TVs
78 JULY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE389
HISENSEHASPLENTYofexperiencein
producingaffordablebig-screenTVs,andthe
U8Bfamilyisaperfectexample.Withthe55in
H55U8BUK (on test here) costing £649 and
the 65in H65U8BUK costing £799,it’s hard to
go much bigger forless cash.
This does mean you shouldn’t expect
anything toohighfalutin; forexample,
Hisense’s ‘ULED’ branding just means the
H55U8BUK has an LED-backlit LCD panel,
like most TVsatthis price point, and not
that it’s aunique technology like Samsung’s
QLED.Still, it’s solidly built, so build quality
hasn’t been scrimped on.
SMARTMOVE
You’ll find all the connections hidden on
the leftside of the TV,including four
full-bandwidth HDMI 2.0b ports. Youalso
get apair of remotecontrols: one cheap
plastickymodel, and one with afar more
premium-feeling finish.
We swiftlyrelegated the cheap remote
control to anearbydrawer,but the classy
silver remotecontrol provided alovely,
tactile experience in Hisense’s bizarrely titled
VIDAA U3.0 Smart TV interface.Itisn’t the
fastest or the slickest smart TV OS out there,
but it’s easy to navigateand not so sluggish
as to cause any frustration.
Vitally,you get access to all the usual
streaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime
Video and YouTube,and all have HDR
support. In our testing, the relevant HDR10,
HLG and DolbyVision modes burst into
action when we selected HDR-compatible
content on the various streaming services.
The presence of Freeview Playisanother
boon, as it provides aone-stop gatewayto
content from all the major UK catch-up TV
apps, including BBC iPlayer.
One further pleasant surprise is that the
Hisense’s integrated speakers provide
good sound quality.Dialogue is clear
and easy to understand, and there’s
even amodicum of bass, as long as
you keep the volume in check. Push
the speakers toohardand distortion
begins to add ashrill, hollow quality
to the sound.
Like its stablemate, the
R50B7120UK, the H55U8BUK uses
VA panel technology,soyou get the
usual positives of deep blacks and
great contrast weighed against the
negatives of reduced viewing angles.
If anything, these angles are even
narrower than we’re used to seeing
HISENSE H55U8BUK
★★★★★
£649•Fromwww.currys.co.uk
VERDICT
Hisensehasdoneagoodjobforthemoney,
butseveralissueskeepthis120HzTVfrom
achievingtruegreatness
on VA panels, including the R50B7120UK.
Look head-on at the TV and it’s possible to
see some fading of colours and contrast as
you cast your eyetothe corners of the
screen, and the effect is even more intrusive
as you move to either side.Ifthe layout of
your lounge means you can’t sit directly in
front of the TV,thenwe’dalready suggest
striking the H55U8BUK off your shortlist.
The basic 16-zone backlighting also means
that bright objects on dark backgrounds are
surrounded by obviousblooming and halos of
light, an issue that’s particularly evident in
HDR content. It’s also very noticeable on the
black bars above and below movie content.
These aren’t uncommon foiblesfor a
mid-range TV,but the H55U8BUK also drops
the ball on colour accuracy.Despitecovering
94% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, colours are
visibly off,and no amount of tweaking was
able to rectify this to our satisfaction.
FASTERWAY
There is one significant feather in the
H55U8BUK’s bezel, however,and that’s its
120Hz refresh rate: double that of the
industry standard 60Hz. It’s not something
you see toomuch around this price point, and
it deftly enables smoother playback from
Blu-raydiscsand the like.Better still, you can
also reduce motion blur and improve
smoothness in everydaycontent if you
engage the Ultra Smooth Motion setting.
The processing engine manages to avoid
distracting visual artefacts or the overly
smooth ‘soap opera effect’,and it’s reasonably
adept at upscaling, too. Although standard-
definition content looks alittle softcompared
to the best TVs, the H55U8BUK effectively
managed to suppress the appearance of
jagged edges in TV broadcasts.
Hisense claims the UB8 range can hit a
brightness of 1,000cd/m^2 ,which would greatly
aid its HDR capabilities. In reality,thatnumber
both is and isn’t accurate: with awhite
window filling 18% of the screen, it managed
to boost up to 1,200cd/m^2 foraround30
seconds. After that initial burst, however,
the brightness dropped back to amuch less
impressive 360cd/m^2.
Oddly,wefound that peak brightness
measured only 390cd/m^2 on asmaller 10%
whitewindow, and actually measured higher
with an all-whitescreen, peaking at 415cd/m^2.
In actual content, where HDR highlights will
be on the screen formuch longer than 30
seconds, you can expect peak brightness to
be much closer to 400cd/m^2 than the claimed
1,000cd/m^2 .The net effect is that subtle detail
in specular highlights is flattened, particularly
so on content that’s been mastered to a
maximum HDR brightness of 4000 nits.
TOOLITTLE,TOOLATENT
The Hisense’s gaming capabilities aren’t all
that spectacular,either.There’s alow-latency
Game mode that can be enabled
manually,but input lag is quitehigh:
we measureditat38ms in 1080p SDR
mode and 38ms in 4K HDR. Because
most console games are locked to run
at either 30fps or 60fps, you’re also
not getting the same benefit from
that 120Hz refresh rateasyou would
from a120Hz monitor forPCgaming.
Forall itsflaws, the H55U8BUK
is still adecent mid-range TV.
The 120Hz refresh rateisaparticular
coup forwatching movies, although
you should look elsewhere if you
preferhighcolour performance to
speedy smoothness.
