Hisense UR8S vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

UR8S is a slightly higher-end Mini-LED, so you could expect a lot in terms of brightness. And indeed, on a synthetic test pattern the peak brightness reached around 2200 nits. That's a very good result, but as always what matters more is what the TV does in normal film scenes. Here the results are a bit more uneven. In bright scenes with a lot of light on screen, the UR8S can deliver really strong HDR. Brightness then reaches about 1500 nits, so the image is very intense and has a lot of punch. It's worse with small bright elements on a dark background. The TV noticeably dims them to maintain good blacks and avoid excessive blooming. As a result, things like single stars or tiny specular highlights can be only around 200 nits. And here HDR is no longer as impressive. So the local dimming algorithm works effectively, but it comes at a cost, sometimes it simply sacrifices the brightness of small details too much in favor of contrast.

Colors

With RGB Mini-LED TVs, colors should be evaluated a bit differently than usual. If we look solely at the panel's capabilities, the UR8S performs great. We measured about 94% coverage of BT.2020 and practically full DCI-P3. These are among the highest values currently found in LCD TVs, and this is where the potential of RGB backlighting is most apparent. The problem is that this potential isn't always used in real scenes. When we ran the same measurements on patterns with an overlaid film background, the saturation of some colors dropped noticeably. Individual zones can't always control the three RGB components as precisely when the scene becomes more complex. This is most noticeable with blue and magenta. In simple test patterns they can look very strong, but in tougher scenes samples of those colors clearly shrink. So the UR8S has enormous potential, but the TV can't always make full use of it.

Philips PQS9000 is a moderately bright TV; in our HDR scenes it reached roughly 450 to just over 500 nits. That's enough to notice a difference versus SDR. Sun reflections, lamps, and highlights have a bit more sparkle than on basic TVs, whose brightness often tops out around 300 nits. However, it’s not at a level where bright elements make a particularly strong impression. The biggest limitation remains contrast. Without local dimming, the TV raises the black level around a bright object when it brightens that object. That means there’s no clear separation between strong highlights and a dark background, and that contrast is what really shows off HDR. The PQS9000 offers more than the cheapest models, but despite decent brightness the effect stays fairly basic.

Colors

Philips deserves praise for the colors. Although the manufacturer labels this model QLED, a PFS phosphor is used here instead of quantum dots. That solution does not prevent good results, however. On test patterns and in measurements of film scenes we recorded about 94% DCI-P3 coverage and 75% BT.2020. For this class of TV that’s really good. In practice, it means the vast majority of colors used in HDR movies and series will have proper saturation. Lush greens and intense reds are not a major problem and add appeal to the picture. Limitations are easier to spot in some games and rarer content that uses the most saturated shades of the wide BT.2020 gamut. In those situations, displays with wider color coverage, such as SQD or RGB LED, can show more. In its price segment the PQS9000 has nothing to be ashamed of.

For evaluating out-of-the-box colors we used Filmmaker mode, which is supposed to show the image as close as possible to how the material was intended. Looking at white balance alone, the UR8S does quite well. There is no strong color cast that immediately jumps out, although as brightness increases a bit too much blue and red appear while green becomes deficient. Color errors therefore show up in measurements, but the image itself does not look bad.

We have far bigger reservations about how the UR8S manages image brightness. In SDR the gamma stays around 1.9 to 2.0 for most of the range instead of the target 2.4. In practice this simply means the image is too bright, especially in the midtones. Shadows are lifted too much, so the image loses some depth. A similar trend is visible in HDR. The EOTF curve sits above the reference value for a large portion of the range, so the UR8S again brightens the image more than it should. This is not a matter of the TV lacking brightness; it has plenty of it. The issue is how it manages that brightness. As a result, HDR material can look very striking, but not always exactly as it should.

Unfortunately, the PQS9000’s factory picture settings for Film mode need some fine-tuning. In SDR the biggest issue is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes whites, grays, and skin tones too warm, sometimes even slightly pink. On top of that, the gamma runs below the target across most of its range. The TV therefore brightens midtones and highlights, making the overall image look flatter than it should.

In HDR the white balance itself is much better. Aside from minor deviations, the components stay close to each other, so there isn’t the pronounced tint seen in SDR. However, the EOTF curve shows a slight brightening of parts of the image, and the biggest issue appears in measurements of the wide color gamut. Many hues deviate significantly from the reference, with errors reaching 8–9. So the good gamut coverage we praised earlier doesn’t mean the TV hits specific colors accurately. It can display a wide color range, but out of the box it doesn’t use it very precisely.

