Lee Neikirk/NYT WirecutterTop pickEquipped with all the advanced technologies we look for, this high-performance LCD TV delivers a great picture at a reasonable price.Key specsScreen sizes (inches)55-inch (55U8QG), 65-inch (65U8QG), 75-inch (75U8QG), 85-inch (85U8QG),100-inch (100U8QG)Backlight typemini-LED with local dimmingRefresh rate165 HzColor techquantum dotsHDR formatsHDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby VisionHDMI connectionsthree HDMI 2.1 (one eARC)Smart-TV platformGoogle TVTV tunerATSC 3.0The Hisense U8QG is the LCD TV to buy if you want advanced performance and features but don’t want to pay a premium for the very best picture quality.This TV has some of the best local dimming I’ve ever seen. The reason OLED TVs look so good is that they can turn off individual pixels when displaying darkness in a scene, maximizing contrast in a way that’s realistic and immersive. LCD TVs mimic this behavior through a backlight process called local dimming.To that end, the U8QG offers the best of two worlds: It’s extremely bright — I measured a peak around 3,200 nits, which is brighter than any OLED TV — and its local dimming is very strong, meaning it can pair deep shadows with super-bright highlights. Its contrast is still not as good as that of an OLED TV, but it’s very convincing.While LCD TVs have used local dimming for years to achieve better image quality, the U8QG’s control of its mini-LEDs is on a different level. I did my best to stress test the TV’s dimming, looking for common backlight issues like blooming (when bright objects shed light into the shadows around them) or flashlighting (when light bleeds into black bars on the top and bottom of the screen). The U8QG’s dimming wasn’t flawless, but it was hard to see any sign of backlight activity unless I was watching from off-center.HDR content looks awesome on this TV. The two things you need for impressive high dynamic range (HDR) performance are high contrast and a wide color range. With high brightness and dark black levels, the U8QG nails the first requirement. And because it’s equipped with quantum dots (nanocrystals that increase a TV’s color saturation), it’s capable of creating the fiery oranges and canopy greens that bring HDR content to life.In my measurements, the U8QG managed to reproduce about 85% of the current DCI-P3 color space used for HDR video, while our upgrade pick and the best OLED TVs I’ve tested can achieve 90% or more. Still, this TV delivers a rich color presentation that, when coupled with its high contrast, makes for an excellent HDR experience.This was especially apparent when watching the U8QG side by side with its main competitor, the TCL QM8K. I watched scenes from several 4K HDR Blu-ray discs on both TVs — including Jurassic Park and Barbie — and while they’re almost identical performers, the U8QG’s colors looked punchier in several scenes, if only by a small margin.It’s also worth noting that, no matter what you’re watching, the U8QG is pretty bright all of the time. Even in the Theater Night picture mode, the U8QG averages around 1,500 nits of brightness, which is too bright for comfortable nighttime viewing. So you might want to turn the backlight control down before movie night. The U8QG’s Google TV platform is one of our favorites, as it’s both intuitive and full-featured. Lee Neikirk/NYT WirecutterThe U8QG is a great choice for gamers, with a unique feature seldom found on TVs. Nowadays, the best TVs are kitted out to make video games as smooth and responsive as possible. The U8QG not only fits the bill, it also has a feature that I’ve never seen on a TV before: a USB-C video input.The U8QG boasts a high native refresh rate (165 Hz), which is about as speedy as gaming TVs get right now. I measured just 10 milliseconds of input lag using our Leo Bodnar tester, which assesses input lag during 4K 60 Hz playback. That’s a very good result, and the lag will be even lower (5 ms or less) with a 120 Hz or higher refresh rate.The U8QG uses Hisense’s Game Bar, a menu overlay that deploys automatically when you start playing a game. The Game Bar allows you to see stats like HDR/Dolby Vision Gaming status, VRR status, current refresh rate, and frames per second.Unlike last year’s U8N model, the U8QG has only three HDMI 2.1 inputs instead of four. Hisense has opted to replace one of them with a USB-C video input. This is designed for PC gamers whose HDMI outputs may not support refresh rates up to 165 Hz, but you can also use it to connect a Nintendo Switch without needing the separate HDMI dock. Note that the USB-C input doesn’t support HDR; it’s built for speed, not for picture quality.I played a good deal of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (on an Xbox Series X in the Dolby Vision Game picture mode) and was really impressed with its pairing of bright colors and smooth gameplay. I also tried Final Fantasy XVI (on a PlayStation 5 in the HDR Game picture mode) and found that, while it looked good in its 60 fps Frame Rate mode, it had some unsightly blurring in Graphics mode (capped at 30 fps) due to slower pixel transitions, one area where the U8QG still lags behind OLED TVs and our upgrade pick. The U8QG comes with a backlit remote control. Lee Neikirk/NYT WirecutterThis version of Google TV works just like it should. Google TV is our favorite smart platform thanks to its superior search features, cross-app integration, and multi-profile personalization. But not every version of Google TV is created equal: The platform, being somewhat robust in its feature set, can run sluggishly on lower-end TVs that lack the processing power to execute it properly. Fortunately, the U8QG has the chops to allow Google TV to run swiftly and efficiently.A backlit remote control is always a plus. As modern LCD/LED TVs go, the U8QG is quite thick and hefty, and it might even look a little silly when mounted on the wall. But its center-oriented, pedestal stand holds it sturdily, and the materials feel generally robust.My favorite physical feature is the TV’s backlit remote: Whenever you touch it, all of its buttons briefly light up, making it much easier to control the TV in a dim or dark room compared with a remote without a backlight.Flaws but not dealbreakersAccuracy is not this TV’s strong suit. During both SDR and HDR playback, my 65-inch U8QG test sample struggled to add brightness at the appropriate increments as it moved from dark to bright signals (technically speaking, its electro-optical transfer function, or EOTF, is inaccurate).This can make darker scenes in movies and video games look overly bright, and it may be annoying if you’re coming from a well-calibrated TV. The U8QG’s color accuracy is also not as good as it could be (even in Filmmaker Mode), but it isn’t that far off the mark.The TV’s viewing angles and reflectivity could be better. Like most LCD TVs, the U8QG’s viewing angles are fairly poor, not nearly as good as an OLED TV’s. This means you have to be careful about your seating arrangement. Anyone watching from off to the side will see shifting colors and reduced contrast.Likewise, the glossy screen is not very good at handling reflections (and nowhere near as good as a TV like our upgrade pick, which has a matte screen finish). You’ll want to be careful about where you place the TV with regards to lights and windows.This TV’s upscaling and handling of older content could be better. The U8QG isn’t the best choice if you still watch a lot of older content (like DVDs or last-generation video games). You may notice banding, or uneven steps, during color transitions, excessive grain in film content, and/or edges that don’t look as sharp and well-defined as they could.Recommended settingsIf you want the most accurate picture settings, we recommend setting the Hisense U8QG to its Filmmaker Mode picture mode, whether in SDR or HDR. Dolby Vision content looks best in the Dolby Vision IQ mode.Like all smart TVs, the Hisense U8QG will try to spy on your viewing habits. To disable this setting, you’ll want to go into the Privacy menu and toggle off Viewing Information Services.
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