The Hisense A85H delivers great picture quality, as you'd expect from an OLED TV. The speakers are also surprisingly good, while its two HDMI 2.1 ports make this TV suitable for gaming with the latest console or PC. Overall, the A85H is a solid OLED TV that's cheaper than the ones from top brands, albeit with some minor but annoying bugs.
Quick specs
- 4K resolution with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision
- 4x HDMI ports (2 HDMI 2.1 ports support 4K@120Hz)
- Comes in 55″ (tested) and 65″ sizes
- Supports ALLM, VRR, and eARC
With a low-profile tabletop stand that lifts the TV by just a few centimetres, the A85H is low and close to my TV console. This means that almost any soundbar will end up blocking part of the screen. You might want to consider mounting the TV on the wall instead. The stand can swivel up to 50 degrees either side, though I can't see this feature being too useful in a TV, especially if you're getting the larger 65-inch model. On the bright side, the built-in speakers (60W total output) are pretty good. They have more presence and volume than the ones you usually find in TVs. Even the bass is relatively decent.
The Hisense A85H is an OLED TV with self-lit pixels that offer true blacks, so you can expect a certain level of picture quality. It doesn't disappoint, especially in Filmmaker Mode. Colours look good, and there's discernible pop in HDR/Dolby Vision content. The TV supports all the popular HDR and home cinema formats, including newer ones like IMAX Enhanced (available on Disney+). It even has ambient light sensors for Dolby Vision IQ, which adjusts the picture according to the brightness of the room. Unfortunately, Dolby Vision IQ comes with motion smoothing that cannot be disabled in the settings. And Hisense's motion smoothing feature is terrible compared to top brands like Sony. There's a very obvious soap opera effect, even with the motion smoothing set to the minimum level. I would recommend turning it off for movies, though some may prefer it for fast-moving content like sports.
Hardware-wise, the A85H has four HDMI ports, of which two (including the eARC/ARC for sound) are HDMI 2.1 ports that support 4K 120Hz. In other words, you can connect the A85H to the latest game console to play games at 4K 120fps. There's also support for VRR and ALLM, which means the A85H automatically optimises the settings (for lowest input lag) when you run a game. But Hisense's VIDAA operating system could be better. Not only does it lack some apps (e.g. no HBO Go for my Last of Us fix), it would occasionally refuse to run any apps until I rebooted the TV. This happened a couple of times during my three weeks of testing. A more frequent issue: Sometimes there wouldn't be any audio from the connected soundbar while playing a streaming video. I would then have to restart the streaming video app.
These minor, but annoying issues marred my experience with the Hisense A85H. But its picture (motion smoothing aside) and sound are definitely very good for its price. Gamers are likely to appreciate its 4K 120Hz display, as well as ALLM and VRR features. You do miss out on some extras (e.g. overlay for gaming features) offered by the top TV makers. But Hisense has got most of the basics right. At S$2,069 for the 55-inch model, the Hisense A85H is more expensive than Prism+'s 55-inch OLED TV (S$1,699). But I think it's worth paying extra, particularly if you're looking at 4K 120fps gaming. The A85H is available on Lazada, and Shopee. Alternatively, if your budget allows it, the LG C2 (around S$2,200 for 55-inch) is definitely an upgrade, too.
Note: Review unit provided by Hisense.
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