LG Electronics wants to help you snag one of its glitzy new OLED televisions without putting down a huge amount of cash upfront. Instead, you’ll be able to get a G5 or C5 OLED TV shipped directly to your living room via new subscription service, where you essentially rent it from the company for a monthly fee.
To do this, LG is partnering with the subscription platform Raylo, which is offering consumers a choice of fixed, 12-, 24- and 36-month options, with lower prices for those willing to sign up for longer. They’re being offered alongside rolling monthly plans, similar to streaming services, for those who don’t want to make such a long commitment, or perhaps as a way to see if the TV is to your liking before you sign up for a longer stretch.
The first products available under LG’s Flex program are the 2025 G5, C5 and B5 OLED TVs, as well as the QNED90 and QNED80 Mini-LED TVs and several UltraGear OLED monitors and soundbars, with prices ranging from £15 up to £120 per month.
The prices are cheaper than existing payment plans such as “buy now, pay later” agreements, but the difference is that you’ll never actually own the TV when you go through LG Flex. So once the contract ends, the TV will have to be returned to the company, although users do have the option to upgrade to a newer model once it expires. However, customers will have to pay £50 for the company to come and swap out the old TV for the newer one.
LG’;s Christina Sangmi Lee said the Flex program is all about giving consumers more choice in how they can enjoy the company’s latest products. “By partnering with Raylo, we’re able to offer a subscription experience that meets the expectations of today’s customers,” she said. “It’s a more flexible and affordable way to access to LG’s latest tech.”
To illustrate the difference, we can look at the different options. On LG’s website, it currently sells the stand-mounted 65-inch version of the G5 OLED TV for £1,999. Consumers have the option to purchase it through Klarna’s BNPL plan over 3, 6, 12 or 24 months. The cheapest option is the interest-free three-month installment plan, which costs £666.33 per month, which adds up to £1,998.99 in total. Alternatively, the 24-month plan will cost £103.61 per month for the duration of the contract. This means your TV payment is eating up a lot less of your monthly budget, but the downside is you’ll ultimately be paying just over £2,500 once you complete all of the payments, which is quite a premium.
That’s why LG thinks Flex may have some appeal. It gives consumers a way to rent the same TV for as little as £61.90 per month, if you sign up for the longest, three-year rental agreement.
LG Flex’s most expensive product is the 83-inch C5 OLED TV, which is currently priced at £3,999 if you want to buy it outright. With Flex, it can be rented for £123.90 per month. Alternatively, if you’d rather go with Mini-LED, there’s the 96-inch QNED9M with Zero Connect box that starts at £78.35 per month. To see the full range of options, check out the LG Flex website.
“Electronics brands are increasingly moving beyond one-time sales and toward subscription-first models,” said Raylo CEO Karl Gilbert. “Our partnership with LG marks a key step in that transition, delivering clear value for both electronics brands and customers.”
It remains to be seen if consumers will appreciate the easier access offered by the LG Flex program. We feel a bit awkward about describing these plans as being “affordable,” because at the end of the day, when your contract expires, you’ll be left empty handed. But it does at least give people who can’t afford the existing installment plans a way to get their hands on one of the best TVs money can buy – or rent.
But then again, if you’re not really purchasing the product, the reality is you’re paying a “hire” price for it, because you won’t be able to sell it or give it away to someone once the contract is up.
Maybe Vincent Teoh's review of the LG G5 can help you to decide if the rental price is worthwhile:
