Hisense HDR 58R6E - Purchase & Review

BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
So, my 64" Samsung plasma died. This wasn't good news as it was a pretty penny when it was purchased. But, it wasn't the end of the world as I had already put it into storage for a couple of years after we swapped it out for a 85" Samsung LCD in the family room.

But, a couple of weeks ago I decided I would put the 64" plasma into a guest room that I often use in place of a very low quality Sharp TV (42"). No dice from the 64" plasma. I ordered a new power board, as that's a common issue, and still... no love. That was $100 wasted.

So, what to do? This room was a guest space, and I was looking for a reasonable improvement over the antiquated Sharp 42" and I knew with the Samsung 64" plasma I would have gotten stellar black levels, if not the brightest image.

So, I roll through WalMart and I'm looking at their displays. Staying under $500 there were quite a few 65" displays available. I probably would have been reasonably happy with most of them. A few I noticed were particularly weak in image quality, which I don't think is ever a good sign for a floor model. But, at well under $300, the Hisense 58" LCD was a good deal less money. $278, I believe, was the in-store pricing when I was there (Sept. 2020). Easily $100 less than any 65" TV, and I could give up 7" of image size in that room to save well over a hundred bucks.

I looked for some reviews online and it seems that the big question mark is long-term reliability. Everything else seemed reasonably good. Most reviews, unfortunately, were about the built-in Roku functionality. Because, you know, TVs aren't about actual image quality, but the extraneous features that 1,000 other devices could deliver. *sigh*

Okay, I got it. Out the door, with taxes, for under $300.

I put the mount on it which was an easy shift from the 42" Sharp to the new TV. The mounting holes are a bit more towards the bottom of the display, which raised the TV a few inches on the wall, but not so high as to drive me nutso. I hooked up the video signal from my non-standard high-end A/V system and fired the TV up. It ran through the normal and somewhat abnormal setup process. Roku adds a layer of complexity to the setup which was easy enough for me to deal with since I already have a couple of Roku players connected to my home system. Just added this TV and let it go through software and firmware updates. Probably let it run for half an hour or so while I grabbed a sandwich and did a chore or two.

After it was setup, I told it I was exclusively using HDMI 1 (ARC) and that I wanted to rename the input 'Crestron', since that's what it would be. I turned on HDMI CEC control in the advanced sections, and turned on quick power on. I also told the TV that I always wanted it to use HDMI 1 (Crestron) anytime the TV powered on. This is because I was going to control the TV using HDMI CEC through my control system. (more on that later)

I never had any intention of using the built-in Roku functionality as that wouldn't play back audio through the in-ceiling speakers I already had in the room. But, I did take a minute to play with the interface and found it to be typical Roku excellence. Snappy, good looking, and easy to use. I also played a bit of audio through the speakers built into the TV, just to hear them, and was impressed with their volume. Not sure how much range they really have (sorry audio people!) but I had no problem hearing the speakers, which by itself can be an issue with many of these displays. They seem to demand you get a soundbar if you want to hear anything. No issue here if you're just watching some casual TV shows.

I then flipped things over to HDMI 1 (Crestron) and proceeded to veg. out for the rest of the weekend in the bedroom watching TV. My wife may not have been overly thrilled about it, but I didn't have a long honey-do list either. I was immediately impressed with the brightness. No question that the LCD displays over the last few years have really pumped the brightness up a good deal. With the curtains open in the room, I had no issues with viewing, other than the screen being a bit glossy which could be a problem for those with windows directly behind the screen. This has been an issue I've seen on a long list of displays over the years, and I just basically live with it. But, it wasn't quite as bad with this TV as it was only semi-glossy, not super reflective the way some displays can be.

Colors are strong and well saturated, and there are the typical controls to make some adjustments. But, out of the box colors and contrast were very reasonable. I did leave it on bright as the room I was in is certainly bright during the daytime. It doesn't seem to have any light sensor or automatic was to adjust itself based on ambient light conditions in the room. Not shocking for the price. There were no glaring problems with skin tones. Gradients didn't show any obvious false contouring issues which weren't mostly baked into the video compression that was already in place. Most of all, the black levels were black. That is, bright scenes with areas of black didn't present those areas as a clearly dingy grey. The TV produced a shockingly good black level, period. Not perfect, as it isn't OLED, or even FALD LED. It's just a standard LCD display, but the Sharp I had previously was as well, and it did a dismal job with black levels and contrast.

