BEST Cheap 4K Smart TV in 2020 - Hisense H8G UltraHD TV Review
Best Cheap 4K Smart TV in 2020 - Hisense H8G UltraHD TV Review
Last year we reviewed Hisense’s H8F UltraHD Smart TV and came away impressed, calling it our budget TV to beat. Well, the H8 Series is being updated with Quantum Dot technology as well as a host of other improvements for 2020. The Hisense H8G is now among the more affordable Quantum Dot enabled smart TVs on the market today, but is it still the best cheap 4K Smart TV?
Available in four diagonal sizes, 50, 55, 65 and 75-inch, and retailing for around $400 for the 50 inch model and $1,299 for the larger 75 inch size. All of the TVs regardless of their size have the same features and performance. We reviewed the 65-inch H8G model with a retail price of $799.
be sure to watch the video above for my full review
Hisense added quantum dots to the H8 Series this year, but they also added more LED backlighting zones, both of which are notable and noticeable improvements over 2019’s H8F. Hisense claims a max brightness of 700 Nits with the H8G, and in our testing we can confirm this claim is accurate, if not mildly conservative. The added zones of LED backlighting means the light uniformity edge-to-edge is improved with the H8G over the previous model, H8F. More backlighting zones also means more control over local dimming as there are now 30 more zones, but we’ll discuss this addition more in a moment.
The presence of quantum dots means that contrast in both light and dark regions of the picture, as well as in the color itself should see noticeable improvements. We’re happy to report that the presence of quantum dots is noticeable and results in far more natural and organic looking image. The H8G’s quantum dots aren’t going to fool anyone into thinking they’re watching an OLED from LG, but for a TV as cheap as the Hisense, its performance comes close.
Getting the best picture out of your television
Out of the box, the H8G measures poorly in its Eco picture preset. We highly recommend putting the H8G into its Theater Day mode first. In this picture preset the H8G measures very well, in fact its color rendering is near perfect straight out of the box!
Turning off all of the dynamic dimming or active backlighting features is another must for the H8G as these dramatically impact performance in a bad way. Turning all of these off will result in a noticeably brighter image, which you may or may not want. In truth, one of our biggest complaints about the H8F was how bad the backlighting control was, and sadly it isn’t improved for 2020. Thankfully you can turn all of these “features” off -and you should.
Dialing back the backlight control to somewhere between 75-100 (to taste) will not negatively affect the color accuracy or white balance. Also, be sure to turn off all motion interpolation features to rid the TV of the dreaded “soap opera effect.”
Is TV calibration necessary?
Is TV calibration necessary? While we professionally calibrated our H8G for this review using SpectraCal’s CalMAN software and a light meter connected to a Samsung PC laptop, you don’t have to do this. The H8G’s Theater Day preset with all dynamic aides turned off is 95 percent calibrated out of the box.
Android TV
Images from the Hisense H8G look spectacular in SD, HD and even UltraHD/4K. This is a good looking TV and its Android TV operating system makes it one of the best smart TVs we’ve tested. The Android TV UI makes streaming your favorite TV shows, movies and even music a breeze, just be sure not to over do it and load up too many Apps. Apple users will likely be disappointed by the Hisense’s lack of AirPlay or AppleTV+ app support - I know we were.
Watching HDR content via the H8G is a pleasing experience. There are brighter HDR enabled TVs out there, but the Hisense is good but not great with HDR content in brightly lit rooms. If you need maximum light output because your living room or space has a lot of ambient light you may want to shop for a Vizio P Series Quantum X or Samsung QLED display. Still, if you can control the light a bit, the Hisense H8G does have a very pleasing HDR image whether your content is being displayed in Dolby Vision or HDR10.
All in all the Hisense H8G quantum dot enabled smart TV is still the best, cheap, smart TV that we recommend for 2020.
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