Hisense 65U7S Pro

Price

The 65-inch 65U7S Pro (65U7STUK Pro) launched in the UK at £1,799, but is currently selling for around £1,299. It sits above the regular U7S, but not prohibitively so. The good news is that the 65U7S Pro largely delivers..

The U7S Pro doesn’t yet appear to be available in the US or Australia. Instead, those territories top out with the core U7S model.

Design

• Solar-powered remote control
• Thin bezel
• Central pedestal stand

The U7S PRO is handsome in a conventional TV sort of way. The styling is restrained with a wafer-thin bezel wrapping the display and a relatively unobtrusive depth, given that it’s built around a direct Hi-QLED backlight.

The central pedestal makes the screen easy to accommodate on AV furniture. The overall construction is solid. Reflecting its better than average approach to audio, the rear panel sports a central bass driver, with what appear to be a couple of passive radiators that help to generate some low-frequency weight.

The supplied remote control is long and slender with a premium feel in the hand. There’s no need for batteries as it’s solar powered. There are dedicated buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube and TV channels, plus all the usual navigation controls.

Props to the glare-free treatment used on this panel. It succeeds in nullifying reflections and dissipating bright light, but it doesn’t do it at the expense of black level integrity. There’s a fine balance when it comes to delivering glare free deep black levels, and Hisense has got it just about right.

Connectivity

• Four HDMI 2.1
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
• Apple AirPlay support

Connectivity is generous. All four HDMI inputs are specified for high frame rate gameplay. There’s no need to play musical chairs with HDMI cables when connecting consoles and soundbars (HDMI 3 provides the eARC connection).

There’s also two USB ports, Ethernet, an optical digital audio output and both terrestrial and satellite aerial connections. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth come as standard; Apple AirPlay and HomeKit are there if you need them.

Features

• Vidaa smart TV platform
• Freely

The U7S Pro runs Hisense’s VIDAA smart TV platform. Much like Google TV, it’s content-forward interface, with streaming services and recommendations close to the surface.

The Home screen leads with a live TV rail, and includes content from Freely, followed by an apps bar and curated material from services including Rakuten TV, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and public service broadcasters.

There’s a lot going on, but the layout remains reasonably easy to understand.

VIDAA also includes cloud gaming content, including selected titles from Netflix. The hope is you’ll see VIDAA as a general entertainment hub rather than simply a window for external sources.

UK buyers also get Freely, the TV over Wi-Fi service from the makers of Freeview. This delivers all the public service broadcasters and sympatico channels, wirelessly, which means the TV can be located pretty much anywhere as long as it is in range of a strong network connection.

Picture Quality

• Dolby Vision 2 Max
• High brightness HDR
• Glare free panel

Superb fine detail, excellent contrast and vibrant colour – the U7S Pro has all these things in abundance. If you’ve been waiting for Hisense to show you what it can really do, feast your peepers on this.

The combination of Mini LED backlighting, high peak brightness, and Dolby Vision 2 produces images with droolworthy depth and impact.

The set comfortably passes a peak HDR brightness of 2000 nits in many of its picture modes under testing. I measured 2657 nits using a 10 per cent patch in Standard mode which is bright enough to do justice to HDR-enabled streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video.

There’s some blooming and haloing, but it’s not overt and really only visible in demanding high-contrast material. White credits rolling across a completely black background provide the obvious example.

Full-field brightness was measured at an impressive 656.8 nits.

The set is punchy enough for dynamic daytime viewing, and importantly it doesn’t trade in its dynamics at night. Shadow detail is excellent. Letterbox bars on Atlas (Netflix) remain reassuringly inky, even as Jennifer Lopez triggers vibrant pyrotechnics with her AI-powered mech.

If there was any suspicion that Dolby Vision 2, here in its Max guise, was a token rebrand, the presentation given by the U7S Pro puts paid to that. There’s artful nuance to its imagery, with brightness, contrast and colour are adjusted scene-by-scene.

Sound Quality

• Dolby Atmos sound
• Devialet tuned
• Decent bass

The 65U7S Pro has a 2.1.2-channel sound system tuned by French specialist audio outfit Devialet.

The configuration combines downward-firing stereo with two up-firing drivers and a rear-mounted woofer. Total power output is 50W, which breaks down as 2 x 10W, 20W and 2 x 5W.

Needless to say, this is much more ambitious than the basic stereo spec found in many TVs, and has considerably more weight and scale than you might expect. It plays loud, offers a decent cinematic spread, and delivers low frequencies with reasonable authority.

I measured bass response down to around 50Hz, which is enough to give explosions, music and sound effects some useful slam.

Dialogue remains clear, too.

Obviously, a dedicated Dolby Atmos soundbar will take the performance further still, but the built-in speakers are good enough that an immediate upgrade isn’t essential. And significantly, there’s no intrusive cabinet rattle when things get heavy. The U7S Pro handled the extreme low bass of the opening sequence of Dune Part Two without a wobble.

The TV is also compatible with Hisense’s Hi-Concerto system, which allows compatible Hisense audio equipment to work in tandem with the television’s own speakers. I didn’t have one of those to hand so couldn’t test it..

Gaming

• Dolby Vision
• 165Hz refresh rate
• VRR & ALLM

If you’re a gamer this Hisense has you covered.

For a telly that’s posited as a home cinema display, its gaming specification is pleasingly complete, with all four HDMI inputs 2.1 compliant.

The panel has a native 165Hz refresh rate and supports VRR and ALLM. The high refresh rate is especially interesting for PC gamers given the hardware is capable of driving frame rates beyond 120fps.

Consoles are more my beat, so the U7S Pro is a good fit. I measured input lag in Game mode at 13.1ms (1080/60), which is comfortably responsive for everyday gameplay. Dolby Vision gaming is a welcome inclusion.

The panel’s motion handling is also pretty good. Settings include Smooth, Standard, Clear, Film and Custom.

AI processing also helps keep moving objects reasonably crisp. It’s more Oasis than Blur.

Should you buy it?