Compare Hisense U8NQ vs TCL A300W NXTVision

Hisense U8NQ is an example of a television that shows the brand does not intend to stay in the shadow of the competition. Thanks to MiniLED technology, it has achieved a truly high level of contrast and deep blacks. This is especially noticeable in movies – dark scenes appear vivid, while bright elements in HDR stand out with intensity. Interestingly, the TV supports multiple formats, including the most popular one - Dolby Vision, which highlights details that might be overlooked on other screens. Of course, there are times when, in more demanding scenes, the details of smaller elements are somewhat less well-rendered, but the overall picture performs very well. The Hisense U8NQ is quite a comfortable and versatile television during everyday use. The ability to record programs and support for AirPlay certainly adds to its appeal. The remote control is classic and simple, but very intuitive to use. As for the VIDAA operating system – it works quickly and without major delays; however, we won’t find all applications here, such as Spotify or SkyShowtime. For those who use these platforms daily, the absence may be felt, though for many it will not be a crucial issue. When it comes to motion on the screen, the U8NQ performs well. The 144 Hz panel and features like VRR and ALLM make the TV handle smoothly in dynamic movies and while gaming. The gameplay was enjoyable, and the low input lag along with stable picture allowed for enjoyment of every detail – even in fast-paced, intense games. Hisense U8NQ is a television that proves it can compete with Korean manufacturers shoulder to shoulder. It offers really solid picture quality and practical features - despite a few minor shortcomings. In its price category, it performs excellently and can be a good choice for both movie lovers and gamers.

At first glance, it's clear that the TCL A300 NXTVision wants to be more than just an ordinary television. It offers an image display mode that – unlike its competitors from Korea, Samsung The Frame – is completely free of charge. Additionally, like its rivals, freebies are included. In the package, in addition to the television, we find extra frames imitating light wood as well as a flat wall mount, allowing the television to truly resemble a gallery piece. In terms of everyday use, the Google TV system makes the biggest impression – it's extensive, fast, and offers access to a vast number of applications. And if we feel like stepping out of the digital museum and jumping straight into the gaming world, the A300 can surprise us. Two HDMI 2.1 ports, 144 Hz, VRR, ALLM, and very low input lag mean that even demanding gamers can feel at home here. Well... maybe except for those who are sensitive to ghosting – because that's still one of the model's major issues. There are also downsides. Although the picture mode is free – and that's worth appreciating – the quality of the available graphics clearly falls short of what Samsung offers in its paid ART Store. The images displayed resemble photos rather than realistic reproductions of artworks. Unfortunately, the A300 – like the competing Hisense S7NQ – performs poorly in this regard and additionally has some software issues. The brightness of the television itself also leaves much to be desired – it is the darkest television of the entire “frame trio,” which translates to average experiences during the day and limited HDR effects. Nevertheless, the TCL A300 NXTVision is a quite reasonable alternative to Samsung The Frame or S7NQ – especially if we are looking for a more affordable solution without additional fees for access to the "gallery" mode and with an operating system that doesn't limit us in terms of the number of applications. However, it should be noted that this is a proposition with a lot of compromises. If we want to save a bit and aren’t expecting top-end picture quality, then the A300 could be a picture-perfect choice. Otherwise, it’s worth looking at its competition.

Hisense U8NQ is a TV with a VA panel and advanced Mini LED backlighting. The 65-inch version has as many as 1600 local dimming zones, significantly improving image quality, especially in terms of brightness and contrast management. Larger TV sizes have more zones, naturally enhancing contrast. Hisense U8NQ achieves a contrast ratio of as much as 250,000:1, allowing for deep blacks and clear details in both bright and dark parts of the image. With Mini LED technology, the TV effectively controls brightness, making details in darker scenes more visible.

Sometimes in more demanding shots, where small, bright elements appear against a dark background, a halo effect may occur—a gentle glow around objects. This effect can be observed, for example, in the movie "Sicario 2," where glows around small lights can be somewhat bothersome. It may also happen that elements may appear muted but at the expense of better black - a noticeable effect in the test scene from the Pioneer Kuro disc. Despite these minor drawbacks, the use of Mini LED makes the Hisense U8NQ offer very good image quality. The TV performs excellently when watching movies in a dark room—the blacks are truly deep, and the contrast is sharp, allowing one to fully enjoy details even in the darkest scenes.

