Hisense U65QF 65U65QF 65"

The Hisense 65U65QF is a 65-inch Mini-LED TV with 1000 nits of peak brightness and a 144Hz panel for $740 USD, and it includes a 3.1 channel sound bar with wireless subwoofer. HDR performance is genuinely best-in-class at the 99th percentile, and sports viewing is where this set shines. The Fire TV smart platform and limited connectivity are the main compromises. If you want a bright, punchy picture for sports and HDR movies without spending OLED money, this is one of the best value plays out there.

The headline number is 1000 nits of peak brightness, and that puts this Hisense in the 99th percentile for HDR performance. That's genuinely best-in-class territory. For HDR content, that means highlights actually pop the way they're supposed to. Sun glinting off a car, explosions, neon signs at night, they all have real impact. Dolby Vision IQ helps here too, since it adjusts the picture based on ambient light in your room. You won't be squinting at a dim, muddy picture during daytime viewing.

Picture quality overall sits at the 92nd percentile, which is excellent. The Mini-LED backlight gives you much better control over local dimming than a standard LED TV, so dark scenes hold up better with less blooming around bright objects. The QLED color layer helps with saturation too. It's not OLED-level contrast, and we won't pretend it is, but for a bright-room TV this is about as good as it gets without spending significantly more. The 144Hz panel is also a nice touch for gaming, though the overall gaming score of 61.6 suggests the processing and input handling aren't quite as polished as the raw refresh rate would imply.

The most direct competitor here is the TCL QM8K Series 75QM8K. TCL and Hisense have been trading blows in the value Mini-LED space for years, and the QM8K is a strong alternative with similar brightness and gaming features. The TCL is bigger at 75 inches, but you'll pay more for that size. The Hisense's bundled sound bar is a genuine differentiator if you don't already have audio gear.

Against the LG OLED evo OLED55C5PUA and Sony BRAVIA 8 K65XR80, the story is about contrast versus brightness. Those OLEDs will give you perfect blacks and better viewing angles, but they can't match 1000 nits of sustained brightness in a bright room. The Hisense also costs less while being bigger than the 55-inch LG. The Samsung Neo QLED QN900F is closer in spirit with its Mini-LED tech, but Samsung's pricing puts it in a different tier entirely. If you want the absolute best picture quality and money isn't a concern, go OLED. If you want 90% of the experience for 60% of the price, the Hisense is the smarter buy.

At $740 USD, this is a lot of TV for the money. You're getting a 65-inch Mini-LED panel with 1000 nits, a 144Hz refresh rate, and a sound bar with subwoofer thrown in. Compare that to the LG OLED evo OLED55C5PUA or the Sony BRAVIA 8 K65XR80, both of which are excellent TVs but cost significantly more and don't include audio gear. The Hisense is undercutting the premium brands while offering brightness numbers that actually beat many OLEDs.

The trade-off is in the details. The smart platform is clunky, connectivity is limited, and the overall polish isn't at the level of Sony or LG. But if you're plugging in a streaming stick anyway and don't need a dozen HDMI ports, those compromises matter a lot less. For a bright-room sports and movie setup, this is one of the better price-to-performance plays we've seen in the 65-inch category.

Hisense has been quietly making a name for itself by stuffing high-end tech into aggressively priced TVs, and the 65U65QF is a perfect example. You're getting a 65-inch Mini-LED panel with 1000 nits of peak brightness, a 144Hz refresh rate, and Dolby Vision IQ support. That's a spec sheet that would have cost double this a few years ago. The fact that it also ships with a 3.1 channel sound bar and wireless subwoofer in the box is just showing off.

This is a TV aimed squarely at sports fans and people who want that bright, punchy picture without dropping OLED money. The sports score of 70.8 out of 100 is the standout here, and it makes sense. High brightness, good motion handling via AI Smooth Motion, and a big screen are exactly what you want for watching football or basketball in a room that isn't pitch black. The gaming score of 61.6 is solid too, thanks to that 144Hz panel and FreeSync Premium support.

But this isn't a no-compromise set. The smart platform score lands at the 39th percentile, which means Fire TV is doing it no favors. And connectivity is a real weak spot at the 14th percentile. We'll dig into what that means for real-world use below. The short version: if you can live with Fire TV's quirks and don't need a ton of ports, there's a lot of TV here for the money.

If you're a serious gamer who plays fast-paced competitive titles, this probably isn't your TV. The 144Hz refresh rate looks great on a spec sheet, but the gaming score of 61.6 tells a different story. Input lag and VRR handling aren't up to par with dedicated gaming displays. You'd be better served by an LG OLED or a Samsung with better gaming features.

Home theater enthusiasts with a dedicated dark room should also look elsewhere. The Mini-LED backlight is good, but it can't match the perfect blacks and pixel-level control of an OLED. If you watch mostly movies at night in a light-controlled room, the LG OLED evo OLED55C5PUA or Sony BRAVIA 8 K65XR80 will give you a noticeably better picture despite lower peak brightness. And if you need lots of HDMI ports for multiple consoles, a sound system, and other devices, the connectivity limitations here will frustrate you.

For sports fans and bright-room viewers, this Hisense is an easy recommendation. The 1000 nits of brightness and strong motion handling make it a natural fit for watching games during the day, and the bundled sound bar means you won't need to budget extra for audio. The 70.8 sports score backs that up. It's also a solid choice for HDR movie watching if you don't have a light-controlled room.

For serious gamers, the 144Hz panel is nice but the overall gaming score of 61.6 suggests this isn't the best choice if gaming is your primary use. You'd be better off looking at something with lower input lag and better VRR implementation. And if you're a home theater purist who watches in a dark room, an OLED like the LG C5 or Sony BRAVIA 8 will serve you better despite the lower peak brightness. The Hisense is a bright-room champion, not a dark-room reference monitor.