The Hisense 116UX is the firm’s newest try to create an even bigger and higher instance of the greatest TVs. Along with measuring a dizzying 116 inches, making it one among the largest TVs I have encountered in additional than eight years of testing them, it additionally makes use of Hisense’s new RGB-MiniLED backlight expertise.
That is designed to carry with it wonderful shade that, when paired with the set’s intense brightness, delivers the excellent image in your dwelling theater.
Assuming you might have the cash to purchase the TV and the area to deal with it, is it value the hassle? I not too long ago went hands-on with the 116UX at a testing occasion to search out out. Learn on to see what I found each with my TV-testing tools and my eyes as they took on one among the greatest TVs you should purchase.
Large dimension, price, guarantees
“It’s not for everybody” is a frequent mantra in product opinions of any sort, however it’s very true with the Hisense 116UX. As a result of it measures 116 inches diagonal, it’s large in each different manner, too. Not counting the stand, its dimensions are 103.6 x 58.6 x 1.6 inches (2631 x 1488 x 41mm), and it weighs just below 225 kilos (102kg) – unpacked.
Simply to get it the place it’s going, you’ll want a technique to cope with its huge field (114.2 x 68.9 x 11.2 inches, with a 371.5-pound complete delivery weight), that means some elevators may even be too small for it. You’ll positively need to plan forward.
After all, should you’re even this TV in the first place, chances are high you might have a home with a devoted room for it, since the Hisense 116UX doesn’t come low-cost. Its record price is $29,999.99 (round £22,400 / AU$46,000), however you might be able to discover it for as little as $24,999.99 on sale.
(It’s value stating that Hisense is pushing worth even right here, as that’s lower than you’d pay even for a 98-inch TV from another producers, although it’s sufficient to offer Scrooge McDuck a coronary heart assault it doesn’t matter what.) You may presently buy the Hisense 116UX from on-line retailers in the US (I discovered it at Finest Purchase), though my Hisense contacts indicated that it gained’t ship till the finish of July.
Hisense has closely touted the 116UX’s new RGB-MiniLED expertise, which transforms the native dimming backlight by way of its use of crimson, inexperienced, and blue LEDs (greater than 20,000 of them) as an alternative of the commonplace blue and white. This, the firm mentioned, leads to “the most practical shade,” with “ultra-sharp distinction and purest hues.”
There’s extra to an image than simply the shade, although, and Hisense claims its Hello-View AI Engine X, “pushed by Deep Neural Networks,” analyzes and enhances the image in actual time to make sure it at all times appears its greatest. Anti-Reflection Professional, “a particular coating into the liquid crystal layer of the display screen,” is available to cut back display screen glare and reflections. And since the panel helps Variable Refresh Price (VRR) as much as 165Hz, it’s best to get good gaming, too.
Arms-on with the 116UX
Throughout Hisense’s invited testing occasion in New York Metropolis in early July 2025, I had the alternative to spend two hours with the 116UX to do each technical testing (with my Jeti 1501 spectroradiometer, Klein K10-A colorimeter, Murideo 8K-Six-G sample generator, Portrait Shows’ Calman TV-calibration software program, and a Leo Bodnar 4K Enter Lag Tester) and subjective viewing with quite a lot of content material.
By way of uncooked numbers, the 116UX completely delivered. I measured SDR brightness as much as 6,014 nits (Vivid mode, in a ten% window), and HDR brightness got here in simply the tiniest bit much less (5,441 nits in Filmmaker Mode, additionally in a ten% window). However even when tested full display screen, the 116UX put out greater than sufficient gentle (1,090 nits, in Filmmaker Mode) to light up the entire convention room I was in, undoubtedly attributable to its sprawling display screen actual property.
(It’s value noting that Hisense charges the 116UX for as much as 8,000 nits of brightness. Strive as I may, I couldn’t get that, however Hisense engineers informed me that you just’ll see that on a most of 2-5% of the display screen after the TV has been warmed up for about two hours. As I was the first customer of the day, I couldn’t match these precise situations, although based mostly on my measurements and earlier expertise with high-end Hisense TVs, I discover these claims fully plausible.)
Registering a Delta-E of three.23, the 116UX isn’t the most color-accurate TV I’ve seen, although that quantity continues to be greater than sufficiently low. Its shade gamut protection, nevertheless, was one other story. The 116UX lined 99.39% of the UHDA-P3 shade gamut, which is superb however not a towering accomplishment nowadays.
