Design
Curved No
The Hisense U8G has a nice, premium design. It has a nearly bezel-less design on three sides, so the picture blends into your surroundings. The bottom bezel is quite a bit thicker than high-end TVs, though, and the silver finish stands out a bit. The stand has a unique design that takes up very little space.
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Design
Uniformity Pictures
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LEARN ABOUT ACCELERATED LONGEVITY TEST
Design
The Hisense U8G has a unique stand design, and it's solid and supports the TV well.
Footprint of the 55-inch stand: 28.4" x 10.3".
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Design
Wall Mount VESA 400x300
The back of the TV is made of plastic, with a nice checkerboard pattern. There are tracks along the back of the TV for cable management, and removable clips that help to keep everything neat. The inputs are on the left-hand side of the TV when facing the front, and they're easy to access. There are large vents along the top of the TV to help with heat dissipation.
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Design
Borders 0.39" (1.0 cm)
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Design
Max Thickness 3.86" (9.8 cm)
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7.5 Design
The Hisense U8G has good build quality. The stand supports the TV well, with little wobble. The materials used aren't very premium, but they don't feel cheap, either. The border around the screen is metal, but most of the body is plastic. There's very little flex, except around the VESA mounts, but this shouldn't cause any issues.
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8.7 Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
The Hisense U8G has outstanding contrast, delivering deep blacks and bright highlights in dark scenes with minimal blooming. The full array local dimming feature is effective at boosting contrast significantly, but it's not as good as the newer Hisense U8/U8H, which delivers nearly twice the contrast with local dimming.
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LEARN ABOUT CONTRAST
6.5 Picture Quality
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7.0 Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Backlight
Dimming Zones Count Of Tested TV
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8.0 Picture Quality
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8.7 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The Hisense U8G has impressive peak brightness in HDR. Small specular highlights are brighter than the Hisense H9G and significantly brighter than the Sony X90J. These measurements are in the 'HDR Theater' Picture Mode, which is the brightest and the most accurate HDR mode on this TV.
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LEARN ABOUT HDR BRIGHTNESS
8.8 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
Switching to Game Mode results in no noticeable change in peak brightness with HDR content. These results are with the same picture settings as outside of Game Mode.
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7.3 Picture Quality
600 Nit Tracking Delta
1000 Nit Tracking Delta
4000 Nit Tracking Delta
Unfortunately, the Hisense 55U8G doesn't follow the EOTF properly, as almost all scenes in HDR are displayed a bit brighter than they should be. It's especially noticeable in most average-lit scenes and shadow details, but near blacks are displayed accurately. There's also a very sharp roll-off at the TV's peak brightness, which clips bright highlights, causing a loss of fine details in extremely bright scenes. The IMAX mode tracks the EOTF accurately, but almost all settings are locked out in this mode. Unfortunately, there's no way to correct this, but there are reports that the TV tracks the PQ EOTF properly with Dolby Vision content.
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LEARN ABOUT PQ EOTF TRACKING
8.7 Picture Quality
Real Scene Peak Brightness
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The Hisense U8G has excellent peak brightness in SDR, but it's not as bright as the newer Hisense U8/U8H. It's bright enough to overcome glare even in most bright living rooms. Unfortunately, the brightness varies considerably between scenes, but this is only noticeable if you have the backlight set to a high level. If you want something with Mini LED backlighting that gets much brighter with real content, then check out the TCL 6 Series/R646 2021 QLED.
These measurements are after calibration in the 'Theater Night' Picture Mode with the Backlight set to 'Max' and Local Dimming to 'High'. Setting Active Contrast to 'Medium' results in a slightly brighter picture of 1,401 cd/m² in the 25% window, but it isn't a very noticeable difference.
