Hisense U7N (65U7NQTUK) review: A bright mid-tier model with plenty of features

The Hisense U7N is the Chinese brand’s latest mid-range TV and uses a Mini LED backlight and a panel bolstered by quantum dot technology.

It supports a full house of HDR formats, includes a 2.1-channel sound system with Dolby Atmos decoding and DTS Virtual:X processing, and its pair of HDMI 2.1 ports support frame rates of up to 144Hz. Hisense’s proprietary VIDAA U smart platform provides access to a comprehensive selection of streaming apps and there’s support for Freely, too.

That’s an impressive set of features for a mid-range 4K TV but the U7N finds itself sandwiched between the impressive E7N Pro and the excellent U8N, which I recently awarded a five-star rating. That puts this solid performer in a slightly tricky spot.

Hisense U7N review: Key specifications

Hisense U7N review: What you need to know

The Hisense U7N is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart LCD TV that comes in 55in, 65in and 75in screen sizes. It uses a 120Hz VA panel with a Mini LED backlight and quantum dot colour filters and supports the full gamut of HDR formats: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ.

Like the U8N, which sits above it in Hisense’s lineup, the U7N benefits from several picture enhancement technologies, including Hisense’s Hi-View Engine Pro intelligent processing and a Filmmaker Mode calibrated to display content as the creator intended.

The U7N runs version 7.6 of Hisense’s VIDAA U smart platform, which carries a wide range of streaming services and is one of a handful of TV operating systems to support Freely. You can read more about the UK’s latest live and on-demand TV service in our Freely hands-on review.

On the gaming front, the U7N can handle 4K resolution at 144Hz via its two HDMI 2.1 ports, supports ALLM and VRR, and incorporates Hisense’s Game Bar to provide quick access to key gaming features and settings.

Hisense U7N review: Price and competition

The U7N is a mid-tier Hisense model but its Mini LED backlight and advanced gaming features mean it will still set you back a fair chunk of cash. That said, it’s reasonably competitively priced given its specifications. At the time of writing, the 55in model was retailing for £999, the 65in option reviewed here cost £1,299 and the larger 75in model was priced at £1,599.

If you want to save some money, the lower-tier Hisense E7N PRO is worth considering. It doesn’t have a Mini LED backlight and is nowhere near as bright, but it includes most of the same features and is a great choice for gamers on a budget. The 55in version costs £699, the 65in model is priced at £899 and the 75in screen size retails for £1,299, so you’re effectively trading improved contrast control and brightness for more screen real estate. There’s also an enormous 85in screen size available, which will set you back £1,499.

A great alternative while stocks last is the TCL C845K, which offers even better performance and a virtually identical set of features at knock-down prices. You can buy the 55in version for £599, the 65in model will set you back £799, the 75in screen size costs £1,199 and the massive 85in model is ridiculously cheap at £1,299.

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Hisense U7N review: Design, connections and control

The Hisense U7N keeps things simple in the design department, with a thin black bezel around the screen and a black textured rear panel. The stand is composed of a pair of feet that angle inwards and are covered with a clip-on plate. There are also VESA fixings for wall mounting.

The overall aesthetics aren’t going to set the world alight, but the build quality is very good, with everything feeling solidly constructed. The 65in version I reviewed is deeper than a lot of the competition at 77mm and also pretty heavy at 20.8kg.

The connections are mostly side-facing, with four HDMI inputs (2 x HDMI 2.1 and 2 x HDMI 2.0), a USB 3.0 port, terrestrial and satellite tuners, a CI (common interface) slot, an AV adapter and a headphone jack. Facing rearwards is a USB 2.0 port, an optical digital output and an Ethernet port for a wired connection. There’s also dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and support for Apple AirPlay 2.

All four HDMI inputs support 4K/60Hz, HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, but only the two HDMI 2.1 inputs can handle 4K/144Hz, ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). One of the HDMI 2.1 inputs is also used for eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), meaning you can’t simultaneously connect two next-gen consoles and a soundbar.

