Hisense H65U9A, test and analysis with features and price

Although it is not a well-known manufacturer in Spain, the truth is that Hisense has an extensive catalog of televisions. And lately, the good features of their devices and their reasonable price are attracting the attention of users. The Hisense H65U9A is the top of the range model for 2018 from the Chinese manufacturer . It is part of the Premium ULED series, which means it features quantum dot technology and the Prime Array Backlight rear lighting system.

In addition, it offers a maximum brightness of 2,500 nits, more than enough to deal with HDR images. These good features with respect to the image are joined by a beautiful design with metal and glass, a sound bar developed together with JBL and a Smart TV system that gives us access to the most common applications. Sounds good right? I have had the opportunity to test the Hisense H65U9A television and I will tell you if it works as well as it seems .

Hisense H65U9A datasheet

Metal and glass for a premium design

The Hisense H65U9A impresses right out of the box. It's not the most “refined” TV on the market, but its almost industrial design is just as attractive. The build quality is excellent , with metal as the main protagonist. The panel is surrounded by rather narrow metallic black frames. They are 1 centimeter wide at the top and sides, with 2 centimeters at the bottom.

And speaking of the lower part, in it we have the sound bar, which we will talk about later. Also the Hisense logo, with a silver color that stands out against the black.

To place the television on a piece of furniture we have a metallic support in black that extends along the entire lower front part of the screen . This is complemented by a large glass block that is placed at the rear. Its function, in addition to being supportive, is to provide weight and stability to the whole.

However, this system causes the TV to be tilted slightly backwards . Something similar to what we could see, for example, in the Sony OLED A1. It did not seem to me that this inclination affects the image, although if we have the television very high it can bother a bit.

Returning to the metal support, as I said, it is practically as big as the screen. That is, if we are going to place the television in a piece of furniture we will have to make sure that it is of sufficient size. The model that I have tested is the 65-inch one, whose support needs 120 centimeters to support it . In addition, the rear glass "stand" means that we also need a foot deep (on the 65-inch model).

We have the basic controls of the TV placed on the far right of the soundbar. The stand raises the screen about 13 centimeters , more than enough space to place, for example, another sound bar.

As for the rear, we have a plastic cover in black with a finish simulating a kind of pictures. The connectors are placed in three positions. Most of us have them on the right side (looking at the TV from the front), with a cover that covers them. Right next to it, higher, we have a small selection, including the network. The feeding is more focused.

The full dimensions of the Hisense H65U9A are  144.9 × 30.2 × 94.7 centimeters, with the base included . Its weight without base is almost 30 kg, something that we must take into account if we want to hang the TV on the wall.

Technical characteristics

Before entering to assess the image quality that the television achieves, we are going to review its technical characteristics. We are facing a 65-inch panel with 4K UHD resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. It uses Prime Array Backlight technology , an advanced lighting system consisting of a rear LED structure with  1056 zones of local dimming .

On the other hand, it is equipped with Quantum Dot technology . The quantum dot system creates a large number of different color combinations for more realistic images.

The Hisense H65U9A panel is VA type, with a vertical frequency of 129 Hz and 8 bits + FRC . That is, it is not a native 10-bit panel, but it accepts this type of content. In addition, the television integrates three systems designed to achieve the best quality in fast images:

• MEMC (Motion Estimate and Motion Compensation): improves the quality of fast-moving images
• Backlight Scaning : reduce lag and trails in moving images
• Ultra Motion Plus : improves movement in sports images

To all this we must add a maximum brightness of nothing more and nothing less than 2,500 nits . This is worth to obtain the certificate of the UHD Alliance, which indicates that it is a suitable television to get the most out of HDR images. Specifically, the H65U9A is compatible with HDR10 and HLG .

Picture quality

1080p Blu-Ray image

Now that we know what technologies the television uses, let's see if these are used to achieve good image quality. We have five picture modes to choose from: Vivid, Standard, Cinema by day, Cinema by night, and Sports. As usual, the ones that offer the best calibration are the two Cinema modes. Personally, I have used the Cinema night mode more with some modifications, since it seemed to me that it achieved a more realistic image.

