Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsGreat image, but riddled with issues. Software, remote, speakers, it's not a good purchase.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024
I got this in July and it is now March. The screen image is superb. Bright, clear, perfect, amazing.
And that's the ONLY good thing about this TV.
The speakers go in and out on it. Connecting a soundbar doesn't help the speaker issues, not when the TV software is crap and will kick out the soundbar. We aren't screwing up the install or anything. This TV has pairing issues with other hardware.
Heck, it won't pair properly with its own remote! Try using the mute for 'commercials' on free streaming services, and it will kick the sound back on two to three times before it will mute. Then it will finally read that you wanted the sound muted, but halfway through the actual programming you're watching, so then you have to reverse back. The remote is also clunky and lacks features. It doesn't have a skip forward or skip back button like the Roku and Fire TV remotes do. Those are super necessary when the tv decides to mute itself randomly and all the tv apps need a skip forward, skip back button, or else it takes twice as long to get them to recognize the stupid wheel button on the remote as compatible with their software.
The software itself is clunky. I've updated, updated, updated, and it just hasn't gotten better, not since I've had this TV. Every single time that I turn it on, it resets the main screen about three times. So, I have to wait for that to happen. Then, when I click down on the wheel on the remote to access my apps, the software has to refresh again, changing the setup on the screen and the shows/movies offered.
It's annoying to have to wait for this 'smart' tv, to get smart enough for me to use it, when my five year older Hitachi Roku tv pops right up and works great. It just has a backlight going out, this one was on sale, so we bought this. I should have just gotten another Hitachi, because that thing still works like a dream, save for the darker area on one side. And the picture image isn't nearly as refined and clear as this Hisense. If I could have this screen with my Hitachi software, I'd be in heaven.
Accessing apps is a nightmare. This will constantly default to the main screen, randomly. And it'll run the sound from the show or movie while it's defaulting back to the main screen, so the sound will be blaring while the movie/show is not playing and the main screen is refreshing, and then the sound won't mute to avoid spoilers.
The apps don't seem to be compatible with this TV's software. They glitch and fail constantly, exiting to the main screen. Or freezing. Or I get stuck in an app and can't do anything to get out of it, because the apps freeze and then the remote stops working. It's so random.
I have great internet speed. My internet isn't the problem. I've got an ethernet cable running to this, and after Hurricane Idalia and our lack of internet service then, we have a T-Mobile router running as a backup should our home internet ever fail again. So, this has two internet options. It's not my internet.
It's the software with the TV. I'm shocked at all the good reviews. In the months that I've had this, I've wanted to throw it away at least three times a month, and I'm the type of person to drive my car until the tires fall off, to use a spoon even when it has a hole in it, because it functions, kind of. This TV works fine, when it wants to, but that's never fully happened for a full, hour and a half movie. It glitches so much that even I, the person who will not replace a working item, even if it's only mostly working, even if it's ugly or out of style, am willing to throw this away. I wouldn't donate it. It would cause a headache to anyone who received it. I would literally take this to the dump and smash it there so that myself and my family could be freed from this headache and money waster and so that no one else would be afflicted by it. It makes watching tv an absolute chore. I'd rather watch my shows on my 15 inch laptop screen than on this tv, because I know that that screen will work.
I have 5 actively used tv's in our home. We have a Vizio, Insignia, Element, and a Sanyo, an LG, and those all work great. We got a Samsung literally 90 days ago that just went black screen on us, so I get it that some TVs are just lemons. This one has such a good picture, so clear, so crisp, that it makes gaming on it a dream.
But then the sound doesn't work for my Xbox most of the time either, and I've gone through 4 HDMI cables on all the inputs, so that's a problem too.
Great picture, terrible remote, there's an inability to pair properly to the remote which results in button mashing and huge problems when trying to access or leave apps, the software is so glitchy that it makes using this a nightmare, and it won't hold settings for sound on outside equipment like a sound bar or Xbox. I'd never, never buy again. Save yourself a headache and buy a Roku tv. Their software is so much more user friendly. Our LG, which is our oldest TV and constantly used for gaming is our very best one that's held up like a champ at 5 years old. That's my recommendation. I'm bummed that I didn't just return this as soon as I realized how clunky and terrible the software was initially.
