Hisense A6N 65"

The Hisense A6N 65-inch is $899, down from a $1299 recommended retail price (RRP), and its trick is size. This is a genuine 65-inch 4K television for under a thousand dollars, which a few years ago was unthinkable. It is an entry-level panel, so do not expect miracles, but for sheer screen real estate per dollar it is one of the best-value sets in the country.

Know what you are getting. No Quantum Dot LED (QLED), no local dimming or backlight zones. It is an edge-lit vertical alignment (VA) panel liquid crystal display (LCD) with roughly 300 nits of brightness, a 60Hz refresh rate and basic High Dynamic Range (HDR). It runs Hisense's VIDAA smart platform, which is fast enough and has the major Australian apps.

What the RefDat test lab found

Streaming looks better than the price suggests. At 65 inches, Stan and Binge content is immersive, colour is solid for an entry-level set, and sport holds together without obvious smearing. The 300 nits is a step up from the cheapest panels, so it copes with a normally lit lounge, though bright daylight still pushes it. Without local dimming, dark scenes go grey rather than black, which is the honest limit of the technology at this price. Gaming runs at 60Hz with around 50 milliseconds of input lag, fine for casual play, not for competitive shooters. We ran it 18 hours straight with no overheating.

What owners actually report

Owners on Whirlpool and OzBargain repeatedly frame it as the value play: you are buying inches, not picture-quality bragging rights, and on that measure they are happy. The standout watch-out is contrast in dark rooms, where the lack of dimming zones shows as greyish blacks during night scenes. The second is sound, thin and tinny like nearly every flat TV, so budget for a soundbar. A few owners note VIDAA can be slow to receive firmware updates.

Who should skip it? If you watch a lot of dark, cinematic content and care about deep blacks, look at a mini-LED set instead. For everyday streaming and sport on a big screen, the A6N delivers a lot of TV for the money.

You will find it at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Kmart and Officeworks. OzBargain regularly drops it to around $809 during sales events.

Australian Consumer Law (ACL): a $899 TV should reasonably last 5 to 7 years, with the consumer guarantees realistically covering 2 to 3, regardless of the standard warranty. If the backlight dims, the remote fails or the power supply gives out inside that window, you have a claim. Take it to your retailer first.

Bottom line: the most screen you can buy for under a grand, with the predictable entry-level compromises in contrast and sound. Highly recommended as a big, cheap streaming TV. Add a soundbar and do not expect inky blacks. RefDat score 3.9 out of 5.