Although not perfect, the Hisense H65U9A has a really good image quality . It offers a good uniformity of the panel, with a slight clouding that disappears when we activate the local attenuation at Medium level. The black level achieved by the TV is quite good, thanks in part to the use of a VA panel.

4K HDR image

Local dimming is reasonably effective, thanks to the use of direct backlighting and a large number of available zones. The blacks are deep and images have a good level of contrast . Even in tricky situations like white credits on a black background, the TV does a good job.

The high maximum brightness that the Hisense H65U9A achieves makes for very bright HDR images . Blacks are also good, although there is a slight loss of detail in shadow areas. Also, despite using a Full Array system, I have detected a certain halo effect when the local dimming setting is High (by default when playing HDR images). Nothing serious, in any case, since the HDR images look quite spectacular.

4K HDR image

Yes, I have missed something more lively in the colors shown . Considering the TV has quantum dot technology, I was expecting slightly more saturated colors. Colors seem a bit duller than they should.

The Hisense H65U9A is equipped with a VA panel , which helps to achieve deeper blacks. However, this type of panel worsens the viewing angles. There is a noticeable decrease in contrast and color rendering when we go above 15 degrees. It is something that happens in any television with this type of panel.

DTT image

The TV scaling of low definition content is very good . I have been able to watch DTT without too many problems, as well as my titles on DVD. Of course, we will have some artifacts in the image, since we are also talking about a fairly large panel. But the truth is that they have not seemed annoying.

Finally, the Hisense H65U9A has, according to its specification sheet, an input lag of less than 50 ms . The truth is that I have been able to play the PS4 Pro without any problem. However, it would be a point to improve for demanding users, since other manufacturers offer much lower data.

Sound bar included

I have mentioned it in passing when talking about design. The Hisense H65U9A is equipped with a soundbar with the JBL seal . It is not a particularly powerful system, as it offers 30W, but it does make a difference compared to conventional TV speakers.

The Hisense H65U9A uses Dolby Audio, DTS and dbx-tv technology to try and create an immersive audio experience. The included soundbar works well for watching daily shows such as news, documentaries, or entertainment shows. But it is not enough to hear how a movie should be.

Given the size of the TV, I was expecting a more punchy sound . I think Hisense has fallen a bit short on the power of the amps that the TV includes. Even so, as I tell you, in daily television viewing we will notice an improvement.

Smart TV with the basics

The Hisense H65U9A includes the VIDAA U platform as a Smart TV system . It is its own system, much less complete than the competition, but which includes most of the applications that users are looking for.

Smart TV: main menu of apps

It is a stable system that moves with a certain ease and is very easy to handle. Among the available applications we have Netflix, YouTube or Rakuten TV , all three with direct access buttons on the remote. Other well-known ones are beIN Connect, RTVE a la carte, Clan, Filmin and even Plex.

We will have access to Hisense's own application store , but the truth is that it has many “filler” applications. Minority applications and, in general, destined for other countries. The application that I have missed the most has been Amazon Video, which is not yet available (at least in Spain).

Smart TV: app store

As for Netflix, the Hisense H65U9A's application supports the playback of 4K and HDR content . Rakuten's service is well integrated with the system, as we can play some movies directly from the menu.

We have a fairly comprehensive programming guide, the ability to record shows by connecting a hard drive, a web browser, and DLNA support.

Price and availability

The Hisense H65U9A is a good TV. It uses most of the technologies that we see in high-end models, such as the Full Array system or quantum dot technology. And it shows, since the image it gets is really good.

The soundbar offers superior audio than other models for day-to-day use. And, although the Smart TV system is quite simple, it gives access to the applications that almost all of us use.

It has 4 HDMI inputs, although only two of them are 2.0 . It also has two USB ports, one of them 3.0. There is no shortage of the usual wireless connections, such as dual band 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0.

The Hisense H65U9A is already on sale in Spain with a price of 2,300 euros . A 75-inch version of the television is also sold, with a price of around 4,000 euros.