- Matching (Score) |
- Our verdict |
- Competing TVs |
- TV appearance |
- Where to buy |
- Contrast and black detail |
- HDR effect quality |
- 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 |
- TV features |
- Apps |
- Playing files from USB |
- Sound |
- Panel details
Hisense UR9S Review
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Panel type: LCD VA Refresh rate: 170Hz Brand: HISENSE Resolution: 3840x2160 System: VIDAA Model year: 2026
RGB Mini LED is one of the biggest buzzwords in the TV world in 2026. One of the first models to use this technology is the Hisense UR9S, the manufacturer’s new flagship. In theory, separate red, green and blue LEDs should deliver higher brightness and even better colours. What we focused on, however, was how this TV performs in practice and whether RGB Mini LED actually offers any advantage over conventional Mini LED backlighting.
HISENSE UR9S - Our verdict
8.4
Overall rating
Hisense UR9S is without doubt one of the more interesting launches this year, but not necessarily for the reasons the manufacturer emphasises most. Admittedly, the first RGB Mini LED backlight in the brand’s history and this series looks impressive in measurements, yet in practice the TV’s main strength is simply that it’s well refined. It’s clear Hisense has learned from previous models and improved the things that really matter during everyday viewing. The RGB Mini LED itself has significant potential, but right now it isn’t yet the reason to buy this model. In actual films and TV series the advantage of the new technology isn’t as pronounced as test-pattern results might suggest. Perhaps future generations will show much more, but today we treat it more as an interesting direction of development than a true revolution. The UR9S’s main asset is its versatility. It handles black levels very well (for an LCD screen), processes lower-quality images effectively and offers extensive features for both regular viewing and gaming. On top of that it has a few solutions missing from competitors, such as a USB-C port with DisplayPort and a very high panel refresh rate for PC gamers. Is it worth considering? In our opinion yes, especially if you’re after a flagship LCD TV. Not because it uses an RGB Mini LED backlight, but because it’s a very good, versatile and simply pleasant TV to use every day.
Advantages
High brightness in both HDR and SDR
Very good black levels and contrast for an LCD TV
Excellent image processing and upscaling of lower-quality content (Pentonic 800)
Matte coating that effectively reduces reflections
Rich gaming features (170/180 Hz, VRR, FreeSync, G-Sync, HDMI 2.1)
Low input lag
USB-C port with DisplayPort support
Support for Dolby Atmos and DTS
Good audio system for a TV
Smooth HomeOS (VIDAA)
Convenient remote with backlight, solar panel and USB-C charging
Disadvantages
In films the full potential of RGB Mini-LED backlighting is not always realised
HDR picture brightness departs from the director's intent
No proper HGiG implementation (feature for gamers)
Some key apps are missing
Movies and series in UHD quality7.9
Classic TV, YouTube7.9
Sports broadcasts (TV and apps)7.6
Gaming on console8.4
TV as a computer monitor8.4
Watching in bright light9.9
Utility functions9.4
Apps8.3
Sound quality7.8
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HISENSE UR9S - Competing TVs in this price range
HISENSE UR9S - TV appearance
HDMI inputs: 0 x HDMI 2.0, 3 x HDMI 2.1 (48Gbps) Outputs: Toslink (Optical audio), eARC (HDMI), ARC (HDMI) Network Interfaces: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Ethernet (LAN) 100Mbps
Build quality: Premium
Stand type: Central
Bezel color: Silver
Stand: Height adjustment
Flat design: Yes
Accessories: Stand
The Hisense UR9S in its looks strongly references last year’s flagship models. It again uses a sturdy metal stand placed centrally under the screen, so the TV can easily be positioned even on a narrower TV unit. The stand’s height is adjustable, so most soundbars will fit under the screen without blocking the picture. The TV itself is around 4 cm thick across the entire chassis. That means it’s not among the thinnest models on the market, but thanks to its flat back it looks neat when wall-mounted and doesn’t stick out as much as TVs with a noticeably thicker lower section of the casing.
