Weight: 43 pounds [w/o stand]. Will Greenwald has been covering consumer technology for a decade, and has served on the editorial staffs of CNET.com, Sound & Vision, and Maximum PC. Looking for in depth calibration settings and general recommendations for this TV from calibration geeks and gurus on the Hisense H8F Howdy folks. I know costco usually gets 1 off versions but going through specs I'm not seeing a big difference. A volume rocker and mute button can be found on the right edge of the remote. If you want relative simplicity and a bunch of streaming apps, the R8F is a strong pick. Its Normal mode covers upwards of 99.9% of the Rec. 8 comments. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. Refresh rate: 60 Hz The Hisense H6510G is an okay budget-friendly TV. PCMag Digital Group. However, for the average Australian, this is a great picture. We tested the R8F using an XRite i1 Pro 2 spectrometer for profiling, a Klein K-80 colorimeter for metering, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays' CalMAN software using methodology based on Imaging Science Foundation's calibration techniques. The important apps and features are all here for using the TV as a TV. Just hold down the microphone button on the remote and say what you want to do. Sure, it's amazing you can get a 65-inch 4K HDR TV for as low as $650, but does the Hisense H8F deliver the picture performance to make it a real value? Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can switch between three HDR modes, but you’re probably best off sticking with Dark or Normal; I find the exaggerated colors of HDR Bright rather unappealing, especially when they transform the understated Onward into gaudy neon and make many of the lead actors in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker look like anthropomorphic apricots traipsing through a Technicolor daymare. It's a small, black plastic bar with Roku's signature plus-shaped direction pad near the top. Add another 2.5 or so inches in height for the stand. TCL's 6-series TVs go head-to-head with Hisense's H8F in terms of price per size, but which one performs better? Not all TVs are ideal for gaming; we typically recommend that a set’s input lag time (as measured in its Game mode, if any, with a Leo Bodnar Lag Tester) be 20 milliseconds or less if you want to use it for that. In all cases, the R8F shows slightly better contrast than the H8F. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, Watch RuPaul's Drag Race season 13 online: Channel, UK schedule, cast and more, The best Nintendo Switch Lite accessories and cases for 2020, Fable 4 trailer, release date, and Xbox Series X and PC info, iPhone 12 mini sales a disaster — here's the proof, Good picture quality and SDR color accuracy. Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. 2020, though that’s on par with what we’d expect from a less-expensive TV. When you start playing HDR content, a small HDR icon appears in the picture settings menu. This performance doesn't apply to off-angle viewing, though; the colors start to fade and distort a bit when you move to the left or the right from the dead center of the screen. Considering how much even higher-end TVs can struggle to turn out killer sound, it’s no surprise that audio is often a notable sticking point for lower-end TVs. Unlike the H6570G, it displays native 4k content perfectly. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. Please refresh the page and try again. Hisense claims an 89° viewing angle (that is nearly a right angle) and the Quantum Dot R8 gives more colour depth and clarity than the R7 out to about 75° off-angle. 2020, and color accuracy dipped across the board, though not excessively so. Hisense R8F vs H8G. The textures and cuts of black suits in the party scene can be clearly distinguished, while the bright white balloons and lights pop on the frame. For a sub-$700 TV, the R8F delivers above-average picture quality that’s particularly noticeable in its handling of color. The fairytale-pastel palette of Disney’s Onward, for example, really pops, with the abundant purples of the lead elven characters’ skins contrasting nicely with the deeper greens and more muted earth tones of their rugged adventure environment. TL;DR a CEC-less adapter on secondary inputs got ARC working consistently for me on my 55H8G running firmware 1016. It gives you superior picture quality powered by quantum dot technology, half again as many dimming zones (a total of 90), improved audio, and more sophisticated smart functionality via SmartCast 3.0. New York, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, boasting a very different kind of animation, looks