Hisense U7Q PRO vs Hisense E7Q PRO / E79Q PRO

U7Q PRO is truly a bright television. In synthetic tests, it achieved over 1500 nits, which is an outstanding result for this price range. Such brightness – at least in theory – allows for HDR content to be displayed as intended by the creators, even in more demanding scenes with strong lighting. In practice, it is often very good, but not always perfect. In bright scenes with large areas – like the test chart with intense sunlight from the movie "Pan" – the U7Q PRO makes a huge impression. It can almost dazzle with its brightness, which is definitely an advantage in the context of HDR content. Unfortunately, it doesn't always manage to maintain this when many small bright details appear on a dark background. In such moments, the local dimming algorithms choose to dim some bright elements to maintain good black levels – and the side effect is that some details simply disappear from the frame. This is a classic compromise in mini-LED televisions – and the U7Q PRO is no exception. However, with such a large number of dimming zones, one could have hoped for a slightly more mature algorithm responsible for their control. Fortunately, the overall perception of HDR content is decidedly positive. The U7Q PRO is not only bright but also colourful, thanks to the PFS LED (QLED) coating, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette is at 95%, while BT.2020 is around 73%.

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.

We tested the U7Q PRO in the best possible picture mode offered by this model – Filmmaker Mode. And indeed, this mode performs the best in terms of colour reproduction. However, that doesn't mean it's perfect. In our test unit, both in SDR and HDR content, the image had a slightly cooler tone. The white balance was skewed towards blue, giving the overall impression of being a bit "colder". It may not be glaring, but it is definitely noticeable – especially on white backgrounds, which seemed slightly bluish rather than neutral. Additionally – as we mentioned earlier – the television has a tendency to slightly brighten and oversaturate the image, which is also confirmed by the gamma and EOTF graphs. All this together means that without calibration, the image can appear somewhat unnatural – too cool, with slightly exaggerated dynamics. Therefore, we decided to carry out our own calibration – and you can see its effects and graphs below.

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.

Thanks to the calibration, we managed to tame the white balance in SDR and HDR content. In the case of SDR materials, the effect is really very good – the image becomes neutral, cohesive, and simply pleasant to take in. Everything looks as it should.

HDR performs a bit worse. Although the white balance appears correct and the image overall gains in naturalness, unfortunately, the delta E errors remain noticeable. Why? Because Hisense does not give us full control over how the television manages brightness in HDR mode with the U7Q PRO model. This is where the limitation comes into play. When we look at the EOTF curve for HDR content, we can clearly see what we mentioned earlier – at the beginning of the graph, there is a distinct drop, meaning the television darkens the smallest areas more than it should. On the other hand – the brightest elements can sometimes be overly bright. As a result, some details get lost, others are too aggressive, and overall control over brightness does not always match what we are trying to achieve during calibration.

Does the image look better after calibration? Definitely yes, in terms of colour. But when it comes to managing brightness in HDR, we have to accept that the Hisense U7Q PRO will do it in its own way.

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.

If someone happens to come across older materials where the colour banding issue occurs – Hisense has a solution for that. In the U7Q PRO, we find a function called "Smooth and Gradient Image". Set to the "Medium" level, it works really well – removing most issues with gradation while not smoothing out the entire image, like blurring in Photoshop. 😉 Film grain remains, details do not disappear – this is exactly how it should work. Well done on the implementation!

As for upscaling weaker materials, it is simply good. It is not at the level of the most expensive televisions with advanced upscaling, but older content looks good. There is minor aliasing at very low resolutions, but this is completely normal and hard to avoid. On the plus side – even with the oldest materials, there is no overscan effect, the image is neither cropped nor artificially stretched.

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.

“Speed” – this word came up most often during our tests of the U7Q PRO. The television is equipped with a 165 Hz panel, which is impressive in itself – especially since we are talking about a model in the mid-range price category. Of course, PC gamers will benefit the most from its full capabilities, but even with everyday viewing, it's clear that this is a fast and efficient panel. Like most modern televisions, the U7Q PRO can also enhance the fluidity of films that were originally recorded at 24 frames. In the menu, we find a slider that allows us to adjust the effect to our own preferences – from a more cinematic look, with subtle motion, to stronger smoothing with the characteristic “telenovela effect.”

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.

The Hisense U7Q PRO is a television that seems almost designed with gamers in mind. It has practically everything one could expect from a gaming display: variable refresh rate (VRR), automatic low latency mode (ALLM), and as many as four HDMI 2.1b ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gb/s. Additionally, there is a clear and quite functional Game Bar, as well as a well-implemented Dolby Vision GAMING mode that works seamlessly with Xbox Series S and X consoles.

Sounds like perfection? Well, almost. Unfortunately, Hisense has still not implemented the HGiG feature, which means the system limitation of tone mapping on the television side. This means that when configuring HDR brightness on the console, we do it "by eye" or search for settings in online guides, as the display does not show the actual range of its brightness. It’s a pity – because HGiG indeed makes it easier to match the console to the television and helps avoid overexposure or overly dark scenes in HDR games.

Fortunately, the other features work very well. Input lag is low, responsiveness is excellent, and the handling of other functions is impeccable. And while not everything worked perfectly, the U7Q PRO can still be recommended to gamers without hesitation.

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.