Hisense A6N vs Hisense U6NQ

The HDR performance on A6N is unfortunately underwhelming. A peak brightness of just 250 nits doesn't allow for spectacular highlights, and HDR looks rather washed out, more like standard SDR. This won't satisfy more demanding users who want to enjoy high-quality film content. Additionally, colour gamut coverage isn't very impressive either, with DCI-P3 at 82% being a mediocre result that doesn't let you fully enjoy vibrant colours in HDR material.

Hisense U6NQ offers a stable HDR effect, which is a rarity in TVs with local dimming. On most streaming platforms, in films and series recorded in 4K, the TV delivers consistent performance – in every tested scene, regardless of difficulty level, brightness is around 450 nits. This is a pleasant surprise, as many models in this class exhibit distinct differences – some scenes are well-lit, while others are heavily dimmed by dimming algorithms. However, the Hisense U6NQ prioritises maintaining higher brightness, which comes at the cost of blacks, as noted in the paragraph about the contrast test.

The HDR effect on the U6NQ is satisfying, offering a noticeable 'punch' of light in bright moments, although it's worth remembering the aforementioned blooming, which can be visible in challenging scenes. In terms of colour, the TV also performs adequately – the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is 89%, while BT.2020 is 71%. While these are not results that would impress more demanding users, for beginners in the world of high-quality materials, the U6NQ is a solid choice. As such, it presents an interesting option as an 'entry-level' TV for home cinema.

In the colour reproduction category, the Hisense A6N in Filmmaker Mode leaves much to be desired. Although the mode's name suggests we should expect faithful rendering of cinematic colours, the reality is different, and the TV has considerable picture-quality issues. The problem with white balance is particularly noticeable for both HD and 4K material, with a strong bias toward blue. This results in artificial, cool tones, clearly visible in the comparison image below. The ColourChecker test further confirms these errors, which are compounded by low colour-gamut coverage.

The gamma luminance curve shows a serious problem maintaining a 2.4 target. The curve sits well below the reference value, leading to excessive image brightening and washed-out blacks. The EOTF curve for 4K material also indicates brightness issues, with a significant early overshoot caused by the TV's excessive brightening that negatively affects picture quality. This picture profile prevents fully enjoying films and requires manual adjustment.

Hisense U6NQ in Filmmaker mode offers really decent colour reproduction, although it's worth remembering that differences between individual units can be noticeable. The model we tested was pleasantly surprising, especially with HD content in SDR quality. The white balance was correct here, and errors in the range of 3–4 ΔE should be acceptable for the average viewer. The television performed slightly worse in reproducing colours with 4K HDR material. The dominance of blue tones led to unnatural cool shades on the Colour Checker chart, giving the image a "store" character. Combined with issues in brightness characteristics – gamma and EOTF curve caused some parts of the image to be too dark – the Filmmaker mode in this case loses some of its credibility. Although the factory settings of the tested unit deserve praise, particularly in SDR, there were still minor shortcomings that would require adjustments to fully utilise the television's capabilities.

Hisense A6N offers options and tools in its settings for adjusting many picture settings that we utilised. When it comes to white balance, we managed to eliminate excess blue – this effect is clearly visible in the comparison image below, where the boy in the picture almost "comes to life." A significant improvement can also be noticed in the gamma brightness characteristic – the television no longer has serious issues with excessively brightening the entire image. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for 4K materials, where the EOTF curve could not be fully corrected due to the exceptionally low brightness of this model. For HDR content, we use dynamic tone mapping, which allows for the recovery of many details despite the boosting of midtones in the image. For this television, this provides more benefits than drawbacks. The errors that are still visible in the test with the colour palette and Colour Checker for 4K content arise from low colour gamut coverage and are difficult to eliminate due to the television's characteristics. Nevertheless, the tonal quality of the image is significantly better, which is why we recommend calibrating the factory settings, which are far from ideal.

Although the factory settings of the Filmmaker mode on Hisense U6NQ were quite good, we decided to undertake calibration to fully assess the capabilities of this model. Only after such a procedure can one see how the television performs under ideal conditions. In the case of SDR content, which was already at a high level, we managed to further improve the white balance. However, the biggest change came from adjusting the brightness characteristics – gamma was optimised and no longer causes excessive darkening of the image, which improves its naturalness.