8.7 Picture Quality
Wide Color Gamut
DCI P3 xy
DCI P3 uv
Rec 2020 xy
Rec 2020 uv
The Hisense U8G has an excellent HDR color gamut, with nearly perfect coverage of the DCI-P3 color space used by most current HDR content and good coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space. The tone mapping is good in both cases, ensuring fine details are preserved in content that exceeds or approaches the limits of the TV's color gamut.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR GAMUT
8.6 Picture Quality
1,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP
White Luminance
Red Luminance
Green Luminance
Blue Luminance
Cyan Luminance
Magenta Luminance
Yellow Luminance
The Hisense U8G has excellent color volume. Saturated colors get very bright, and it has excellent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space at all luminance levels. Thanks to the high contrast ratio, this TV displays dark, saturated colors well.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR VOLUME
8.9 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
Picture Mode
Color Temp Setting
Gamma Setting
Out of the box, the Hisense U8G has excellent color and white balance accuracy in SDR. There are some noticeable inaccuracies in certain colors, especially with shades of blue. However, the white balance is excellent, and gamma is nearly flat, close to our target of 2.2 for a moderately-lit room.
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LEARN ABOUT PRE CALIBRATION
9.5 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
White Balance Calibration
Color Calibration
As the Hisense U8G already had excellent accuracy out of the box, calibration was tough to do and didn't improve the overall accuracy much. Color accuracy improved a bit, but the issues with shades of blue are still there. The white balance is now nearly perfect, but as it was already excellent, this isn't a noticeable improvement.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
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LEARN ABOUT POST CALIBRATION
7.1 Picture Quality
50% Std. Dev.
50% DSE
5% Std. Dev.
5% DSE
The Hisense U8G has decent gray uniformity. The corners are noticeably darker than the center of the screen, and there are three dark vertical bands near the center of the screen. There's a bit of dirty screen effect as well, which is distracting when watching sports or anything with a large area of uniform color. Dark scenes are a bit better, with significantly less dirty screen effect.
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LEARN ABOUT GRAY UNIFORMITY
8.3 Picture Quality
Std. Dev.
Native Std. Dev.
The Hisense 55U8G has excellent black uniformity. With local dimming disabled, the black background isn't quite black, with slight cloudiness to the entire screen caused by some backlight bleed on all four corners. Enabling local dimming significantly improves uniformity in dark areas of the screen, but there's more blooming around the bright test cross.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK UNIFORMITY
5.5 Picture Quality
Color Washout
Color Shift
Brightness Loss
Black Level Raise
Gamma Shift
Unfortunately, the Hisense U8G has a sub-par viewing angle, so it's best enjoyed from directly in front. The image shifts and degrades when viewed off-angle, so it's not ideal for a wide seating arrangement or if you like to move around with the TV on. The most noticeable issue off-angle is the gamma shift, which causes the image to appear washed out. Colors stay accurate to a wider angle than the gamma, but it's not as good as IPS-type TVs like the LG NANO90 2021.
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LEARN ABOUT VIEWING ANGLE
8.9 Picture Quality
Screen Finish
Total Reflections
Indirect Reflections
Calculated Direct Reflections
The Hisense U8G has excellent reflection handling. The semi-gloss finish significantly reduces the intensity of direct reflections.
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LEARN ABOUT REFLECTIONS
7.8 Picture Quality
100% Black to 50% Gray 8.0
50% Gray to 100% White 8.0
100% Black to 50% Red 6.0
50% Red to 100% Red 10
100% Black to 50% Green 6.0
50% Green to 100% Green 8.0
100% Black to 50% Blue 10
50% Blue to 100% Blue 6.0
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LEARN ABOUT HDR NATIVE GRADIENT
4.8 Picture Quality
Smoothing 3.0
Detail Preservation 9.0
7.0 Picture Quality
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LEARN ABOUT UPSCALING: SHARPNESS PROCESSING
Picture Quality
Subpixel Layout
Type LED
Sub-Type
Like most TVs on the market, the Hisense U8G uses a BGR (Blue-Green-Red) subpixel layout instead of the traditional Red-Green-Blue layout. For video content, it doesn't cause any issues, but if you're planning on using the Hisense 55U8G as a PC monitor, this reduces text clarity a bit, although there are easy workarounds for it. You can read more about this here.
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8.5 Motion
80% Response Time
100% Response Time
For the most part, the Hisense U8G has an excellent response time, resulting in clear motion in fast-moving scenes. Unfortunately, there are some exceptions. Transitions out of dark scenes have significantly slower transitions, resulting in noticeable ghosting behind fast-moving objects. It's common for displays with VA panels, though, and is known as black smear.