better still, with its comics-inspired hues and sharp character outlines partnering perfectly with the percussive excitement of that film’s near-nonstop motion. It's a warm, balanced look that serves nature documentaries well. At the price and with the features on offer the Hisense Roku 4K R6 is a tremendous value for anyone looking to enter the world of 4K HDR. Home, Back, and Power buttons sit above the direction pad, along with a pinhole microphone. No problem—you can use your voice. All the other key ports are the left: Audio Out, USB, three HDMI, Headphone, and coaxial all angled toward the outer edge, along with a Reset button; and, facing straight out, composite audio and video, Line Out, a fourth HDMI port, and Ethernet. Quantum dot gives a superior picture to LED/LCD but cannot meet the 100% black of OLED. The R8F is physically identical to the H8F, with a striking, almost bezel-free design with an edge-to-edge glass panel framed by a tiny 0.2-inch black border on the top and sides, and a 0.7-inch gunmetal bezel running along the bottom edge. That’s better than what you’ll see with the highly capable Vizio M-Series Quantum (M658-G1) and the TCL 6-Series Roku TV in the equivalent modes (up to 95.45% and 95.31%, respectively), though both TVs hold their own in their versions of Normal mode, with the Vizio covering a full 99.92% and the TCL 99.96%. The no-frills remote is of the standard Roku style: small in size, rectangular with curved corners, and black with a few splashes of color. Visit our corporate site. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. It can play HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) content. The Great Gatsby also shows the R8F's strong contrast performance. On the right side of the R8F is the jack for connecting the power cord. What I would love to see from Hisense in the future is an option to enable or disable CEC on a per-input basis. The thing that makes them a big competitor of R8F is that both of these have the same price range. I just got myself a really good deal on an H8F ($200) after using a 2005 Toshiba for years and I am looking to make this thing work like a charm. The R8F comes in at 17.7 milliseconds, making it a surprisingly impressive choice in this area, as well. The Hisense R7 series offers one of the best budget TV options ever, and while in some situations you may prefer to go for the TCL S405 series, for most the Hisense R7 is the way to go. It certainly isn’t bad; its trebles and mids are emphatic enough, but its bass presence is lacking. Weighing in at 43 pounds, the R8F isn’t unduly heavy (though, as always, you’re better off getting someone to help you haul it into position). If you can afford to shell out a bit more cash, the Vizio M-Series Quantum (M658-G1) remains one of our highest recommendations. Audio: 15 watts x 2, w/ Dolby Atmos PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering Labs-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. The Hisense H8F TV line is the first genuine competition TCL's 6-series has seen. Unlock the power of over a billion colors perfectly expressed with Hisense H8G quantum series ULED smart TVs, which combine incredible, ultra-bright 4k detail with android TV. This is readily visible in scenes from Avengers: Endgame and The Rise of Skywalker, where the searing light of the background sun tends to overwhelm darker details in the front of the frame. Skin tones also appear natural and saturated. Of course, this is only a knock if you want to use the R8F to control home automation, answer non-entertainment questions, or otherwise do things that aren't watching TV. Aiding this are the TV’s 60 local dimming zones; only the outskirts of the two upper corners appeared unaccountably dark during our evaluation period. Sign up for What's New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning. The set is also available in a 55-inch model (the 55R8F), which shares many of the same core features but has only 56 dimming zones (compared with the 65R8F’s 60). We used an XRite i1 Pro 2 spectrophotometer, a SpectraCal VideoForge Pro pattern generator, and CalMAN Ultimate calibration software to take more precise measurements and get a more objective look at what the R8F can do. Hisense releases fewer models than most other brands, and the H8F appears to be one of their top models this year. The set’s colors do look best when the picture is viewed from straight on, however, as they wash out quickly as you approach the screen’s edges (and take on a distinct gray tint when viewed from much past the set’s corners). The HDR picture modes showed slightly lower peak brightness but otherwise