Hisense E8Q vs Hisense E7Q PRO / E79Q PRO

Since the E8Q is a twin of the U7Q, it’s no surprise that the quality of the HDR effect is nearly identical. On paper, it looks promising – a peak brightness of 800 nits can impress in many scenes. Moments such as flashes of light in “The Meg” or shots of the sun in “Life of Pi” can indeed evoke a 'wow' effect. But the longer we watch, the more we notice the limitations. The problem arises when small, bright details need to be shown against a dark background. In such situations, the dimming algorithms try to preserve contrast but end up dimming what should shine the most. Instead of dazzling details, we get almost invisible points of light. This is typical for Mini-LEDs in this price segment and is not surprising – but it’s worth knowing that the HDR effect will not always be fully preserved. Fortunately, the colour performance offers reasons to be pleased. Coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at around 94% is a very good result, and the applied layer of quantum dots (more precisely, PFS) does its job – the colours are saturated and vibrant, especially with 4K content.

When it comes to the quality of the HDR effect, the E7Q PRO is unfortunately not a television that can impress with brightness alone. In real film materials, we measured around 250–300 nits, which is simply too little for HDR to look spectacular. There is a lack of that "spark" in bright details, highlights, and light effects, and in many HDR scenes, it can resemble good SDR more than true cinematic HDR. The consolation in all this is the colours. We managed to confirm that the E7Q PRO is a PFS-type television, meaning it has an additional filter that improves colour gamut coverage. As a result, even if the brightness does not deliver, the colours in HDR content can be appropriately saturated and pleasing to the eye, without the feeling of a "washed-out" image.

Testing the Hisense E8Q in Filmmaker mode, we were hoping for a possibly neutral image close to the director's vision. Unfortunately – although it doesn't look bad on paper (the colour reproduction errors are not significant), in practice the image appears not entirely natural. The reason? An overly strong boost in blue colour and a lack of red in the white balance. The effect? Scenes look cool, and the white seems slightly bluish. Alongside the U7Q model, we also noticed a specific approach to brightness management here. The brightness mapping curve for HDR content (EOTF) shows that the television can significantly dim small, bright elements on the screen to maintain contrast – but sometimes it goes too far in this. On the other hand, larger, very bright areas can be excessively brightened, which disrupts tonal balance. This is a compromise that may not suit everyone – especially if you want an as faithful image as possible right out of the box.

In terms of colour reproduction, we tested the Hisense E7Q Pro in Movie mode, which turned out to be the best built-in preset without a doubt. This mode, unlike the Eco, Standard or Dynamic settings, offers the most natural colours straight out of the box. Although no factory mode is completely free of flaws, the E7Q Pro deserves high praise for its colour rendering in standard SDR content. The colour palette is very well tuned here, and the errors in the Color Checker tests often did not exceed a value of 3, which is an outstanding result rarely seen in such affordable televisions. The only drawback we noted in SDR is the tendency to darken some elements of the image, as indicated by the slightly raised gamma graph. The television performs slightly worse with colours in HDR mode. Here, colour errors become noticeable to the naked eye, mainly due to a lack of blue in the white balance. This causes the colours on the screen to be too warm, and for some viewers, they may even seem “too cinematic.” Of course, to improve these parameters, we proceeded with professional calibration.

The calibration of the Movie mode yielded really good results, especially when it comes to SDR content. We managed to balance the white levels, which made the image look more natural – it appeared almost reference-quality. The colours were well-saturated, and the overall perception of the content improved significantly. Unfortunately, when we switched to HDR materials, familiar issues from the U7Q model returned. The television still likes to "do its own thing," as evident from the analysis of the brightness characteristic EOTF – despite calibration, the E8Q still dimmed fine details in the shadows, while the bright areas of the screen could be excessively boosted. In practice, this means that in darker scenes, some of the smallest details could simply disappear. Although it must be acknowledged that the entire calibration process brought a lot of good, not everything can be circumvented – even with the use of professional tools. The E8Q can impress with its picture, but in HDR content, its design limitations become apparent, and it is worth keeping this in mind.