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HISENSE UR9S - Contrast and black detail
8.5/10
Local dimming function: Yes, number of zones: 1056 (24 x 44)
Result
411,100:1
Result
152,050:1
Result
38,100:1
Result
28,450:1
Result
14,700:1
Visibility of details in the lights:
The 65-inch Hisense UR9S has 1,056 local dimming zones. That's still a fair number, although fewer than last year’s U8Q with a conventional QD Mini LED backlight. The number of zones alone doesn't determine black level quality; equally important is how the TV controls them. Despite the lower zone count, the UR9S performs comparably in this respect. The contrast we measured was very high in most scenes, reaching six figures. As a result blacks look deep and the image retains good depth. Naturally, as with any Mini LED TV, you may see a halo effect around bright elements on dark backgrounds, which lowers contrast in those areas. In the case of the UR9S the glow is not as unnaturally obvious as on traditional Mini LED screens. The glow often takes on the colour of the displayed object. If a small coloured element appears on screen, the backlight in that area lights in a similar colour instead of creating a typical white halo. Of course, this TV cannot match an OLED in terms of black levels. Even so, the UR9S is certainly among the better LCD TVs in its class.
Halo effect and black detail visibility:
HISENSE UR9S - HDR effect quality
6.8/10
Supported formats: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ, HLG
Luminance measurements in HDR:
Result
1704 nit
Result
385 nit
Result
845 nit
Result
291 nit
Result
1719 nit
Hisense UR9S is without doubt a show of force from the Chinese manufacturer when it comes to luminance. On a synthetic test pattern the panel hit as much as 2600 nits, which is an impressive result. But it’s important to clearly separate laboratory results from filmic realities. In real-world content the UR9S behaves much more restrained. Peak brightness in balanced scenes hovers around 1500 nits. In demanding, dark shots, where algorithms must both preserve deep blacks and precisely light small details, brightness can fall drastically, even to around 400 nits. The discrepancy between the chart and reality is therefore huge. This is a direct consequence of conservative local dimming behaviour. When a bright object occupies a large part of the frame, the system can easily maintain a high brightness level. However, in night scenes the priority becomes protecting blacks and fighting halo artefacts (unsightly glows around bright edges). To avoid contrast degradation the TV drastically limits light output. Even so, the UR9S can still produce a very powerful, engaging HDR effect that impresses in bright, spectacular sequences.
Colour gamut coverage
On test patterns the Hisense UR9S performs excellently in terms of colour. DCI-P3 coverage is almost 100%, and the wide BT.2020 as much as 93%. Those are figures even the best QD-OLED TVs don't reach. But again, synthetic measurements are one thing, films and series are another. In real-world scenes the figures dropped to 93% for DCI-P3 and 81% for BT.2020. That’s still a great result, but the advantage of RGB Mini LED is no longer as dramatic as manufacturers promise in marketing materials. One could even say their capability is now close to that of quantum-dot-equipped TVs, the so-called QLEDs. So why is that? To a large extent, colour reproduction here depends on the way the backlight zones operate. When a strongly saturated colour appears next to white or another, more complex element, a single zone must handle both parts of the image at once. Under such conditions the backlight can't maintain extreme saturation of a given colour on the screen, because the emitted light takes on a character closer to white. In the UR9S this has been refined quite well, but still not enough for the TV to maintain such high colour saturation in every situation.
BT.2020 color gamut coverage and primary color luminance
| Data set | BT.2020 [%] | P3 [%] | R [%] | G [%] | B [%] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synthetic patterns | 92.9 | 99.2 | 71.6 | 77.5 | 32.8 |
| Film measurements | 81.1 | 93.8 | 74.7 | 74.9 | 73.5 |
Arithmetic means of BT.2020 and P3 gamut coverage and the luminance of the primary colors (red, green, blue) as a % of target.