Hisense offers quite a few calibration options, and in SDR you can achieve a really good result with them. After calibration, the white balance is practically uniform across the entire range, and color errors drop to very low values. The UR8S can be adjusted very precisely here. HDR looks a bit different. The white balance itself can also be noticeably improved, although at the highest brightness levels larger deviations start to appear. What's most interesting, however, is the behavior of the EOTF curve. Even after it is properly set on test patterns, the UR8S can still interpret brightness its own way during movie playback. Depending on the scene, parts of the image are slightly brightened while others are darkened compared to how they should look. This shows that the algorithms responsible for backlight control have a fairly large impact on the final image. So calibration can greatly improve colors, but we can't completely "turn off" the way the UR8S manages brightness in HDR.

Calibration brought a big improvement, especially in SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance and remove the previous color cast, and the Color Checker measurements now look really very good. Colors are much closer to what should be on the screen, so with regular TV or SDR movies we can be satisfied with the result. Unfortunately HDR somewhat spoils that outcome. On one hand it's limited by the panel's capabilities, since calibration won't improve contrast or replace local dimming. On the other hand there are color errors we couldn't correct because the CMS settings, that is color management, were grayed out and inactive. For that Philips loses points with us. White balance can be fine-tuned, but without access to wide color gamut controls you can't correct colors in HDR as effectively. It's a shame, because the SDR results show the potential is there, it's just not allowed to be fully used everywhere.

A major advantage of the UR8S is its MediaTek Pentonic 800 processor, and digital image processing is one of this model’s strengths. The TV handles smoothing tonal transitions very well, especially with lower-quality sources. The feature responsible for this effect works effectively without overly interfering with the picture. Even at the medium setting it can noticeably reduce visible banding and unevenness without heavily blurring details. Upscaling also performs very well. Lower-resolution content is displayed cleanly, edges look natural, and the image isn’t overly sharpened. The UR8S simply copes very well with weaker signals, and in that respect it’s one of its clear strengths.

The digital image processing in the Philips PQS9000 performs well, though we have a few reservations. The "Distortion Reduction" function helps smooth tonal transitions in lower-quality material, but it works quite unevenly. It can improve a section of the picture, only to, moments later and still within the same scene, seem to lose effectiveness and reintroduce banding between shades. A plus is that it doesn't remove film grain or fine noise, so the image retains its texture. We found the "Medium" setting worked best, and that's the one we recommend. The 4K upscaling itself is acceptable, though the picture is very soft. Edges are heavily smoothed, which may make the image feel less crisp to some viewers. In that case, it's worth slightly increasing the sharpness in the TV's menu, as this will make edges stand out more. Don't overdo the sharpness slider, however, or you may introduce artificial halos instead of improving the picture.

The UR8S is equipped with a panel that has a native 180 Hz refresh rate, so it already offers great potential for smooth motion. The panel itself performs really well, though some limitations typical of VA panels are still visible. Smearing is relatively low for this type of screen, but with faster motion (especially on darker backgrounds) it can still be noticed, particularly when compared with the same image on OLED TVs.

In terms of motion handling, the Philips PQS9000 performs outstandingly for an LCD TV. It's not just the 144 Hz refresh rate, but above all how quickly the panel itself responds. At 120 Hz you can hardly see the typical trailing smears behind moving objects. What's especially pleasing is that this also applies to darker backgrounds, where many VA panels clearly struggle. Here motion remains clear, and Philips pleasantly surprised us in that regard. To adjust how motion is displayed there is the "Motion Style" function. It includes two sliders: "Smoothness" and "Blur Reduction," which let you tailor the effect to the content you're watching and your personal preferences. Our suggested settings are shown in the photo. Treat them as a starting point and try different levels of smoothing to see which you prefer.

In terms of gamer features the UR8S performs really well. The TV supports practically everything you’d expect from a modern console or PC display. It offers ALLM, VRR, and 4K at 120 Hz. It also supports Dolby Vision in game mode, so when using an Xbox Series X you don’t have to give up that HDR format. PC gamers get even more options. The panel can run at 4K/180 Hz, and dropping to Full HD can raise the refresh rate up to 330 Hz. There’s also a Game Bar that lets you quickly view key information and change gaming-related settings. The only clear shortcoming is a proper implementation of HGiG. With it enabled the TV still interferes with HDR brightness mapping, so we don’t get the effect intended by that standard. Aside from that, the UR8S is very well prepared for both consoles and a powerful PC.

Gaming features

When it comes to gaming features, the Philips PQS9000 really has a lot to offer. Four HDMI 2.1 ports let you connect multiple devices without having to decide which one gets the full-capability port. Consoles can use 120 Hz in Full HD, 1440p and 4K, and a PC can also take advantage of 144 Hz at 4K or 240 Hz if you drop down to Full HD. There's also VRR, which matches the refresh rate to the frame rate and prevents screen tearing. Its range goes from 48–240 Hz, with the upper limit applying to Full HD mode.

ALLM is included, so the TV automatically switches into game mode, and HGiG works correctly, which is useful when setting up HDR on a console. There's also a Game Bar for quick access to settings and signal information. The list even includes Dolby Vision gaming, but that option is hard to enjoy because of very high latency. Apart from that caveat, the feature set is really solid.