For 4K HDR content, calibration also yielded positive results. We eliminated the issue of blue dominance, which resulted in a more balanced and natural image. However, managing brightness in HDR materials remains a more complicated issue. The EOTF curve, although it had problems with image darkening in the 10–30% brightness range under laboratory conditions, reveals other shortcomings in real scenes. The television tends to overly brighten the smallest elements on the screen. As a result, this leads to noticeable halo effects around bright objects. This phenomenon, which we mentioned earlier in the context of contrast and HDR, arises from the technological limitations of the model and is often difficult to eliminate.

In short: although the Filmmaker mode with factory settings performed decently, calibration allowed us to achieve an even better effect – minor adjustments resulted in a more balanced image, particularly in HDR content. For users seeking the highest quality picture, calibration will be a beneficial step.

Let's see how A6N handles low-quality sources. When it comes to smoothing tonal transitions, the lack of features for reducing posterisation or smoothing such transitions in low-quality material like television or DVD may be noticeable to more demanding viewers. As for digital processing, the model was presented correctly and the branches were free of the characteristic jaggedness. The picture has strong three-dimensional modelling and a soft look, which may appeal to viewers who prefer this kind of image style.

With high-quality materials like 4K, tonal transitions on U6NQ look really good – colours blend nicely and the image is consistent. Unfortunately, when we switch to lower resolution content, the television doesn’t offer any extra features that could improve this aspect. An example is the test with the light bulb, where it’s clearly visible that the television struggles with reproducing subtle tonal transitions.

On the other hand, digital processing performs quite well. The image looks lively, is pleasantly soft, and free from excessive artifacts. Moreover, thanks to the sharpness settings, it can be tailored to individual preferences – whether towards a softer or sharper image. Overall, while upscaling lower quality materials could be better, the television handles image processing well.

The 60 Hz panel in Hisense A6N will probably satisfy people who like watching movies, because the TV offers an "ultra motion smoothing" feature that lets you adjust the image's judder, making it more choppy or smoother, with a soap‑opera effect. When it comes to motion blur, it’s rather average; there’s quite noticeable smearing, especially on dark backgrounds, which is a fairly typical trait for this class of TVs.

Hisense U6NQ offers native refresh rates of 60 Hz at a 4K resolution, but the manufacturer has added a feature that allows for an increase in refresh rate to 120 Hz, at the cost of reducing the resolution to Full HD. This is a solution we have previously seen in TCL televisions, such as C655 or C655 PRO. This gives the user the option – higher motion fluidity or full resolution. This makes sense, especially considering that many new generation console games do not achieve full performance in 4K at 120 Hz.

When it comes to movies, the television is equipped with a motion smoother feature, which allows you to adjust the motion characteristics to your own preferences. This enables a more cinematic effect or increases fluidity in dynamic scenes. Overall, Hisense U6NQ offers sensible solutions in terms of motion fluidity that should satisfy both gamers and movie enthusiasts.

Hisense A6N is a TV that will likely appeal to casual gamers, mainly because of its 60 Hz panel, which may not satisfy more demanding users. Still, it offers a few features that can make gaming more enjoyable. The TV supports ALLM (automatic low latency mode), VRR (variable refresh rate) and Dolby Vision, allowing for better picture quality and smoother motion in games that support those technologies. What's more, the low input lag means in-game reactions are quick, which is crucial, especially in fast-paced titles. Thanks to these features, although the TV is not an ideal choice for demanding gamers, it offers solid support for those who value comfortable gaming without complicated settings. It's an ideal solution for people who want to enjoy gaming without heavy hardware requirements, while still having access to modern technologies that improve the gaming experience.

Hisense U6NQ gives the option to choose between 4K at 60 Hz and Full HD with 120 Hz refresh rate. This solution may appeal to gamers who want to decide what is more important to them – higher resolution or smoothness. The TV supports features like ALLM and VRR, which help in providing smoother gameplay. A nice addition is the GameBar – an easy-to-use panel that allows quick adjustments to picture settings and checking statistics. We also find the Dolby Vision Game mode here, which operates with low input lag, a big plus for console enthusiasts. Unfortunately, it lacks HGiG, which could further improve HDR quality in games. Nevertheless, the Hisense U6NQ performs quite well as a gaming TV, especially for those who play occasionally and do not require the highest refresh rate in 4K. It is a solid choice for less demanding users.