Should You Buy A Hisense TV?

I’m 76 years old so have seen TVs evolve from the old valve days when TV enclosures were about 10 times larger than the actual screen to today’s electronic marvels – I love the modern big flat-screen TVs. I had always been a Panasonic man and the first of the more modern TVs I purchased was a 50″ Panasonic Plasma. That TV developed a fault after 54 weeks, just 2 weeks out of warranty. I contacted Panasonic hoping they might still honor the warranty but they refused to budge. That was the last Panasonic device I ever bought.

That incident led me to start thinking about just how measly TV warranties are. Most all of the big-name brand TVs – LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, etc. – come with a lousy 12 months warranty. I think it’s incredulous that a TV potentially costing thousands of dollars, certainly hundreds of dollars come with the same 12 months warranty as a $20.00 toaster. That thinking eventually led me to the Hisense range of TVs which all come with a 3-year warranty as standard.

I’ve since owned three Hisense TVs, starting with a 50″ ULED, then upgrading to a 55″, and finally on to a 65″, which is my current TV. When buying my first Hisense TV, I was fortunate enough to come across a store that had three 50″ TVs, one of which was a Hisense, displayed side-by-side and all tuned into the exact same free-to-air channel. A perfect side-by-side comparison. I don’t recall the exact brands of the other two TVs now but they were big brand TVs costing between $400 to $600 more than the Hisense and with only a 12-month warranty. The picture quality on the Hisense was at least on par with the two big brand TVs, if not superior. I was sold.

What follows then is not so much a professional review of Hisense TVs but simply a summary of my experiences with Hisense TVs over the past decade.

Hisense Picture And Audio Quality

I’m certainly no expert in this field but, being part of a very large extended family, I have seen plenty of modern TVs in action and can attest that the picture quality on my Hisense TVs has always compared very well. In fact, plenty of visitors, family and friends, to my home have commented on my Hisense TV’s great picture quality.

The audio systems built into TVs are rarely up to scratch, especially in the cheaper brands, but the audio quality emanating from the Hisense TV’s native system is actually very good. I have my TV hooked up to a Yamaha 5.1 surround sound system but, if I had to, I could easily live with the TV’s native audio system.

How Smart Is A Hisense Smart TV?

This is the one very minor negative. NOTE: I can only attest to Hisense models up to and including 2021.

The smart component in the Hisense TVs is not as comprehensive as in the more expensive big brand models. There aren’t as many streaming services and apps natively supported and no feature to add more. However, this minor limitation can easily be overcome with the use of a streaming device. I have an Apple TV device connected to my TV but there are less expensive options available, such as the Google Chromecast, and the overall cost still represents excellent value.

Hisense Customer/Warranty Service

Now, this is where the Hisense brand really shines. Apart from the obvious advantage of the standard 3-year warranty, Hisense’s customer and warranty support are absolutely superb, second to none. There is no haggling, no mucking about, you report a fault to Hisense and they’ll organize a TV technician to come to your home to either repair or replace the faulty TV.

I’ve had to make two warranty claims over the years and both ended up with a brand new replacement TV delivered to my door, and in super quick time too. On the second occasion, the fault occurred three months after the warranty period had expired. Remembering the incident with Panasonic, I thought there would be no chance of a favorable outcome. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There was no haggling from Hisense and it didn’t even seem to matter that the TV was three months out of warranty. A brand new equivalent model was delivered to my door within a week of reporting the fault.

I cannot speak highly enough of the Hisense customer/warranty support. In this day and age, it is something one has to experience firsthand to actually believe.

BOTTOM LINE:

Everyone’s experience with TV brands is different. Some will say… I’ve owned an xxxxx brand TV for many years with never an issue. That’s fair enough but it doesn’t mean that everyone has shared a similar favorable experience. I can only relate my own experiences with Hisense TVs spanning a decade and they have been nothing but extremely favorable. Yes, I am a fan of Hisense.

Okay, your turn. What brand of modern smart TV do you favor and why? Let us know in the comments.

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