In the current Smart TV market, there is a war going on for your eyeballs. As TVs get bigger and bigger, and picture quality more and more impressive, the competition for that highly coveted spot in your living room has become fierce.
A name you’ve probably heard before by now, one of the more recent contenders on the scene, is Kogan.com. Kogan.com has taken aim at the value range Smart TV market, and carved out a significant chunk for itself in a relatively short period of time.
These days Kogan.com devices (specifically televisions) are everywhere in Australia, and the brand has become a household name. But how much do you actually know about Kogan.com? And how are they able to sell impressive tech at such jaw-droppingly low prices? We take a look below.
What is Kogan.com?
Kogan.com is an Australian online retailer founded by Ruslan Kogan in 2006. It started as an electronics and gadgets e-commerce store, but has since expanded its product range to include additional categories such as home appliances, furniture, fashion, homewares, and more.
If you’re a savvy bargain hunter who has shopped around online in the past decade, Kogan.com is sure to be a staple in your search history. From humble beginnings in a Melbourne garage, Kogan.com has very quickly become one of the world’s largest consumer electronics retailers, and one of Australia's fastest-growing businesses.
A large part of Kogan.com’s meteoric rise has come from the retailer’s early adoption of an online-only retail strategy. In 2008, at a time when traditional outlets were beginning to stagnate, Ruslan Kogan was called a 'loudmouthed punk' for suggesting the future of retail was heading online: an idea that certainly doesn’t sound ridiculous today, and has proven to be a phenomenally successful business strategy for them since then.
Why are Kogan TVs so affordable?
With a laser-focus on the value and the budget-conscious shopper, Kogan.com has been able to build a reputation of delivering quality electronics at incredibly low prices. As a direct-to-consumer business, it’s able to cut out middleman costs and keep prices low. In addition to this, the brand’s status as a primarily online-only retailer cuts down on the costs of maintaining physical retail locations. Coupled with the fact that they also operate at a relatively large scale, they are able to leverage their buying power to negotiate better deals with their suppliers and manufacturers. Kogan.com has a great breakdown of these principles on its website here, as well as a TV buying guide here. They know they sell “the cheap TV”, and they are absolutely stoked to do so.
Televisions aren’t the luxury item they used to be. Technology moves so quickly, that the “world’s most powerful TV” doesn’t stay that way for long. “Good value”, on the other hand, is ever-evolving, and Kogan.com is uniquely positioned to cater to the more value-conscious shopper (which most of us rightfully are).
OLED/QLED/LCD, find out what it means to me
Even within the Kogan.com range of Smart TVs, there are a number of different popular technologies on the market being used to create high-resolution displays. While they all have different strengths and weaknesses, it can be hard to know which configurations will give you the best bang for your buck. LED (Light-Emitting Diode), and LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TVs offer good picture quality and affordability, while OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) TVs provide superior contrast, deeper blacks, and wider viewing angles.
In recent years, we’ve also seen the prominence of QLED (Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode) as they can achieve high peak brightness levels, making them suitable for bright rooms and HDR content. They also have the added benefit of being less susceptible to screen-burn compared to their OLED and LED counterparts. For avid gamers out there, QLED TVs are also able to provide much faster refresh rates than other displays, making them perfect for fast-paced action and gaming.
Kogan.com currently offers displays in ranges from 24-inch FHD LCDs, all the way up to 98-inch 8K QLEDs.
Best value resolution
In order to get the most value for money when it comes to a new TV, we recommend looking into the 50- to 65-inch 4K OLED range. These are massive screens with true 4K resolution, as well as HDR (High-Dynamic-Range) compatibility. If you’re shopping in this range, check out the Kogan 65" QLED 4K Smart Google TV - Q98J, which is currently available as part of the EOFY sales for just A$769 (was $1,499.99). Kogan.com is also offering free shopping on selected TVs from June 28-30 as part of the EOFY sales.
As the world’s biggest premium TV manufacturers barrel towards 8K resolution and beyond, we’re in a nice place at the moment with the affordability of large-scale 4K Smart TVs, and in many ways 65-inch is the new 50-inch, just as 50-inch replaced 42-inch a decade ago.
4K Smart TVs are so affordable these days (particularly those from Kogan.com), that it’s hard to justify purchasing FHD, unless you’re really looking for the budget option available. For example, right now Kogan.com is offering a Kogan 40" LED Full HD Smart Google TV - F98T for just A$269 (was $599.99).
Should you buy a Kogan TV?
While Kogan.com isn't trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to emergent technology, it is able to offer incredibly competitive prices on TVs of the same size and resolution as other brands. If you’re looking for a decent TV, with capable smarts and a good warranty, Kogan.com is more than good enough for the vast majority of punters, and tends to massively exceed expectations set by their low prices.
Seeing as we’re deep into the EOFY sales at the moment, it’s a perfect time to pick up a brand new Kogan TV, with free shipping being offered until the end of the month. To see the entire Kogan.com range available now, check out their full TV catalogue and buying guide here.
