TECH REVIEW – The Hisense E7K PRO is a mid-range LED LCD 4K TV that supports all HDR formats, equipped with a sound system that decodes Dolby Atmos. What’s particularly intriguing for gamers is its capability to handle up to 144Hz refresh rates, complemented by HDMI 2.1 inputs and numerous gaming-related features, making it an appealing choice for discerning yet budget-conscious consumers. This Chinese-made TV delivers superb 4K image quality and comprehensive gaming features, but its drawbacks include limited brightness and a slightly dimmer picture.

The Hisense E7K PRO is a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) HDR smart LED LCD TV, available in 55, 65, and 75-inch screen sizes. As a mid-tier model in Hisense’s 2023 product line, it boasts a 10-bit, 144Hz panel with direct LED backlighting and quantum dot filters. It’s competitively priced at 209,900 HUF in Hungary, which is quite affordable compared to TVs of similar caliber.

The TV utilizes the brand’s VIDAA U 7 smart platform and handles every HDR format: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive, and Dolby Vision IQ. It also supports eARC, Dolby Atmos decoding, built-in Alexa, and a wide array of streaming video services.

Gaming features are impressive, with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 inputs supporting ALLM, VRR, and up to 4K/144Hz refresh rates, Hisense Game Bar, and AMD Freesync Premium support. The exceptionally low input lag completes an impressive gaming package.

Design, connectivity, and control

The Hisense E7K PRO sports a simple yet elegant design with a thin black frame around the screen and a wider strip at the bottom where the speakers are located. The TV stands on two widely spaced dark grey legs but also offers 200 x 200 VESA mounts for wall mounting.

The panel’s rear is made of textured black plastic, with some connections facing backward and some sideways. Most inputs face sideways, but they are only 95 mm from the edge, meaning cables protrude if viewed from the front.

It features four HDMI inputs (2 x HDMI 2.1 and 2 x HDMI 2.0), two USB ports, terrestrial and satellite tuners, a CI (common interface) slot, optical digital output, Ethernet port, AV adapter, and headphone jack. Additionally, it includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and AirPlay 2 for wireless connections.

All HDMI inputs support 4K/60Hz, HDR10, HLG, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision formats, but only the two HDMI 2.1 inputs can handle 4K/144Hz, ALLM, and VRR. One of the HDMI 2.1 inputs also supports eARC, meaning you cannot simultaneously connect two next-gen game consoles and a soundbar.

The remote is a simple black plastic piece but comfortable to hold, easy to use with one hand, and has an intuitive layout. It features all necessary buttons, including several direct access buttons for major video streamers, as well as Freeview Play, VIDAA TV, and Deezer.

Is this smart TV really smart?

The Hisense E7K PRO runs VIDAA U 7 smart TV software, which is well-designed and intuitive to navigate, thanks to a layered content display interface. A quad-core processor powers it, and it includes built-in Amazon Alexa.

The home screen centers on the apps, above promotional materials, and below rows of recommended content. Icons for searches, inputs, settings, and notifications are on the left side, with extensive file support for those who wish to stream their content.

The system is smooth, customizable, and easy to navigate, with a wide selection of video streaming services, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, and YouTube. Additionally, Freeview Play is available, encompassing all British TV catch-up services and integrating into the EPG (electronic program guide).

Excellent image quality with minor flaws

The Hisense E7K PRO may be a mid-range model, but it includes a 4K panel with LED backlighting and Quantum Dot color filters. It can handle refresh rates up to 144Hz, promising better motion handling, which could be popular among PC and next-gen console gamers.

While the Hisense E7K PRO TV has direct LED backlighting, it lacks independent dimming zones, resulting in the absence of local brightness control. This leads to mild blooming around bright objects. Although image uniformity is not perfect, with occasional clouding, the TV’s viewing angles are well-designed, minimizing reflections on the screen.

In Standard picture mode, the E7K PRO arrives with too much blue energy in the grayscale, gamma being all over the place, and colors being slightly oversaturated, resulting in average DeltaE (errors) values of 12.5 for grayscale and slightly more than nine for colors.

Switching to Filmmaker mode corrects all this, with very accurate grayscale comprising equal amounts of red, green, and blue, and the average error at 0.9. The gamma hovers around 2.35, and the colors reach their saturation targets, with the average error at 1.4.

With a visible error threshold of three, and since Filmmaker mode falls below this target, the E7K PRO’s images are pleasingly accurate, with clean whites, healthy skin tones, and natural colors. The weak point is the various shades of black, which tend to look gray in a dark room.

