LG OLED B2 65 Review: OLED Excellence at a Reasonable Price

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Check out this LG OLED B2 65 review to see if you can buy an OLED panel without breaking the bank. The B2 series from LG is the manufacturer’s take on a budget OLED TV. In fact, LG B2 models are the most affordable OLED screens in the market, at least for now.

For this LG OLED B2 65 review, we take a closer look at the 65-inch model of the B2 series. Let’s find out how well the B2 series measures up to the expectation of OLED excellence.

LG OLED B2 65 review: Shoppers that would consider this TV

The LG B2 series may be an entry-level product, but it remains a high-performance OLED display. Gaming hobbyists will love B2 models for their support for console and PC games. The B2 displays offer features like variable refresh rate that covers both NVidia G-Sync and FreeSync. What’s more, low lag and Auto Low-Latency Mode allow for smooth, responsive gameplay.

OLED displays like the LG B2 are perfect for dark room viewing, a quality that movie buffs can appreciate. The B2 series also boasts ultra-wide viewing angles that allow each person in a large audience to have the best seat in the house. This makes B2 the ideal TV for people who like to host watch parties, movie nights, and sporting events.

Streaming enthusiasts will enjoy the excellent picture quality of the LG B2 series. There’s just one catch: The WebOS platform is clunky, cluttered, and missing some popular apps. Heavy users of streaming apps may consider using a streaming device with a different smart TV interface.

Lastly, the LG B2 series is an option for the shopper that has been thinking about an OLED TV. The relatively lower price of this OLED product line puts it within reach of many budgets. With that, we kick the figurative tires of the 65-inch LG B2 OLED display.

First looks

The top half of the LG B2 is as thin as your smartphone, and this design choice pays off. An ultra-thin profile is an opening sales pitch that makes shoppers more willing to splurge on a TV. The lower half of the B2 panel expands to accommodate an extension that houses the TV guts. This extension also holds two sets of ports, a pair of internal speakers, and a 300x200mm VESA wall-mount pattern.

The rear-facing ports would be hard to reach if you mount the TV. Running cables from these ports would also create an untidy wall-mount setup.

Placing the LG B2 OLED on an entertainment stand presents a mixed bag of benefits and drawbacks. On the plus side, you get easy access to rear-facing ports. You also get rock-solid support from the stylish, weighted pedestal stand that comes with the TV. However, an OLED display from the LG B2 series will sit low on your entertainment stand. This could be an issue if you need to place a soundbar in front of the TV.

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LG OLED B2 65 review: Ports and wireless connectivity

There are enough ports on the B2 panel for users with light to moderate requirements. For starters, you get two HDMI 2.0 and two HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K/120 content. HDMI 3 and 4 support the full 48GB bandwidth of the HDMI 2.1 standard.

A single pair of HDMI 2.1 ports is enough if you have one gaming console and a soundbar. However, a shopper with an Xbox, a PlayStation 5, and a soundbar may want a TV with four HDMI ports instead of two. Here’s the complete list of input/output ports:

• Two HDMI 2.0 ports (HDMI 1 and 2)
• A pair of HDMI 2.1 ports (where HDMI 3 doubles as the eARC port)
• Two USB ports
• Digital optical output
• RS 232 connector
• RF connector
• An Ethernet jack

A wireless adapter takes care of Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, which allows you to connect audio devices and share your phone screen with the TV.

Smart TV interface: WebOS on the LG B2 OLED

WebOS is a proprietary platform that LG uses on many of its TV product lines. The interface is nimble and responsive to user inputs. It takes less than four seconds to load the homepage of YouTube and similar apps. As a bonus, WebOS offers perks like multiple user profiles and free content, courtesy of LG. Now we move on to the downsides of the WebOS platform, starting with the layout.

Intrusive ads and sponsored content take up significant real estate on the WebOS home page. This design choice creates an inconvenient layout that forces you to wade through whatever content LG tries to push.