In the case of materials with a standard dynamic range (SDR), our actions in Filmmaker mode turned out to be largely cosmetic 😉. We mainly focused on a subtle adjustment of the white balance and equalising the gamma curve, which allowed us to recover details in the darker areas of the image that previously tended to get lost. However, it is worth noting that the E7Q Pro unit we tested was exceptionally well-made at the factory. We remind you that these parameters depend on the specific unit – with mass production, factory calibration can be random, so your unit may require slightly different intervention. The biggest beneficiary of professional calibration was undoubtedly HDR mode. This is where we did the most work, which brought spectacular results. We managed to effectively tame the excessive warmth of the image, caused by a factory deficiency in blue colour. After calibration, the colour errors were reduced to a significantly lower level, which will certainly please those who watch a lot of streaming content in HDR format, expecting faithful reproduction.

In the case of older materials with lower quality, a gentle smoothing of tonal transitions often comes in handy. The Hisense E8Q, like the U7Q, features an "Smoothing and Gradient Image" function, but unfortunately – its effectiveness leaves much to be desired. The "Low" mode is almost imperceptible in operation, and the higher settings do not improve transitions but simply blur the details. The good news is that the function does not compromise film grain, meaning it does not worsen the structure of the image. On the plus side, scaling is commendable. The television is able to sensibly upscale older content to a higher resolution – without artificially accentuating contours or excessive sharpening. Although it does not match the best models in this category, it performs quite well for its class.

When it comes to upscaling and digital image processing, the E7Q PRO deserves praise. The scaling performs really well and does not dramatically fall behind much more expensive, advanced televisions. Lower-quality materials can look clean and sensible, without the impression that the image is artificially "enhanced." However, the smoothing function presents a bit worse. Indeed, it can be effective and improve tonal transitions in poor quality materials, but at the same time, it can introduce undesirable effects. It sometimes removes grain or adds unwanted artefacts, giving the image a more "digital" character. Therefore, we mainly recommend it to those who prefer a smoother, less cinematic style of image.

Similar to the U7Q, the E8Q model is a fast television designed for dynamic content. It supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz at 4K resolution, and if, for some reason, someone is still gaming in Full HD – it can even reach 240 Hz. This is a significant advantage, especially for PC users looking for maximum smoothness. In everyday use, the television performs very well. The "Ultra Motion Smoothness" mode offers two sliders that allow you to customise the picture to your preference – whether more cinematic with the film frame preserved or highly smoothed, almost "series-like". It's good that the manufacturer provides a choice here instead of imposing one style. On sports material, live broadcasts, or in games – movement looks clean and stable. Of course, it is not at the OLED level, but for this price range, the E8Q performs really well.

In the category of smearing and motion fluidity, the E7Q PRO has one very strong argument. At this price, Hisense has included a 120 Hz panel, and in PC mode, it can even operate at 144 Hz. This immediately provides greater possibilities in motion settings, as the menu offers more options for smoothing the image. Among other things, we have frame interpolation options, which allow us to adjust the fluidity for sports or films, depending on whether we prefer a more cinematic character or a "theatrical" smoothness.

Hisense E8Q does not hide its gaming heritage. Even the specifications reveal that we are dealing with a television that will perform excellently as a gaming screen. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)? It's there. Automatic switching to game mode (ALLM)? That's there too. Additionally, there is impressive refresh rate – 120 Hz in 4K or even 240 Hz in Full HD. Such a set is rare in this price segment. Everything works smoothly and without major surprises. The only missing element – similar to the U7Q – is support for HGiG. It’s a shame, as this feature facilitates adjusting the brightness curve to the capabilities of a specific television, improving visual compatibility with the intentions of HDR game creators. Without it, one has to manually fiddle with the settings, which does not always yield a satisfactory result.

The E7Q PRO is a phenomenal screen for gamers. Aside from the typical "ache" of Hisense, which is the lack of support for the HGiG format due to permanently active tone mapping, we get practically everything one can expect from a television that is to have a gaming label. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, along with a full set of key features. We have variable refresh rates, automatic switching to game mode, and support for 4K at 120 Hz. Additionally, all the most important settings are at hand in a clear Game Bar. This tool not only looks modern but also has a typically "gaming" edge and truly makes life easier while gaming.