Like the Hisense H9G, there are reports of red ghosting in some situations. It's not always there, but it's very clear with some content, like The Crown, or in Daredevil. It's not noticeable in all content but seems to be more noticeable in warmer scenes. It's not noticeable in all games, either. There's no ghosting in Call of Duty, but it's really bad in Astro's Playground on the PS5:
- Astro's Playground 1
- Astro's Playground 2
- Astro's Playground 3
- Astro's Playground 4
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LEARN ABOUT RESPONSE TIME
9.9 Motion
Flicker-Free
PWM Dimming Frequency
The Hisense U8G uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to dim the backlight, but the flicker frequency is very high and doesn't bother most people. There's no variability in flicker between different settings, though; it flickers at the same frequency in all picture modes.
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LEARN ABOUT FLICKER-FREE
Motion
Optional BFI
Min Flicker For 60 fps
60Hz For 60 fps
120Hz For 120 fps
Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode
The Hisense U8G has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion, which improves the appearance of motion. It can't flicker at 60Hz, though, which causes duplications in motion when displaying 60Hz content. Unfortunately, enabling this feature disables the local dimming feature, resulting in raised blacks. Note that the score here is based only on the supported modes, not how well the BFI feature performs.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK FRAME INSERTION (BFI)
Motion
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
The Hisense U8G has an optional motion interpolation feature that improves the appearance of motion. It's not as good as more expensive competitors, like the Sony X90J or the Samsung QN90A QLED, and there are more noticeable artifacts, especially in busy scenes.
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LEARN ABOUT MOTION INTERPOLATION
6.7 Motion
Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps
Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps
Due to the Hisense U8G's relatively fast response time, there are some issues with stutter with 24p content, like movies, as each frame is held longer on screen. It's especially noticeable in slow panning shots.
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LEARN ABOUT STUTTER
10 Motion
Judder-Free 24p
Judder-Free 24p via 60p
Judder-Free 24p via 60i
Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps
The Hisense 55U8G automatically removes judder from any source, ensuring a smooth movie-watching experience.
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LEARN ABOUT 24P JUDDER
9.4 Motion
Native Refresh Rate
Variable Refresh Rate
HDMI Forum VRR
FreeSync
G-SYNC Compatible
4k VRR Maximum
4k VRR Minimum
1080p VRR Maximum
1080p VRR Minimum
1440p VRR Maximum
1440p VRR Minimum
VRR + Local Dimming Yes
The Hisense 55U8G supports a variable refresh rate (VRR), and it's compatible with most sources that support VRR, including from an NVIDIA graphics card. Unfortunately, enabling VRR causes more ghosting in some games, and local dimming isn't available with VRR enabled in Game Mode.
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LEARN ABOUT VARIABLE REFRESH RATE
9.4 Inputs
1080p @ 60Hz
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The Hisense U8G has outstanding low input lag, great for gaming or PC use. The 60Hz input lag is a bit higher than the best TVs on the market at the moment and about double the input lag of most monitors at 60Hz, but still low enough for most people. When running at 120Hz, the input lag is on par with the best TVs on the market and very close to most monitors. It's great for a responsive feel when gaming or using it as a PC monitor.
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LEARN ABOUT INPUT LAG
9.6 Inputs
Resolution 4k
480p @ 59.94Hz (Widescreen)
720p @ 59.94Hz
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 120Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The Hisense U8G displays 1440p resolutions, but these formats aren't exposed in the EDID, so you have to force it. You can do this either through custom HDMI settings on an Xbox or through your graphics card's control panel software as a custom resolution. As of firmware update M0210, released in March 2022, 4k @ 120Hz signals are now displayed properly from sources that support HDMI 2.1 bandwidth; the resolution halving issue has been fixed. Chroma 4:4:4 is displayed properly at this resolution and refresh rate, resulting in clear text.
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LEARN ABOUT SUPPORTED RESOLUTIONS
Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
The Hisense U8G supports all the features of the PS5, but there are a few issues. 4k @ 120Hz displays properly as of firmware update M0210, but, unfortunately, this introduced some issues with consoles. HDR is no longer displayed properly from the PS5 with any signal, as colors appear washed out, and the entire image is over-brightened. Local dimming isn't working properly in this mode either, and the Active Contrast feature doesn't appear to be working. These issues only occur with the PS5 or Xbox Series X; HDR displays properly from a PC, and both local dimming and Active Contrast appear to be working properly.
