Compare: SONY BRAVIA 3 vs Hisense U7S / U77SE

Sony Bravia 3 is a television that brings several important improvements over its predecessor while still staying true to its core. The biggest change is the design – slim bezels and sturdy metal legs make it look modern and fit much better in a living room than the X75WL. The improved colours thanks to the PFS filter and really good upscaling are also a plus. It is particularly with lower-quality content, especially in classic SDR, that the Bravia 3 can show its best side – colours look pleasant, the picture is clear, and thanks to the IPS panel, viewing angles are at a very good level. For a ‘classic’ TV, where comfort from various viewing positions in the room and decent quality of everyday content matter, it is perfectly suitable. A huge advantage remains the Google TV system. During our tests, there were times when the interface did not work as smoothly as we would have liked, and some features could freeze. However, despite these imperfections, the presence of Google TV is a huge plus – access to thousands of apps and a full streaming library compensates for minor shortcomings. Unfortunately, what was weak in the X75WL remains weak here as well. The IPS panel has very low contrast and does not offer local dimming, which means that watching movies in a dark room quickly loses its appeal – black resembles more of a grey, which effectively detracts from the enjoyment of viewing. Additionally, the option to record content to USB, which was available in the predecessor, has been removed. It is hard not to notice this and not to add it to the list of downsides.

So, who is the Bravia 3 for? Primarily for those who want to enter the world of Sony televisions at the most affordable price while valuing the Google TV system. However, it is not the most attractive option in its class – competition in this budget can offer models with Mini-LED backlighting, which outperform it significantly in terms of contrast and HDR. Therefore, the Bravia 3 is worth considering, but mainly when there is a solid discount. At regular price, it will be very difficult for it to stand out against its more cost-effective rivals.

Hisense U7S is the latest iteration of the U7 series, whose biggest advantage remains its price-to-performance ratio. You get a Mini LED TV with local dimming, which genuinely improves black levels and gives the picture more depth for evening viewing. During the day a generous brightness reserve helps, so you don't have to rush to close the curtains. It's not a device without compromises, but as an everyday TV it makes a lot of sense. Gamers get a lot too. The U7S supports high refresh rates from consoles and PCs, has an extensive set of gaming features and responds very quickly to controller input. Pleasingly, the low input lag is maintained even in Dolby Vision. On top of that there's the smooth-running VIDAA, which offers both Smart features and handy extras for regular TV. Overall it's quite versatile, although compared with last year's U7Q it's hard to call it a big step forward.

Unfortunately there are also things that clearly bother us. The first is motion smearing. The panel has a high refresh rate, but its pixels don't always keep up, so moving objects leave noticeable trails. Fans of sport and fast-paced games will feel this most. The second issue is HDR, which the TV handles a bit 'its own way'. Instead of sticking to the brightness encoded in the content, it aggressively brightens parts of the image. The aim was probably to make things more striking, but often the opposite happens: a scene becomes overbright, loses depth and clearly departs from the creators' intent. It's a shame that this behaviour can't be effectively corrected even during calibration.

Despite these caveats the U7S remains an interesting choice if you're after as much as possible for a reasonable price. Compared with basic LCDs without local dimming, which you can still find at similar price points, it primarily offers much better black levels. And that's where its biggest strength lies. You don't need to reach for an expensive model to get a Mini LED whose benefits are actually visible in viewing. If you accept its flaws, the Hisense U7S can above all be a very good-value purchase.

Bravia 3 in most variants, including the 65-inch model we tested, uses an IPS panel and unfortunately, this isn't the best news for those who value depth of image and truly velvety blacks. This technology has its advantages, offering decent viewing angles, but they come at the cost of very low contrast, which is particularly noticeable during evening viewing sessions when we expect the screen to go dark where it should. However, the list of problems doesn't end there. Our unit also showed noticeable imperfections in the blacks, which exacerbate the effect of their shallowness. For instance, in the scene with the helicopter, you can clearly see blooming in the corners of the screen and noticeable vignetting.

