Hisense A7NQ vs Samsung Q7F

We checked how the Hisense A7NQ performs with HDR, and there's no surprise here. The luminance chart showed a maximum brightness of 370 nits. The result? Exactly what one could expect – average. At around 350 nits, HDR doesn’t stand out much compared to SDR. Sure, there’s a subtle difference in more brightly lit scenes, but it’s not a show-stopping effect. In terms of wide colour gamut coverage, the result was 92% for DCI-P3 and 70.2% for BT.2020. These are decent values for a TV in this class, which uses a PFS coating – the same one that’s sometimes promoted as QLED. The colours look alright, but don’t expect something that competes with the best screens on the market. HDR on the Hisense A7NQ is more of an add-on than a "game changer". For those looking for solid image quality on a moderate budget – it’s definitely acceptable. However, if we expect full HDR capabilities, it’s worth looking at models from the higher price range.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Q7F is not one of the bright televisions, which directly impacts the quality of HDR films. The peak brightness of the panel is only around 250 nits, which is definitely insufficient for claiming a true cinematic experience. In practice, the HDR content does not differ significantly from classic SDR, making it difficult to talk about any "wow effect" that usually accompanies us when watching such films. During testing of film scenes, the image simply looked dark, and the brightness almost always hovered around the aforementioned 250 nits. The worst performance came from shots with small, intensely glowing elements – the global dimming technique used reacted very aggressively in those cases, dimming the entire screen to maintain the black effect. However, it is worth noting the presence of a QLED coating that broadens the colour spectrum. For a budget QLED model, the Q7F performs quite decently here: the DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage is around 93%, and BT.2020 reaches 70%. This means that despite the low brightness, the colours can still look quite vivid and attractive.

When testing the Hisense A7NQ in Filmmaker mode, we hoped for alignment with the manufacturer's intentions, but unfortunately, reality looks different. The main issue, as with most TVs, is the white balance. In the case of the A7NQ, we noticed a clear dominance of blue, which affected both lower-quality materials and 4K HDR content. The Color Checker test results confirm this, and the comparative images speak for themselves – the lead actress in "factory" mode looks cool and pale. It appears as though she has been stripped of life.

As for brightness characteristics, both gamma and the EOTF curve show that the image is overly bright. As a result, everything seems flat, lacking depth and contrast. This state of affairs certainly does not work in favour of the A7NQ and makes the image reception in factory mode leave much to be desired. If we expect natural colour reproduction and appropriate image depth, the A7NQ in Filmmaker mode is unlikely to impress us. It’s a TV that requires significant adjustment to bring out its potential.

The reproduction of factory colours in the Samsung Q7F is definitely not one of its strong points. In Filmmaker mode, which theoretically should be closest to neutral, the white balance issue is immediately noticeable. There’s too much red on the screen, while blue is lacking. The effects are very easy to notice – white, instead of being neutral, takes on warm, almost slightly orange tones. In the long run, this makes the entire image appear a bit unnatural, while bright areas of the scene can seem unrealistic. The problems are even more evident in HDR content. The charts show that the TV has significant errors in the Color Checker palette, which results in visible inaccuracies in the real image. In practice, this means that colours are not presented as they should be. The Q7F also heavily manipulates brightness; darker elements are overly boosted, causing them to lose their cinematic feel, while bright parts can be dimmed. This makes the image seem flattened, and contrast, instead of helping to bring out details, only highlights its own limitations. In HDR materials, this is particularly frustrating because every detail matters. In scenes where a subtle play of light and shadow should be felt, the Q7F either overdoes the lighting or, conversely, suppresses elements that should attract the eye. This causes the image to lose its depth, and instead of cinematic realism, we have a rather simplified effect.

Hisense A7NQ offers several tools that allow you to improve image quality, so we decided to take matters into our own hands and do some "digging" in the settings. Thanks to professional tools and measurements, we managed to correct the white balance, eliminating excessive dominance of blue in both HD and 4K content. This is a significant step forward, as in the Color Checker test, the errors in colour reproduction in lower-quality content dropped to a much more acceptable level. Unfortunately, 4K content still falls short of perfection – colour distortions are significant here and stem from the limitations of the television.

As for the gamma, we managed to set it at the correct level, which significantly reduced the excessive brightening of the image. However, the issue with the brightness characteristics in 4K content remains unresolved – the EOTF curve still shows excessive brightness across the entire screen. It's possible that a proper implementation of dynamic tone mapping could make a difference here, but as we mentioned earlier, this feature in Hisense A7NQ works rather poorly, instead of helping. Nevertheless, the calibration significantly improved the overall image perception. The director's vision is now much better represented than in the factory settings, which more demanding viewers will definitely appreciate.

After professional calibration, we managed to bring the Q7F to order – at least in terms of SDR content. The image in this mode looks really good: the white balance has been set correctly, the colours appear natural, and the errors in the colour palette have dropped to levels practically invisible to the eye. Gamma behaves exemplary, and the only minor flaw remains a slight lightening of smaller elements, which stems from the lack of local dimming. For everyday watching of television or films in standard quality, the Q7F performs surprisingly well.

