Hisense E6N series was launched earlier last month. It includes 43-inch, 55-inch, and 65-inch sizes with a 4K resolution. Hisense has consistently released value-for-money smart TVs in India for a few years, and the E6N series is no different. The 55-inch 4K TV we received for review is currently priced as low as Rs 36,999 on Amazon. That is great value for budget-conscious buyers in India. But how good is the TV’s picture quality, sound, and performance? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
Design and display
The Hisense E6N is definitely one of the better-looking affordable smart TVs in the market right now. It comes with a bezel-less screen on the sides and the top with a floating display that gives it a nice, immersive look. This is not bad at all for a sub-Rs 40,000 TV. In fact, it looks much better than the Sony Bravia 2, at least as far as the design is concerned. You get two long and straight stands in the box and a nice remote that I’ll talk about later.
Talking about the ports at the back, you get three HDMI ports – two regular and one eARC all supporting 4K at 60Hz. For those unaware, most TVs pre-compress audio signals before sending them through HDMI cables. However, eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) allows the transmission of the original, full-resolution audio signal via HDMI, delivering high sound quality. The eARC HDMI port is where you want to connect a nice soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos. By the end of this review, you’ll know why I’m suggesting this. Other ports include a headphone jack, digital audio out, and two USB ports, among other things.
Picture quality
The 55-inch Hisense E6N TV delivers good picture quality for its price point. 4K UHD content appears sharp and vibrant, full of rich colours and textures. You probably won’t find much to complain about if you see it in isolation. For its price, the VA panel is pretty good, especially if you watch HDR and Dolby Vision content. There’s a Filmmaker mode as well, which is supposed to tune the picture’s aspect ratio, colour, frame rate, sound, and so on to how the movie or show was intended to be. In reality, this merely reduces the brightness and makes the picture warmer, which is effective when watching movies. There’s also AI Sports mode that bumps up motion smoothing for a stutter-free experience, which is best used when watching sports.
The Hisense E6N series touts 4K AI upscaling which means it is capable of boosting the sharpness and clarity of SD and HD content like old shows and movies, set-top-box channels, etc. In my experience, AI upscaling of the Hisense TV is good but Sony does it better. In some HD content, like The Office, we noticed tons of colour flickering. There is some noise to be found for those pixel-peeping, but it’s not bad for this price point. I found no such flickering in my 2015 Sony Bravia TV and the latest Bravia 2.
While watching HDR content, the picture mode sometimes switched to HDR standard but it wasn’t very consistent with this. The Hisense TV delivers good brightness and vibrancy, but clarity and contrast are lacking, especially in really bright and really dark scenes. In the comparison below, you can see the new Xiaomi TV X Pro QLED TV doing a better job with contrast. Of course, the Xiaomi TV is significantly pricier and it’s a QLED TV so this is merely for reference.
I had a similar experience with Dolby Vision content like Avatar: The Way of Water. For the most part, the movie looks striking on the Hisense TV with good colour vibrancy and brightness. However, colours tend to look washed out in comparison to the Sony Bravia 2, which doesn’t even get Dolby Vision support. In the comparison below, you can see how Dolby Vision Bright washes out the colours, especially the red of Spider-Man’s mask compared to the vividness that the Bravia 2 delivers. Switching to Dolby Vision Dark doesn’t help much either as it tends to dull the colours and crush darker scenes.
Sound quality
The Hisense E6N 55-inch comes with 20W speakers. When I reviewed the Sony Bravia 2, I mentioned that while the TV delivered good clarity, it lacked depth, leading me to suggest a soundbar. With the Hisense E6N 55-inch, I had the opposite impression; it offers good bass response but sacrifices clarity, prompting me to recommend a soundbar once again.
You don’t get Dolby Atmos support but you do get Dolby Audio. There’s also DTS Virtual: X which, when enabled, gives a surround sound effect and adds more depth to the sound output. But even that doesn’t really help much with the overall clarity of the speakers. It would be wise to invest in a good soundbar with Dolby Atmos support to really improve your viewing experience.
Performance and software
Hisense didn’t reveal the processor powering the E6N 55-inch TV. Browsing through the UI and switching between apps felt smooth most of the time but it wasn’t without the occasional lag. I was impressed with the fact that the TV ships with Android 12 out of the box. The Bravia 2, in comparison, ships with an older Android 11 OS. Not that you’ll notice a big difference between the two OS versions, but it’s nice to see a newer version of Android OS on a TV.
The Hisense E6N series ships with Google TV, which is an updated version of Android TV. The UI would be familiar to most and it is aimed at delivering better recommendations based on your viewing history. Google TV is a platform that gets better over time as it learns about your interests. The TV also supports Chromecast and Airplay, allowing you to cast content from your Android or iPhone, respectively.
I really liked the remote that ships with the Hisense E6N. It isn’t as tall and unwieldy as the Sony TV remote I reviewed with the Bravia 2. It is bigger than the remote you get with the Xiaomi TV but Hisense has included a bunch of useful buttons that are really soft to the touch. You get the Google Assistant button, a quick settings button that allows you to change the picture and sound profile without having to exit what you’re watching, volume keys, dedicated keys for Netflix, YouTube, SonyLIV, Prime Video, Disnay+ Hotstar, and more.
Verdict
The Hisense E6N 55-inch 4K TV delivers really good value for money. Priced well under Rs 40,000, the TV boasts a premium bezel-less design and features like Dolby Vision and DTS Virtual: X. Both HDR and Dolby Vision content look great with plenty of sharpness and rich colours. Yes, the picture quality isn’t exceptional as you might notice some issues in bright and dark scenes, and even the upscaling isn’t exceptional. But you can’t expect Sony Bravia-level quality at this price point.
The Hisense TV delivers good bass-heavy sound output, but this comes at the cost of clarity. But investing in a good soundbar will go a long way in creating that perfect home theatre experience. You’re already getting a premium-looking TV at a bargain. Add a Dolby Atmos soundbar and you’ve got a solid setup without breaking the bank.
Editor’s rating: 7.5 / 10
Pros:
- Affordable 4K TV with Dolby Vision
- Premium-looking bezel-less design
- Sharp picture quality
Cons:
- Average upscaling
- Speakers lack clarity