Apps like ESPN+ and DirectTV are missing from the LG content store, which could be a deal-breaker for certain shoppers. Some buyers also report glitches as they set up the TV and use it for the first time. These kinks should resolve with a firmware update. If you want OLED performance without WebOS, you could use your streaming device instead.

Hardware and performance

The LG B2 panel is a 120Hz OLED panel, meaning that each pixel is its backlight. This is the secret sauce behind the perfect contrast and precision dimming of OLED panels.

1.       Brightness, black levels, and contrast

Like most OLED panels, the B2 is dimmer than LED-backlit panels with similar specs. The B2 OLED panel reaches sustained peak brightness levels of less than 200 nits, both in SDR and HDR. It’s worth noting that bursts of pin-point light can reach peak brightness levels of 700 nits. 

For comparison, a similar LED backlit TV would reach sustained brightness levels of around 600 nits. This means the B2 series will deliver decent HDR content, even as it struggles with reflection handling in bright rooms.

Each pixel renders black color by going dark, rendering a black level virtually at zero nits. The result is a stark contrast that will blow you away every time. In practice, the impressive native contrast allows the B2 to weave images with fine detail that stands out, even in shadow. A powerful processor combines dark and light to render depth that could almost turn the screen into a 3D portal that invites you to jump in.

2.       Color accuracy

The 65-inch B2 OLED panel has a wide color gamut that covers more than 95 percent of any color space you could name. This expansive color palette provides plenty of material for the panel’s processor to work with. As a result, you get hues as pale or as saturated as those in the original, real-life image. 

It almost goes without saying that the LG B2 series renders accurate colors that are a near-perfect match to the digital signal of your content.

3.       Viewing angles

Colors remain vivid and accurate, even at an angle of 160 degrees from the center. Even better, images retain their brightness at all viewing angles. This makes the LG B2 the perfect TV for hosting a movie night or a major sporting event.

4.       Screen uniformity

There’s zero light blooming on a black screen because OLED panels lack the backlights that cause bleedthrough on LED screens. Gray uniformity is just as perfect, meaning there’s little chance of stray patches of brown appearing on a football pitch.

5.       Motion handling

Each pixel in the B2 panel can change color in less than five milliseconds, which is super-fast. This means minimal motion blur, no matter your content’s speed and frame rate. A car chase sequence from one of the “Fast and the Furious” movies looks breathtaking on this TV.

Low input lag is the icing on this cake, and an input lag of 12ms for 60fps content is a gamer’s dream. The 4K/120 content lag goes as low as seven milliseconds. This panel’s speed gives gamers a competitive edge over their opponents.

5.1 Gaming support

For starters, Variable refresh rate (VRR) eliminates the likelihood of screen tearing during console and PC gaming. You also get native support for NVidia GSync and FreeSync standards. The B2 panel also activates Low-Latency mode as soon as it detects an active gaming rig. Support for 4K/120 game titles doesn’t hurt, either.

Pros

• A 180-degree viewing angle 
• Wide color gamut that provides near-total coverage across different color space standards
• Accurate color reproduction
• Stark contrast, the kind that only OLED displays can deliver
• Two HDMI 2.1 ports that deliver smooth 4K/120 content
• Excellent motion handling with low input lag and low response time

Cons

• Dimmer than LED panels with similar specs
• Some apps (ESPN, DirectTV) are missing from WebOS
• You may need to do a software update to deal with a glitchy smart TV platform
• The wand-like Magic Remote from LG is not for everyone; some love it, and some absolutely hate it
• Serious gamers may want more than the two HDMI 2.1 ports that this TV offers
• The TV sits low on the entertainment stand, leaving little room for taller soundbars

LG OLED B2 65 review verdict: Perfect picture, great TV for all uses

This LG OLED B2 65 review finds a display with peerless picture quality on every count. The B2 OLED series excels in dark rooms and works well in brighter rooms. The only tradeoff you may feel is WebOS. Click here to learn more about this television.

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