Sharpness is hard for me to judge seriously. My Crestron system runs at 1080p, not 4K. I didn't go out and hook up my UHD Blu-ray player, and I didn't run 4K content locally off the Roku to test UHD or HDR. In my opinion, if that's why you primarily want this display, you are setting yourself up for disappointment because there is a reason why OLED exists. But, for a secondary room, this was right on point.

After dark, I was expecting that I would need to switch the TV to a lower brightness because the black levels would become offensive, but even after dark, with lights out, I found that the black levels remained relatively strong and non-objectionable. The TV has a good enough contrast ratio to make it such that the untrained eye is unlikely to care at all that the image isn't 'absolute' black.

The remote for the TV is Roku TV standard. That's great for those who are using the remote, but I'm not sure how those with a universal remote will like it. My universal remote system allows for IP, RS232, infrared, and HDMI-CEC control. When I bought the TV I decided that I would give HDMI-CEC control a try, which I've done once in the past with good results. I dug around a bit and found the proper protocols for 'most' TVs, and plugged the commands into my system. Sure enough the TV powered off, then powered back on! This meant that I didn't need to put an IR device on the front of the TV and could stick with one-wire HDMI control for everything. What was a bit unexpected is that the TV itself always powers on to the main Roku screen. It doesn't power on to the HDMI 1 (Crestron) input as I had setup in the settings. This is a bit unusual as I don't know some other command to use to power the TV on. But, that said, I did find the command I needed to switch the TV to HDMI 1. It takes a few seconds along the way, but it is reliable and leaves me with the one-wire control solution that I was after.

At the end of all of this, I am not satisfied, but find myself ecstatic at the value to quality that this display delivers. It isn't what I would put into any home theater. That's why there are high-end LCDs and OLED displays. They can get brighter or have incredible black levels. But, for a kid's playroom, or a guest suite, the price to quality level that this display delivers is unexpected. The price point may fit right in for what a college student may be able to afford while giving a far larger display than expected for the money. The size was appropriate for our fairly large guest suite that puts your eyes probably 15 feet or so from the screen. No pixel counting was done in the testing. If I had to do it again, I would do so, and I would be happy to recommend this display to my client's who may be looking for a display to throw into a guest room, or maybe an exercise room where image quality doesn't require top-tier performance.

But, value to quality? Out of this world!

Link to TV (as of Sept/2020): https://www.walmart.com/ip/Hisense-58-Class-4K-UHD-LED-Roku-Smart-TV-HDR-58R6E/479239112
 
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Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
For a guest room that’s rarely ever used that’s pretty good . I think do you ever watch tv In there ?


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BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
For a guest room that’s rarely ever used that’s pretty good . I think do you ever watch tv In there ?
I watch it from time to time. I sleep in that room most of the time, but I typically watch TV in the family room or on the front projector.

But, when my wife is watching a show I don't like, I'll head up there and watch the Hisense. The image is by no means perfect, but for cable TV viewing, or the latest Madalorean on Disney+ it's perfectly acceptable. I've watched some sports on it, without complaint. I mean, keep in mind that it must be 15' from end to end in the room, so if I'm laying in bed, I'm not even close to the screen. Likewise, I'm not critical of this display. I want good operation, reasonable colors, and acceptable motion. Not perfect. It fills the job nicely. Exceeding my expectations in reality. The rest of the displays in my home (except my projector) are a few years old and it is clear that the newer LCD panels just perform better.

They aren't always easy to find at Walmart, but the 58" model I did see in there last week (early December 2020) and still at the same sub $300 price point. So, for the money, I still consider it one of the best values going.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
I watch it from time to time. I sleep in that room most of the time, but I typically watch TV in the family room or on the front projector.