It's hard not to think that even a simple local dimming system could have salvaged the situation and added a bit of drama to the image, which is lacking here. Unfortunately, Sony has not opted for such a solution, and as a result, we have a repeat of last year's performance. So, Bravia 3 is not a television that will charm with cinematic depth of black. At night, instead of intense black, we are more likely to see grey pretending to be darkness, which may disappoint more discerning viewers.

The Hisense U7S shows good black levels, especially for one of the entry-level mini-LED models. The 55-inch test size uses 192 local dimming zones that work well with the VA panel. In most of our scenes contrast ranged from about 21,000:1 to over 51,000:1, and in one it even exceeded 500,000:1. In many films you can plainly see it — dark scenes have depth, and blacks don’t glow grey like on many cheaper LCDs without local dimming.

It’s worse when the screen shows lots of small bright objects against a dark background (for example the scene shown below). There aren’t enough zones to light each of them individually, so you can see a bright halo around small objects. This so-called halo effect is easiest to spot when watching in a dark room. In the most demanding shot the contrast dropped to about 5,650:1, and here the backlight limitations are clearly noticeable. Despite that, given the TV’s class, it’s hard to call this a fault, because many mini-LED TVs in a similar price range will have similar problems.

Bravia 3 does not hide the fact that it belongs to a group of TVs that are rather modest in terms of brightness. Our measurements showed around 370 nits, which is a value balancing on the brink where any HDR effect can still be discussed. For some, this is an acceptable level, while for others it is more typical for SDR materials, where spectacular flashes or vivid contrasts are not expected. The impression is that this is not a TV for those focused on the highest image quality in demanding film content. However, this does not mean that there are no advantages to be found here. Compared to its predecessor, the X75WL, the Bravia 3 has gained an additional PFS filter, which works similarly to solutions known from QLED technology. Thanks to this, the DCI-P3 color gamut has been significantly expanded, reaching over 91 percent, which in practice results in more saturated colours and a more pleasing texture of the image. As a result, even everyday content looks a bit more vibrant, and films and series can surprise with their colourful presentation, despite limitations in brightness itself.

The Hisense U7S has considerable HDR potential, but it can’t make full use of it in every scene. On a test pattern it reaches about 1100 nits, so the backlight is genuinely strong. In our brighter film scenes we measured around 640 to 745 nits. That’s still enough for the sun or bright highlights to have a distinct bloom and to show an advantage over SDR material. When the TV needs to light a larger portion of the image, it handles it quite well.

The problem appears with small lights on a dark background. Each of the 192 zones covers an area considerably larger than a tiny point on the screen. If the TV were to drive such a zone strongly, it would brighten the surrounding area along with the light. Hisense tries to avoid that and dims the whole zone. Blacks look better as a result, but a small bright object that should draw the eye also loses intensity. That’s why in two tougher scenes we recorded only 297 and 154 nits. The difference is large: in one shot HDR can impress, and in the next small highlights are noticeably muted. The U7S therefore prioritises keeping deep blacks, even at the expense of bright details. With this number of zones it’s an understandable compromise, but it’s worth remembering that the peak 1100 nits tells us about the backlight’s capability, not how brightly the TV will show every element of a film.

Colours

Hisense markets the U7S as ULED, but that’s a marketing name; the wider colour gamut here is achieved by a PFS phosphor backlight. In our measurements the TV covered about 91% of the DCI-P3 space and 71% of BT.2020. Those are good results, though a little short of the best screens on the market. The biggest shortfall is in green — the TV doesn’t even reach the DCI-P3 boundary there, so the most intense green hues will be less saturated than they should be. Most colours in HDR films and series still look suitably vivid, however. A positive is the repeatability of the results: gamut coverage on test patterns and in film scenes is practically identical.