It was significantly more challenging to tame HDR content. Despite adjusting the white balance, the television still heavily manipulates brightness, causing scenes to appear unnatural – what was meant to be subtly darker can sometimes be overly bright, and the bright parts of the image can occasionally be dimmed. The final effect is better than in factory settings, but it’s clear that the construction limitations of the Q7F do not allow for fully utilising the potential of HDR materials.

The Hisense A7NQ impresses with its smooth tonal transitions in 4K content, but unfortunately, we won't find any features here that improve this aspect in older, lower-quality materials. In such cases, colour transitions become more noticeable, which can slightly detract from the overall picture quality, especially in scenes with a lot of gradients.

When it comes to upscaling, the television performs surprisingly well. The image is clearly improved, though it comes with certain compromises. It can be seen that the TV adds a touch of artificial sharpness, and background elements, like branches, tend to exhibit slight "jaggies." However, these are details that will mainly catch the eye of those who pay attention to such nuances.

Upscaling and digital image processing in the Q7F is a bit of a rollercoaster. On one hand, we have really nice upscaling – weaker sources look better than you might expect. The image becomes clearer, sharper, and even older films or free-to-air TV hold up well. Samsung has been strong in this area for years, and the Q7F confirms that. On the other hand… things start to get tricky. The TV has a problem with overscan – part of the image is simply cut off, and it doesn't look very elegant. Additionally, we were let down by a feature called "noise reduction," which should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions in weaker materials. In other Samsungs, it works relatively well, but here it practically makes no difference – the banding in gradients is still there. It's a bit of a shame because we expected more from a model that is aimed at users looking for a display for SDR content.

The Hisense A7NQ is equipped with a 60 Hz panel, which means that dynamic scenes – for example in sports or gaming – come across as rather average here. This is standard in this class of equipment, but it's worth noting that watching more intense, fast-moving content can leave a lot to be desired. However, when it comes to movies, the TV offers a motion smoothing feature that works on a 10-point scale. The "judder reduction" option allows you to adjust the smoothness of the image to your own preferences. At the lowest setting, you get a natural film frame rate, which will appeal to cinema purists. Conversely, the maximum setting provides a very smooth, theatrical image, which may be appreciated by those who prefer a more "smeared" motion.

Motion blur and motion fluidity in the Q7F is probably the most budget-friendly aspect of this television. The 60 Hz panel makes the motion blur quite noticeable, especially in dynamic scenes, and it's rather hard to consider this model as equipment designed for watching sports or playing fast-paced games. In tests with the little green man, there was a long trail, similarly, the ball in a football match would leave behind streaks.

On the positive side, the presence of motion smoothing is worth noting. In films, it really makes a difference – especially since most materials are recorded in 24 frames. Here we can decide whether we prefer a more "cinematic" image, with a slight judder typically found in cinema, or a smoother, more “TV-like” one. This actually works quite well and helps improve the viewing comfort for series or movies.

Hisense A7NQ is a piece of gear that may pleasantly surprise gamers, although it's not without its flaws. The fact that it has a 60 Hz panel immediately suggests that the TV is not designed for the most demanding gaming scenarios. The motion blur we mentioned earlier can also be a drawback, especially in fast-paced games.

However, there are a few things worth praising. The TV supports ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), which is not always standard in this price range. The biggest surprise, however, is that the A7NQ can display visuals at 120 Hz – albeit only in Full HD resolution, but it's still a significant nod to gamers. This provides the option to choose between smoothness and resolution, which is not obvious in TVs at this price.

A nice addition is the Game Bar, which is clear and practical – all the essential features are at hand without having to dig through the settings. However, it lacks support for HGiG, which could be a disappointment for gamers seeking perfect HDR in games.

The features for gamers on the Samsung Q7F is a topic that stirs up quite a few mixed emotions. On one hand – no reasonable person was expecting miracles here, after all, it’s a 60 Hz television and it was clear from the get-go that this wouldn’t be equipment to squeeze the maximum from a console or PC. On the other hand, since the manufacturer promised specific solutions in promotional materials, it is only natural that we wanted to see them in practice. At the start, it’s looking pretty good. The automatic game mode (ALLM) works, so there’s no need to manually fiddle with the settings; the console switches the TV to low latency mode by itself. Plus, we have the Game Bar, which looks impressive and allows you to check a few basic parameters without leaving the game. And this is where the good news ends.

The biggest problem with the Q7F is VRR, or rather its absence. Indeed, the appropriate icon appears in the menu, you can even see it in the Game Bar, but throughout the entire test, the function remained dead and could not be activated in any way. Even more disappointing is the matter of HGiG; this option was actually available in the beginning, but after a software update, it disappeared completely, which is just unprofessional. Therefore, the Q7F is only suitable for absolute basics. Sure, you can turn on the console, play calmer titles, and enjoy low input lag, but if someone is counting on more advanced features that the manufacturer promised, they will be disappointed. This is not a television one buys with gaming in mind, and it’s better to be aware of this before purchasing.