Scene from the movie “Pan” (about 2800 nits)
Scene from the movie “Billy Lynn” (about 1100 nits)
Brightness measurements alone don't yet tell the whole story about picture quality. That's why we also checked how the Hisense UR9S handles material mastered to 1000 and 4000 nits. With films mastered to 1000 nits, like this scene from Billy Lynn, the TV performs very well, pulling practically the maximum from the source while keeping a pretty good balance between contrast and detail in the brightest parts of the picture. Material mastered to 4000 nits is a bigger challenge for the UR9S. Because the panel can't reach those levels, tone mapping becomes critical. On the UR9S it works quite well, but in the brightest sections you can see that some detail is already being simplified. It's still a very good result, but the TV can't reproduce all the information recorded in the source material. Overall, the vast majority of HDR content available on streaming platforms will look excellent on this model. Only the most demanding material mastered to 4000 nits reveals the TV's limitations, which stem mainly from its peak brightness and the way it handles tone mapping.
HDR luminance chart:
As we showed in the previous chapter, the effectiveness of tone mapping on the Hisense UR9S largely depends on the brightness of a given scene. For most content the TV handles it very well, but in the most demanding shots you can already see some limitations in reproducing the brightest highlights. A good example is the test scene with horses on a snowy clearing. In standard HDR10 some fine detail in the whites is slightly lost. That's exactly when formats with dynamic metadata, like Dolby Vision, gain the advantage. Instead of fixed settings for the whole movie, the TV receives precise instructions for each scene, and even for individual frames. This lets the algorithms manage available brightness much better and know which parts of the image to prioritise. In practice the differences are not dramatic, but they're easy to spot. In the toughest shots Dolby Vision can pull more detail from the bright areas, making the picture more faithful. It shows that even a panel as bright as the Hisense UR9S can genuinely benefit from the presence of dynamic metadata.
Static HDR10
Dynamic: Dolby Vision
Factory color reproduction
5.1/10
We tested the Hisense UR9S in Filmmaker Mode, which out of the box provides the best image reproduction. In HDR content the TV performed quite well in that regard. The white balance didn't show major errors, and the brightness response, while following Hisense's typical curve, was kept at a reasonable level. The picture therefore wasn't overly brightened or noticeably colour-distorted. The same mode fared much worse with SDR content, the kind we watch most often, like broadcast TV or YouTube. The white balance was strongly shifted toward red and blue, giving the image a slightly pink tint. This also affected the gamma curve. Instead of approaching the reference value of 2.4, it was closer to 2.0, which made the image look too bright, especially in midtones and darker areas. Filmmaker Mode therefore remains the best out-of-the-box choice, but it's not without flaws.
Color reproduction after calibration
8/10
After calibration, the biggest improvement was in SDR, although we also refined the HDR picture. Hisense offers plenty of calibration controls in the menu, so we were able to precisely correct the white balance and other picture errors. The most important change was removing the pink cast that had been clearly visible in SDR material. After calibration the image looks much more natural, especially in everyday content like TV and YouTube. Colour reproduction errors on the ColorChecker chart are very small after calibration. The vast majority of colours fall below values of 2–3, which is at a level very hard for the human eye to detect. The only thing we couldn't completely eliminate is the way Hisense TVs map tones in HDR. It affects how brightness is distributed in films and can subtly 'beautify' the image, rather than strictly following the creators' intent. For less experienced viewers this can create a stronger 'wow' effect, but it won't always fully match how the material should look.
HISENSE UR9S - Smoothness of tonal transitions
9.4/10
In terms of the smoothness of tonal transitions, the Hisense UR9S performs very well. In high-quality content, such as films on Ultra HD Blu-ray discs or from streaming services, transitions between tones are smooth and you don't see obvious posterisation. Occasionally you may notice minor imperfections, mainly in Dolby Vision content, but they are small enough that during normal viewing it's hard to regard them as a real issue.
Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions
8/10
Smooth transition function
Image without overscan on the SD signal
Digital image processing has been one of Hisense's strengths for the past two years, and the UR9S is no different. The manufacturer uses the Hi-View AI Engine RGB processor, which in practice is based on the well-known MediaTek Pentonic 800 platform, previously used in models such as the U8Q. The TV handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K very well, and copes with low-bitrate content, where various compression artefacts can easily appear. Thanks to a function called "Smooth and gradient image", the picture stays detailed without looking overly sharpened or artificially smoothed. When watching regular broadcast TV or older, lower-quality material, the UR9S can get a surprising amount out of it. In terms of digital image processing, this is one of the most finely tuned LCD TVs we've had the chance to test.
HISENSE UR9S - Blur and motion smoothness
7.9/10
Maximum refresh rate of the panel: 170Hz
Film motion smoothing option: Yes
Blur reduction option: Yes
BFI function 60Hz: Yes, 120Hz (double contours)
BFI function 120Hz: Yes, 240Hz (double contours)
Brightness drop with BFI: 71%
The Hisense UR9S is one of the first TVs on the market with a 4K panel and a 170 Hz refresh rate. In the larger sizes, 75 and 85 inches, that goes up to 180 Hz. Such a high refresh rate will mainly benefit owners of very powerful computers. Films and TV series are still most often watched at 24 fps, and sports broadcasts at 50 fps, so in everyday use the panel's response time and the behaviour of the motion smoothing are more important. In that respect the UR9S performs very well. Panel motion blur is low, as our UFO test also confirmed. Moving objects do not leave a pronounced smear, so the picture remains clear even in fast scenes.
Blur (native resolution, maximum refresh rate):
Blur (BFI function enabled):
Blur (1080P@330Hz):
The TV also has a two-slider motion enhancement system. The first slider controls the smoothness of material shot at 24 fps and lets you choose between a more cinematic look and stronger smoothing. The second controls blur reduction and, in our view, is best set to the maximum. There is also a ClearMotion mode that improves motion clarity by pulsing the backlight. This can be particularly useful when watching sport. The TV can then use the full 170 or 180 Hz for extra motion smoothing, but this reduces vertical resolution. For that reason, we'd regard this feature more as a novelty than a mode for everyday viewing.
HISENSE UR9S - Console compatibility and gaming features
8.5/10
- ALLM:
Yes
- VRR:
Yes
- VRR range:
48 - 330Hz
- Dolby Vision Game Mode:
Yes
Correct implementation of HGIG:
No - 1080p@120Hz:
Yes
- 1440p@120Hz:
Yes
- 4K@120Hz:
Yes
- Game bar:
Yes
The Hisense UR9S is very well set up for gaming. All three HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1 and offer the full 48 Gb/s bandwidth. The TV supports 4K at 170 Hz, and on larger screen sizes even 180 Hz. You also get VRR, ALLM, NVIDIA G-Sync and AMD FreeSync, so it's hard to fault the basics. PC gamers can additionally enable DLG mode. After switching the resolution to Full HD the refresh rate can rise up to 330 Hz. That's more of an option for a narrow group of users, but it shows how much headroom the panel has. Hisense also added a Game Bar, where you can quickly change the main settings, check the refresh rate, or enable a crosshair and minimap zoom.
The biggest drawback remains the lack of a properly working HGiG implementation. The TV still uses its own tone mapping, which makes setting up HDR on consoles a bit awkward. In our case values around 1500–2000 nits worked best, but it's worth checking which setting keeps all the detail in the brightest parts of the image.
