Best HDMI Cable for Your At-Home Entertainment Needs

HDMI cables make at-home entertainment a much better—and prettier—experience. With a single HDMI cable, you can get a high-definition of video and sound for your favorite video games and movies while eliminating cord overflow behind your TV or monitor.

Depending on what you're using it for, you can find HDMI cables optimized for different scenarios such as gaming, surround sound, and video streaming on different devices. HDMI cords are pretty ubiquitous at this point, so you'll need one to connect to most displays in your home or office.

We rounded up the best, most reliable options of varying speeds, lengths, and prices to make your entertainment center set-up painless. Here are our picks.

For more great tools to optimize your electronics, check out our picks for the best smart home tech, power strips, and portable power stations.

The Best HDMI Cables

What to Consider

When it comes to choosing the right HDMI cable for your needs, there are more factors than you might realize.

Speed

Speed is the most important factor to consider. HDMI cable speeds are standard, high-speed, premium high-speed, and ultra high-speed.

Standard HDMI cables work for basic HD TV and put out images up to 1080p. Many modern TVs, however, support 4K, so you may want to upgrade.

High-speed HDMI cables are great if you're new to 4K or have a small 4K TV. They support 4K with up to 24 frames per second. Premium high-speed HDMI cables are more expansive, supporting 4K content at any frame rate. If you're gaming or watching sports games filmed at 60 frames per second, a premium high-speed cable is your best bet.

Ultra high-speed HDMI cables aren't totally necessary at the moment because 8K content is so few and far between, but these cables are future-proofed and backwards compatible with 4K imagery. If you have an 8K TV with 8K content to watch on it, go for this pick. Otherwise, it's probably overkill.

Length

Once you know your speed, you’ll have to make sure you pick the proper length, based on your setup. HDMIs can range anywhere from a couple feet to over 100, so there are plenty of options.

Rating

Make sure your HDMI is rated for the type of installation you’re doing. If you’re planning to run your cable through a wall, you’ll need to look for a CL3 rating.

How We Selected

We’ve selected the following cables and products based on a number of criteria. First, we’ve broken the products down into different use categories, that way you can simply select your cable based on what you’re using it for. We then compared performance, durability, and affordability to provide you with the best option in each category. Each of our selections have at least four stars on Amazon and have also received high ratings from various trustworthy publications, like CNET and Digital Trends.