TCL A300, also known as NXTVision, uses a VA panel, so right from the start, decent contrast could be expected. In our test patterns, the television did indeed show typical results for this type of panel – in the best case, the contrast reached about 5000:1, which is not a bad result for this segment.

However, it should be noted that the model is not equipped with any local dimming technology, which unfortunately shows in practice. Black, although at times quite deep, often shifts to blue or gray – especially in darker scenes. In short: for a television without local dimming, it's not bad, but there’s no point in comparing it to models that already have that feature on board.

Hisense U8NQ showcases its capabilities in HDR, achieving a brightness level on the luminance chart exceeding 2000 nits. In the first, third, and fifth scenes where the screen is covered in light, the television displays very high brightness, which impresses and allows one to enjoy the full effect of HDR. Unfortunately, in the second and fourth scenes, such as those from the movie "Sicario 2," the television encounters issues maintaining brightness, resulting in disappointing results around 250 nits. Although a large number of dimming zones should theoretically help, the algorithm responsible for their control does not always perform perfectly—bright, small elements like the moon or helicopter lights are too dim, which detracts from the typical HDR effect. Instead of dazzling brightness, we get a more subdued light that does not reflect the full HDR potential. Nevertheless, the television deserves praise for its very good coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette at 97%. As a result, colours are vibrant, and most movie scenes look really good, significantly enhancing the viewing quality.

When it comes to brightness, the TCL A300W is definitely the darkest TV among all frame-style models, such as Samsung The Frame or Hisense CanvasTV – and unfortunately, this is immediately noticeable. In our measurements, the peak luminance reached only about 400 nits, and on test film screens, this value dropped to 350 nits. This is definitely too little to feel the true "magic" of bright HDR effects. As a consolation – the TV is equipped with a PFS LED coating (which is something like QLED), which provides very good coverage of a wide color palette, both DCI-P3 and BT.2020. Additionally, there is full support for all popular HDR formats – HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision – which somewhat compensates for the shortcomings in brightness and helps improve the overall perception of materials in this quality.

The Filmmaker mode on the Hisense U8NQ TV can be described as the most accurate mode available in this model. Despite its accuracy, it has significant errors in reproducing the reference image, which we will describe now. In the case of HD content, the white balance shows a clear dominance of red, making the image overly pink and warm. The comparative photo below illustrates how this effect influences content presentation. The brightness characteristics also leave much to be desired — too low gamma causes the screen to be excessively brightened, and blacks look lightened, making the overall picture seem cooler than it should be.

In the case of 4K HDR content, the problem is reversed — the white balance shows too much dominance of blue, resulting in an artificial character to the image and making it appear unnaturally sharp. These deviations for HD and 4K HDR content can be confirmed with the Colour Checker test, which clearly shows how colours deviate from the correct patterns.

TCL A300 offers several picture modes, but without a doubt, the movie mode performs the best. Unfortunately, although it is the best choice among the available options, it is not free from errors. Both in HD and HDR content, the image has a noticeably too warm tint – leaning slightly towards pink, which is particularly noticeable in snowy scenes. Instead of pure white, we get a pinkish hue that spoils the natural perception of colors.

The brightness management doesn't perform well either. For older HD materials, the image often seems too dark – as confirmed by the inflated gamma value. Conversely, with HDR content, the effect is reversed – the image is overly brightened, which we observed in scenes from the movie Pan. This lack of consistency also affects color reproduction accuracy – a test with the ColorChecker showed that many samples deviate significantly from the reference values.

Fortunately, TCL allows manual adjustment of the settings, so we decided to check how the television would perform after our professional calibration. The effects of this correction are described below.

The white balance for both 4K and HD content has been significantly adjusted, greatly improving the image quality. Although some errors are still visible, they are not substantial enough to heavily affect the perception of the image. A notable improvement can also be seen in the gamma brightness characteristics — the image is no longer overly bright, resulting in more natural blacks and better contrast.

However, as with many other Hisense models, there are visible issues with the EOTF curve, which is responsible for managing brightness in high-quality materials. Although it may seem correct, once the filter is applied on the "EOTF in movies" graph, it is evident that the TV is somewhat "playing around" with 4K content. It is clear that the EOTF curve is significantly below the reference level, leading to an overall dimming of the image compared to the reference. We noticed this effect in previously tested scenes from the movies "Pan" and "Billy Lynn." While it is not a serious problem, it is worth mentioning. It may be of great importance to those looking for a display with the most accurate image reproduction. Despite this error, the image will be more enjoyable for most. Colours are better reproduced, and the overall image quality is significantly improved.