We primarily tested the Sony Bravia 3 in movie mode, which immediately turned out to be the best choice among the factory settings. It's not a perfect picture, but compared to the eco mode that the TV suggests straight out of the box, the difference is evident and definitely better. In movie mode, there is a noticeable issue: the picture seems too warm, which is due to the lack of blue colour in the white balance. Nevertheless, in SDR content, the final effect can still be considered quite decent and satisfactory for everyday viewing. Much more serious errors arise in HDR materials. The Color Checker analysis showed significant deviations, and poor brightness management, combined with limited colour gamut coverage, further exposes the shortcomings of the picture in this mode. All of this makes HDR on the Bravia 3 look unconvincing and can ruin the impression left by the otherwise quite decent SDR content settings. Fortunately, it’s not a hopeless situation. Various errors can be somewhat mitigated, and some can even be completely corrected through professional calibration. That's why we decided to check how the TV would perform after such adjustments.

Factory colours on the Hisense U7S are decent, but there are a few things to fix. In SDR the white balance favours red, so the image looks too warm, in places with a slightly pink tint. You can see this on faces and bright, neutral surfaces. Gamma also runs below the target, so the TV brightens the image, especially in darker areas. That makes it easier to see shadow detail, but the scene loses some of its depth.

In HDR the white balance is a bit more even, but not completely neutral, with midtones lacking blue and the brightest parts lacking red. A bigger problem is the way brightness is reproduced. The EOTF curve shows that a large portion of the midtones is boosted, making the image appear brighter than the source material intends. Color Checker measurements also fare worse than in SDR: many errors are around 3 to 4, and individual ones reach as high as 8. Colours can therefore look attractive, but they're not always faithful to what we should be seeing. There’s room for improvement and we’ll see how much can be corrected with calibration.

Calibration allowed us to extract significantly more from ChooseTV 3 than we could have expected at the beginning. First and foremost, it managed to address the deficiency of blue, which previously caused a noticeable warming of the image. After a slight adjustment in white balance, most errors in the Color Checker measurements for SDR content practically disappeared. The whites took on a natural tone, and brightness management in gamma stabilised to an almost ideal level, not exceeding the threshold of what the human eye can perceive. So it is safe to say that in SDR content, after a few adjustments in the settings, ChooseTV 3 performs really well. It fares much worse, although still definitely better than before calibration, when it comes to HDR content. The white balance has been brought in line, but the limitations of the IPS panel are insurmountable. The lack of local dimming means that even the smallest elements can be overexposed, which is immediately noticeable. Colour-wise, the effect has also improved, although it is far from perfect – many errors still exceed the threshold of four, and even five delta E units, remaining visible to the human eye. It was already clear earlier that ChooseTV 3 is not a television designed to impress with HDR quality. Nevertheless, it is pleasing that in SDR content, after calibration, the picture can look really great and in this category, the television pleasantly surprised us.

Calibrating the Hisense U7S did the most for SDR content. We managed to even out the white balance, so the earlier warm tint is gone and whites and greys look neutral. Gamma now sits very close to the reference, so the TV no longer brightens the image unnecessarily and darker scenes have regained depth. Color Checker measurements confirm the improvement: most errors are below 2. For watching regular TV and SDR films, this delivers a really well calibrated picture. Calibration in HDR wasn’t as smooth. The TV lacks an effective way to correct the EOTF curve, so Hisense still interprets the film’s brightness a bit on its own. It brightens parts of the image and, depending on the scene and local dimming, can tone down the brightest elements. That couldn’t be eliminated by calibration. This also shows up in the Color Checker results, where many errors remain around 3–4 and some exceed 7. In SDR the result is therefore very good, but in HDR we have to accept that the TV adds its own interpretation of brightness to the image.

In terms of the fluidity of tonal transitions, Bravia 3 performs really well. In brighter scenes, we didn't notice any serious errors – the screen handles colour blending almost perfectly and doesn’t create artificial contours that can spoil the viewing experience. Similarly, in darker segments, there are no major issues with colour gradation, although another problem arises here. Strong brightening and uneven backlighting of the panel in dark scenes make it difficult to definitively assess the gradation itself, because the effect is spoiled by the unevenness of the image. However, if we focus solely on colour blending, the result should be regarded as very good.

