A huge TV for a medium price, but is the size really worth the sacrifice in picture quality? I’m sure a few readers will have read the word Hisense and already begun to cast their own judgement towards the K700, as it’s not one of the more widely renown and recognised TV manufacturers such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung or LG, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is just another supermarket brand. The Chinese powerhouse more often associated with white goods and air conditioners have begun to raise a few eyebrows recently.
The LTDN65K700, or for the sake of this review the “K700”, is a huge room-dominating 65 inch UHD, Quad core, 3D, Smart television for a very competitive price. When I first had a good look at the unit I was a little dubious and, to be honest, very judgemental. This set has a lot of bells and whistles crammed into it, and I was keen to point out a flaw.
After unboxing I was really taken aback with the actual build quality of the unit, as well as how very thin it was; at 3.5cm deep (at its slimmest points) it’s certainly sizing up in all the right areas. The unit comes with two triangular shaped feet that sit either end of the set. Unfortunately, at just over 1450mm in length, the K700, unless wall mounted, will require a very large and often quite pricey stand to sit on, so it’s very important to take this into consideration and budget accordingly.
Upon powering up the unit and being greeted with all the usual flashy UHD graphics, set up was very straightforward and logical.
Before I put some content on, I wanted to familiarise myself with the Smart interface. Yes, it does have BBC iPlayer and the all-important Netflix, but alas, the unit is lacking Amazon Video. Not a massive loss, but worth noting. The Smart interface is basic, but not in the slick minimalist way that the Panasonic Firefox is. It feels a bit lacklustre.
The slightly more hardcore techy folk will be very happy to hear that yes, the K700 does come equipped with HDMI 2, USB 3 and the all important HEVC (also known as H.265) decoder. What this basically means is that unlike some entry-level UHD 4K televisions, the K700 is ready to stream and play any 4K media you can throw at it, without the need for any third party pieces of kit.
As we haven’t got a huge amount of feature-length 4K footage lying around I had to make do with Netflix UHD, I opted for the ever popular and visually impressive Breaking Bad, the show has a lot of outdoor scenes based in the desert so was a great test of how well the K700 could handle natural colours and skin tone. Taking into consideration the price, I was very impressed. There were, however, some hot spots that left me with low detail in certain scenes that would probably be challenging for a much higher end unit.
I skipped ahead a few episodes to see how the unit handled slightly darker environments and again I had a similar experience. I found the picture to lose quite a lot of important information in the dark areas of the frame, but I was still very impressed. This was a best-case scenario with UHD content. If this was 1080p or Sky HD, that detail would be lost.
I opted for something a little more challenging next, which was a purpose filmed UHD demo of fast-paced New Yorkers. This for me was the TV’s biggest downfall. Don’t get me wrong, this was more than okay, but for £1099 there has to be a catch – the ability in which the K700 handles moving objects was not perfect… or even close to perfect. Which is a shame, but I found myself forgiving the K700, a TV of this size with this spec is still impressive. It’s obvious to see why a flagship Panasonic or Samsung TV is two, maybe three times the price, but at the end of the day we don’t all have £3000 to spend on a TV that gives us that cinematic experience. The Hisense LTDN65K700 is a brilliant TV for the price. If you’re after a huge screen then this should be a serious consideration. If however you’re willing to make a comprise on the size, I would seriously consider a Panasonic 50CX802 or a Samsung 48JS9000 for similar money. Bigger isn’t always better, and it’s always best to have a look and see for yourself, so please pop in store or feel free to give any of us a call!
To find out more about the Hisense LTDN65K700, click here.
Author – Garrett, Plymouth store