After our professional calibration, the TCL A300 literally got a new lease on life. The image is no longer too warm, and the colors finally look the way they should – which was confirmed by the ColorChecker test, where the color samples finally started hitting their marks, at least to some reasonable degree. It was also possible to partially correct the brightness management – the image is now more balanced and less "wobbly" between different types of content. Of course, certain limitations cannot be overcome – a slightly noticeable blooming effect still occurs, but that's a characteristic of the technology, not something that can be eliminated even after professional settings.

Generally: after calibration, the A300 looks significantly better and gains a completely new quality.

Hisense U8NQ offers excellent smoothness of tonal transitions. The image is very well-balanced, and the transitions between different shades of colours are nearly flawless. For more discerning viewers, small joins in darker colours can be noticed, but these imperfections are minimal and do not significantly affect the overall image quality. The tonal fluidity is at a very high level, making watching content on this television exceptionally enjoyable, without noticeable issues with gradients and colour transitions.

TCL A300 NXTVision is another frame-style television that really handles the smoothness of color transitions well. It's hard to find clear bands or sharp transitions between shades of the same color here – the overall look is natural and smooth.

However, it must be honestly admitted that among the three tested models (The Frame and S7NQ), TCL performs the weakest in this category. In darker and lighter scenes, delicate imperfections can be noticed. Nevertheless, looking at it as a whole, for a TV in this price range – it really presents itself solidly. It may not be the best among all, but it maintains a very good level.

In the context of smoothing tonal transitions, the Hisense U8NQ television unfortunately does not perform well. The "Smooth and Gradient Image" function does not produce noticeable effects — there is no improvement in any setting, which is disappointing, especially in demanding scenes with subtle tonal transitions.

As for digital processing, or the so-called upscaling, the scene with the model is presented correctly — its outline is clear, without significant cropping. Similarly, thin lines, such as tree branches, have slight jaggedness, but the overall appearance is plastic and soft, which creates a good impression. Unfortunately, there is also an issue with the so-called overscan, which causes cropping of the image at the edges. This can be annoying when watching content such as news, where the lower information bars may be partially invisible.

TCL A300 handles tonal transitions in high-quality films very well, but the question arises – how does it perform with weaker materials? The television is equipped with a tonal transition smoothing feature, but its effectiveness can be described in one word: "random." In one scene it may work and improve the gradation, and when turned off… the effect remains the same. There is a lack of consistency and predictability.

Image scaling is also not one of the A300's strong suits. In the test pattern, the main character actually looked better than on the raw signal, but with thin lines – like fonts or background details – there was noticeable jaggedness and aliasing. On the plus side, the television does not cut off the image and has no issues with overscan, but the overall quality of scaling is rather average.

Hisense U8NQ is equipped with a 144 Hz matrix, making it a great choice for sports and gaming. The television will also easily satisfy movie fans, as it features a built-in "Ultra Motion Smoothness" processor that allows you to control the fluidity of the image — you can decide whether you prefer a more "framey" look or a smoother, cinematic effect. This provides great flexibility in adjusting the quality of motion to the individual viewer's preferences.

The TCL A300 is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, which should immediately satisfy practically everyone – both gamers and sports fans. The motion is smooth, and the picture is clear even in fast scenes. Additionally, the television offers a motion enhancement feature called "Motion," where we can find two sliders on a 10-point scale. These allow for adjusting the effect to personal preferences – from a classic, cinematic look with visible frames to a very smooth (though already unnatural) image reminiscent of a soap opera effect. Thanks to this, everyone can find a setting that suits them.

Hisense U8NQ offers everything a gamer may need for comfortable gameplay. The TV supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which ensures an incredibly smooth picture, especially in dynamic action games. The VRR (variable refresh rate) feature allows for adjusting the image to varying frames per second, eliminating stuttering and tearing effects, resulting in an exceptionally smooth gaming experience. Additionally, the TV is equipped with the ALLM (automatic low latency mode) feature, which automatically switches the TV to game mode, minimizing input lag. This allows gamers to enjoy responsive gameplay without manually adjusting the settings.

Hisense U8NQ also supports Dolby Vision, which is important for gamers who value high picture quality, high contrast, and deep colours in games that support this format. The TV also has a “Game Bar” — a feature that provides quick access to essential settings during gameplay, significantly enhancing user convenience.

