Hisense QD65SR Series 58QD65SR 58"

Great HDR and a killer price, but the Roku streaming bug is a real gamble. If you get a good one, it's a steal. If not, you'll be on the phone with Hisense support and regretting it.

The HDR performance is the surprise here. This thing lands in the 87th percentile for HDR, which is wild for a budget set. Dolby Vision content looks punchy and bright, and the full-array backlight helps with contrast. The 60Hz panel and Motion Rate 240 marketing nonsense mean fast sports are just okay, not great. Audio is a weak spot at the 38th percentile, but the 20W speakers have a speech enhancement feature that some owners actually praise. Gaming is middling too, with HDMI 2.1 but no 120Hz, so don't expect next-gen smoothness.

The TCL QM6K Series 55QM6K is the most direct rival, and it generally offers better gaming performance and more consistent reliability for a similar price. The Roku Pro Series 55R8C5 gives you the same Roku experience with better build quality and fewer reported issues, though it costs more. If you want to step up in picture quality, the LG OLED evo OLED55C5PUA is in another league entirely, but you'll pay for it. The Hisense wins on pure price-to-screen-size ratio, but the competition wins on peace of mind.

At CAD 425, this is a lot of screen for the money. The picture quality and HDR alone justify the price, and the Roku platform is one of the easiest smart TV experiences out there. But value only matters if the TV works. The streaming restart bug and poor support record mean you're rolling the dice. If you get a solid unit, it's one of the best budget QLEDs around. If you don't, the savings evaporate into frustration.

The Hisense 58QD65SR is a budget QLED that nails the basics and stumbles on reliability. You get a 58-inch 4K panel with Dolby Vision, Roku built in, and a price that makes you do a double take. But the user sentiment score sits in the 22nd percentile, and that's not a typo. Some owners are dealing with a Roku streaming bug that restarts the TV every minute or so, and Hisense support hasn't exactly been heroic about it. If you get a good unit, it's a steal. If you get a bad one, you'll wish you'd spent a bit more.

If you're buying a TV for gaming or fast sports, this isn't it. The 60Hz panel and middling gaming score will leave you wanting more. Go get the TCL QM6K Series 55QM6K instead. And if you're the type who hates dealing with customer service, skip Hisense entirely. The support horror stories are real, and the return process is a headache you don't need.

Buy it if you're on a strict budget and want the biggest, brightest screen for the least money. The HDR performance is genuinely impressive for the price, and most owners are happy with the picture. But know the risk: a subset of users hit a streaming bug that makes the TV nearly unusable, and Hisense support hasn't fixed it. If you can stretch your budget by a hundred bucks or so, the TCL QM6K or Roku Pro Series are safer bets.