Right now, if you walk into Costco — or browse its website — you'll find one of the most talked-about televisions in consumer electronics bundled with a protection plan that most retailers charge extra for. It's the kind of deal that doesn't show up often, and when it does, it tends to move fast. The LG OLED evo C5 is the centerpiece, a set that has earned top marks from nearly every major reviewer in the business, and Costco is pairing it with a five-year warranty at no additional cost. For anyone who has been sitting on the fence about pulling the trigger on a serious TV upgrade, this is about as clean an opportunity as the market is going to deliver in 2026.
The Deal: What Costco Is Actually Offering
Through June 21, 2026, shoppers can pick up an LG 65-inch Class OLED evo C5 series or a 55-inch model, and either will come with a free 5-year warranty. That's not a promotional gimmick or a rebate-after-the-fact situation — the protection is bundled directly into the purchase price from day one.
Costco has two LG OLED C5 smart TVs available: a 65-inch version for $1,399.99 and a 55-inch model for $1,199.99, and along with free shipping and technical support, there's also a 5-year Total Cover protection plan included. For a premium OLED display, those price points are legitimately competitive — especially when you factor in what it would normally cost to insure a television of this caliber.
For this plan, Costco covers the first two years, and then an Allstate 3-year protection plan kicks in for the remainder. In other words, the coverage is real and continuous — not a patchwork of loopholes. Considering this plan would potentially run you about $100 if purchased separately, this can add up to some rather nice savings when protecting your new, well-reviewed television. When you're dropping $1,200 to $1,400 on a TV, having five years of documented coverage against failure — at zero extra cost — is a meaningful add-on that changes the calculus of the purchase entirely.
Both televisions are also part of the Costco Direct Deal, which can save you hundreds on tech purchases. Costco has long had a reputation for aggressive electronics pricing through its Direct program, and the LG C5 bundle fits neatly into that tradition. Non-members may purchase but are subject to a 5% surcharge — so while membership isn't strictly required, those with a Costco card are getting the better end of things.
The LG C5 OLED: What You're Actually Buying
Strip away the deal mechanics and you're left with a television that has dominated best-of lists across every major tech publication for most of 2025. The LG C5 isn't an entry-level play or a budget compromise dressed up in OLED branding. It's a full-featured, mid-range flagship that builds on one of the most successful TV lineups in modern consumer electronics history.
A Legacy That Goes Back a Decade
LG has been releasing its C Series OLEDs since 2016, and they've become some of, if not the most popular, OLEDs on the market. That kind of sustained dominance in a category as competitive as premium televisions is not accidental. The C series has earned its reputation year after year by consistently threading the needle between performance and price — offering panel quality that previously existed only in flagship territory, at a price point that more buyers can actually reach.
The C5 is the successor to the C4, LG's most popular OLED range, offering most of the latest features except the brighter, more colorful OLED panel of the G series. That distinction matters. The G5 is LG's top-of-the-line panel — brighter, more color-saturated, and priced accordingly. The C5 gives up some brightness headroom at the very top of the performance envelope, but for the vast majority of living room environments, that gap is rarely noticeable in real-world use. If you're in the market for a versatile, high-performance OLED TV at a reasonable price, the LG C5 is one of 2025's most compelling options, striking an excellent balance of features, performance, and value while offering core OLED advantages without the premium price of the G5.
The Processor: Alpha 9 AI Gen 8
The C5 is powered by the α9 AI Processor Gen 8, offering enhanced AI picture and sound processing including AI Picture Pro, AI Super Upscaling, and AI Sound Pro with virtual 11.1.2-channel up-mix. The upscaling engine is particularly relevant for anyone who watches a lot of non-4K content — streaming libraries are still full of 1080p and even 720p material, and the difference between good and mediocre upscaling is immediately visible on a screen of this quality. LG's Gen 8 chip is among the better upscaling solutions currently in production, using AI analysis rather than simple pixel interpolation to reconstruct detail in lower-resolution source material.
The LG C5 comes with a host of new AI features and an Alpha 9 Gen 8 AI Processor that leads to a modest picture brightness boost over its predecessor. The word "modest" here is actually a positive signal in context — it means LG didn't sacrifice anything to achieve it. The C4 was already considered one of the best TVs of 2024, so any improvement in brightness without a corresponding regression in color accuracy or contrast is a genuine engineering win.
Picture Quality: The Case for OLED in 2026
Picture quality is superb on the LG C5, with vibrant, accurate color, strong contrast, and lifelike textures that all combine to rival what you see on the best OLED TVs. That assessment from TechRadar isn't marketing language — it's a description of what OLED technology does structurally that LCD cannot replicate. Each pixel on an OLED panel generates its own light and can switch itself completely off, which is why black levels on these displays look like actual black rather than the dark gray bleed that haunts even the best LED-backlit sets.
