I’ve reviewed a bunch of Mini LED TVs already, and I know that this is technology that offers a brighter picture and a better contrast than any traditional LED backlit TV, but now I wanted to see it at scale, and also get a sense of how the performance of a new 2023 TV compares to one from a few years ago.
The best way to do that is jump out of the EFTM Studio environment where every TV is new and refreshed regularly, to home, where the kids sit and play, my wife watches her shows and I can enjoy my F1 among other things.
Before I talk about the U7KAU generally, let’s address the elephant in the room. We’ve gone big here, real big. While other brands are selling 98 inch TVs and while Hisense and others have Laser TV or Short throw projectors that can go bigger, In our bright sunlit lounge I wanted a traditional TV – but it had to be the biggest.
Enter Hisense with their “Hold my beer” play against the 98 inchers in market, and the absolutely enormous box arrived with the U7KAU 100 Inch TV inside.
You’re definitely going to need to accept the offer of delivery for this one, and also, get installation too – this isn’t a job for just you and a mate.
I called my mates at Universal Home Theatre who unboxed and installed this beast in place of the 85 Inch Hisense that sat there until now.
Side by side, you get the difference
For a TV this size, you absolutely must do your research. Look at the total dimensions, mark that on the wall with painters tape so you can sit back and see how it will look and fit.
Oh, and don’t assume anything about the way it might sit if you’re not wall mounting it. The feet on this thing were so wide – of course – from front to back, that even though the width of our entertainment unit was fine, the depth was not. But seriously, you’re spending this much, spend some more on the wall-mounting.
Size wise, this for us – is not too big. It’s almost perfect. Our Loungeroom is deep, so the main seating position is 4 meters back from the screen, one lounge offset to the side would have you at about 3.5 meters, and in both spots, it’s a great view.
Your TV is an investment based on the amount of time spent using it. Fortunately, our TV is still very much the centre of our home – it’s getting a workout every day, from gaming, to Netflix, Stan and Movies I watch every week.
The U7KAU comes in five sizes,
- 55 inch – $1,499
- 65 inch – $2,299
- 75 inch – $2,999
- 85 inch – $3,999
- 100 inch – $6,999
(If you’re reading this around Black Friday/Cyber Monday, run, don’t walk, because the deals are amazing)
So now we’re settled on big is better, how good is the TV picture?
It’s great. This thing is bright enough to enjoy without pulling the curtains at all, and the viewing angles make all the strange spots a child will sit to play fortnight just fine. And that includes the upward angle, because a small child on a beanbag is looking up at the screen, not sideways.
There aren’t many features that could leave you wanting here. Four HDMI ports was a big win for us, that’s one up on our previous TV and I think an essential number in this day and age.
Plus it’s capable of 144Hz in Game Mode Pro if you’re PC gaming on it. The 120Hz native refresh rate makes sport look fantastic for the keen eye.
When you fire up the right content you get vivid details thanks to HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision IQ, while under the hood the “Hi-View” engine does the work to upscale content and make things look crystal clear.
While all that is great, and I have no complaints at all about colour and brightness, I have to say the single most impressive thing about this TV (aside from the size we have), is the speed. When i push a button on the remote, I want action. I don’t want to feel like a menu is loading. The Home screen should just appear, not come when it’s ready.
I was never annoyed at the previous TV, but now I have this, I can see what I was missing. It’s like a bit of extra RAM or something has gone a long way and the whole system, apps loading, menu navigation and the home screen are super responsive.
That home menu is the VIDAA Smart TV operating system, and like Samsung and LG, Hisense has really made this a more “Netflix-like” experience. With tiles for content, recommendations, trending and new content showing.
For those with a vast array of apps this is great, but in all honesty I’d love to see a “simple mode” introduced. Something that takes me back to a simple Live TV + apps kind of day when I just really want to see my App Icons and TV channels so navigating is all I’m doing, as opposed to browsing for content, which just isn’t how I operate.
And as someone who works in TV, I’ve gotta say, finding Live TV isn’t as easy as it could be. The old remote had a LIVE TV button on it, that’s gone, and the Guide is as close as you come.
Putting that aside, because like anything new, you get used to it, and adapt – we have to talk Mini LED because wow, it’s a game changer.
As I’ve said time and time again, no, it’s not the same level of black to colour contrast as OLED. Simply no.
But when you compare a still relatively recent 3 year old full-array backlit LED TV to a Mini LED the difference is stark.
I still noticed some blooming of white text on black screen when watching in the dark, but I feel that is far offset by the better brightness and contrast performance in regular motion pictures.
Also, the responsiveness of the TV and perhaps that Hi-View engine means I didn’t notice any flickering in credit scenes where black screens with white text and grey images were used, something that bugged me about the last TV we had from Hisense. This all to me, adds up to a success for the transition to Mini LED.
That said, this isn’t even the best Mini LED Hisense has. You can go to Mini LED X and get an even greater level of lighting control from more dimming zones. It’s just another price jump, and that one doesn’t come in 100 inches. To be perfectly frank, I’d choose a 100 Inch Mini LED over the smaller screen Mini LED X – purely because I think the experience of watching on the biggest screen possible far outweighs any noticeable differences between the two lighting technologies.
The Hisense U7KAU is a no regrets installation for us. It’s impressive to see, Impressive to watch and is a huge step up for anyone coming from a traditional edge lit or backlit LED TV. Bang for your buck, I don’t think there’s a better TV on the market.