But, when my wife is watching a show I don't like, I'll head up there and watch the Hisense. The image is by no means perfect, but for cable TV viewing, or the latest Madalorean on Disney+ it's perfectly acceptable. I've watched some sports on it, without complaint. I mean, keep in mind that it must be 15' from end to end in the room, so if I'm laying in bed, I'm not even close to the screen. Likewise, I'm not critical of this display. I want good operation, reasonable colors, and acceptable motion. Not perfect. It fills the job nicely. Exceeding my expectations in reality. The rest of the displays in my home (except my projector) are a few years old and it is clear that the newer LCD panels just perform better.

They aren't always easy to find at Walmart, but the 58" model I did see in there last week (early December 2020) and still at the same sub $300 price point. So, for the money, I still consider it one of the best values going.
Well at least it looks good for cable unlike my trash Sony tv $1100 or so horrible deal 2015.

Today’s a models are way cheaper
sony xbr-55x810c

I gotta find some use for it ...

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G

Gmoney

Audioholic Ninja
I watch it from time to time. I sleep in that room most of the time, but I typically watch TV in the family room or on the front projector.

But, when my wife is watching a show I don't like, I'll head up there and watch the Hisense. The image is by no means perfect, but for cable TV viewing, or the latest Madalorean on Disney+ it's perfectly acceptable. I've watched some sports on it, without complaint. I mean, keep in mind that it must be 15' from end to end in the room, so if I'm laying in bed, I'm not even close to the screen. Likewise, I'm not critical of this display. I want good operation, reasonable colors, and acceptable motion. Not perfect. It fills the job nicely. Exceeding my expectations in reality. The rest of the displays in my home (except my projector) are a few years old and it is clear that the newer LCD panels just perform better.

They aren't always easy to find at Walmart, but the 58" model I did see in there last week (early December 2020) and still at the same sub $300 price point. So, for the money, I still consider it one of the best values going.
You wouldn't happen to know what the "Nit" rate is on you tv? I haven't seem any 300 buck 4K from any manufacturer higher than 400 nits and thats usually only achieved when a 4K player disc is played. I ran across one at my local Walmart going for 278.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
You wouldn't happen to know what the "Nit" rate is on you tv? I haven't seem any 300 buck 4K from any manufacturer higher than 400 nits and thats usually only achieved when a 4K player disc is played. I ran across one at my local Walmart going for 278.
Not sure if it’s on there I got no clue ;
What a rip off all I got to say Sony overpriced
I’m still angry I didn’t return it , felt conned

Wouldn’t be surprised if this tv is better or on par with
The Sony https://www.bestbuy.com/site/tcl-50-class-4-series-led-4k-uhd-smart-android-tv/6422761.p?skuId=6422761
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BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
You wouldn't happen to know what the "Nit" rate is on you tv? I haven't seem any 300 buck 4K from any manufacturer higher than 400 nits and thats usually only achieved when a 4K player disc is played. I ran across one at my local Walmart going for 278.
I haven't seen any reviews on it that have gotten into those details. I would not bet on it being very bright. This is VERY low-end on the budget scale. I call it a great TV for a secondary room. An area where critical viewing is not the primary point. So many people have more than one TV in their home, and this is ideal for that second or third (or fourth) location.

While I swear this is better than almost any LCD from five or ten years ago, it's not better than a great deal of what is out there today. But, it's cheap, it looks good (not great), and the integrated Roku is a top class interface for those who use it. For a main TV, I just tend to recommend WAY further up on the spectrum. Either a Sony 900 series, or a Samsung Q90T if the room is bright. But preferably a LG CX series in a dimmer/dark room environment.
 
Truthslayer

Truthslayer

Full Audioholic
Hisense makes a pretty good tv for the money. We have two of them. My mother has one that i bought her three or four years ago and she pretty much leaves that thing on 24 hrs a day.
Wished i had picked up a couple they had on sale on Thanksgiving, 65'' for $249. But i forgot, was to busy feeding my face.
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
Hisense makes a pretty good tv for the money. We have two of them. My mother has one that i bought her three or four years ago and she pretty much leaves that thing on 24 hrs a day.
Wished i had picked up a couple they had on sale on Thanksgiving, 65'' for $249. But i forgot, was to busy feeding my face.
Yeah that’s pretty cheap , wonder how many years til micro led is affordable.. or something better then oled

Today’s TVs last so long not sure I’d like want a budget model


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