In late 2023, just ahead of CES 2024, Hisense gave us a taste of just how far its engineers had been able to push the TV brightness envelope in the form of the limited-edition, 85-inch UX TV. With 3,500 nits of peak brightness, it was one of the brightest TVs we’d ever reviewed. And while Hisense’s UX series remains the company’s flagship (with massive 98- and 110-inch models coming later this year), some of the UX’s features have trickled down to the new U9N ULED, a 4K TV that Hisense claims will produce an even brighter 5,000 peak nits.
The U9N ULED will come in 75- and 85-inch models, priced at $3,000 and $4,000, respectively. They’re expected to be available from BestBuy.com this summer.
“Our commitment has always been to make premium technology accessible to more people, and with the introduction of the U9N, we’re taking this commitment a step further,” said Hisense Americas/Hisense USA president David Gold in a press release. “The U9N elevates our ULED lineup, bringing elements of ULED X technology to an even wider audience.”
Powered by a quantum dot-enhanced mini-LED backlight with up to 5,300 dimming zones, the U9N uses the same Hi-View Engine X image processor as the UX Series. As you might expect for a top-tier TV, it supports Dolby Vision, Dolby Vision IQ, IMAX Enhanced, Filmmaker Mode, and HDR10+.
The panel incorporates Hisense’s Dynamic X Display technology, which includes both anti-glare and anti-reflection treatments, plus a claimed ultrawide viewing angle. It also sports some premium gamer-friendly features like a 144Hz native refresh rate, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, Auto Game Mode, Dolby Vision Gaming, Game Mode Pro, and Hisense’s new Game Bar feature, which lets users customize their gameplay screens.
There’s also some decent future-proofing in the form of an ATSC 3.0 over-the-air tuner and Wi-Fi 6E for compatibility with the latest wireless networking standards.
On the audio side of the equation, the U9N grabs another ingredient from the UX: CineStage X Surround, which gives the TV a 4.1.2 multi-channel audio system, with up to 82 watts of total power.
It uses the Google TV operating system, with far-field microphones for hands-free voice commands, and you also get access to all of the usual Google TV benefits like a library of over 800 free channels of movies, TV shows, and live TV, as well as more than 10,000 apps.