The smoothness of tonal transitions is one of the Hisense U7S’s stronger points. HDR10 content performs particularly well, with colours gently flowing from one to another without noticeable banding. Even in dark scenes it's hard to find significant issues. Minor tone joins only become visible in brighter shots, but during normal viewing they rarely draw attention. It's a bit worse with Dolby Vision, where the boundaries between tones can be more apparent. That's why Hisense loses some points with us, although overall it's still a very good result and one of the better performers in its class.

Bravia 3 brings something more to the Sony television family than just a shared name. It stands out primarily for its ability to enhance the quality of weaker materials thanks to the processor used. Of course, we won’t find the advanced XR chip known from more expensive models here, but nonetheless, it must be said that the image in lower resolution looked surprisingly good. The scaling worked effectively, and most areas of the screen were free from the typical excessive edge roughness found in budget constructions.

Also worthy of attention is the function that improves the smoothness of tonal transitions. In high setting, it works really well, effectively masking gradation imperfections without significant loss of detail. It does happen that the algorithm overzealously smooths elements that should remain sharp – for example, faces – however, in the overall assessment, the effect is beneficial. The best results were achieved precisely at the highest setting, and this is the option we could recommend to those watching lower-quality content.

The processing of lower-quality material in the Hisense U7S is fairly average. The Pentonic 700 chipset used here doesn't cope particularly well with the effects of heavy compression. There's a "Smooth and Gradient Picture" function in the menu, but its performance leaves a lot to be desired. At the low setting it's hard to see any improvement in tonal transitions, though at least the picture doesn't suffer. Medium and high settings still don't remove visible banding between tones and begin to blur details; in our clips parts of characters' faces even vanished. Interestingly, film grain remains untouched at every level. If you do use this function, stick to the low setting. Its current performance needs refinement, but that's mainly down to the processor used here.

Upscaling to 4K performs much better. Lower-resolution content gains clarity, edges are well reproduced and fine details look sharp. That doesn't mean the TV can recover details that weren't in the recording, but it makes good use of what's provided by the source. Another plus is the lack of edge cropping, even with an SD signal.

Motion smoothness has never been a strong point of televisions equipped with 60 Hz panels, and the Bravia 3 is no exception. Nevertheless, Sony has included something that may appeal to those more sensitive to the way images are displayed. I'm talking about the proprietary motion smoother, Motion Flow, which gives the user plenty of adjustment options. With it, one can make the image smoother, almost theatrical, or stick to a more cinematic style with characteristic judder that many people simply associate with a filmic atmosphere. These functions work with content at lower frame rates, such as films and series recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second, which is the material we deal with on a daily basis. This is precisely where the motion smoother proves to be one of the most important features in everyday TV usage, and here, the Bravia 3 performs really decently.

Motion handling on the Hisense U7S is decent thanks to its 144 Hz refresh rate. For films there's also a motion smoothing option with adjustable judder and blur reduction. You can keep a more cinematic feel to motion or increase smoothness if choppy camera pans bother you. High refresh is also useful for sport and gaming, but unfortunately it doesn't solve the panel's biggest problem.

The issue is pixel response time. Fast-moving objects leave long, distinct trails, as our UFO test shows. It's worst on dark backgrounds, where the trail is particularly pronounced. So motion can be smooth, but the moving object loses sharpness, and that difference on the U7S is fairly easy to spot.

Bravia 3 is not gear for e-sports enthusiasts or fans of late-night marathons with a controller in hand. The lack of 120 Hz refresh rate and HDMI 2.1 ports shuts down the conversation before it even gets started. This is a TV for casual gamers who, after work, will fire up FIFA or racing games, not for someone who measures every frame in a spreadsheet. Nonetheless, Sony has thrown in a few nice additions so it’s not completely sparse. ALLM works as it should, automatically switching the TV to game mode (low latency). We even find a simple Game Bar here, which is clear and intuitive. However, the biggest curiosity here is the PlayStation Portal app. Thanks to this, you can launch PS5 games wirelessly and see them right on the TV screen. It sounds great, but it only takes a few minutes to feel significant lag. In our opinion, it's more of a showcase of capabilities than something that can be used day-to-day. If someone really wants to game, it's better to plug the console in with an HDMI cable and forget about wireless issues.