However, it is worth noting that despite its rich features, the Hisense U8NQ does not offer the HGiG standard, which is a popular HDR format in gaming. This may be disappointing for gamers expecting optimal detail reproduction in HDR scenes. Nevertheless, the other features of the TV make the Hisense U8NQ a solid choice for console gaming enthusiasts, offering smoothness, high contrast, and user convenience.

TCL A300 is a television designed not only to transport us to a digital art museum but also to a full-fledged gaming world. It offers practically everything you would expect from gear for gamers: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth, 144 Hz refresh rate, VRR support, and ALLM.

The correct implementation of the HGIG mode is also a plus – something that competing Hisense sometimes struggles with. The television easily handles lower resolutions (e.g., Full HD) while maintaining high refresh rates, which will be appreciated by owners of older consoles or PCs.

In addition, there’s an attractive and clear GameBar that facilitates quick access to settings for gamers. The A300 is truly well-prepared for gaming at the highest level – it's just a shame that issues with motion blur slightly tarnish its overall image as a gaming device.

Input lag on the Hisense U8NQ is at an amazing level, with a maximum of 18 ms, which is an excellent result even in Dolby Vision mode (16ms). This achievement is worth highlighting, as Dolby Vision mode often increases latency in other TV models, but it has been avoided here. Thanks to the low input lag, the gameplay is smooth and responsive, which will be appreciated by both casual gamers and more advanced users.

In terms of input lag, the TCL A300 performs really well. Values below 10 ms at a 120 Hz refresh rate are something many gamers dream of – such low lag is practically imperceptible, both during everyday gaming and in more demanding esports titles. One could indeed point out the result of 23 ms in Dolby Vision mode at 60 frames, but it is still a low enough value that it's hard to have serious objections. In this category, the A300 truly excels.

Hisense U8NQ offers full support for chroma 4:4:4, which ensures good readability of fonts, especially when working with text. Overall, the image quality and visibility of letters are at a satisfactory level. However, it's worth noting the issue related to font display on a dark background (similar to the U7N model) — in this situation, the letters become practically invisible, and only vertical subpixels are visible.

If we plan to use the TCL A300 as a monitor for a computer, we may be pleasantly surprised. The television performs really well in this role. It is equipped with a 144 Hz panel, supports G-Sync, and, as we mentioned, offers very low input lag, so gaming on it with a connected PC is pure pleasure.

Working with text is also possible, although with some limitations. The TCL A300 has slight issues displaying dark fonts and thin lines – this stems from the structure of the subpixels, which can be somewhat bothersome in everyday use, even though it looks better in pictures than in reality.

The television supports chroma 4:4:4, but only up to 120 Hz. That's why we noted that this feature is available, but with a limitation – if we care about perfectly legible fonts, it's worth sticking to a refresh rate of 120 Hz. At 144 Hz, the sharpness of the text may suffer slightly.

The viewing angles on the Hisense U8NQ are typical for a VA panel. Unfortunately, they leave a lot to be desired. The television does not have a coating to widen the viewing angles, resulting in a significant drop in picture quality when viewed at an angle. Colours become washed out, and brightness noticeably decreases. It is best suited for viewing directly in front. This is a limitation that needs to be considered, especially if we plan to watch television with a larger group, where viewers may be sitting at various angles.

The viewing angles on the TCL A300 NXTVision are – let's be honest – average. The television is equipped with a VA panel, which inherently has quite limited angles, and unfortunately, you can clearly see that here. The film below speaks for itself – even a slight deviation from the axis results in a noticeable drop in contrast and color saturation. It’s a pity that this is another frame-style television that hasn’t done anything about it. After all, we don’t always have the option to sit perfectly straight in front – especially if the device is also meant to serve a decorative function in the living room.

Hisense U8NQ is equipped with a glossy panel that moderately suppresses reflections. Despite this, a brightness level of 1200 cd/m² is impressive and makes the television perform very well even in bright rooms. With such high brightness, watching content during the day is not a problem, and the image remains clear and readable even with a lot of external light.

The TCL A300 NXTVision is equipped with a matte panel very similar to the one found in one of its Chinese competitors – the Hisense S7NQ model. Such a surface does quite well in suppressing reflections, although it must be admitted that it performs worse than Samsung's The Frame, which offers a definitely higher level in this respect. As is often the case with matte displays, blacks during the day lose depth and appear more gray than black – and this is no different here. Unfortunately, the fact that the A300 is the darkest television among the tested trio does not help either. As a result, it has a real problem standing out in heavily sunlit rooms.

