Hisense U8N (65U8NQTUK) review: A stellar Mini LED TV

The Hisense U8N is the Chinese brand’s new flagship ULED 4K TV and combines a Mini LED Pro backlight with quantum dot technology and the brand’s Hi-View Pro picture engine.

There’s support for every version of HDR, including Dolby Vision, and a 2.1.2-channel sound system that decodes Dolby Atmos. There’s also support for a great selection of current-gen gaming features, while several other cutting-edge features will doubtless prove popular. But how does this TV measure up to the competition? Read on to find out.

Hisense U8N review: Key specifications

Hisense U8N review: What you need to know

The Hisense U8N is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart LCD TV that comes in 65in and 75in screen sizes. It uses a 120Hz VA panel with a Mini LED Pro backlight and quantum dot colour filters and supports HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive and Dolby Vision IQ. Audio is handled by a 2.1.2-channel sound system with Dolby Atmos decoding and DTS Virtual:X processing.

Picture features include Hisense’s AI-enhanced Hi View Pro processing, a Filmmaker Mode and extensive calibration controls. On the smart platform front, the U8N runs the latest version of VIDAA U, which boasts a comprehensive selection of content streaming apps alongside the UK’s newest free TV service, Freely.

As well as supporting 4K/144Hz, ALLM and VRR, the U8N’s credentials as a gaming TV are strengthened by a Game Bar that allows a notable degree of user customisation.

Hisense U8N review: Price and competition

At the time of writing, the Hisense U8N is competitively priced for a higher-tier model in the brand’s lineup. You can buy the 65in version reviewed here for £1,499, while the 75in screen size costs a very reasonable £1,999.

If you want to save some money, the mid-tier Hisense U7N is a great choice. It also uses a Mini LED backlight, and while not quite as bright, it offers most of the same features, including extensive gaming support. The 55in version costs £999, the 65in model is priced at £1,299, while the 75in screen size retails for £1,599.

The obvious competitor is the new TCL C855K, which delivers a similarly impressive performance, a virtually identical set of features, plus two larger screen sizes, all at very appealing prices. You can buy the 65in model for £1,299, the 75in screen size costs £1,699, the 85in option is a very reasonable £2,299, while the enormous 98in model will set you back £3,999.

Hisense U8N review: Design, connections and control

The Hisense U8N sports a fairly standard design for a modern TV, with a thin black bezel around the screen and a slightly wider section along the bottom where the forward-facing speakers are housed. The rear is finished in textured black plastic. As is usually the case with Hisense, the overall build quality is excellent, with the TV feeling very solid and extremely well put together.

The panel sits on a metal foot plate that makes installing it on narrower surfaces easy and there are fixings for a VESA bracket at the rear for wall mounting. The U8N is fairly deep for a modern TV at 57mm, but that affords space for more substantial speakers. The only downside to the impressive build quality is the weight, with the 65in model I reviewed tipping the scales at 30.7kg.

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. A USB 2.0 port, optical digital output and an Ethernet port face rearwards. There’s also dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and AirPlay 2.

While this isn’t specific to Hisense, only the two HDMI 2.1 inputs can handle 4K/144Hz, ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), while the other two HDMI 2.0 inputs are restricted to 4K/60Hz. Since one of the HDMI 2.1 inputs also supports eARC, you can’t simultaneously connect two next-gen consoles and a soundbar, which some might find annoying.

The remote control has been redesigned this year and now includes a solar panel on the front for recharging the batteries. This makes it a lot more eco-friendly but it makes the zapper much longer and thus less well-balanced. However, the layout is good, offering the usual operation and navigation controls, plus direct access buttons.

The U8N has Amazon Alexa built-in and Hisense also offers its own VIDAA Voice as an alternative method of giving verbal commands.

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Hisense U8N review: Smart TV platform

The Hisense U8N runs version 7.6 of the brand’s proprietary VIDAA U smart platform, which while relatively simple compared to some, remains well-designed and intuitive to use. The user interface is sensibly laid out with an easy-to-understand layered design, through which you simply navigate up, down and across. The system’s relative simplicity, combined with a quad-core processor ensures sufficient processing power for an enjoyably responsive overall experience.

