Hisense 55" U8 Series ULED Mini-LED 4K UHD Smart Google TV (55U8QG) - QLED, Native 165Hz, VRR 288, Up to LD5600, 5000 Nits, HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ · Atmos, IMAX Enhanced, 4.1.2 Ch Audio

Why it's worth it

The Hisense U8 is the brightness-per-dollar champion here, with a mini-LED backlight, thousands of dimming zones and a native 165Hz panel. It gives up some processing polish and black-level precision, but the core picture holds up against sets costing much more.

Hisense's U8 line keeps landing within a few points of LG and Samsung flagships on RTINGS.com's weighted overall score, despite launching 40 to 60% cheaper. That gap is real but small, and it mostly shows up in areas — processing subtleties, off-angle color — that matter less than raw picture impact for most viewers. Owners coming from a decade-old plasma or a mid-range Samsung consistently describe the jump as bigger than they expected.

Brightness is where this set embarrasses its price tier. Mini-LED flagships from Hisense and Samsung now push past 3,000 nits in HDR highlight windows per Tom's Guide, and Hisense rates this panel higher still. Combined with the Anti-Reflection Pro coating, that makes it the easiest TV here to watch in a room with afternoon sun. If your living room fights you, this solves the problem cheaply.

From our review of 6 tvs, by Ben Carter, Tech Editor

What we like

• +Hisense's U8 line keeps landing within a few points of LG and Samsung flagships on RTINGS.com's weighted overall score, despite…
• +Brightness is where this set embarrasses its price tier
• +The gaming spec is unusually complete for the money
• +Google TV is the strongest smart platform in this guide

What to know

• –Local dimming can't match per-pixel control
• –Hisense's picture processing is a step behind Sony's and LG's
• –The larger sizes in this line are heavy