The Hisense U7S has plenty to offer gamers. You get two HDMI 2.1 ports and support for 120 Hz in Full HD, 1440p and 4K, so modern consoles’ capabilities are well utilised. When connected to a PC you can use 144 Hz at 4K or switch the resolution to Full HD and run 240 Hz. So there’s a lot of choice, although it’s worth remembering the motion smearing mentioned earlier, which the high refresh rate doesn’t eliminate. VRR and ALLM are present as well. VRR helps keep the picture tear-free when a game’s frame rate changes. ALLM automatically switches the TV into game mode, so you don’t have to go into the menu each time. VRR works from 48 to 240 Hz, with the highest refresh rate available in Full HD. Xbox users can also play in Dolby Vision at 120 Hz. Importantly, that format does not cause significant input lag here. The Game Bar also looks great. It’s clear and attractive, and lets you quickly check what signal the TV is receiving. Handy gaming settings are close to hand too, including shadow brightening. If it’s hard to spot an opponent in a dark game, you can improve visibility without digging through the whole menu.

Our biggest complaint is HGiG. Hisense keeps doing its own tone mapping, which makes setting up HDR on the console confusing. You adjust the checkerboard pattern, and the TV continually alters its appearance. As a result, the point at which the pattern disappears does not correctly indicate the display’s brightness limit, and it’s easy to set the value too high. For this model it’s better to set the target HDR brightness on the console to around 900 to 1000 nits, rather than rely on the configurator.

Here, the Bravia 3 shows its best side. Latency drops below 12 milliseconds in almost every resolution and mode, so the response to controller movements is instantaneous and there’s no sense of delay. It feels like the console and the television are speaking the same language, without unnecessary pauses and hesitations. The Dolby Vision Gaming mode deserves special attention. In its predecessor, the X75WL model, using this feature was simply a nightmare – input lag could reach over 100 milliseconds, which effectively ruined the enjoyment of gaming. In the Bravia 3, this issue has been completely eliminated.

In terms of input lag the Hisense U7S performs excellently. At 60 Hz we measured 14–16 ms, and at 120 Hz just 9–10 ms. Input is responsive and even in fast-paced games the TV doesn't introduce any noticeable delay. Importantly, Dolby Vision performs just as well: 14 ms at 60 Hz and 9 ms at 120 Hz mean you don't have to forgo the format for fear of added latency. The smearing described earlier is a separate issue. The screen reacts quickly to inputs, but the pixels don't always keep up with colour changes.

The IPS panel combined with properly functioning 4:4:4 chroma support means that the readability of fonts is at an excellent level. Letters appear sharp regardless of the background colour or content, so working with documents or browsing websites doesn't strain the eyes. In this role, the TV easily deserves a very good, if not excellent, rating, as few models in this price range perform as well. However, if we look at the Bravia 3 from a PC gamer’s perspective, the picture isn’t as rosy. We won't find G-SYNC or Free Sync frame syncing with graphics cards or high refresh rates, so the TV isn’t the best choice for dynamic computer games. However, as a monitor for work, whether in a home office or a student room, it performs excellently, and in that respect, it's really hard to criticize.

Po podłączeniu komputera możemy korzystać z 4K przy 144 Hz, działającego G-Sync i opóźnienia na poziomie 10 ms. To dobry zestaw do grania, choć w dynamicznych scenach nadal daje o sobie znać smużenie matrycy. Poprawnie działa też chroma 4:4:4, również przy maksymalnym odświeżaniu, dzięki czemu kolorowe napisy i drobne elementy pulpitu pozostają czytelne.

Do przeglądania internetu czy okazjonalnej pracy U7S nadaje się całkiem dobrze, ale nie wszystkie czcionki wyglądają równie wyraźnie. Najwięcej uwag mamy do drobnego, ciemnego tekstu — cienkie fragmenty liter potrafią zanikać i znaki wyglądają nierówno. Z kanapy trudno to zauważyć, natomiast przy pracy z bliska, szczególnie z tekstem czy arkuszami, może już przeszkadzać.

