Judging from its specs the Hisense R8F is a worthy, less-expensive rival to a few of my favourite midpriced TVs, which embrace the TCL 6-Series and the Vizio M-Series. It checks all of the bins: full-array native dimming and stable brightness for the cash ought to result in punchy photos, whereas the Roku working system ought to make highly effective streaming easy. The R8 succeeds at streaming however its picture high quality falls wanting the mark.
LikeA lot of options for the moneySolid bright-room pictureExcellent Roku sensible TV system
Don’t LikeRelated-priced TVs carry out higherLighter black levelsSub-par processing and uniformity
In my basement side-by-side comparability towards the 2019 6-Series, the Hisense R8 did not ship. Its image was good in some areas, for instance brilliant rooms, however in demanding residence theater conditions and HDR video it was betrayed by lighter black ranges and some different knocks. The Hisense’s image remains to be a notch above funds fashions, however the TCL and Vizio are higher selections if you’d like a high-performance TV on this worth vary.DesignThe R8 has the identical minimalist black body discovered on nearly each TV nowadays, with a thicker backside edge sporting low-key Hisense and Roku TV logos.
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The better part in my ebook is the selection of two totally different positions for the stand legs. You can place them towards the acute edge or nearer to the center of the panel. The worst half is a pronounced lean-back: a shorter rear foot cants the panel just a few levels out of plumb. I solved the problem with a shallow plywood riser however that is a janky repair. If the lean-back bugs you as a lot because it did me, plan to wall-mount your R8.
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Familiar Roku TV of a unique shadeHisense’s Roku TV implementation comes with a teal inexperienced background instead of Roku’s personal purple or TCL’s purple. Pretty a lot every thing else is identical, and that is a great factor. Responses have been easy in my testing, apps launched rapidly and every thing labored as I’ve come to count on. Here are the highlights:Frequent updates and have enhancements.Simple menus with full customization, together with enter naming.Inputs on the identical residence web page as TV apps.More apps (and 4K HDR apps) than another sensible TV system.Cross-platform search covers many providers and permits worth comparisons.
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Like different Roku units, the Hisense is at the moment lacking apps for Peacock and HBO Max. HBO subscribers can nonetheless watch HBO exhibits utilizing the usual HBO app, however will not get entry to Max-specific exhibits comparable to Friends or Love Life. There’s no method to entry Peacock on the TV until you join one other streaming gadget.
Another factor at the moment lacking from the Roku platform — and accessible on competing sensible TVs from Vizio, Samsung and LG — is assist for Apple’s AirPlay system. The Apple TV app, which incorporates entry to Apple TV Plus, is on-board.
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The R8 contains the easy Roku distant with built-in voice management, identical to the TCL 6-Series, and it even has the identical 4 app shortcut keys alongside the underside. Roku’s voice operate is not practically as strong as Amazon Alexa, discovered on Fire Edition TVs for instance, nevertheless it labored fantastic for searches, app launching and switching inputs.Key TV options
Display expertise
LED LCD
LED backlight
Full array with native dimming
Resolution
4K
HDR suitable
HDR10 and Dolby Vision
Smart TV
Roku TV
Remote
Voice
You may discover Hisense’s “ULED” branding related to this TV nevertheless it’s meaningless sufficient to disregard. The most vital image high quality additional is full-array native dimming and Hisense’s zone depend is typical for the worth: 56 zones for the 55-incher and 60 zones for the 65-incher. If you are conserving monitor that is about as many as TCL’s 2020 5-Series and Vizio’s 2020 M-Series, each direct rivals to the R8, and fewer than the more-expensive 2020 TCL 6-Series. Having extra dimming zones would not essentially imply higher picture high quality, however it could possibly assist.Unlike the TCL and Vizio TVs, the R8 lacks quantum dot shade however its phosphor-based broad shade gamut expertise did a stable job in my measurements. The R8 helps each Dolby Vision and HDR10 excessive dynamic vary codecs; nowadays mainly the one producer that does not is Samsung.The R8 additionally touts a spec known as “Motion Rate 240,” however as traditional, that is a made-up quantity. This TV has a 60Hz native panel and might’t match the movement efficiency of true 120Hz TVs, just like the Vizio P-Series and the 2020 TCL 6-Series.
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The enter choice is stable:Four HDMI inputs (HDMI 2.0b and HDCP 2.2)One analog (composite) video enterOne USB port (2.0)Ethernet (wired web)One optical digital audio outputOne headphone jackOne analog audio line outputOne RF (antenna) enterThe R8 lacks the HDMI 2.1 extras discovered on some rivals, comparable to variable refresh price and auto sport mode. The headphone jack is a pleasant contact, nevertheless, and this is likely one of the few TVs with a devoted audio line output.
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Hisense evidently tuned its native dimming to maximise brightness slightly than distinction, and the result’s a TV that performs nicely sufficient in brilliant rooms however falters at midnight. The R8 additionally didn’t ship correct 1080p/24 video — a primary qualification in a great TV — and confirmed extra brightness variations throughout the display screen than its rivals. Click the picture on the proper to see the image settings used within the overview and to learn extra about how this TV’s image controls labored throughout calibration.