The home screen has apps along the centre with promotional content above and rows of content based on the available services and recommendations below. Down the left-hand side are icons for searches, inputs and settings, plus there’s a comprehensive choice of streaming services. There’s also Freely, which means you can access all the UK TV catch-up services and these apps are all seamlessly integrated into the electronic programme guide.

Hisense U8N review: Image quality

The Hisense U8N is the brand’s high-end model, and key to this status is its Mini LED Pro backlight, which according to Hisense uses 1,600 independent dimming zones. I counted 1,520 (40 x 38), which means Hisense is commendably honest in its marketing. The same goes for the VA panel’s native contrast, with Hisense claiming 4,000:1 while I measured it at an even better 5,000:1.

The combination of the VA panel and local dimming delivers excellent black levels, with all those zones proving very effective at eliminating blooming around bright objects without aggressively dimming, leaving shadows free of black crush. The only downside is the usual problem with VA panels – a narrow optimal viewing angle before contrast begins to drop off.

The U8N ships in the Energy Saving picture mode, but as is often the case, this setting delivers an inaccurate picture compared to the industry standards. There’s a significant excess of blue energy in the greyscale, a gamma with huge fluctuations and oversaturated colours that result in average DeltaEs (errors) of around 11 for the greyscale and nine for the colours.

Switching to the Filmmaker mode immediately improves matters; however, not as much as I’d like because the three primary colours don’t match each other, and the gamma tracks above the target of 2.4. As a result, the average greyscale error is 4.6, which is above the visible threshold of three. Thankfully the colours are close to their saturation targets, producing an average DeltaE of 2.8.

The U8N includes calibration control that proved effective at increasing the overall accuracy. I was quickly able to bring all the primary colours in line with each other and get the gamma tracking the target more closely. The result was an average error of only 1.1, and this improved greyscale accuracy also resulted in tighter colour saturations with average DeltaEs of only 1.2.

The screen uniformity on the review sample was generally good, with no obvious clouding and only a small amount of DSE (dirty screen effect). The dimmable zones do an excellent job of delivering deep blacks while also being able to handle bright objects, without introducing the haloing or blooming seen on less capable local dimming TVs.

I often say it’s not how many zones you have but what you do with them that counts. I’ve seen plenty of TVs with fewer zones that still delivered excellent blacks and bright highlights without introducing any annoying glowing around objects. The U8N was able to do both and cleanly rendered the stars against the cosmos during space scenes in Gravity.

The video upscaling and processing are equally impressive; the AI-enhanced Hi View Pro picture processing engine upscaled lower-resolution content in a highly effective manner. The U8N also displays native 4K content with plenty of crisp detail, while the processing minimises unwanted artefacts in heavily compressed streaming material or low-quality digital TV channels.

The overall motion handling is also excellent, with the panel’s ability to handle frame rates up to 144Hz undoubtedly playing an important role. There’s no motion blurring in fast-paced sports action and the U8N handles 24p content without introducing additional judder.

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Hisense U8N review: HDR performance

The Hisense U8N’s Mini LED Pro backlight doesn’t just offer thousands of dimmable zones for improved local dimming, it also delivers a significant increase in peak luminance. Hisense is conservative in its marketing, claiming 3,000 nits on a 10% window and 700 nits on a full field pattern. I measured the 65in U8N at an incredibly bright 3,500cd/m2 and 900cd/m2.

Of course, having all this brightness is pointless if the HDR image accuracy is poor, and here the U8N impresses with a greyscale composed of equal amounts of red, green and blue. The tone mapping matches the PQ curve closely across the range, which means the HDR image looks good with content graded at 1,000 nits, ensuring no crushed blacks or clipped highlights.

However, this tone mapping accuracy isn’t the case with 4,000 and 10,000 nits graded material, and running through my various tests revealed differences in performance. While Dolby Vision looks excellent, as did HDR10 content graded at 1,000 nits, the same footage in HDR10+ content does show some signs of clipping in highlights, as does content graded at 4,000 and 10,000 nits.