HISENSE UR9S - Input lag
9.5/10
The Hisense UR9S also boasts very low input lag. With a 4K 120 Hz signal input lag is just around 10 ms, meaning controller stick movements feel instantaneous. That's a level that will easily meet the needs of both casual gamers and enthusiasts of fast-paced online battles. We recorded slightly higher values after enabling Dolby Vision on an Xbox console. In that scenario latency rises to about 20 ms. Still, that's low enough that it doesn't negatively affect the comfort of gameplay and remains practically unnoticeable while playing.
| SDR | HDR | Dolby Vision |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p60: 19 ms | 2160p60: 15 ms | 2160p60 DV: 35 ms |
| 1080p120: 10 ms | 2160p120: 9 ms | 2160p120 DV: 19 ms |
| 2160p60: 18 ms | ||
| 2160p120: 10 ms |
HISENSE UR9S - Compatibility with PC
8.4/10
Chroma 444 (max. resolution and refresh rate): Yes
Font clarity: Good
Readability of dark text and shapes: Average
Input lag in PC mode (4K, max. refresh rate): 9ms
Matrix subpixel arrangement: BGR
Max refresh rate: 170Hz
G-Sync: Yes
Overall it works very well with PCs, mainly thanks to full support for gaming technologies. The already mentioned G-Sync and FreeSync operate flawlessly, and PC gamers will certainly appreciate the ability to natively use the panel’s higher refresh rates. The panel fares a little worse, however, during typical work with text documents. The TV does support 4:4:4 chroma sampling without any trouble, so the overall readability of standard fonts remains good, but on closer inspection of darker text you can see some imperfections. Letter shapes can be imprecise, and the horizontal strokes of fonts are more muted than the vertical ones, which sometimes negatively affects character clarity. Undoubtedly this is a flaw, but it’s so specific that it’s hard to call it a major downside in a device whose smallest variant starts at 65 inches. It’s hard to imagine anyone planning to put such a screen directly on a desk for everyday office work. 😉
HISENSE UR9S - Viewing angles
5.6/10
Brightness drop at an angle of 45 degrees: 66%
The Hisense UR9S is fitted with a VA-type panel. A natural characteristic of this kind of panel is reduced contrast and colour saturation when viewing the screen off-axis. In this model that effect is noticeable, but in our view not strong enough to significantly reduce everyday viewing comfort. To some extent this is also linked to the nature of TVs that use RGB backlighting. Compared with many other LCD TVs based on VA panels, the UR9S simply performs well. Colour and black-level degradation is not as abrupt as in some competing solutions, so viewers sitting slightly to the side of the screen still get a satisfying picture. Of course you get the fullest performance and deepest blacks when viewing straight-on, but for a VA design we rate the viewing angles very positively.
HISENSE UR9S - Daytime performance
9.9/10
Panel finish: Matte
Reflection suppression: Very Good
Black levels during daytime: Average
Hisense UR9S is equipped with a matte screen coating that handles direct reflections very well. That's especially important in brightly sunlit living rooms, particularly when light falls straight on the screen. The TV is also very bright, so the picture stays clear even in challenging conditions. The matte finish does mean that black levels appear slightly raised during the day, and colours lose a bit of saturation compared with glossy screens. Even so, it's a fair compromise. It's clear Hisense is aiming this model at people who want a flagship TV but also watch a lot in bright rooms.
Panel brightness
Hisense UR9S: 1639 cd/m2
HISENSE UR9S - TV features
9.4/10
System: VIDAA
System performance: Good
- HDMI inputs: 0 x HDMI 2.0, 3 x HDMI 2.1 48Gbps
- Outputs: Toslink (Optical audio), eARC (HDMI), ARC (HDMI)
- Network Interfaces: Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Wi-Fi 5GHz, Ethernet (LAN) 100Mbps
- TV reception: DVB-T, DVB-T2, DVB-S, DVB-S2, DVB-C
Classic features:
- Recording to USB (terrestrial TV): Yes
- Recording programming: Yes
- Picture in Picture (PiP): No
- RF remote control (no need to aim): RF
- Backlit remote control: Yes
- Teletext: Yes
- Audio only mode: Yes
- Bluetooth headphones support: Yes
- Simultaneous Bluetooth headphones & TV audio: Yes
Smart features:
- AirPlay: Yes
- Screen mirroring (Windows Miracast): Yes
- Voice search: Yes
- Voice search in native language: Yes
- Ability to connect a keyboard and mouse: Yes
Classic features
In terms of classic TV features the Hisense UR9S does not disappoint. Besides a full set of tuners it also includes a CI+ slot and the ability to record TV programmes to a USB drive, a feature more and more manufacturers are dropping. The remote control also deserves praise. Alongside backlighting, USB-C charging and a small solar panel, the manufacturer has kept a full numeric keypad and a dedicated input/source button. These are small details, but in everyday use they can be really handy.
