Hisense U8K Review: A Great Screen for Well-Lit Rooms

With nice energy comes nice accountability. That’s simply one of many classes I discovered from Spider-Man through the years, or, on this case, his varied uncle Bens. I believe any Ben Parker could be pleased with Hisense’s newest mannequin within the U8 TV collection, the U8K (65U8K), which leverages its highly effective mini-LED backlighting system for nuclear-level brightness alongside responsibly tempered native dimming management for glorious distinction and black ranges. The result’s dazzling, flagship-like efficiency at a mid-tier worth.

Like its predecessor, the U8H (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the U8K additionally sports activities an intuitive, if barely sluggish, Google TV interface for simplified navigation, and affords fast setup and a comparatively fashionable design.

Whereas not with out flaws, this reasonably priced TV pushes the bounds at each ends of the image spectrum for a panoramic expertise that was unprecedented in its class just some years again. Frankly, there aren’t many better-performing bright-room TVs on any budget.

A Strong Bundle

When you’ve hoisted the surprisingly heavy U8K show from the field (mine was a 65-inch unit, nevertheless it is available in 55 and 75-inch sizes too), the TV is a breeze to arrange. A pair of interchangeable ft snap on with just some screws in your alternative of broad or slim stances, to suit quite a lot of TV consoles. The TV’s slim charcoal bezels present a snazzy total look, although the high-standing, extra-long ft do give off a slight duck-on-skates vibe. I respect their versatility, however the U8K appears to be like extra premium in the event you mount it.

The Google TV sensible interface can also be graciously easy, providing a number of sensible options like Google Assistant voice management and help for Apple Homekit and AirPlay 2, and Amazon Alexa. Utilizing the Google Dwelling app ought to have you ever up and working in minutes, particularly in the event you’ve used Google TV up to now. I like options like computerized login for apps utilizing your Google historical past and the flexibility to make use of Google Photograph albums as screensavers.

Having spent a variety of time lately with the Google TV OS on different TV fashions from Sony and TCL, I used to be considerably stunned to search out Hisense’s model extra sluggish and jerky at instances, even after a few firmware updates over the primary few days with the TV. Nonetheless, it’s not a significant detriment, and I’m hopeful that Hisense will proceed to refine its implementation as time goes on—that is an early mannequin of the U8K in spite of everything.

In terms of different options, the TV is as loaded as you’d anticipate at this worth. You’ll get the complete fleet of HDR (Excessive Dynamic Vary) codecs for top brightness and voluminous coloration, together with HDR10+, HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma), and Dolby Imaginative and prescient. The latter contains Dolby Imaginative and prescient IQ, designed to regulate the distinction and brightness based mostly in your room’s ambient mild. I turned these settings off for my evaluate to be able to get a baseline for the TV’s total efficiency, nevertheless it’s there in the event you want it.

I discovered the necessity to tweak a number of extra settings than traditional as I broke within the U8K over every week or so. If you wish to watch older content material on funky broadcast channels like MeTV, as an example, you’ll want to enter the settings and dig up the Display screen mode below Image to vary from the default Vast to Auto. In any other case, your favourite Magnum P. I. eps will look all squashed and warped. On the opposite finish, if you wish to join newer 4K content material sources to HDMI inputs 1 and a couple of, you’ll need to click on the Menu button and alter the settings from Normal, designed for older enter sources, to Enhanced to get the complete bandwidth for 4K HDR.