The Hisense U7NAU might just be the perfect TV for you if you’re not looking to break the bank, but still want to have a really great viewing experience. It’s not a TV that does everything the best, its darkness will never compare to an OLED, and its colour clarity falls short of QLED models. But for a mini-LED device, this might be the perfect compromise for if you’re not strapped for cash – especially if you want a larger display.
Hisense has made a fairly good name for itself in the budget TV market, competing with the likes of Samsung, LG, and Sony with cheaper prices up its sleeve and a comparative range of features that’ll keep most households satisfied. Having come from reviewing two exceptionally high-end Samsung TVs most recently, being Samsung’s leading 4K QLED and Samsung’s leading OLED, switching to the Hisense U7NAU has been equal parts refreshing and illuminating.
Here’s what I thought about the Hisense U7NAU.
NAU we’re talking
Hisense adds a two letter suffix to its TVs to indicate the market they’re being sold in. That’s why every display from Hisense down under has the AU bit. N indicates that it’s the newest model (last year was ‘K’), the number indicates where it sits in the range (above 6, below 8 and 9), and the U indicates that it’s a U-LED model – which is just Hisense’s exclusive marketing term for Mini-LED.
It’s not a great naming convention on all fronts, and to be honest, Hisense needs to rethink these letters to make them easier to understand for casual consumers, but that’s where we’ll hit our stride in this article.
For what we’re concerned with, the Hisense U7NAU represents the sensible middle of Hisense’s Mini-LED TVs – it’s the cheapest of what Hisense considers its ‘premium’ range, but on cost, it sits in the middle of all its TV products. It is what you’ll want to buy if you’ve got some money to spend and don’t want to settle for what is cheapest. A TV of this type will get you a better assortment of features than on cheaper panels, such as lower refresh rates for gaming (the U7NAU caps out at 144hz) and greater peak brightness (1500nits). The Mini-LED aspect of the TV also offers greater colour clarity.
When we’re after a great experience on a budget, I can safely say that the Hisense U7NAU will impress you. In my time with the TV, I’ve watched several movies, TV shows, and anime on the panel, and every experience had fairly good colouring.
The default preset colour options include Standard, Enhanced (which relies on user data to automatically enhance, Filmmaker (which boosts HDR), Cinema, Energy Saving, Dynamic, and Sports. You’ll want to flick back and forward on these during your use in my opinion, as I preferred Cinema for movies and Enhanced for nearly everything else, however, I would also recommend diving into the settings to disable motion smoothing if you want to watch an animated show – I mostly watched cartoons and anime, so this was immediately switched off. This isn’t unique to Hisense, it’s just part of getting a new TV, but boy does motion smoothing annoy me.
Three Dolby-enhanced settings will also become available for select content when Filmmaker mode is enabled, this is turned on when watching The Acolyte on Disney+, for example.
On brightness and colouring, I felt that each scene of what I watched was sufficiently filled with energy, from energetic action sequences in anime to murky shots in dramas. It’ll come as no surprise that darkness wasn’t a highlight (sorry) of the U7NAU, but for what you’ll pay, I certainly don’t think you’d mind. Again, for my personal preference, I’m still very much team OLED.
Viewing the TV from corners led to some colours being drowned out, but careful positioning alleviated this, you’ll want to avoid viewing from an angle as much as possible, though.
Finally, as normal, we didn’t focus on sound too much during our review time but trust that the U7NAU provides fine audio. You’ll want to consider a soundbar or a sufficient speaker setup down the track. I used a Sonos soundbar during my review and didn’t have any compatibility problems.
I also didn’t get the opportunity in my review to give the TV too much of a go with gaming, but also I don’t have a HDMI 2.1 cable at home, so any test would have come with a significant flaw. The soaring framerates achieved by the 144hz panel are unachievable without a sufficiently capable cable. On top of that, the TV has four HDMI ports – two 2.0, two 2.1 (one of the 2.1 is also eArc for sound). There’s also Audio and AV in ports, with all connector ports sorted to the left of the TV, and power to the right. The ports are all fairly squished into the TV, and it’s difficult to access them on the fly, so try to not constantly unplug things.
U betcha
I’ve spoken to other Hisense TV owners, and one of their annoyances is the brand’s operating system. I didn’t have too much of a problem. It’s easy to navigate and all of your apps are shown on the home screen, but it has the same flaws as almost every other screen, where everything just looks far too busy. You can live with it.
What you’ll notice, however, is that the Hisense U7NAU is a bit slower than its more expensive rivals when it comes to scrolling through content. It’ll do it, sure, but it’s a bit sluggish to get going. Again, it’s something you can live with, but just trust that this is part of what getting a mid-range TV will entail. By extension, originally though the remote was generally sluggish for a lack of responsiveness turning on, but it just turned out to be a two-second delay when powering up the device.
Physically, the U7NAU sits on two central feet that can be linked by a removable plastic baseplate, but you can also obviously VESA mount it to the wall. It’s a much more interesting stand than what most TVs have, but the central feet feel like they come out so far and so tall – so tall in fact that my soundbar was cutting into shot from sitting on the baseplate. Not a problem if you’re wall-mounting, but still, not the most ideal alignment.
Here it is with the plate.
Finally, the TV comes with two remotes, and I loved the layout of both. The two remotes have subtle layout differences, with one of them looking like it’s actually for a completely different TV. One of them has a solar panel and can be charged with USB-C, while the other takes two AAAs. See below for the differences.
The verdict: should you buy the Hisense U7NAU?
The Hisense U7NAU makes a brilliant case for itself among cheaper, yet still premium TVs, though it has drawbacks that might hinder a purchase. It’s definitely a TV worth shortlisting on your search, and is absolutely worth a play if you spot it in the local tech store. Its colouring is fantastic for the price, and though it obviously won’t handle the dark as nicely as an OLED, it’s still fairly good at getting a dim scene across. I recommend this TV if you’re craving a big display with a small wallet.
The Hisense U7NAU 55-inch starts at $1,599. The 65-inch model (the one we reviewed) starts at $2,299, 75-inch at $2,999, and the 85-inch at $3,999.
The Hisense U7NAU is available now from JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, and Harvey Norman.
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