The use of quantum dots allows the U8N to cover 97% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and while generally good, some colours could be more accurate, with magenta skewing towards blue, and red being undersaturated. These minor errors aren’t apparent with actual viewing material, and in general, this TV delivers vibrant and saturated colours that retain plenty of visual impact.

The U8N supports every version of HDR: HDR10, HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma), HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Thanks to Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive, the tone mapping can also be adjusted based on the measurements from a light meter, allowing the HDR to appear brighter overall when watching in ambient light.

The U8N strengths and weaknesses are evident when watching actual HDR content, especially content graded at 4,000 nits and above. With material created at 1,000 nits, the images appear detailed and nicely rendered with deep blacks, well-defined shadows, bright highlights free of clipping (loss of detail) and colours that pop off the screen.

The backlight’s prowess combined with the effective local dimming allows the U8N to bring the deserts of Arrakis to life in Dune without bleaching the sun-scorched desert vistas, while also teasing out all the details in darker sequences. The scenes in lunar shadow in First Man are a real test of a display’s abilities and here the Hisense proves more than capable of handling them.

However, pop on Aquaman and the scene where our titular hero is chained up in Atlantis might appear bright but you quickly realise there’s a bit of clipping affecting the specular highlights. It doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment, and the bright and colourful images are often a feast for the eyes, but Hisense should look to tame the U8N’s overzealous tone mapping.

To test the Hisense U8N we used Portrait Displays Calman colour calibration software.

Hisense U8N review: Gaming

The Hisense U8N is as impressive a TV for gamers as it is for film fans, with support for all the latest console and PC features. The inclusion of HDMI 2.1 inputs means the Hisense has ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), allowing it to detect a games console and instantly switch to the low latency mode. Hisense claims a lag of less than 10ms, and although I measured 4K/60Hz at 13ms, this drops to 5ms with higher frame rates like 120Hz. So pleasingly honest once again.

In addition to the fast response times, the U8N also supports frame rates up to 4K/144Hz, VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and AMD Freesync Premium. As a result, PC and console gamers can enjoy an incredibly smooth and responsive gaming experience. A pop-up Game Bar provides information on the TV’s gaming status, such as ALLM, VRR, frame rate and HDR. Once you add in the super-bright HDR and vibrant colours, you’ve got a highly immersive gaming experience.

Hisense U8N review: Sound quality

The Hisense U8N is surprisingly well-endowed in the audio department thanks to a 2.1.2-channel sound system driven by a serious amount of amplification. The two forward-firing speakers each have 15W of juice, there’s 20W powering the subwoofer built into the rear and 5W for each of the two upfiring drivers, which bounce sounds off the ceiling to create the overhead effects.

The overall sound quality is excellent for a modern TV, with all that built-in grunt providing enough power to drive the speakers without distorting or losing their composure. The width of the 65in screen allows for good stereo separation, while the up-firing drivers add height to Dolby Atmos soundtracks or when using the DTS Virtual:X processing to make regular tracks more immersive.

There’s some nice clarity to the delivery, which helps bring out details in soundtracks and ensures that dialogue is clear. The built-in sub adds a touch of depth to basic mixes, but anything with a demanding LFE track will reveal the U8N’s limitations in this area. While the audio is good, if you want scale to go with your big screen size, invest in a soundbar.

Hisense U8N review: Verdict

The Hisense U8N is an impressive performer, and as feature-packed a TV as you’ll find from any brand. The Mini LED backlight delivers the goods in terms of peak brightness and deep blacks, while the colour performance and AI-enhanced image processing also play their part. The result is fantastic SDR and HDR, with incredibly bright highlights and wonderfully vibrant colours.

The gaming features are state-of-the-art, and while the VA panel’s optimal viewing angles are fairly narrow and there are only two HDMI 2.1 inputs, my only real complaint is the overzealous tone mapping with higher nit grades. Otherwise, the U8N is a cracking and affordable all-rounder and a great choice for anyone who wants engaging and enjoyable HDR that bursts off the screen.