Thanks to the IPS matrix used, colours do not lose intensity as quickly as with screens based on VA panels. Even when watching television in larger groups, when some people sit at an angle, the image remains clear and does not appear washed out. Of course, it isn't at the level offered by OLED organic matrices, where the image looks nearly the same from almost any position, but for an LCD television, the viewing angles in the Bravia 3 are among the best. This provides a sense of comfort and freedom, especially in larger living rooms or during family screenings, where it's difficult for everyone to sit directly in front of the screen.

Viewing angles are unfortunately a weak point of the Hisense U7S. Even after shifting to the side, colours lose saturation, blacks become lighter and the picture looks washed out. At a 45-degree angle we measured a brightness drop of as much as 74%, so the difference compared with watching straight on is really significant. That's a typical limitation of VA panels. When seated centrally we can appreciate its good contrast, but people sitting at the far ends of a wide couch will see a noticeably worse picture. The U7S is therefore best suited to setups where viewing positions are as close to directly in front of the screen as possible.

Bravia 3 performs quite well in daylight. The satin coating on the panel effectively reduces reflections, and the colours do not lose their vibrancy when stronger external light hits the screen. As a result, under typical home conditions, with blinds open or in a living room with a larger window, the picture maintains its clarity. However, it's important to remember that this is not a high-brightness TV. The Bravia 3 cannot compete with brighter models, so in very sunny rooms, there are moments when the screen simply doesn't stand out against the intense light. In normal conditions, it handles things without any issues, but in more challenging scenarios, don't expect miracles.

Hisense U7S handles daytime viewing well. In SDR we measured on average about 664 nits, and depending on the onscreen content the brightness ranged roughly between 500 and 800 nits. Even with an all-white image it stays above 500 nits, so a sports broadcast or a bright TV programme won't suddenly look dim. That's enough headroom for comfortable viewing in most living rooms. The satin finish does a decent job of suppressing reflections, but a window opposite the TV will still be visible. The photo shows clearly that its reflection can obscure part of the picture, so high backlight alone doesn't solve everything. On the plus side, blacks and colours hold up in daylight and don't become overly grey. Overall the U7S will work well in a bright room, although it's worth positioning it to avoid direct window reflections.

Smart TV Features

The biggest advantage of the Bravia 3 in everyday use is the presence of the Google TV system. Thanks to this, we have access to one of the largest libraries of apps and streaming services, so no matter if someone mainly uses Netflix, Disney+ or smaller platforms, everything is at their fingertips. The Google voice assistant also worked very well, able to respond to our commands quite "smartly". The Google TV system should, in theory, operate very smoothly, as Sony has been implementing it better than many cheaper competitors for years. Unfortunately, in the case of the Bravia 3, it isn't as nice as we would have hoped. During testing, we noticed some slight stutters in the interface, and some features, such as screen mirroring, simply refused to cooperate. One could get the impression that the processor in this model sometimes struggles to manage the demanding system, and not everything works as smoothly as we would expect.

Classic Features

Sony, even in its cheapest series, manages to remind us of its experience with various users. The set comes with two remotes. The first is modern and minimalist, with a small number of buttons, which works great when using apps and Google TV features. The second is a classic remote with a richer set of buttons and a numeric keypad, which will be appreciated especially by older individuals used to traditional solutions. This is a nice nod towards different user groups, and it must be said that Sony has solved it very practically. It’s a shame, however, that compared to the X75WL model, the ability to record content from TV tuners to USB memory has disappeared. The manufacturer has completely abandoned this feature, so if someone was attached to it, they unfortunately won't find it in the Bravia 3.

Smart TV: VIDAA

VIDAA HOME OS on the Hisense U7S is feature-rich, yet runs quickly and doesn't complicate everyday use. Besides apps, there is AirPlay for streaming from Apple devices and Miracast, which lets you mirror a computer screen. Voice search in Polish also works, so instead of typing a film title with the remote you can just say it. You can also connect a keyboard and mouse. It's hard to complain about the Smart features, though before buying it's worth checking the availability of the specific apps you use, because the selection isn't as extensive as on competing systems.

