Finally pulled the trigger on a cheap gaming TV

DAPUNISHER · Nov 19, 2024

Hisense 55 Class U7 Series MiniLED 4K UHD QLED Smart Google TV 2024 = $499

RTINGS gave it a good review. It can do 4K 144Hz freesync premium pro. It should pair nicely with my 7800X3D+7900XTX. I'll direct connect for now and have to settle for my Logitech 2.1 PC speakers until I pick out an A/V receiver.

If anyone is interested in this cheap gaming TV, I can provide feedback here.

bigi · Nov 21, 2024

^ Interested. Have just been reading on what to get. I have the same GPU. Please let us know how this one performs.

balloonshark · Nov 21, 2024

The tv is $478 on amazon and best buy.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CY56XCJ9

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hisense-55-class-u7-series-mini-led-4k-uhd-qled-smart-google-tv-2024/6577007.p?skuId=6577007

DAPUNISHER · Nov 21, 2024

Thanks! I bought from Best Buy local B&M and scheduled it to be delivered Saturday. They have a price match guarantee; I will chat up CS and get the difference refunded.

I follow directions and instead of the option to enter the price so they can credit back the difference, it only provides the ability to cancel the order entirely. SMDH, get it together Best Buy. Now the wait for a live agent in chat keeps going up on the estimate. They are seriously trying to drive themselves out of biz.

DAPUNISHER · Nov 24, 2024

I got the refund from the price match; it all worked out.

First impressions:

Obviously a big step up from my decade plus old 1080 set.

Out of box experience is meh. It benefits a lot from tweaking the settings. Especially above 60Hz needs 30 minutes or more of messing around to find the best experience. The interpolation/motion assist ghosts. I turned that off immediately. I don't know if there is some combo of settings I could use to make it more acceptable? I'm happy with 120-144Hz. HDR I can't fully appreciate as I am color deficient. Nevertheless I can see a substantial improvement. The Mrs was impressed by it.

I guess I need to buy a 4K bluray player next. With a new A/V receiver added on, It'll still be less for everything than a higher quality set alone.

Intended to use it like a monitor for my PC, but I caved in and used ethernet to enable the GoogleTV features. Works fine. It installed updates pronto.

Some owners complain about "dirty screen effect". I noticed it OOB, but after messing around with settings I can't detect it anymore. Complaints about QA/QC also. I will find out in due time if it is reliable or not.

Now to fire up some games and see how it does there.

DAPUNISHER · Nov 24, 2024

Works well for gaming at 120Hz, I'll try 144Hz next. Having trouble with games recognizing HDR, I need to run a search and find out why. Spiderman MM looks...amazing. I show myself out.

balloonshark · Nov 24, 2024

I'm glad to hear you save a few bucks and that you're enjoying your new toy. I got my first 4K tv last holiday season.

You can try some of these settings.

Hisense U7N [U7, U75N] Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65-inch Hisense U7N (65U7N), and they're also valid for the 55-inch (55U7N) model.

www.rtings.com

Reddit may also have calibration suggestions.

Steltek · Nov 25, 2024

The calibration settings made a major difference with the picture on the Hisense TV that my niece has, so they are definitely worth exploring. The ones we used were from rtings.com for her model.

I'm waiting to check out the 75" Sony mini LED TV that Walmart is supposed to offer on 12/02/24 at $898.00. They haven't said which one it will be, but most think it will likely be the Bravia XR X90L.

mindless1 · Nov 26, 2024

Get an extended warranty. More and more TV repair guys are convinced that Hisense are built to fail prematurely, and after my last experience with one, I tend to agree.

DAPUNISHER · Nov 27, 2024

mindless1 said:
Get an extended warranty. More and more TV repair guys are convinced that Hisense are built to fail prematurely, and after my last experience with one, I tend to agree.

I read some owners assert they use crap memory that fails in 2-3 years. If it dies I'll buy the service kit on Ebay and try to repair it myself. This is the cheapest TV I've bought in at least 30 years (in adjusted dollars it is a better bargain yet); they keep getting less expensive for more features.

If I have too many issues I'll go on next door to give it away to one of the local tinkerers and buy a bigger set. I thought 55" was as big as I wanted to go, but I could do a 65" next time. I sit plenty close enough normally, but when watching with the Mrs on the couch it could be bigger for certain.

balloonshark said:
I'm glad to hear you save a few bucks and that you're enjoying your new toy. I got my first 4K tv last holiday season.

You can try some of these settings.

Hisense U7N [U7, U75N] Calibration Settings

We used the following calibration settings to review the 65-inch Hisense U7N (65U7N), and they're also valid for the 55-inch (55U7N) model.

www.rtings.com

Thanks m8.

RTINGS is where I did my homework before buying the set. Tweaking those settings along with others, is much better than the OOB experience. Being at 120Hz-144Hz when gaming has somewhat improved my aim. I am now slightly better than a Stormtrooper.

Steltek · Nov 27, 2024

I have one niece that has a TCL Q7 and another that has this model Hisense, both 55 inch. Both TVs had pretty terrible OOB pictures, but they also both improved massively with the calibrations from rtings.com.

Have my doubts on the longevity of either one, though.

DAPUNISHER · Dec 13, 2024

Quick update: Now that I have everything dialed in, I am fully stoked with it for under $500. Surprised how good the built in speakers are. I will probably never wall mount a TV, and on the entertainment stand I have it a top, the audio benefits from the surface being so close. They will suffice until I can decide on an AVR. All the extra wires, and how short the cords are on the Logitech PC speakers, are unacceptable for living room use.

