find them anymore. However the 55-inch model available this weekend is the same as the model we tested from the last sale, with the same Web OS and remote control.
We spoke to our in-house TV expert Denis Gallagher about the 55-inch Bauhn TV on sale this weekend, the patchy performance from Aldi TVs in the past, and what you need to know before queuing up outside Aldi at sunrise.
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Bauhn to be bad?
There's no denying that Aldi does some products really well. Cheap ski gear and grocery staples, for sure. Electronics, not so much.
Our experts have lab-tested a range of Bauhn TVs over recent years, and one thing's been consistent – they've all received pretty average scores, never scoring high enough to be recommended. Unfortunately, in this case, it seems you get what you pay for.
So far we haven't really seen a Bauhn TV that's performed especially well
Denis Gallagher, CHOICE tech expert
"So far we haven't really seen a Bauhn TV that's performed especially well," says Denis.
"Of course, that can change with new models – we've seen that with other brands – but despite the undeniably low prices, shoppers should be careful when considering these bargain models based on what we've seen."
Is Aldi's 55-inch Special Buy TV any good?
This Aldi Bauhn (with WebOS) ATV55UHDW-0124 model is a step up from other Bauhn TVs we've reviewed.
Our experts gave the Bauhn 55-inch TV from Aldi a CHOICE Expert Rating of 70% (this is our overall score).
While you may need to adjust the colour settings to get better 4K video performance, the HD and SD picture quality was OK.
The sound quality was also pretty good with good detail, although it lacked punch.
It may not have scored high enough to be recommended (we recommend TVs with a CHOICE Expert rating of more than 75% and at least 70% for SD and HD picture quality performance), our experts say this model is a good TV overall and delivers reasonable video quality for the price. Which is a step up from other models we've tested from Bauhn.
Read the full review of the Aldi Bauhn 55-inch LCD television.
Aldi's track record for TVs
LG style without the LG substance: The $329 Aldi Bauhn ATV40UHDW-0124.
The 75-inch Aldi TV we tested failed to impress.
"Previous test results have ranged from mediocre to poor, so there's a lot of room for improvement," says Denis.
Previous Special Buys have included a 65-inch Bauhn TV priced at $699 that boasted a decent range of features, but fell flat in our lab tests with a CHOICE Expert Rating of just 62% overall.
Then there was the $899 Bauhn ATV75UHDT-0423 75-inch TV that our experts rated 67% overall. They were unimpressed with its oversaturated 4K picture and tinny, cold-sounding speaker that lacked bass. HD and SD picture quality didn't blow us away either.
More recently, a $329 40-inch Bauhn TV using LG's WebOS operating system featured in our list of TVs to avoid buying due to its low Expert Rating of 61%.
Special Buys tips
- Stocks of all Special Buys are limited, and popular products can sell out quickly.
- You can check stock availability for Special Buys on the Aldi website.
- A limited quantity of products are also now available to buy online – with added delivery costs.
- If you're heading instore, make sure you check the weight and size of the item you're buying to make sure you can transport it home.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