Hisense has updated its remote to now include a solar panel on the front for recharging the batteries. While it may be more eco-friendly, this panel isn’t very attractive but probably makes more sense on the front than on the back like Samsung’s Solar Cell remote. Otherwise, it’s business as usual with the regular selection of control, navigation and direct access buttons.

The U7N has Alexa built-in, which unlocks voice controls, and you can control the TV using verbal commands courtesy of Hisense’s VIDAA Voice if you’re not a fan of Amazon’s virtual assistant.

Hisense U7N review: Smart TV platform

The Hisense U7N runs VIDAA U 7.6, which is the latest version of the brand’s proprietary smart platform. It remains a relatively straightforward operating system but is well-designed and intuitive to navigate. The user interface is based around the same full-page home screen and layers of tiles found on most of the competition’s systems, but the overall simplicity of the platform means there’s sufficient processing power to ensure navigation is responsive.

The centre of the home screen is dominated by a row of apps, with promotional material above, and a row of Live TV options below, followed by recommendations. There are icons for searches, inputs, settings and notifications down the left-hand side, while the system is customisable, with a comprehensive choice of video streaming apps that includes all the main services. There’s also Freely, which provides access to all of the UK TV catch-up services and integrates them into a well-designed EPG.

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Hisense U7N review: Image quality

The Hisense U7N’s combination of Mini LED backlight and quantum dot filters promises a level of performance above its price point. The VA panel produces excellent black levels, with a native contrast ratio of around 5,000:1, but as is typical for this LCD technology, the optimal viewing angles are fairly narrow.

Hisense claims over 300 zones in the Mini LED backlight, and I counted 360 zones (30 x 12), so top marks for marketing honesty. The screen uniformity is generally good, though I did see a few small patches that were lighter than others. However, the panel appeared free of dirty screen effect and the Mini LED backlight was effectively implemented.

While 360 zones sounds like a lot, it’s how these zones are used that matters and I was reasonably impressed by how the local dimming algorithm employed these zones to produce deeper blacks and brighter highlights. Importantly, the U7N managed to eliminate the blooming and haloing around bright objects without aggressively dimming the darker areas, meaning shadows were free of black crush.

The U7N ships in the Energy Saving picture mode, which might reduce power consumption but doesn’t do the image accuracy any favours. There’s a significant excess of blue energy in the greyscale, a gamma with a large dip in the middle, and oversaturated colours that result in average DeltaEs (errors): 12 for the greyscale and around 10 for the colours.

I found switching to the Filmmaker picture mode improved things in most areas but not all of them. The gamma tracked the target of 2.4 precisely, but the greyscale still had an average error of three, which is at the visible threshold. However, this didn’t adversely affect the colours, which hit their saturation targets and delivered an average error of only 1.75.

Hisense includes a full set of calibration controls, so I was keen to see if I could further improve the greyscale accuracy. Unfortunately, it was impossible to fully correct the error in red using the two- or 20-point white balance controls, but I was able to get the average down to 1.8, while the colours now had an average DeltaE of 1.1. So, if you’re willing to tinker, you can improve the U7N’s performance to a reasonable degree.

The Hi-View Engine Pro intelligent processing is generally good, effectively upscaling lower-resolution content, and making use of all those pixels in the 4K panel. The U7N also displayed native 4K content with plenty of crisp detail, while the processing minimised unwanted artefacts in heavily compressed streaming material or low-quality digital TV channels.

Motion is handled very nicely thanks to the TV’s ability to display frame rates up to 144Hz. I didn’t pick up on any blurring while watching sports, and 24p content was displayed without the introduction of additional judder.

Hisense U7N review: HDR performance

The Hisense U7N makes full use of its Mini LED backlight and delivers some seriously bright HDR images. I measured peaks of just under 1,400cd/m2 on a full-field pattern, and 700cd/m2 on a 10% window, which are impressive numbers for a mid-range TV.

The greyscale is also very accurate, with equal amounts of red, green and blue, apart from where the U7N’s tone mapping rolls off against the target PQ curve at around 80%. The tone mapping also tracks this curve precisely for most of the range, but there is a smidge of crush in the area just above black, and some increased brightness in the mid-range of the HDR signal.

