Samsung Q8F vs Hisense U7S Pro

In terms of brightness, the Samsung Q8F performs surprisingly well for a television without local dimming. In measurements, it reaches up to 500 nits, which in practice means that most movie and series scenes look pleasing, and it cannot be accused of lacking the 'HDR effect'. In films such as Life of Pi or The Meg, the screen was able to burst with brightness and deliver a light effect at a satisfying level. It struggles more in difficult moments — during dark scenes with individual bright points. The global dimming used causes the television to dim the image to maintain deep blacks, but at the expense of detail brightness. This is clearly visible in the scene from Sicario 2, where the helicopter lights dropped to around 200 nits. This is a conscious design decision that gives the impression of deeper blacks, but somewhat takes away the brightness from individual elements, and one must simply keep this in mind. In terms of colour reproduction, the Q8F uses quantum dot technology, which widens the colour gamut. A coverage of the DCI-P3 palette at 91% can be considered a decent result, although it is not a record-breaking figure compared to other QLEDs.

Let's start with the fact that the U7S Pro is an impressively bright television – in calibrated mode, our measuring equipment indicated a staggering 2200 nits of peak brightness! This is an absolutely remarkable result, considering that this model is positioned rather as a mid-range option.

However, as we know, peak brightness on test patterns is one thing, and actual film scenes are another. Unfortunately, in real video materials, the backlight power clearly drops. Although in the most demanding moments, the television can still exceed the 1000-nit barrier – which is still an excellent result, perfectly aligned with the mastering standards of most HDR films – the real challenge comes from the aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms. Because of this, small, bright details such as stars or the moon in the night sky are noticeably dimmed. The television tries at all costs to maintain deep blacks, which is of course understandable, but unfortunately, this comes at the expense of the dynamics and brilliance of the HDR effect itself.

One must commend the colour reproduction. The new U7S Pro is a QLED design that provides very wide coverage of the colour palette. Unlike last year's model (U7Q Pro), this year's variant is a "true" QLED, rather than a solution based on a PFS filter. As a result, the colour saturation has clearly increased, and coverage of the most demanding BT.2020 colour space has surpassed the 81% barrier.

We decided to check out the Filmmaker mode, as it provided us with the best image straight out of the box. However, this does not mean it was perfect. The white balance had too much blue and red, resulting in the white taking on a slight mauve-pink hue. Such an imbalance affected the visibility of practically all colours, as can be seen in the comparison photo below. The brightness characteristics in SDR content were quite well adjusted, though in HDR material we noticed that the television did not always manage its global dimming effectively — at times the screen was too dim, while at other moments it could suddenly brighten. Fortunately, issues related to colours can be effectively corrected with calibration tools, so we decided to get to work.

We tested the U7S Pro model – as we always do – in the best factory-calibrated picture mode, namely Filmmaker Mode. We can evaluate the displayed colours in two ways. The most disappointing was the profile designed for viewing SDR content, that is, traditional television, YouTube, and other less demanding materials. The picture was clearly yellowed, which turned out to be a direct consequence of a poorly set white balance. As our graphs show, there is a significant deficiency of the blue component, which drastically affected the overall colour temperature. This is clearly visible on the ColorChecker charts as well as on the graphs of the colour palette itself, where most samples leaned towards yellow. Fortunately, the factory HDR mode fared much better – there, the colour errors were around a Delta E value of 3, which is already a really solid result.

After calibration, we managed to correct the white balance to near perfection. Older SDR content looks fantastic — most errors fall within a value range of 2, which is well below the threshold of perceivability for the human eye. In HDR, we also brought the white balance to an acceptable level, but another issue arises here. So why are there still relatively large errors in colour reproduction? This mainly stems from the limited colour palette and the way the television manages brightness. The global dimming technique used does not give the user control in the settings, so when analysing the EOTF curve in HDR films, it is apparent that the Q8F can modify luminance independently. This can be regarded as a certain limitation, but despite this, the picture after calibration is still much more pleasant to view than in the factory version.

We know, however, that the company Hisense is capable of much more – as previous generations have demonstrated – which is why we couldn't simply overlook the factory shortcomings of the U7S Pro model in everyday content. As is often the case, the television underwent professional calibration. The conclusions? This process brought about a colossal change. After manually adjusting the white balance and supplementing the deficiencies in the blue component, the annoying yellow tint disappeared as if by magic. White became naturally pure, and skin tones gained the appropriate, healthy hue. Importantly, calibration not only tamed the capricious SDR mode but also allowed us to extract the maximum potential from the panel, reducing average colour reproduction errors to levels nearly imperceptible to the human eye. The only thing we must criticise after the whole process is the very nature of the Mini-LED backlight and its specific interaction with the HDR signal. The aggressively tuned local dimming algorithms significantly interfere with the EOTF brightness curve. As a result, the backlight does not always work perfectly with the creator's intention – depending on the scene being viewed, the curve can noticeably deviate either above or below the reference, which at times disrupts the ideal dynamics of HDR imagery.