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Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
Except for 120Hz Dolby Vision, the Hisense U8G supports all the Xbox One S|X's features, but there are a few issues. 4k @ 120Hz displays properly as of firmware update M0210, but, unfortunately, this introduced some issues with consoles. HDR is no longer displayed properly from the Xbox Series X with any signal, as colors appear washed out, and the entire image is over-brightened. Local dimming isn't working properly in this mode either, and the Active Contrast feature doesn't appear to be working. These issues only occur with the PS5 or Xbox Series X; HDR displays properly from a PC, and both local dimming and Active Contrast appear to be working properly.
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Inputs
HDR10
HDR10+
Dolby Vision
HLG
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth
HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth
CEC Yes
HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)
ATSC Tuner
USB 3.0
Variable Analog Audio Out Yes
Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)
New to the 2021 models, the Hisense U8G now has two HDMI 2.1 ports. One of them is also the eARC port, so if you're planning on using an eARC device, you can only connect one other HDMI 2.1 device on the TV.
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Inputs
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Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 2
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 1
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 0
Composite In 1 (incl. adapter)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 0
There's no direct connection for composite sources. Instead, it requires an external breakout adapter (included), similar to some LG TVs.
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Inputs
ARC/eARC Port
eARC: Dolby Atmos Over Dolby Digital Plus
eARC: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
eARC: LPCM 7.1 Over Dolby MAT
eARC: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
eARC: DTS:X Over DTS-HD MA
eARC: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
eARC: LPCM Channels (Bitstream)
ARC: Dolby Digital 5.1
ARC: DTS 5.1
Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1
Optical: DTS 5.1
The Hisense U8G supports eARC and can pass all the common formats through to a support receiver or soundbar.
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7.2 Sound Quality
Low-Frequency Extension
Std. Dev. @ 70
Std. Dev. @ 80
Std. Dev. @ Max
Max
Dynamic Range Compression
The Hisense U8G has a decent frequency response, similar to the Hisense H9G. As usual for a TV, there's almost no low bass, so it can't produce any rumble or thump. It's a bit boomy in the high-bass and mid to high treble sounds are a bit under-emphasized, but otherwise, it has a well-balanced sound profile and can get quite loud.
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LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE
6.8 Sound Quality
Weighted THD @ 80
Weighted THD @ Max
IMD @ 80
IMD @ Max
This TV has an okay distortion performance. There's some audible total harmonic distortion, but mainly at high volume levels; it's not noticeable at moderate volume.
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LEARN ABOUT DISTORTION
8.0 Smart Features
Smart OS Android TV
Version 10
Ease of Use
Smoothness
Time Taken to Select YouTube
Time Taken to Change Backlight
Advanced Options
The Hisense U8G's smart interface has been updated to Android 10, from Android 9.0 on the 2019 models. The interface has changed a bit, and the overall experience is much smoother and faster. The interface is very similar to the new Google TV interface on 2021 Sony TVs, like the Sony X90J, but there are some slight differences.
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0 Smart Features
Ads
Opt-out
Suggested Content in Home
Opt-out of Suggested Content
Unfortunately, like almost all TVs on the market, there are ads throughout the interface.
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LEARN ABOUT AD-FREE
9.0 Smart Features
App Selection
App Smoothness
Cast Capable
USB Drive Playback
USB Drive HDR Playback
HDR in Netflix
HDR in YouTube
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8.0 Smart Features
Size
Voice Control
CEC Menu Control
Other Smart Features
Remote App Hisense RemoteNOW
The remote has a built-in mic for voice control, and it works well for launching apps or changing inputs, but you can't use it to adjust settings on the TV. There's also a mic built-in to the TV for voice control. Unfortunately, as of firmware update M0210, it's not working consistently. Some owners have reported that installing the firmware update over USB fixes it.
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Smart Features
The Hisense U8G has pretty standard controls, similar to most TVs on the market. If you're concerned about privacy, there's a physical switch to turn off the built-in microphone, which is a nice touch.
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Smart Features
- Quick Setup Guide
- Remote
- Batteries
- AV Composite adapter
- Power cable
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Smart Features
Power Consumption 61 W
Power Consumption (Max) 203 W
Firmware V0000.01.00I.L0422
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