Ambitious Mini LED needs polish

Hisense's new TV ticks all the flagship boxes, but that's not enough to win over John Archer

- John Archer

Hisense's 65U8HQ is, like the recently reviewed TCL 65C835, the sort of TV that seems purpose-designed to send shivers down the spines of the likes of Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic. It's got the specs you'd expect of a flagship TV in 2022 - Mini LED backlight, Quantum Dot colour, top-notch HDMI connectivity - yet sells for just £1,699 at 65in.

Of course, talking a good talk is only ever half the story. The question is: can the 65U8HQ deliver an all-round performance (there's a premium built-in sound system to be savoured too) that punches well above its enticing price point?

The set isn't as glamorous as some of 2022's other (typically much more expensive) top-end TVs. It's chunky round the back, and there's nothing particularly eye-catching about its grey frame or metal-plate desktop stand. It does feel robustly built, though, and the front-facing speaker 'bar' attached to its bottom edge looks smart and reassuringly meaty.

The Mini LED lighting system illuminates the screen by much smaller and more numerous LEDs than that of a typical LED/LCD flatscreen. This approach has the potential to increase brightness and, when combined with a local dimming system, greatly improve local light control. Tests reveal a total of 160 separate zones on the 65U8HQ - higher than you'd expect to get with most (though not all) regular LED TVs, but some way short of the zone numbers found in some other Mini LED models this year. Samsung's 65QN95B, for instance, delivers a massive 720 separate dimming zones, while TCL's 65C835 provides nearly 300.

The TV's Quantum Dot colour system is claimed to deliver more than a billion colours, while the screen's peak brightness is rated at an impressive 1,300 nits. Indeed I actually measured its as high as nearly 1,800 1 nits using my 10 per cent white HDR window test screen. That makes this one of the most inherently vibrant TVs on the market today.