Our Verdict
Overall, the Hisense H8F is a great TV for most uses. It is a great choice for watching movies or playing games in a dark room, and a good choice for watching TV shows during the day. It isn't as well-suited for sports, unless you're watching it alone, as the image degrades when viewed at an angle.
- Deep, uniform blacks.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Great peak brightness in SDR.
- Bad viewing angles.
- Slow response time.
Great TV for watching movies in a dark room. It has an impressive contrast ratio and outstanding black uniformity, and a passable local dimming feature. Unfortunately, it has a very slow response time, so there is more noticeable persistence blur behind fast-moving objects.
This is a good TV for watching TV during the day. It has very good reflection handling and great peak brightness, but poor viewing angles, so it isn't ideal for watching TV while moving around the room. It has great upscaling capabilities, and the vast majority of streaming apps are available for Android TV.
Decent TV for sports. It has very good reflection handling and great peak brightness, but the viewing angles are poor and there is noticeable dirty screen effect. Unfortunately, it has a very slow response time, and most people will notice more persistence blur.
Great TV for playing video games. It has exceptional low input lag, supports most common formats, and upscales lower resolution games well. Unfortunately, there is noticeable blur behind fast-moving objects, and it doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like FreeSync.
Very good TV for watching movies in HDR. It has outstanding contrast, impressive black uniformity, and a passable local dimming feature. It can display a great color gamut, and has decent color volume, but can't get bright enough to show off small, bright objects in some scenes.
The Hisense H8F is a great TV for HDR gaming. It looks great in a dark room, as it can display deep, uniform blacks. It can display a great wide color gamut, and has decent color volume. Games are responsive thanks to the excellent low input lag, but it has only decent motion handling, and a slow response time.
This is a great TV for use as a PC monitor. It is very responsive, thanks to the excellent low input lag. It looks good in a bright room, thanks to the high peak brightness and very good reflection handling. Unfortunately, it also has poor viewing angles, and it has only decent motion handling, so it might not be the best.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Jul 09, 2019: Review published.
- Updated Jul 07, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" H8F (55H8F), and we expect our results to also be valid for the 50" (Hisense 50H8F), and the 65" (Hisense 65H8F) models.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Hisense H8F doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
In Canada, the H8F is known as the H8809.
| Size | US Model | Canada | Panel Type | Refresh Rate | Dimming Zones |
| 50" | 50H8F | - | VA | 60Hz | 32 |
| 55" | 55H8F | 55H8809 | VA | 60Hz | 56 |
| 65" | 65H8F | 65H8809 | VA | 60Hz | 60 |
The 55H8F we reviewed was manufactured in Jan. 2019.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Hisense H8F is a surprisingly good budget TV, and it outperforms many more expensive models. See our recommendations for the best LED TVs, the best budget TVs, and the best TVs under $300.
The Hisense H8F is much better than the Vizio V Series 2019. The H8F has a full array local dimming feature, is much brighter, has an optional black frame insertion feature, and has less input lag. The V Series, on the other hand, despite having the same type of panel, has better viewing angles. The H8F also has a more versatile smart interface, running Android TV 8.0.
The Hisense H8F is much better than the Samsung RU7100. The H8F has a full array local dimming feature, and significantly better black uniformity, resulting in a much better dark room viewing experience. The H8F also has better reflection handling and is much brighter.
The Hisense H8F is slightly better than the Samsung RU8000. The Hisense has a local dimming feature, whereas the Samsung doesn't. The Hisense can also get brighter, has better black uniformity, has a wider color gamut, and a more robust remote. On the other hand, the Samsung has better gray uniformity, much better gradient performance, and a faster response time.
The Samsung Q60R and the Hisense H8F are both decent TVs for mixed usage. The Q60R has slightly better gray uniformity, more accurate out-of-the-box colors, much better gradient performance, significantly better motion handling, better built-in speakers, and a smoother and easier-to-use smart interface. On the other hand, the H8F has local dimming, better HDR performance, much better black uniformity, better reflection handling, and a wider color gamut.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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