Both the LG OLED G5 and C5 are UL-verified for Perfect Black and Perfect Color, delivering true black levels that enhance perceived brightness and contrast, and with 100% Color Fidelity and 100% Color Volume certifications applied to LG's 2025 OLED TVs, they deliver accurate, vibrant colors on a reflection-free screen even in sunlight or dark environments. Those UL certifications are third-party validations, not self-reported marketing claims, which gives them meaningful weight.
The C5 supports Brightness Booster and Bright Room Ready, boosting visibility in well-lit environments while preserving OLED's perfect blacks and color accuracy. One of the traditional knocks against OLED panels has been that they struggle in bright rooms — strong ambient light can wash out a screen that isn't producing enough peak luminance. LG has been addressing that criticism methodically with each generation, and the C5's Bright Room Ready feature is the clearest evidence yet that the gap between OLED and LCD in well-lit spaces has narrowed considerably.
The LG C5 peaks at around 1,200 nits in HDR, with full-screen brightness near 200 nits. That peak brightness figure is competitive in the mid-range OLED segment, delivering punchy specular highlights in HDR content — think sunlight glinting off a car hood, or a fireworks display — while the full-screen figure reflects OLED's power consumption characteristics. It's a panel optimized for cinematic viewing, and it shows.
The HDR support lineup on the C5 is comprehensive. With 4K, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and four HDMI 2.1 ports among many other features, LG's C-series continues to push at the boundaries of its segment. Dolby Vision in particular remains the gold standard for HDR grading — it supports dynamic metadata that adjusts the display's rendering scene by scene, rather than applying a single set of parameters to the entire film. Most premium streaming titles on Netflix, Apple TV+, and Disney+ now include Dolby Vision tracks, and the C5 plays them natively.
The Gaming Argument: A Legitimate Console and PC TV
For anyone running a PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or a high-end gaming PC through their living room setup, the C5's gaming credentials are among the strongest in its price range. Looking at the specs of the 65-inch model, the display features a 0.1 ms response time and up to a 144 Hz refresh rate, which LG boasts makes it good for gaming. That 0.1 ms response time is essentially instantaneous — it means the panel itself is never the bottleneck in a competitive gaming scenario.
All four HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K at up to 144Hz, with G-Sync, FreeSync Premium and input lag around 10.8ms at 4K60, and OLED's instant pixel response and perfect blacks make it one of the best gaming TVs you can buy. Four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports is a meaningful spec — many competing sets shortchange buyers with only one or two ports capable of 4K/120Hz, forcing compromises when multiple devices are connected. Having all four ports at full spec means you can run a PS5, an Xbox Series X, a gaming PC, and a streaming device simultaneously without daisy-chaining through an AV receiver.
Gamers will especially love the ultra-low input lag, high refresh rate, VRR support, and multiple HDMI 2.1 ports — future-proofing for consoles and PC gaming. Variable Refresh Rate — which includes both G-Sync and FreeSync Premium on the C5 — eliminates screen tearing by synchronizing the display's refresh cycle to the GPU's output. In practice, this makes gameplay feel noticeably smoother, particularly in scenes where frame rates fluctuate, which is to say almost all of them.
Smart Platform: webOS 25
In 2025, LG's C5 comes preinstalled with webOS 25 and a redesigned, simplified remote control. WebOS has been one of the more consistently well-regarded smart TV operating systems on the market, and the 25 edition continues that trajectory. The AI-backed webOS 25 platform with conversational search, personalization wizard, and content optimization makes it intuitive and adaptable for everyday use. Conversational search in particular is a feature that sounds gimmicky until you use it — being able to ask the TV to find a specific movie across all your streaming services simultaneously, rather than checking Netflix, then Hulu, then Prime Video one at a time, is a genuine quality-of-life improvement. The C5 also comes with expanded 32GB memory for a faster TV digital experience and Wi-Fi 6E for smooth and fast streaming with low latency and ultra-fast speeds.
What the Critics Say: A Near-Universal Recommendation
Consumer Reports finds LG to be one of the most reliable TV brands on the market, which is notable because Consumer Reports bases its reliability ratings on real-world failure data rather than lab-controlled performance tests. A television that looks spectacular in a controlled environment but requires service visits within three years is a bad deal. LG's track record on that front is one of the reasons the warranty bundled into this Costco offer carries actual value — the chances of needing it are low, but the reassurance of having it anyway is worth something.
Consumer tech reviewer Rtings also has plenty of nice things to say about these models, including praise for their high contrast ratio and vibrant colors. Rtings is arguably the most methodologically rigorous consumer TV review operation in the business, running each set through dozens of standardized measurements across different lighting environments. When a television earns consistent praise from both Consumer Reports — which prioritizes reliability — and Rtings — which prioritizes raw performance — it's covering all the bases that matter to a serious buyer.
TechRadar's verdict is that the LG C5 continues to show the versatility and excellent performance expected from LG's mid-range OLED series, delivering excellent picture quality, superb gaming performance, and an intuitive smart TV platform with new AI features.
