If you’re not in a completely dark room, a brighter 55-inch LED TV like the Hisense 55U8K is better than the Samsung S90C OLED and the Sony A95L OLED. Although higher-tier OLEDs can now output impressive peak brightness levels, LED TVs like this can reach even higher peak brightness levels in HDR and SDR and maintain these peaks for longer. Besides brightness, this TV delivers excellent picture quality, with very deep blacks, thanks to its Mini LED local dimming feature, which improves the appearance of dark scenes and further brings out bright highlights. The Hisense supports both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ and passes through advanced DTS audio formats through eARC. It also has very good image processing overall, making it a great home entertainment option.

Of course, Mini LED isn’t as good as OLED technology for a dark room, as there’s some distracting blooming around bright highlights in dark scenes, but it’s still very good and is sure to please most people. Overall, it’s a great TV for almost any use. It has a great selection of gaming features, including variable refresh rate (VRR), Dolby Vision HDR at 120Hz, and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth on two HDMI inputs, both supporting up to 4k @ 144Hz gaming, making it fully compatible with the Xbox Series X, the PS5, or a recent PC graphics card. Unfortunately, its viewing angle is sub-par, which is one of the major losses with this TV compared to the OLEDs. If you have deep pockets, Hisense has a limited-release super high-end product, the Hisense UX. It’s a bit better than the U8K for a massive price increase. Also, it’s only available in a 55-inch format in Europe.

2024’s Hisense U8/U8N is now available, and it’s better than the U8K in several ways. The TV has a faster response time and better contrast. It even gets brighter than the U8K. Unfortunately, it’s not as accurate in SDR or HDR, and it has its highest price tag near release. Since the U8K is already bright enough to take advantage of most HDR content and overcome glare in almost any bright room, the cheaper U8K is currently the better option for most people while on sale.