Let’s check how the Q8F performs with older content, which often has poor quality. Let's start with the positives: the upscaling, or raising the image to a higher resolution, works really well. The television handles both traditional television and YouTube material quite competently, without giving the impression that we are dealing with something completely unattractive. It performs less well with very low resolutions, such as 576p — the image can be cropped, and unfortunately, the overscan issue cannot be turned off. Moreover, the digital processing itself appears less effective. The noise reduction feature, instead of eliminating unwanted disturbances, smooths out almost everything: film grain (which is desirable for many viewers) disappears along with the texture of the image, and the faces of the actors start to resemble characters from cheap Turkish soap operas. Therefore, it’s hard to consider this option useful — it’s best to leave it completely turned off. Perhaps Samsung will refine the operation of this function in future updates, but for now, it’s difficult to view it as anything other than an unnecessary addition.

The digital processing of lower quality signals is at a very high level here, thanks to the MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor used in the U7S Pro. The upscaling performance is equally impressive, meaning the television’s ability to enhance lower resolution signals to 4K. We did not notice any unnatural, sharp contours on the screen, and our test image featuring the model simply looked attractive.

Due to the applied 60 Hz matrix, it is difficult to call the Q8F a television designed for gaming or watching sports. The panel is not particularly fast, which makes motion blur noticeably visible. If you were hoping for spectacular, even 'stadium-like' experiences during broadcasts, you may feel slightly disappointed. Fortunately, in the case of films and series, Samsung has not abandoned the motion blur reduction feature. This is nothing but a motion smoother that allows you to improve the fluidity of productions recorded at 24 or 30 frames per second. This way, you can decide for yourself whether you prefer a smoother, 'television' image or to maintain a cinematic character. It all depends on the viewer's preferences, and the ability to adjust this parameter is undoubtedly a plus.

The Hisense U7S Pro uses a panel with a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz in 4K, and in game mode, it can reach up to 330 Hz at Full HD resolution. However, it is important to remember that these highest figures do not significantly matter in everyday use, as most content is still limited to a maximum of 120 Hz (for example, when gaming on a console). Nevertheless, the television handles motion quite well and performs really decently for an LCD construction.

There is little to criticise about the fluidity itself. In the menu, we find a motion smoother called "Motion Enhancement", which hides two sliders: blur reduction and judder reduction. These allow for manual configuration of the smoother, which works well in both films and sports, effectively enhancing the raw television signal.

[UPDATE] We have updated our 2025 Samsung TV reviews following the release of firmware version 1131, which officially restores the essential HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) support.

It is not entirely clear what Samsung has meddled with this year regarding its televisions, but the Q8F is not free from all the confusion surrounding updates and shortcomings. While its older cousin, the Q67D, could still be recommended to casual gamers with a clear conscience, it is difficult to find a reason to do so here. Apart from the automatic game mode and the attractively designed Game Bar, we receive practically nothing that could attract gaming enthusiasts. The lack of proper HGiG implementation is a significant issue, especially since after the 1126 update, the feature simply disappeared. The situation regarding VRR is even worse. Although it is listed in the manufacturer's brochures and appears in the Game Bar, we were unable to activate it. The Xbox Series X console did not allow activation at all, and the option remained greyed out and inactive. It is hard to praise such a television even to casual gamers, which is a pity, as Samsung had a strong bargaining chip in the gaming segment for years.

If you plan to connect a console or PC to the U7S Pro, you will be more than satisfied – this television is excellent equipment for a gamer. Hisense has not spared any expense and has included as many as 4 HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. You won’t need to juggle cables as each port will handle the full set of features. We have an automatic game mode (ALLM) and VRR, which operates in a wide range from 48 Hz to an impressive 330 Hz. Of course, that 330 Hz is currently a gimmick for owners of powerful PCs, as consoles will be limited to 120 Hz, but it’s good to have that buffer for the future. The Game Bar also works very well during gaming. It’s a handy menu bar for gamers, where you can quickly change the picture mode, enable a crosshair in the centre of the screen, and even change the display aspect ratio to ultra-wide without having to exit to the main television settings, which will be appreciated by fans of PC simulators. The only downside worth mentioning is the improper implementation of the HGiG format in games. The issue is that the television ignores instructions from the console regarding the image generated in HDR10 and continues to forcefully interfere with the image it produces, trying to "enhance" it in its own way. This makes proper HDR configuration in the console menu (where you set brightness on symbols/checkerboard) somewhat difficult.