Hisense U8NQ offers many practical features. The television supports the ability to record programs, allowing for the saving of favourite content and playback at a convenient time. Additionally, there is support for AirPlay, which enables easy streaming of media from Apple devices directly to the TV screen. The Bluetooth function allows for the connection of various peripheral devices, such as headphones or speakers, which further enhances user comfort. Hisense U8NQ is also equipped with a simple yet functional voice control system that makes navigating the menu and selecting content easier.

The VIDAA operating system runs quite quickly. There are plenty of applications available, but unfortunately, it lacks music apps such as Spotify or Tidal. It is worth keeping this in mind to avoid being forced to purchase additional devices.

In terms of design, Hisense U8NQ looks modern with its narrow bezels and elegant stand. Although the device is not the slimmest on the market, its appearance is still stylish and will easily fit into most interiors. Despite the thickness of the casing being slightly larger compared to top models of competitors, the aesthetic finish and solid construction make the television present well in a living room.

TCL A300 is a television styled like a painting, which in everyday use can successfully imitate a work of art hanging on the wall. It is equipped with a special image display mode, additional frames in a light wood tone, and a flat wall mount that allows the TV to be hung like a real painting – flush against the wall.

A significant advantage of the picture mode is that it is completely free. We have access to dozens of artworks from which we can choose what should be displayed in standby mode – instead of a black screen, the image selected by us stays on the wall. The quality of the graphic reproduction is decent, but it must be admitted that it clearly falls short compared to that of Samsung's ART Store. Although access to the images there is paid, the quality of the scans is significantly better – you can see the texture of the paint, canvas, and details. In the TCL A300, it resembles high-quality photos more than realistic reproductions of artworks. Additionally, the implementation of the picture mode in the system leaves much to be desired. For example – if we set the brightness in picture mode to 10%, this same value automatically transfers to the regular viewing mode, where we could easily set the brightness to 50% or even 100%. It also works the other way around – when we set the brightness to 100% in regular mode, after switching to gallery mode, the images are displayed with that same maximum brightness, shining too intensely and losing the entire effect of "a picture on the wall." These are minor but annoying errors that can ruin the impression of what was supposed to be visually subtle and elegant.

Moving on to more classic features – the A300 runs on the Google TV system, which currently offers by far the largest selection of applications (full list available below). The well-functioning voice assistant with support for the Polish language is also a significant plus. As is standard – as in most TCL televisions – there is a lack of USB recording functionality or picture-in-picture (PiP) mode.

In the Hisense U8NQ, the built-in file player handles the most popular video and audio formats, making it a very versatile solution for users. However, certain shortcomings can be seen in less popular image formats, such as Apple's HEIC. For typical formats like JPEG or MP3/4, the television performs flawlessly, easily meeting the multimedia needs of most users.

The built-in player in the TCL A300 works as it should – most popular video and photo files play without any issues. Although it lacks support for the HEIC format from Apple (which is quite common in many TVs), most users still rely on the AirPlay feature, so it shouldn't pose a major problem. If someone is not satisfied with the default player, the Google TV system offers considerable options – it's easy to install an alternative app that better matches our preferences. Nonetheless, it must be admitted that the factory solution is completely sufficient for everyday use.

Hisense U8NQ performs quite well. Both low and high tones are audible, making the sound full and balanced. Even at higher volume levels, the TV handles it without significant distortion, which is a big plus. The sound is strong enough to fill the room, satisfying most users who do not have an external audio system. While the built-in speakers do not match the sound quality of home theatre systems, they are more than sufficient for everyday TV watching or movies.

When it comes to sound, the TCL A300W – like its competitors – sounds quite... flat, after all, we are talking about a super slim TV. For everyday watching of news or series, this level is completely sufficient, but during movie screenings, it may clearly lack depth and space. On the plus side, it’s worth noting that the TV supports both Dolby Atmos and the increasingly rare DTS:X – which provides more options when connecting an external audio system. It’s also worth mentioning that the A300 PRO model is equipped with a dedicated, flat soundbar. And it's no ordinary one – it sounds better than most of the TVs we tested.

Hisense U8NQ vs TCL A300W NXTVision

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our verdict

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

TV efficiency during daytime

Details about the matrix

TV features

Playing files from USB

Apps

Sound