Hisense U7SG (2026) TV review: Better design, great value

Unlike previous years, in what TV nerds like me call the “brightness wars,” the U7SG doesn’t outperform its predecessor, but that’s not a problem. It’s three times brighter than anything you can stream (which is naturally capped due to compression), and has enough firepower for all but 4K HDR Blu-rays. Its color processing shows more restraint than previous models. It’s not what I’d call “accurate to the director’s intent,” like The best TVs I’ve tested it, but it keeps itself from blowing out your eyeball most of the time.

High brightness is offset by deep black levels, without much of the “brightening” or “halo” around bright objects that can dampen the contrast of many budget-friendly TVs. It’s not as eye-catching as OLED TVswhich can control each of the millions of pixels on demand, but will dazzle you in deep space scenes just the same. I was pleased that the TV’s weird local dimming problem didn’t show up in real-world content, but the picture does tend to flatten shadows in dark scenes more than expected, even when the matte screen does a good job of keeping reflections at bay.

Photography: Ryan Wanyata

There are some other notable drawbacks. Moving next to the TV on the comfy chair resulted in washed-out colors, dull contrast between brighter and darker images, and uneven backlighting, also known as the “dirty screen effect.” This was highlighted even more so against the green backdrop of the Masters on Sunday as Rory McIlroy held on for victory. This wasn’t an issue when viewing head-on, but even then, I noticed some dirty yellow lines along the right and left sides of the screen with light backgrounds. (I might not have noticed them as much if I hadn’t bombarded this TV with test content first.)

The U7SG still doesn’t look like a premium model. But it’s a very clear and bright TV, and it will feel like it’s worth the money once RGB appears on other Hisense models and the price of this one comes down. If you want something brighter than a similarly priced OLED display like LGB5The U7 is a great buy and has some good upgrades over last year U75QG.

We’ll know more about the TV landscape of 2026 once the new RGB TVs arrive, but if you need a powerful, stylish-looking TV before then, the U7SG should be on your list.