demonstrated similar performance for an excellent mid-five-digit contrast ratio. In addition to your favorite streaming services and online games, this H8G quantum series TV is also perfect for cable, satellite, and free over-the-air broadcasts. The Hisense R8F is the Roku TV version of the H8F, with the same strong picture quality and input lag bundled with a Roku-based interface instead of Android TV. He currently covers consumer electronics in the PC Labs as the in-house home entertainment expert, reviewing TVs, media hubs, speakers, headphones, and gaming accessories. It also covered a narrower slice of Rec. Why is Hisense H8G Quantum 75" better than Hisense Roku R8F ULED 65"? And of course certainly to look into whatever bug might lead to CEC from another input causing ARC to drop. The Hisense R8F line offers Roku TV accessibility and surprisingly strong 4K picture quality for a very reasonable price. How does the picture clarity of Hisense HD TVs compare to the 4K models? As a Roku TV, the R8F offers the same selection of apps and streaming services as any other Roku TV, or any Roku media hub like the Roku Ultra or Roku Smart Soundbar. Music is also represented well, with Amazon Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and Tidal, along with plenty of internet radio apps. The Hisense R8F line offers Roku TV accessibility and surprisingly strong 4K picture quality for a very reasonable price. The Hisense R8F is the Roku TV version of the H8F, with the same strong picture quality and input lag bundled with a Roku-based interface instead of Android TV. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. Your subscription has been confirmed. Release Date and Price: The R8F Series TVs … If you love movies, shows, sports, and gaming, then the R8F 4K ULED HDR Smart Hisense Roku TV is perfect for presenting your favorite entertainment. We recommend choosing the 'HDR Theater' Picture Mode, and leaving the other settings t… Testing with an HDFury 4K Diva HDMI matrix, we measured an unacceptably high 93.3ms input lag with Game Mode turned off. The R8F also upscales HD content well, with the frantic globe-hopping cavalcade of Mission: Impossible—Fallout clean and satisfying. The H8F is better for watching movies or playing games in a dark room, but has worse motion handling. 74.5" vs 64.5" Three HDMI ports, a USB port, an optical audio output, an antenna/cable connector, and a pinhole reset button face directly left, while a fourth HDMI port, an Ethernet port, an RCA composite video input, and a 3.5mm audio output face directly back. In HDR Normal mode, colors were less than ideally saturated in both Rec. That's an unexpected, but not unwelcome, feature on a TV as inexpensive as this one in this price range. A. Roku’s smart TV interface is a popular one among TV manufacturers, and one that you can master in no time. In both cases, however, you can get an even better picture by spending a bit more. The recently launched HBO Max and Peacock TV streaming services are both noticeably absent from Roku’s stock of available channels, and there’s no clear word on when they may arrive. The above charts show an SDR signal compared with the Rec.709 broadcast standard color gamut on the left and an HDR10 signal compared with the DCI-P3 color gamut on the right, with the TV set to the warmest color temperature for both modes. Boasting a quality picture, a user-friendly Roku smart interface, and impressive gaming capabilities, the Hisense R8F Roku TV is a tempting TV for its price. Curiously, contrast performance varied very little between a standard definition signal with the TV in Movie picture mode and an HDR10 signal with the TV in HDR (Dark) or HDR (Bright) picture modes. Tom's Guide is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. With an understated, unassuming design, the R8F should have no trouble fitting into any décor. Luckily, it’s only distracting in these somewhat uncommon circumstances, and otherwise doesn’t detract from the picture. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, The screen sits on two V-shaped gunmetal legs that can be attached near the center or near the sides of the bottom, providing flexibility if you have a table or shelf that's slightly narrower than the screen. You won’t get everything from it that you will with a more expensive set — more detailed perfection in terms of image quality, and sound that won’t have you scrambling for a soundbar — but you also won’t feel that anything substantial is missing. The Hisense R8F 65" was loved by reviewers at CNET, a highly trusted source that performs reliable in-depth testing. Get performance ratings and pricing on the Hisense 55R7F tv. HDR: Dolby Vision and HDR10 In fact, contrast was highest with the SDR signal, with a peak brightness of 483.886cd/m2 for a full-screen white field, an 807.601cd/m2 peak brightness for an 18-percent white field, and a black level of 0.014cd/m2 for a contrast ratio of 57,686:1. As in-depth as RTINGS, I wish they would test for propper sound outputs (Optical, HDMI-ARC). Resolution: 3840 x 2160 While there is a significant difference in pixels between the two models – typically 1920 x 1080p for HD TVs compared to 3840 x 2160p for UHD 4K options, the picture quality of HD TVs is still good, with many customers commenting on the vibrant colors and crisp images. It did great in its " The best TVs for gaming in 2020: Low input lag and high picture quality " roundup where it was named its "Ranked 1 out of 6", which, in itself, makes it a product worth considering. No one tests tvs like we do. For our review, we assessed the 65-inch version of the Hisense R8F Roku TV, the 65R8F. For our review, we assessed the 65-inch version of the Hisense R8F Roku TV, the 65R8F. The I/O port array on the back of the R8F is more than adequate, especially given that the TV, like most, can stream everything you want without an outboard box (as I’ve already mentioned, this one uses the Roku OS). While the included remote has a built-in microphone, it's used almost exclusively for voice search of content; you won't find any voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant on the TV (though you can control the TV with either if you have a smart speaker). The red of Deadpool's costume in Deadpool looks accurate and saturated, even in the overcast lighting of the opening scene. The H8F is a 4K UHD TV available in the 55-inch flavor reviewed here as well as 50- and 65-inch SKUs. Besides the power connector on the right side, all inputs sit on the left side of the back of the TV. The Hisense R8F series takes the same excellent picture quality we saw in the H8F line and swaps out Android TV for Roku TV. Price: $699.99 Fast action, such as the race through the Pasaana desert near the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker, and the fever-dream car chase that kicks off Netflix’s 6 Underground, looks consistently crisp, with a minimum of smearing. It's a very premium look, comparable with high-end LG and Samsung TVs. Fine details in fur and bark can be clearly seen both when in direct sunlight and in shade. With this many choices, you may not feel like navigating through all menus manually. Like the Hisense H8F, the R8F is a 4K TV that supports high dynamic range (HDR). Anybody know the difference between the two? Will is also a THX Level I home theater expert and ISF Level III-certified TV calibrator, which ensures the thoroughness and accuracy of all PCMag TV reviews. Buy Hisense 55-Inch Class R8 Series Dolby Vision & Atmos 4K ULED Roku Smart TV with Alexa Compatibility and Voice Remote (55R8F, 2020 Model): LED & LCD TVs - Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases Instead of the button-laden wand of the Android TV version, the R8 comes a standard Roku TV voice remote. CES 2019: Hisense goes higher-end with better Roku TVs and 4K laser projector. Colors are bright and vibrant, with the greens of plants and blues of water appearing natural and not cartoonish or oversaturated. Skin tones also look natural under the fairly cool light of the highway fight. The R8F is compatible with two key HDR formats, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, but aside from switching between three supported picture modes, you have no control over it—HDR activates automatically when you play content that supports it. Shadow details can also be clearly seen in the frame even as the flames burn, though the light bloom can cause those details to seem a bit lighter than ideal. Hisense is going to face some intense competition, especially from the likes of Vizio M-Series Quantum and TCL 6-Series QLED. Bezels on the top and sides are thin (about 0.2 inch) and black; the one on the bottom is half an inch thicker and colored gunmetal gray, matching the two feet that connect to it on the bottom of either side. Model number: 65R8F Smart TV software: Roku The China-based TV maker offers up two things Americans love: streaming ease and huge TVs. Access your cable or satellite service, use an HDTV antenna, or start streaming over the 150,000+ free or paid movies and TV episodes. The Hisense H8F is a budget 2019 model 4k TV. On the Roku TV side, the TCL 6-series remains our Editors' Choice for its similarly excellent color performance and even brighter picture, while for Android TV Hisense's slightly