Running through test patterns that support every HDR variant reveals the U7N performs better with certain content compared to other graded material. The footage in Dolby Vision appeared correct, as did HDR10 content graded at 1,000 nits. However, the same footage in HDR10+ showed some signs of clipping, as did the same content when graded at 4,000 and 10,000 nits.

The U7N covers the majority of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, reaching 95%, but the colours aren’t quite as accurate as I’d like; magenta shifts towards red and there was some undersaturation in blue. I wasn’t able to pick up on these errors while testing the TV in daily use, however, and found the U7N capable of delivering bright, visually engaging images with plenty of HDR pop.

Support for every version of HDR is very welcome, and the U7N has a built-in light sensor that enables it to adjust tone mapping based on ambient conditions when watching Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive content.

Hisense also offers a dynamic tone mapping feature that analyses the incoming HDR signal and then adjusts the image based on a combination of the static metadata and the analysis of the signal itself. I would recommend leaving it off, however, as it resulted in a loss of detail in specular highlights regardless of whether the content being viewed was graded at 1,000, 4,000 or 10,000 nits.

Once I started watching actual content I was impressed with the U7N’s HDR capabilities, especially when it came to content graded at 1,000 nits. Pixar’s Inside Out looked fantastic on a 4K disc, with plenty of fine detail in the image, some deep blacks, vibrant colours and vivid highlights that still retained definition even in the brightest areas.

The 4K Blu-ray of The Crow is a real test of a display’s ability to deliver deep blacks combined with well-defined shadow detail because it takes place almost entirely at night. The U7N did a fantastic job of revealing all the comic book action while retaining depth in the darkness, plus it handled the light reflecting off the rain-slicked streets without introducing any blooming.

I did notice some slight clipping in the brighter parts of Mad Max: Fury Road, which was graded at 4,000 nits, but given most content uses a 1,000 nit grade, that shouldn’t be a big issue.

To test the Hisense U7N we used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software.

Hisense U7N review: Gaming

The Hisense U7N makes a great choice for gamers because it includes all the latest cutting-edge features. There’s ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), and I measured input lag in Game mode at 13ms for 4K at 60Hz and a pleasingly low 5ms at 120Hz.

The U7N can handle high frame rates up to 4K/144Hz, which is great news for PC gamers with powerful setups, plus there’s support for both VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and AMD Freesync Premium. As a result, motion when gaming is incredibly smooth. The Hisense Game Bar, which pops up to provide information on the TV’s gaming status, came in handy on occasion, too.

Hisense U7N review: Sound quality

The size and depth of the Hisense U7N afford it a decent amount of space for speaker drivers and the TV manages to deliver pretty good sound quality considering the limitations of its 2.1-channel system.

The two down-firing speakers can output 10W apiece, while the subwoofer built into the rear of the set is capable of delivering a further 20W and the overall soundstage produced is fairly big. The U7N can go relatively loud before beginning to distort, and there’s some nice clarity to the presentation.

I found the subwoofer a little limited when trying to tackle film soundtracks with demanding low-frequency effects but that’s not uncommon for TV speaker systems. If you’re looking to create a more cinematic experience at home, I recommend purchasing a soundbar to bolster the U7N’s audio output. Hisense’s AX515H is a great fit for the TV and one of the cheapest 5.1.2-channel options on the market.

Hisense U7N review: Verdict

The Hisense U7N is a generally solid performer, with good picture and sound, along with an extensive choice of features. The Mini LED backlight has a decent number of local dimming zones, resulting in deep blacks and bright highlights, while the quantum dots render purer colours. The HDR brightness is also impressive, and able to handle bright objects against a black background without any unwanted blooming.

While the HDR is excellent, overzealous tone mapping does mean some content suffers from a loss of detail in the highlights. The gaming features are great, but the VA panel limits the viewing angles, and image accuracy could be a bit better. Otherwise, there’s little to complain about, with the only problem being that for an extra £200 you can buy the Hisense U8N and enjoy a serious step-up in dimming zones and HDR brightness.