If you're on the lookout for a mid-priced OLED TV in the UK or Europe, Hisense may have you sorted. The Chinese manufacturer is on the cusp of bringing its first OLED set to these new shores, after launching it in Australia late last year.
UPDATE: The Hisense O8B OLED TV has now landed in the UK and Europe. Keep an eye on TechRadar for our incoming review...
The Hisense TV is a 4K UHD OLED television – with a slim panel design, Dolby Vision / Dolby Atmos support, HDR, and 200 Smooth Motion Rate – available in 55 and 65-inch sizes. The smaller model of the two will be retailing in the UK for £1,599 (around $2,020) as the H55O8BUK, and is currently available to pre-order from Amazon. The set will then officially launch on July 1.
- Should I buy a Hisense TV?
- Check out every Hisense TV 2019 coming this year
- OLED vs QLED: which TV panel is really the best?
On the price spectrum of TVs in general, that may not sound 'mid-priced', but for an OLED television it's about as cheap as they get. LG's cheapest OLED TV this year, the B9, is retailing at £1,999 (around $2,530) – though last year's B8 model is now a decent slice cheaper at £1,199 )around $1,515).
While the set first retailed in Australia as the Series X, at AU$3,499 (around £1,920 / $2,430), that's been slashed to only AU$1,499 (around £825 / AU$1,040) after a slow first year on sale.
TV-makers are increasingly opting for OLED panels in their premium TV ranges, given the technology's incredible color contrast and deep blacks, making for a truly cinematic visual experience.
However, those panels are expensive to produce, and the slow scaling of manufacture means that prices are yet to really drop within the reach of budget buyers.
Hisense is generally seen as a budget TV brand, but offer everything from cheap 4K sets to projector-television hybrids, and you can end up paying big-brand prices for the more experimental or boundary-pushing technologies of their sets.
But for an OLED, the H55O8BBUK certainly veers towards the cheaper end of the scale, and seeing some more competition in the OLED market can only be a good thing for consumers looking to make the best buy they can.
We're expecting to get a better look at Hisense's OLED in the coming weeks, so check back here to see whether Hisense can compete with the likes of the LG C9 or E9 OLED.
- This set might not got discounted so quickly, but expect some huge TV savings elsewhere in the Amazon Prime Day sales next month
Via OLED-info