Smart TV
The Hisense UR9S runs HomeOS, which is an evolution of the well-known VIDAA platform. The system itself is very fast and, throughout our testing, did not cause any issues with smoothness. The app library is slightly smaller than Google TV's, but the major streaming services are of course available. The manufacturer has also added a new app with recommendations for movies, series and sporting events, as well as a voice assistant that uses artificial intelligence.
Sound connection options
HDMI audio:
Other audio outputs:
- Toslink: Yes
Wireless audio:
- Bluetooth: Yes
Supported audio formats (external HDMI eARC audio):
- Dolby Digital Plus 7.1: Yes
- Dolby True HD 7.1: Yes
- Dolby Atmos in Dolby Digital Plus (JOC): Yes
- Dolby Atmos in Dolby True HD: Yes
- DTS:X in DTS-HD MA: Yes
- DTS-HD Master Audio: Yes
Senior accessibility
- Numeric keyboard on TV: Yes
- Font size adjustment: Yes
- Audio description: Yes
HISENSE UR9S - Apps
8.3/10
HISENSE UR9S - Playing files from USB
8.3/10
| Maximum photo resolution: | Supported photo formats: |
|---|---|
| 4 Mpix | JPEG |
| 6 Mpix | HEIC |
| 8 Mpix | PNG |
| 10 Mpix | GIF |
| 12 Mpix | WebP |
| 16 Mpix | TIFF |
| 20 Mpix | BMP |
| 24 Mpix | SVG |
| 28 Mpix | |
| 32 Mpix |
The built-in media player generally works fine and will be more than adequate for most users. During testing, however, we came across a few annoying quirks that could spoil your mood. Above all, the TV is temperamental when trying to display high-resolution photos, and the system simply refused to cooperate with files sized 10, 12, 20, 24 or 28 MP. Sure, it's not a deal-breaker, but if you want to copy raw photos from your camera onto a USB stick to show friends your holiday snaps, you'll be in for an unpleasant surprise. In that scenario you're left either resorting to wireless screen mirroring via Miracast, or manually downscaling the files on your computer beforehand.
HISENSE UR9S - Sound
7.8/10
89dB
Maximum volume
Supported codecs (TV speakers)
Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
Dolby True HD 7.1
Dolby Atmos in Dolby Digital Plus (JOC)
Dolby Atmos in Dolby True HD
DTS:X in DTS-HD MA
DTS-HD Master Audio
Hisense UR9S has a 4.1.2 speaker system with a total power of 90 W. The manufacturer strongly emphasises its collaboration with French brand Devialet, both on the casing and in the TV's menu. You have to admit the UR9S sounds really good for built-in speakers. It's loud, will easily fill a larger living room, and the sound is full and clear. Dialogue is easy to hear, and there's more bass than in most TVs. Is there a big difference compared with last year's flagship Hisense models? To be honest, no. Despite the Devialet logo, the sound character remains very similar. That doesn't change the fact that the UR9S is among the better-sounding TVs on the market. It's also a plus that it supports Dolby Atmos and DTS, which many manufacturers have already dropped.
Sound Quality Test:
Acoustic Measurements
89dBC (Max)
75dBC
HISENSE UR9S - Panel details
Software version during testing: v01.09.50k.q0127
Panel uniformity and thermal imaging:
Backlight Type: Mini-LED RGB
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