For the money, the C5 remains one of 2025's most compelling TVs and an easy recommendation for the vast majority of living rooms, and if you can catch it on a post-launch discount, it is close to a no-brainer. The Costco bundle — with its built-in warranty and sub-$1,400 price on the 65-inch — is exactly that kind of post-launch discount scenario. The C5 launched earlier in 2025 at higher retail prices, and Costco's current offer represents a meaningful step down from those initial figures.
C5 vs. The Competition: Where It Sits in the Market
The mid-range OLED segment in 2025 is the most competitive it has ever been. Samsung's QD-OLED panels have given LG genuine competition for the first time in years, and that competitive pressure has been unambiguously good for buyers. The Samsung S90F's QD-OLED panel has slightly richer HDR color and is a touch brighter in Game Mode, while the LG C5 has higher SDR brightness and adds Dolby Vision, and both rank among the best OLED TVs of 2025, so the choice comes down to whether you value color and game brightness or Dolby Vision and SDR punch.
For most mainstream buyers — those who watch a mix of streaming content, sports, and gaming — Dolby Vision compatibility tends to be the tiebreaker. The vast majority of premium streaming content is mastered in Dolby Vision, and the LG C5 handles it natively without any processing workarounds. That's a day-to-day advantage that adds up across hundreds of viewing hours.
The C5 also positions itself comfortably below LG's own G5 flagship without feeling like a compromise. For most buyers the LG C5 is one of the best-value OLED TVs of 2025, offering perfect blacks, class-leading gaming and Dolby Vision at a price well below LG's flagship G5, with its main trade-off being lower peak brightness than pricier sets, so it is at its best in dim to moderately lit rooms. For an entertainment room with good light control — a basement theater, a dedicated media room, or even a living room with manageable ambient light — the C5 delivers a viewing experience that is effectively indistinguishable from what the G5 offers in real-world conditions.
Size Options and Choosing the Right One
The LG C5 is available in 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, and 83-inch sizes, so it fits everything from a desk or bedroom to a large home theater. The Costco deal currently features the 55-inch and 65-inch models, which happen to be the two most popular sizes for primary living room setups in American homes. The 55-inch at $1,199.99 is the entry point for buyers who want a true OLED experience without committing to a large-format installation, while the 65-inch at $1,399.99 is the sweet spot for the majority of viewing rooms at typical couch-to-TV distances.
The general rule of thumb for screen size selection — sitting distance divided by 1.5 to 2 — puts the 65-inch panel in the ideal range for rooms where the couch sits between eight and ten feet from the wall. At that distance, a 65-inch 4K display sits comfortably within the eye's resolution threshold, meaning you're seeing all the detail the panel is capable of delivering without having to actively resolve individual pixels.
The Warranty Math: Why This Bundled Coverage Actually Matters
Television warranties are one of those product categories where the fine print often matters more than the headline figure, and the structure of Costco's C5 bundle deserves a closer look. For this plan, Costco covers the first two years, and then an Allstate 3-year protection plan kicks in for the remainder. The handoff between Costco's manufacturer-backed coverage and Allstate's extended protection plan is structured to be seamless — there's no gap in coverage and no claim filing process required to activate the second phase.
OLED panels, despite their performance advantages, have historically carried questions about long-term reliability — specifically around image retention and panel degradation over time. LG has made significant engineering strides in panel durability over the past several generations, and real-world data from C4 and earlier C-series owners suggests that panel lifespan concerns have been largely resolved for typical usage patterns. But having five years of documented third-party protection against failure is a meaningful hedge for anyone keeping a TV for the long haul.
Considering this plan would potentially run you about $100 if purchased separately, this can add up to some rather nice savings when protecting your new, well-reviewed television. In the broader context of a $1,400 purchase, a $100 savings on protection may sound modest — but it's the combination of that value, competitive pricing, free shipping, and technical support that makes the Costco bundle worth examining seriously rather than defaulting to a competing retailer offering the same TV at a similar price without the extras.
Timing and the Costco Window
The June 21, 2026 deadline is not a soft cutoff. Costco's promotional cycles are structured, and when a deal expires on a specific date, it typically expires — the price reverts, the warranty bundle disappears, or the promotional inventory sells out. For a television that has been drawing this level of attention from the deals community and mainstream tech press simultaneously, the remaining window is genuinely finite.
Summer is historically a less active period for major TV purchases — most buyers concentrate their shopping around the Super Bowl, Black Friday, and early spring model refreshes. That calendar reality means June deals like this one often face less competitive pressure from other buyers than they would in, say, November, giving shoppers slightly more breathing room to evaluate the purchase rather than feeling forced into a panic buy. But the June 21 hard deadline eliminates the luxury of indefinite deliberation.
For anyone who has been waiting for the right combination of price, features, and protection on an OLED upgrade, that window is open right now. The LG C5 is the right TV at the right moment, and Costco has built around it a purchasing package that adds genuine value without requiring any trade-offs. That combination is rarer than the deals landscape might suggest, and it is not the kind of thing that waits around forever.