Classic features and the remote

Hisense hasn't forgotten viewers who watch regular TV. The U7S lets you record programmes from terrestrial TV to USB and schedule recordings for later. There's teletext, the option to listen to audio with the screen off, and support for Bluetooth headphones. Usefully, headphones can operate at the same time as the TV speakers, so one person, for example a senior, can use them while others continue to listen normally. The main omission is really picture-in-picture, PiP.

We weren't keen on the remote itself. It's quite plasticky and looks rather "cheap", but it does its job well. It has a full numeric keypad, plenty of shortcuts and controls the TV via radio, so you don't have to point it at the screen. It's just a shame the buttons aren't backlit. Hisense reserves more elegant remote versions for higher-end models, such as the U7S Pro.

Here Sony has really done an excellent job. The built-in player works quickly and doesn't "fuss" when starting different formats. We didn't need to reach for external applications like VLC, as the TV handled even files that can cause a lot of problems on other models – such as HEIC photos from Apple devices. It's a small detail, but one that shows the manufacturer wanted the user to have a sense of complete convenience. By inserting a movie on a USB stick or photos from a holiday onto an external drive, you can simply plug them in and start watching on the big screen straight away. No fussing, no installing extra software, no searching for workarounds. This is really rare in televisions, and it's fair to say that in this respect, the Bravia 3 truly surprised us pleasantly.

The USB player in the Hisense U7S handles most common files. It played our H.264 and H.265 material without any problems, including high-bitrate 4K recordings and a Dolby Vision test file. SRT and SUB subtitles work, as do Polish characters and font colour changes. Not everything could be run, though. AV1 and H.266 VVC files failed to play, as did ASS and TXT subtitles. Audio support is good, from simple MP3s to FLAC 96 kHz/24 bit, although AIFF and DSD are not supported.

Our biggest issues are with photos. The selection of supported formats is wide — besides JPEG and PNG it also handles WebP and TIFF, but HEIC won’t open. The way it handles resolution is odd too. The TV displayed images at 4, 6, 8, 16 and 32 Mpix, but couldn’t cope with 10, 12 or 24 Mpix files. So it’s not a straightforward size limit. The player is perfectly adequate for movies and music, but when showing holiday photos you may find some files need converting first.

Bravia 3 plays in a rather flat manner, but makes up for it with loudness. It will work flawlessly for watching classic television because the dialogues are clear, and the mid-tones are easily audible. This type of characteristic will be particularly appreciated by older users, who primarily care about speech intelligibility. However, if someone expects something more from the sound, like stronger bass or a wider soundstage, it’s worth reaching for a soundbar despite everything. The TV supports modern codecs, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, so an external sound system will easily leverage their potential. This ensures that with a relatively modest expense, one can achieve a much fuller and more engaging sound.

The USB player in the Hisense U7S handles most common movies and music well. It supports 4K content, including a Dolby Vision file we tested, and displays Polish characters correctly in subtitles. It should therefore be sufficient for everyday use with a USB stick, although it can struggle with less common formats. Our biggest reservations concern photos. The TV treats image resolutions quite selectively and may open a larger photo but refuse to display a smaller one. When browsing a holiday album this can be annoying, because you can't be sure all the photos will work. Some will need to be prepared on a computer beforehand.

SONY BRAVIA 3 vs Hisense U7S / U77SE

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our verdict

TV appearance

Where to buy

Contrast and black detail

HDR effect quality

Colours

Factory color reproduction

Color reproduction after calibration

Smoothness of tonal transitions

Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions

Blur and motion smoothness

Console compatibility and gaming features

Input lag

Compatibility with PC

Viewing angles

Daytime performance

Panel details

TV features

Classic features:

Smart features:

Sound connection options

Supported audio formats (external HDMI eARC audio):

Senior accessibility

Smart TV Features

Classic Features

Smart TV: VIDAA

Classic features and the remote

Apps

Playing files from USB

Sound

Sound Quality Test

Acoustic Measurements