However when it got here to the wider BT.2020 gamut, the 116UX registered a surprising 92.64% – by far the highest consequence I have encountered from any of the lots of of TVs I have tested. There’s nonetheless not quite a lot of BT.2020 content material on the market, however when there’s (and that’s at all times anticipated to vary inside the subsequent yr or two), you gained’t discover a TV extra future-proofed for it than the 116UX.
With regards to enter lag for gaming, the 116UX’s results of 14.6ms is a bit increased than we see from the greatest gaming TVs from Samsung and LG (which steadily are in the low 9ms vary), however something lower than about 16ms means it’s working sooner than the body itself, so gaming performance must be appealingly clean.
In assessing how a TV handles real-world video, I sometimes work by way of a group of latest films in quite a lot of genres. With these, the 116UX seemed superb, however simply shy of nice. The set actually excelled on Dune: Half Two and the black-and-white scenes of Oppenheimer, the place shadows and distinction are key to the total temper.
Animated films seemed pleasant, whether or not from the extra historically designed The Tremendous Mario Bros. Film or the extra forward-thinking Spider-Man: Throughout the Spider-Verse, which seemed as intense and participating as I’ve ever seen it.
However, a minimum of in Filmmaker Mode, color-rich reside motion didn’t “pop” as a lot as I would have appreciated. You noticed the superb vary of hues defining Elphaba’s emerald pores and skin or Glinda’s rose nightgown in Depraved, for instance, or the pink explosion of the first 10 minutes of Barbie, together with the candylike set design that adopted all through.
However whereas some TVs can overcome the pure and supposed decrease brightness of Filmmaker Mode (which is tuned to be as movie-theater-accurate as a non-calibrated TV might be), the 116UX falls simply brief. I didn’t see all of it the time, however I did generally, in Deadpool & Wolverine, for instance, which has its personal form of explosive shade palette and seemed terrific.
I additionally seen an intermittent downside with sooner motion, which I’ve encountered on Hisense TVs earlier than. Once more, in Filmmaker Mode, the image does are likely to get a bit muddy when loads is going on on the display screen. I seen this throughout the Rome automotive chase sequence in Mission: Not possible—Useless Reckoning, when Tom Cruise and Hayley Atwell’s quick turns down the twisted streets and twisting steep stairs resulted in a momentary lack of movement readability. As this was the solely time this popped up, it will not be an on a regular basis difficulty (and one other image mode may clean it over), however it’s one thing to concentrate on.
So, too, is the reality that you’ll want to think about the 116UX’s placement very fastidiously. Due to how large the TV is, you must sit pretty far again from the display screen to see it at its greatest. The chairs in Hisense’s testing setup have been positioned 7-8 ft again, and it was not sufficient – even completely rendered 4K photographs steadily seemed blocky from that distance. From 12-15 ft away, the image seemed a lot crisper, although after all meaning you’ll have to put the 116UX in a room that’s that a lot bigger.
Even so, the 116UX isn’t proof against the viewing-angle issues that afflict all LED TVs, together with the 116UX – although it has an surprising profit right here. Its sheer dimension means you’ll be able to match much more individuals instantly in entrance of the display screen with out them having to sit down at excessive angles and view a washed-out image. I needed to get 15-20 ft away from the nook of the TV earlier than it actually turned an issue, so this isn’t one thing most individuals will face.
Nor will they’ve to fret about reflections or glare, since that Anti-Reflection Professional expertise actually did the trick, diminishing each to the level of close to invisibility, even when the room’s overhead lights have been on full energy.
One last item I need to point out is the distant management. It’s a brand new, hanging design that features a most of buttons on its black brushed-metal body and, as Samsung did a few years again, incorporates a photo voltaic panel for charging (although you may also join it to the USB-C port Hisense has added to the TV’s left edge). It appears stunning, it really works nicely, and it’s a becoming complement for the 116UX as an entire.
Massive and in cost
The 116UX delivers on almost all of Hisense’s daring guarantees, rendering BT. 2020 shade extra precisely than another TV I am conscious of, and its excessive brightness and swath of fascinating applied sciences imply it can excel when watching most issues. If the TV’s slight hassle dealing with frenetic motion is lower than supreme, it will not be a deal-breaker relying on what you watch, and, as my time with the set was extraordinarily restricted, it could not apply in all circumstances.
There’s no getting round the reality {that a} truckload of caveats essentially accompanies the 116UX: if you’ll be able to afford it, if you may get it in your own home, if you might have a room sufficiently big to due justice to its Wyoming-class display screen dimension. These should be addressed earlier than you even contemplate shopping for it. However should you can, the 116UX is likely to be the quasi-luxury buy you’ve been ready for – and one among the greatest methods to actually carry a movie show dwelling.
