First Impressions:
What am I looking at? Is this picture for real?! 4K, Dolby Vision 12-bit Color?! For so cheap!
All of the sudden, the jazzy 4k HDR test video is looking better than on any computer monitor I've _ever_ viewed it on.
Your research has paid off. This is by far the best-valued TV out there. Hisense is going to kill the competition.
Features / Settings:
I don't have any calibration equipment, but I did look at some other sites who did all that, and trusted that the basics were done at the factory. I set my Color Temp of "Mid-Low" (a little on the warmer side seemed right for my perpetually shaded viewing area), along with Enhanced Viewing Angle turned on, Picture Mode set to "Energy-saving," and local dimming set to "Medium." I found that lets the backlight basically go all the way off in dark zones for really great "infinite black" areas of the screen that make you question if the TV is even on. I also set Noise Reduction and Motion Clearness to "off" to minimize overprocessing 4k movies, so as not to reduce quality. Then, with some trial and error, I found I was happy with Auto Contrast set "Medium" to auto-adjust to difficult situations like bright white credits text scrolling by on a black background, since the "halos" / bleed-through from backlit zones when would drive my eyes bonkers in such situations. The 700 nits of brightness the TV offers is more than enough to make me look away or have trouble focusing in our darkened room when the camera catches the sun in a movie or something. I'm actually glad it's not brighter. Though even more dimming zones would be nice to bring higher resolution between the dark and light areas, I found halos only noticeable on some menus or other extreme light-dark / test situations, and not in normal viewing. The Quantum Dot color gamut combined with Dolby Vision is so enthralling; my brain doesn't have time to notice.
Sound I basically set to "Theatre" mode and let Dolby Atmos do its job. I found the room filled with sound quite nicely using only the built in speakers (as long as it stayed set on "Theatre" setting), so I just leave it there all the time. I've never needed to go above 20 on the volume so far, and typically watch TV around a volume of 7, and movies at 15 (out of 100), to give you some indication of how loud things can get. Just got to remember to set playbacks to 2-channel audio (rather than 5.1-channel defaults on just about everything) until I get a surround system set up.
Opportunities for Improvement:
Similar to previous model years, the remote is still not backlit. It's usually not an issue in the daytime, but there are so many similar-shaped buttons so close together that finding the "pause" button at night ends up taking me 3 tries. Also, the pictures on the product description show little handles on the back of the TV that are screwed into the top two holes for wall-mount bracket. However, they only come with the 75" version of the H8G TV (a fact I didn't find out until I looked at the owner's manual for my 55"), and that's a bummer because I thought I could use those for extra wire management. There is one path on the back of the TV for wire management, but it only fits 3 or so wires, so I was hoping for more.
The other thing I should mention is that, while the bezel around the screen is indeed very thin, the viewing area is not 54.5" on my 55" TV as advertised. It's closer to 53.75" due to an average of 3/8" of black space surrounding the picture before the edge, and I've found no way of fine tuning or adjusting the picture size. Not sure if it's a defect, manufacturing inconsistency, or intended (but off from spec), but my computer monitor doesn't have such a gap, and the picture is closer to the bottom bezel than on the sides or top, so not sure what's up. Just hope it helps set expectations for others, since I was expecting the picture to go right up to the edge and fill the specified "viewable" area, and it didn't.
Oh and one last thing for early adopters like me who've been so excited and waited so patiently for this TV to come out. Hisense customer service isn't ready to service the H8G TVs yet, as of the end of April 2020. So you can't get replacement parts, order an extra remote, or anything like that currently. (Something about the new models not being in their parts system yet.) But to me, the value well outweighs the temporary risk. Overall, my experience with the TV, and with Amazon, inspires confidence in my purchase decision. I highly recommend getting yours now before they are all gone!
| Brand Name | Hisense |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 44.1 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 57 x 11.1 x 35.8 inches |
| Item model number | 65H8G |
| Batteries | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Output Wattage | 260 Watts |
| Special Features | Flat |
| Speaker Type | Built-In |