pricier H9F line improves upon the H8F's panel with a much brighter backlight that suffers from far less light bloom. You can add more channels or apps from an in-depth catalog offering genres as diverse as music, games, comedy, news, and sports, but Roku TV, however broad, currently only goes so far. Ports: 4 HDMI 2.0b With the Hisense Roku TV, it's easy to watch what you love with quick access to thousands of streaming channels, and live broadcasts. Purchasing US. Judging from its specifications the Hisense R8F is a worthy, less-expensive rival to some of my favorite midpriced TVs, which include the … Screen size: 64.5 inches NY 10036. Keep an eye on your inbox! The LG looks better in a bright room, especially if you have a wide seating area, so it's a better choice for use as a PC monitor or for watching sports. Unlike most TV manufacturers, Hisense doesn't embrace a single smart TV platform, instead offering your choice of Android TV or Roku TV. The LG UM7300 and the Hisense H8F use different panel types, each with their strengths and weaknesses. Either Hisense line punches well above its weight in contrast and color, and is worth your attention if you're looking for a capable 4K HDR TV for a low price. The Hisense H8G is an upper-mid range TV in Hisense's 2020 lineup. The starkly designed home screen presents a no-nonsense list of menu options on the left that let you watch live news and browse Fandango’s movie and TV stores. This is most detectable at lower volume levels, and though it improves more as you edge up toward 50%, it still never dazzles. The bottom bezel features a Hisense logo in the middle, a Roku TV logo on the right, and a small protrusion under the left corner for the infrared remote sensor. You don’t need to sacrifice all the features and picture quality of the best TVs if your bank account isn’t exactly bulging. — The fires in the burning lab fight look bright and colorful, with plenty of oranges and yellows flickering. There was a problem. PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis, LLC and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. Our Verdict. Its main competitors are the TCL R617, Samsung RU7100, and Vizio V Series 2019. The significant exception as far as image quality is excessive light bloom. Once you start playing HDR content, some of the settings change automatically. It’s not perfect—there’s some hyperactive light bloom and audio is just so-so—but considering how little it costs, there’s not much to complain about. The Hisense H8F 50", however, is merely decent when compared to its direct competitors. For a basic TV, the Hisense R8F checks all the key boxes: affordable, good picture quality, and easy to use. • Polecamy HISENSE 65U8QF, HISENSE 55U8QF, HISENSE 65A7500F, HISENSE H32A5800, HISENSE 65U7QF - … Turning the mode on, which can slightly hurt image quality and disables certain processing features, makes that number drop to an excellent 6.2ms. Hisense 65H9F Review. $499.99 at Amazon 2/24/2020 By Will Greenwald. The picture on the R8F looks good under a variety of lighting conditions, and it helps that the screen can get decently bright. Unfortunately, the R8F also shares the H8F's tendency toward heavy light bloom. If you’re in the market for a 4K set that delivers some solid wins but doesn’t break the $700 price barrier, you may not need to look further than the Hisense R8F series. If you’d prefer to connect your TV to the Internet via Wi-Fi, the R8F supports standards up to 802.11ac. Whites and primary colors were spot-on accurate out of the box in either case, showing even better color performance than the H8F. © We recognized some hazy auras in black fields around white patterns, which the H9F and its higher number of active lighting zones significantly reduce. Roku TV isn't filled with quite as many features as Android TV, but it's simpler to use while still packing a massive selection of streaming apps and services. Size: 56.9 x 32.8 x 3 inches [w/o stand] It's a Black Friday variant of the Hisense H6570G with improved performance. In bass-forward tracks like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” you get more the suggestion of a grounding thump than an essential part of the composition. Some distortion does creep into the upper limits of the set’s volume capacity, but the sound is acceptably clear for music, voices, and sound effects alike. Dedicated buttons near the bottom open the Netflix, ESPN, Hulu, and Roku Channel apps with a single press; other simple navigation controls, as well as a microphone button for voice controls (see above), are located above it, and the volume controls are on the right side. The back