Dim lighting: Compared to the TCL and the Sony the R8 did not have practically the identical stage of distinction and punch in darkish scenes, a failing due primarily to lighter black ranges. Watching A Quiet Place on Blu-ray, the earliest I seen was at 1:11, the place the darkened cabinets of the grocery retailer regarded brighter and extra washed-out on the R8. Other darkish scenes had the identical subject, which prolonged to the letterbox bars above and beneath the picture. In brighter scenes, the place the R8’s black ranges have been much less outstanding, all three TVs regarded related. Blooming, the place brilliant areas bleed into and lighten darkish ones, was worse on the R8 however not as egregious as I noticed with HDR. Bright lighting: The R8 is a stable bright-room performer, with sufficient gentle output for any lighting scenario and sufficient oomph for HDR. Peak brightness was higher than the 2019 6-Series in SDR however worse in HDR, so I’ll name it a wash between the 2. Here’s how the 65-inch R8 stacks up towards just a few like-sized TVs at varied costs.Light output in nits
TV
Brightest (SDR)
Accurate shade (SDR)
Brightest (HDR)
Accurate shade (HDR)
TCL 65Q825
1,653
904
1,818
982
Sony XBR-65X900H
841
673
989
795
Hisense 65R8F
717
717
770
770
TCL 65R625
653
578
881
813
Vizio M658-G1
633
400
608
531
LG OLED65CX
377
290
690
634
Vizio V605-G3
200
178
225
193
One factor I like in regards to the Hisense is that its most correct image modes are additionally its brightest. For SDR you’ll be able to simply select the Movie mode and alter the TV Brightness setting to style, selecting Brightest to get peak gentle output. The identical goes for HDR though it is a bit complicated: Choose the Dark HDR image mode as an alternative (belief me) and put TV Brightness within the Brightest setting.The R8’s display screen end did a greater job of preserving black ranges and distinction in a brilliant room than the TCL, nevertheless it did not don’t in addition to the Sony. Both the TCL and Hisense beat the Sony at dealing with brilliant reflections, however I nonetheless most well-liked the Sony’s image by a nostril in brilliant rooms. Color accuracy: In its finest image modes the R8 pattern I reviewed was correct earlier than calibration and very good afterward, as I’d count on from a contemporary midpriced TV. The most noticeable subject with colours appeared in near-black areas and shadows, which regarded fairly a bit bluer and fewer of a impartial gray-black than on the opposite two TVs. Less apparent was the less-saturated general look of the R8 as compared, one other facet impact of its lighter black ranges. Otherwise colours have been remarkably shut between the three.
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Video processing: The Hisense is likely one of the few TVs I’ve examined that does not move my normal check for correct 24-frame cadence. The better of its varied Motion Enhancement settings for motion pictures was “Low,” which nonetheless launched a hitching movement after I performed the pan over the plane provider from I Am Legend. The impact was delicate however actually noticeable to movie purists. Stutter within the “Off” setting was horrible, whereas the opposite settings induced a major cleaning soap opera impact (SOE).The Motion Clarity setting, in the meantime, introduces Black Frame Insertion. As traditional it improves movement decision (as much as 1080 traces) however dims the and introduces flicker, so I choose to go away it turned off. Without it the H9G solely achieves the usual 300-ish traces typical of any 60Hz TV.Input lag in sport mode was glorious at round 13 milliseconds for each 1080p and 4K HDR, and I appreciated that you would be able to apply that mode to any image setting, for instance Movie mode for peak accuracy. Without sport mode turned on lag measured 32ms for 1080p and 109 for 4K HDR.Uniformity: The R8 pattern I examined was the worst of the three on this class, with uneven backlighting seen throughout the display screen in full-field static check patterns particularly at low gentle. Moving patterns revealed extra background brightness variations, and the identical went for sure program materials I watched like an NHL hockey match, the place the pans throughout the ice confirmed less-uniform lighting and extra of a “dirty screen effect” than on the opposite TVs. Off-angle was extra of a blended bag. From seats to both facet the R8 saved black stage constancy higher than the Sony however not fairly in addition to the TCL, whereas the Sony preserved shade finest.
HDR and 4K video: The R8’s distinction points with SDR have been far more noticeable with excessive dynamic vary content material, which is often brighter than SDR and divulges flaws in. When I watched the 4K HDR model of A Quiet Place, the brighter HDR picture made the lighter black ranges extra seen, for instance, and blooming was worse in areas just like the “Day 89” textual content on the black background. When I watched the demo materials from the Spears and Munsil 4K benchmark disc, the R8 fell wanting the Sony and TCL in lots of scenes. The snow across the horses on the R8 confirmed a lot much less element than the opposite two among the many drifts and grass, with a flat white look as an alternative of shadows and definition. In the troublesome black background part and nighttime scenes just like the ferris wheel, the R8’s lighter black ranges and blooming got here via once more, producing a relative lack of distinction and visual clouding in black areas. Some of the flowers and bugs additionally confirmed extra muted colours. Geek Box
Test
Result
Score
Black luminance (0%)
0.008
Good
Peak white luminance (SDR)
717
Good
Avg. gamma (10-100%)
2.19
Good
Avg. grayscale error (10-100%)
0.91
Good
Dark grey error (30%)
0.21
Good
Bright grey error (80%)
0.71
Good
Avg. shade checker error
1.60
Good
Avg. saturation sweeps error
1.24
Good
Avg. shade error
1.44
Good
Red error
1.54
Good
Green error
1.05
Good
Blue error
2.03
Good
Cyan error
1.35
Good
Magenta error
1.52
Good
Yellow error
1.16
Good
1080p/24 Cadence (IAL)
Fail
Poor
Motion decision (max)
1080
Good
Motion decision (dejudder off)
300
Poor
Input lag (Game mode)
13.37
Good
HDR10
Black luminance (0%)
0.025
Good
Peak white luminance (10% win)
770
Average
Gamut % UHDA/P3 (CIE 1976)
96.82
Good
ColorMatch HDR error
2.77
Good
Avg. shade checker error
6.31
Poor
Input lag (Game mode, 4K HDR)
13.47
Good
Hisense 65R8F CNET overview calibration outcomes by David Katzmaier on Scribd