Video upscaling and processing are generally good, with the E7K PRO rendering lower resolution content on its native 4K panel. The resulting images are clear and sharp, while processing minimizes unwanted artifacts in densely compressed materials.

The Hisense E7K PRO TV has excellent motion handling: there’s no blur during fast-moving sports events, and it provides smooth, judder-free motion for 24 frames per second (24p) content, faithfully reflecting the original mood of films. Even at higher refresh rates, especially in fast-paced games, the TV delivers clarity and sharpness, ensuring an engaging experience during the most action-packed games.

HDR performance

The Hisense E7K PRO TV delivers convincing performance with SDR content, but its effectiveness diminishes in HDR mode. The primary reason is that the device is not exceptionally bright: peak brightness is just 360 cd/m² on a 10% window and across the full screen. These results are the same whether in Dynamic or the more accurate Filmmaker mode.

In HDR mode, the Hisense E7K PRO TV provides extremely accurate grayscale and excellent HDR target curve tracking. This means that bright details don’t become blown out, while the darks don’t get crushed. As a result, whites appear clean and lifelike, and colors remain true without grayscale errors.

The use of quantum dot filters means that the E7K PRO covers a large part of the DCI-P3 color gamut, achieving 94%. Colors also come close to their targets at various saturation points, ensuring that overall images appear natural while retaining their vibrancy.

Although the Hisense E7K PRO TV does not have outstanding brightness, its image tuning is effective, compensating for this shortcoming. Consequently, for 1000 nit content, images are correctly tuned, so blacks don’t get crushed, and bright details don’t become blown out. Dolby Vision content also performs excellently, with correct tuning making images lifelike and balanced.

When testing the Hisense E7K PRO TV with HDR10+ content, some clipping signs may occur, and this also applies to 4,000 and 10,000 nit content. This means that in some cases, the extremely bright details might not be perfectly represented. Nevertheless, most HDR content displays adequately on the device, though missing some of the visual extra one might expect from HDR.

The E7K PRO supports both Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive, where tuning can be adjusted based on light sensor measurements, allowing HDR to generally appear brighter when viewed in ambient light, although purists might prefer viewing in the dark.

The HDR performance on this TV is generally good due to accurate grayscale, colors, and tuning, but the limited brightness does take away from the impact of the images. However, watching a Disney+ or Apple TV+ movie is definitely an enjoyable, bright, and vibrant experience on the E7K PRO.

Not just for gaming, but gamers will love it

The Hisense E7K PRO is an excellent choice for gamers, with the combination of Game Mode Pro and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) detecting the gaming console and switching to low latency mode, measuring at 13ms, though only 21ms in Filmmaker mode.

The E7K PRO supports high refresh rates up to 4K/144Hz with VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and AMD Freesync Premium, allowing PC and console gamers to enjoy smooth gameplay. A pop-up Game Bar provides information on the TV’s gaming status, such as ALLM, VRR, refresh rate, and HDR.

Thanks to the LCD panel, there’s no risk of screen burn-in or image retention on the Hisense E7K PRO TV, even in game mode. The overall performance is excellent, with low input lag, detailed 4K images, and smooth high refresh rate ensuring a premium gaming experience. HDR content stands out with rich colors and precise image tuning, further enhancing the visual experience in games.

Music to our ears?

The Hisense E7K PRO features a 2.1 channel sound system, comprising a pair of forward-facing drivers and a built-in subwoofer at the back. It supports Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual: X, which use psychoacoustic processing to create an enhanced sense of audio dimensionality.

The overall sound quality of the E7K PRO model is notable. Its speakers and built-in subwoofer have sufficient power to keep the TV’s sound clear and distortion-free at high volumes. The sound spectrum is broad, while maintaining a balanced presentation of audio. It handles both high and mid-range frequencies well, effectively reproducing a variety of audio content.

The clarity of sound on the Hisense E7K PRO is exceptional, ensuring that dialogues are understandable and remain the focus on the screen, while the subwoofer adds a pleasant bass. However, it’s important to have realistic expectations: for truly deep and immersive sound worthy of a large screen, investing in a quality soundbar might be worthwhile.

A great gamer TV at an affordable price

The Hisense E7K PRO is a truly impressive mid-range 4K TV offering a wide range of features at an affordable price. The SDR image quality is excellent, with just a few blurry and cloudy details. Although HDR images are slightly subdued in brightness, the pictures remain accurate and vibrant.

The Hisense E7K PRO is particularly attractive for gamers, featuring every possible enhancement and extremely low input latency. This TV satisfies all needs, whether for movie enthusiasts or competitive gamers.

-Gergely Herpai (BadSector)-