panel is also all black, and largely featureless, with a ridge near the top being the only significant adornment beyond the holes for affixing the TV to a 400 x 200 millimeter VESA mount. Both can be described as lower-mid-range 4K LED-LCD TVs, but the model we tested provided a picture quality experience that is better than we expected for the money. HDR is automatically enabled for the native apps. Featuring 4K ULED resolution, the R8F packs incredible detail into an HDR (Dolby Vision ®, HDR10 and HLG) to create astonishing images with … Wi-Fi is supported at the 802.11ac level, and there’… If you want a slightly more complicated but feature-rich smart TV platform, the H8F is the better choice. His work and analysis has been seen in GamePro, Tested.com, Geek.com, and several other publications. In our lab tests, we saw peak brightness ratings in the range of mid to upper 400 nits (depending on the mode) in normal mode and hovering around the set’s rated 700 nits for HDR. Roku continues to lag behind the Amazon Fire TV and Android TV platforms, along with LG's and Samsung's smart TV platforms, in terms of non-entertainment features. 4.5. Thank you for signing up to Tom's Guide. — Like the H8F, the R8F has a fantastic Game Mode that reduces input lag (the amount of time between when the TV receives a signal and the display updates) dramatically. For that reason, we expect the performance of both versions to be comparable, and our recommendations for the 65R8F may also apply to the smaller set. There are four HDMI ports, one supporting the Audio Return Channel (ARC); a USB port for playing back media from storage devices such as thumb drives (keyboards and mice are not supported); and coax for antenna or satellite/cable connectivity. Playback controls and dedicated service buttons for ESPN+, Hulu, Netflix, and the Roku Channel sit below the pad. It has an outstanding contrast ratio and incredible black uniformity, so … https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/hisense-65r8f. Hisense R8F series: A 4K Hisense Roku TV you can already buy (Image credit: Hisense) Hisense kicked 2020 off with a set it released in late 2019: The R8F Roku TV. 709 and Rec. The set’s rating for Delta E, which relates the difference between the input color and the displayed color (with lower values better), is 2.4. That's well under our 20ms threshold for considering the R8F one of the best TVs for gaming. The BBC's Planet Earth II looks excellent on the R8F. But because it’s slightly cheaper and possesses some tantalizing characteristics, the Hisense R8F remains a definite winner in our book. Armed with a bevy of intuitive smart features buoyed by the ubiquitous Roku technology and turning out a fine picture for the price, the R8F series is a more-than-respectable entry in the midrange TV realm. The Hisense R8F series is available in two screen sizes: a 55-inches 55R8F ($449.99 average selling price) and a 65-inches 65R8F ($599.99). 709 color space, compared with 99.42% for Movie mode. Hi, Costco has the R8F on sale, and the H8G is the rtings recommended budget version. The colors stray a bit more when HDR is engaged. This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. For a better audio experience than the Hisense R8F can provide on its own, we recommend pairing the set with one of our best soundbars. You’ll see accurate colors on the R8F, too, particularly in Movie mode. It’s handsome, with a thin-bezel, and offers the first solution to a problem I ran into myself not so long ago—stand feet that are too widely spaced for the … All of these produce richer, fuller sound, and some can take advantage of the R8F's Dolby Atmos support. The R8F is no exception. It's a high-contrast, balanced look. It also shows the same significant levels of light bloom as the H8F, but aside from that, the R8F stands as a fantastic value. Through a table of large icons on the right you have quick access to your various connected devices and integrated apps (or channels) for watching content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+. This is well below the Vizio M-Series Quantum (3.6), though a smidgen above the TCL (2.2); in any event, it’s a good result for a TV at this price. Thanks. It sits below the Hisense H9G and above the Hisense H6570G. Screen summary. © 1996-2021 Ziff Davis, LLC. Its main competitors are other budget TVs, like the TCL 6 Series/R635 2020 QLED, the Vizio M7 Series Quantum 2020, and the Samsung Q60/Q60T QLED. Don't expect to control any smart home devices on the TV, either. Excellent contrast and color performance. 15.5% bigger screen size? If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant.