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Hisense UR9 RGB MiniLED: An Affordable TV in Its Class
RGB Mini-LED TVs have officially arrived, and Hisense's UR9 was the first to hit the market, followed by Sony's Bravia 7 Mark II and TCL’s RM9L. I wouldn’t blame you if you weren’t jazzed to learn what the new display technology means, particularly if you were just getting used to terms like OLED, QLED, and art TV. Thankfully, understanding why the Hisense UR9 RGB MiniLED is a step up in picture quality compared to its competitors is more about the experience it provides than knowing the technical terms.
Even so, the general function of mini RGB tech is not so difficult to understand: Traditional LED and QLED televisions achieve their bright and colorful images by shining white or blue LEDs through an LCD panel. The newer mini RGB works by emitting red, green, and blue lights, resulting in better color accuracy, excellent contrast and brightness, and finer control over color zones. LG and Samsung use new tech called micro RGB, claiming it to be more advanced than mini RGB thanks to smaller LEDs, although both achieve roughly the same result.
The UR9 is the flagship in Hisense’s lineup, but it isn’t priced that way at just $2,000 for the 65-inch model I tested. What you get with the UR9 is an improved picture quality compared to the brand’s other models, which are typically priced lower than sets from big names like Samsung, Sony, and LG. I’ve tested countless Hisense entry-level models over the years, including a few that had poor contrast and brightness, putting them more in line with TCL, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV bargain models that cost around $800.
Not the case with this gaming monster, with its unusual-but-welcome 180-Hz refresh rate (330-Hz variable) when you link a high-end computer to the DisplayPort connection on the side. Overall, I was impressed by the picture quality at this price point, even if the UR9 can’t quite compete with the latest (but pricey) Samsung and LG models that use micro RGB tech.
The all-black, notably thin (only 1.8 inches!) UR9 comes with a stand that’s much easier to assemble than the Sony Bravia 7 Mark II RGB TV. Once in position on my stand, setting up the Google TV operating system was simple, save for dealing with a known bug with the Google Home app’s QR code that required manually entering my Gmail address and password. The UR9 uses Wi-Fi 6E, which is faster than Wi-Fi 6.
I found the UR9 remote to be unnecessarily complex with too many buttons. The mute button is located at the bottom right, which is nowhere near the volume buttons. It features more shortcut buttons than most TV remotes, including one marked Kids (for the Kidoodle app). There’s a customizable shortcut button as well, which I mapped to YouTube TV. There’s even a Google TV profile button that lets you switch accounts, even though most people will switch accounts using individual streaming apps. However, I did like the colorful, easy-to-spot shortcuts for Netflix and Amazon Prime because they are colorful. The remote is also nicely backlit and conveniently adjusts for ambient lighting in the room.
The back of the TV features three HDMI 2.1 ports—an upgrade from many televisions that only have two. In addition to the aforementioned DisplayPort connector on the side, the UR9 also features an Ethernet port, optical audio out, coaxial, and two USB ports (for connecting a hard drive or charging an HD antenna). Oddly, there isn’t a 3.5-mm headphone jack on this TV.
The UR9 meets 100 percent of the BT.2020 color gamut standard range. Picture-quality enhancements and settings are hit or miss here. I liked how a Motion Clearness setting made a soccer ball easier to see during a World Cup match. There’s also Dynamic Color Enhancer that lets you select the color space and adjust sliders; this worked well to help make several shows and movies appear more vivid. I don’t think the Blue Light setting, which is supposed to reduce eye strain, made a huge difference. Several other settings for smoother gradients or contrast only had a