I'd like to fight whomever decided we have to use the stupid apps to get high quality playback. The difference between the Netflix app through Google TV and watching on PC makes me spicy.

IEC · Dec 14, 2024

All built-in TV OS suck. It doesn't matter whether it's a budget set or a higher end OLED. I'm explicitly building a HTPC using a Lian Li/Dan A3 case just to have proper control for streaming (and ad blocking)

Steltek · Dec 14, 2024

IEC said:
All built-in TV OS suck. It doesn't matter whether it's a budget set or a higher end OLED. I'm explicitly building a HTPC using a Lian Li/Dan A3 case just to have proper control for streaming (and ad blocking)

Especially the ones that have baked-in advertising systems that you aren't allowed to turn off anymore. Walmart bought an entire TV manufacturer (Vizio) just to be able to have unfettered access to this "feature".

mindless1 · Dec 14, 2024

^ There might be something you can do, router based domain or IP blocking? Then again if it can't pull new ads, you might be stuck with the same ads already cached, *forever*, or set up your own ad server it is redirected to, but that starts seeming like work when just using apps is already pretty fiddly to me.

Steltek · Dec 14, 2024

mindless1 said:
^ There might be something you can do, router based domain or IP blocking?

I know on some Samsungs you can use a form of Adblock on the TV (god, that still sounds strange, having to run an adblocker on your TV) or use IP blocking via router, a DNS service that blocks ads, or maybe a pihole.

Ads on the LG C3 I bought for my mother a couple months ago were turned off at installation, and so far LG has abided by the setting and not ignored it.

However, Louis Rossman has forever gone on about his $3000+ LG TV that has ads that can't be disabled (though I doubt he has tried IP blocking).

Gautamb30 · Jan 2, 2025

That’s a solid choice for the price! The Hisense U7 Series seems like a great balance of featurs and value—RTINGS reviews definitely carry weight. Pairing it with a 7800X3D and 7900XTX? That’s going to be a beastly combo for 4K 144Hz gaming.

Definitely interested in hearing your feedback once you’ve had some time to game on it. It’s always nice to know how a “budget-friendly” gaming TV holds up with a high-end PC.

mindless1 · Jan 3, 2025

^ Meh, nobody in the know likes the ticking time bombs that are Hisense. Seek some youtube tv repair vids and get an extended warranty. Cheaper for a reason.

DAPUNISHER · Jan 4, 2025

mindless1 said:
^ Meh, nobody in the know likes the ticking time bombs that are Hisense. Seek some youtube tv repair vids and get an extended warranty. Cheaper for a reason.

That's the question I can only answer with time.

Aside from longevity being sus, I agree with the handful of reviews I watched saying it is probably the best bang for buck TV of 2024. For 4K gaming it's a champ. VRR and 144fps feels ultra premium after using a 1080/60 TV. 4K and 8K video content look dope AF (great). Upscaling is good too.

The MSRP was $798 and they are asking $750 for it on Best Buy and Amazon now. $479 = buy price. I would have looked at more established brands with the current pricing.

jmagg · Jan 5, 2025

I took a chance with a U7 recently, and at this point I'm glad I did. While I'm not a gamer, the brightness makes a huge difference in viewing background detail, enough that watching movies I've seen before are super interesting again. I bought a 5 yr warranty for 100 bucks, for a total of 600. The TV it replaced was a cheap TCL which is still working fine 5 yrs later. That came after a 2 yr dead Visio so who knows. Here's hoping I don't use the warranty.

sze5003 · Jan 25, 2025

How's it compare to the LG C4 OLED? I've been contemplating getting that model for some time now but I don't do a lot of gaming on the PS5 pro compared to PC. I have a C2 as my desktop monitor which I really like.

Bought a recliner for the basement and the game console has to go there but haven't bought a TV yet for it. So I've been contemplating getting a cheaper TV since it won't be used as much but it should support VRR and high refresh rate.

DAPUNISHER · Jan 25, 2025

The LG is a superior TV and priced accordingly - https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c4-oled

igor_kavinski · Jan 27, 2025

DAPUNISHER said:
I guess I need to buy a 4K bluray player next.

Did you get one?

If not, the Xbox One S makes a great one (I used it for at least two years to view 4K UHD Blurays).

When getting the UHD Bluray, make sure to buy ones that were created using a 4K digital intermediate.

DIGIRAW Real or Fake 4K List

Which films are real 4K (UHD), re-mastered or up-scaled? Check out if the movie or TV show you own is Real 4K or fake.

www.digiraw.com

Sort that by Native 4K. Interstellar would be a good pick, as well as Batman Begins.

DAPUNISHER · Feb 4, 2025

Seems like the Xbox Series X gives me everything but Dolby Vision for Blu-ray. I may go that direction since it also supports most of my old 360 library.

igor_kavinski · Feb 4, 2025

Unless you have really good eyes or you are watching HDR and Dolby Vision content side by side, you won't be able to tell the difference. It hasn't really mattered to me all this time. First, I didn't have a DV capable TV. Then I didn't have a DV capable 4K player. And then I looked and saw that there weren't enough DV capable Blurays out there. DV in the end made sense to me only if I subscribed to the expensive tier of Netflix. Yeah, OK. Someday. When I'm a millionaire and I have gigabit speed internet too.

Finally pulled the trigger on a cheap gaming TV

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