Here at What Hi-Fi? we've spent the week testing for the 2026 Awards, pitting the best of the best against each other in a battle royale free-for-all.

It's a very exciting, but busy, time for the team, but we've still managed to find a few delectable deals.

On offer this week is a half-price(!) RGB Mini LED TV, a five-star OLED that comes with a soundbar completely free of charge and a new low for Bose's flagship headphones.

These are all products we've tried and tested ourselves, and we only recommend those that our expert reviewers grant four stars or above.

So the below are all great products, as well as being at an excellent price – let's take a look:

The LG G5 may be last year's flagship, but it's still an exceedingly bright five-star OLED and well worth buying now that there are some heavy discounts. This isn't quite the lowest price we've seen, but this offer does come with the four-star LG S70TY soundbar system included – absolutely free.

For those who want to block out the outside world on planes, trains or just at work, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd gen) are the king of noise-cancelling headphones. The price has been fluctuating somewhat, but at the time of writing, the cans are at the lowest price we've seen of £280 at Amazon thanks to a £39.60 reduction at checkout.

The JBL Xtreme 4 is a current Award-winner, and while it's at risk of being supplanted by its successor later this year, it's still highly recommended for its durable exterior and refined sound. Now at its lowest price, with a whopping 49 per cent discount.

Hisense has dominated the UST projector scene for some time now, and the newly-reviewed Hisense PX4 Pro has made several worthy improvements, offering deeper blacks, more colour volume and a holistically improved, more three-dimensional-looking image. Get a free Xbox controller, a month of Game Pass and £100 cashback too – full cashback details are here.

The Hisense UR9 was the first RGB Mini LED we reviewed, and we praised the technology for its controlled backlight performance and rich cinematic HDR picture. We did find it expensive, but now you can pick it up for half price – use the code GDTV300, and then claim £200 cashback from Hisense. Full Ts and Cs can be found here.

The Q Acoustics 5050 are some of the finest mid-price floorstanders you're likely to find. When properly partnered, they are pleasingly mature-sounding speakers that deliver impressive clarity and scale, now at their lowest price.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

RGB Mini LED was the big new panel technology of 2026, and it first entered our test rooms with the Hisense UR9.

We were rather impressed by the controlled backlight performance and rich cinematic HDR picture, granting it four stars.

One of our main issues was the price tag, with the £3000 cost pitting the 65-inch UR9 against flagship OLEDs. No more, however – the RGB Mini LED TV can now be picked up for £1499 at Sevenoaks.

To get this price, you'll need to use the code GDTV300, and then claim £200 cashback from Hisense. Full Ts and Cs can be found here.

That's not all, however – gamers can enjoy a free Xbox Design Lab controller and a month of Game Pass, both of which can be used with the TV with no need for a console.

Apart from the RGB Mini LED screen, one of the biggest selling points of the UR9 is that it's one of the first TVs with support for Dolby Vision 2, specifically the premium Dolby Vision 2 Max. Be aware that iQIYI is the only current Dolby Vision 2 content partner operating in the UK, though we expect more services to join as the format grows.

HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG are all on board too, with widespread support on both streaming and physical media.

Whatever you watch, however, you'll benefit from the RGB Mini LED screen. The new technology uses red, green and blue Mini LEDs in the backlight for greater brightness and more precise colour reproduction.

We found it couldn't quite top OLED in some categories, but it was one of the most accomplished backlit TVs we've tested.

"Play 1917 on 4K Blu-ray, and the opening logos immediately demonstrate just how well controlled the TV’s backlight system is," our Hisense UR9 review reads. "Blooming around the bright white text is minimal, black depth is strong, and colours look rich, warm and nicely cinematic.

"More importantly, the local-dimming system generally goes about its business without drawing attention to itself. Throughout our testing, the UR9 almost never exhibits the flickering, brightness pumping or visibly shifting backlight behaviour that can make many Mini LED TVs distracting."

Gamers are nicely catered for, with three gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 ports that support a whopping 4K/170Hz (including 4K/120Hz for consoles), VRR and ALLM. Perfect for that Xbox controller and Game Pass subscription, then.

You'll be able to access the Xbox app on Hisense's fast and responsive VIDAA platform, which includes all the major streaming services and UK catch-up apps. Do note that access to the Apple TV Store is missing, though.

The sound is also surprisingly expansive and full-bodied for TV standards, with the Devialet-tuned 4.1.2-channel speaker system delivering particularly impressive width and height effects. A modest soundbar will still outperform it, but UR9’s audio system is better than that of most TVs.

The Hisense UR9 sports several next-gen features at a knock-down price. For some of the latest technology 2026 has to offer, check out the Hisense UR9 now half-price at Sevenoaks.

MORE:

Also consider reading our Sony Bravia 8 II review

There's also the LG G6 review

Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

As I write this, testing is well underway for the 2026 What Hi-Fi? Awards, with a battle royale taking place between all sorts of hi-fi and home cinema equipment.

One of the ultra-short-throw (UST) projectors we reviewed for Awards consideration was the Hisense PX4 Pro. Now I can’t tell you if it has won an Award just yet, but I can reveal that it earned the full five stars from our rigorous testers.

I can also share that there is £100 cashback available, as well as a free Xbox Design Lab controller and a month of Game Pass included. Once you take off the cashback, that brings the price down to £2399 at AV.com.

You can claim the £100 cashback directly from Hisense from 27th November. Full Ts and Cs can be found here.

It's facing some tough competition now, but Hisense has long been a dominant force in the UST projector space. The Hisense PX3 Pro was even a What Hi-Fi? Award winner, so we had high hopes for its successor.

And we weren’t disappointed. Hisense has made several worthy improvements, offering deeper blacks, more colour volume and a holistically improved, more three-dimensional-looking image during a viewing of Civil War.

“The work Hisense has done improving its PX line over the past two years is immediately apparent, and the PX4 Pro leaves a strong impression,” our Hisense PX4 Pro review reads.

“Characters’ faces look more realistic, featuring more natural highlights and deeper shadows. As they move through a burning forest, the extra brightness helps the PX4 shine; the flames possess hues of red and orange that are entirely missing on the PX3.”

Sound is also solid given the PX4 Pro’s humble size. The little box throws audio around the room with impressive height effects that are missing from most USTs. It’s no match for a dedicated sound system, but impressive by UST projector standards.

As you can probably tell from the free controller and subscription, the PX4 Pro has quite the focus on gaming. Hisense has made a big deal of the 1080p/240Hz performance, with VRR and ALLM supported also. However, 4K/120Hz gaming is off the menu, as the two HDMI 2.1 sockets are limited to 60Hz at 4K resolution.

All four key HDR formats – Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG – are on board, as well as dedicated Filmmaker Mode, IMAX Enhanced certification and Active 3D content picture modes.

Hisense’s Vidaa OS comes loaded with nearly all the apps you need. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Freely are all on board, with only the more specialist streamers missing.

We have a few minor quibbles, but the Hisense PX4 Pro sits in a gap between entry-level and flagship USTs and is a great choice for movie fans who can’t quite stretch their budget to the top tiers of the market. It’s even better value, of course, with £100 cashback at AV.com and a free Xbox controller.

MORE:

Read our AWOL Vision Aetherion Max review

Also consider our Hisense PT1 review

Best home cinema projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

This week was notable, at least in the AV tech world, for the announcement that the next Amazon Prime Day sale is less than a month away.

Yes, another one! But if you just can't wait, there have been plenty of surprisingly good deals this week.

First up is our exclusive saving on a top five-star JBL AVR at Richer Sounds. Signing up for the free VIP programme and using our code WHFJBL500 will get you a massive £3801 in total, so it's not an offer to miss.

Elsewhere, we've seen some rock-bottom prices for several five-star Sony headphones, as well as a new low for LG's OLED flagship with a free soundbar to boot.

The bar has been set for Amazon Prime Day then!

As always, we only recommend products that we've actually tried and tested ourselves. Everything below has actually earned five stars, with several even getting a coveted What Hi-Fi? Award too.

Take a look for yourself:

For those who take home cinema seriously, the JBL Synthesis SDR-38 offers an outstanding sonic performance, a stylish build and an extensive feature set. To get this price, you'll have to sign up for the (free) Richer Sounds VIP club, and then use our exclusive WHFJBL500 to save a whopping £3801 in total.

If you'd rather opt for a more straightforward soundbar, then this LG G6 deal includes one absolutely free. LG's latest flagship boasts fantastic picture quality, excellent app support and flawless gaming specifications, and can be picked up for its lowest price with the code TRADE250. The four-star LG S70TY comes bundled in too.

The Sony WH-CH520 are comfortable, built to last, offer a generous battery life, support Bluetooth Multipoint, and sound great for the price. Their successor, the WH-CH530, is now on the market, but they currently cost double this £25 price.

Award-winning earbuds for £28. The Sony WF-C510 lack some of the more advanced features of pricier models, but they do offer a compact, comfortable design, solid, musical sound and impressive features, now at a new lowest price.

The Hisense AX5125H soundbar system is amazing value for money even at full price, with exceptional weight, scale and spaciousness. The Award-winner offers a lot of kit with great specs for a rather low price, making it one of the biggest Dolby Atmos bargains around.

The Cyrus 40 CD is no doubt a premium CD player, but it has the performance to match. Offering subtle detail, rhythmic precision, punch and power but also superb control, the 40 CD is a brilliantly engaging premium player for anyone with the budget.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Here at What Hi-Fi?, we pride ourselves on advising on the best AV equipment to buy, and you can see our recommendations in our many buying guides.

However, we're always interested in the opinions of our readers and the public at large, and it seems on this product we're aligned.

The Hisense AX1525H, now on offer for £199 at Amazon, is our budget soundbar system Award winner, offering stellar audio quality for surprisingly little money.

And it seems the general public agrees – it's still one of our most popular reviews nearly a year after publication and it's consistently retained the top spot in Amazon's competitive soundbar charts.

The Hisense AX5125H will be a marked improvement on your TV's sound. But as an incredible-value Dolby Atmos package, it's capable of so much more.

It's a complete 5.1.2-channel system in a box, with wireless surround speakers and a wireless subwoofer all for less than the price of most solo soundbars. Together they'll create a bigger, more immersive sound than even Dolby Atmos-enabled TVs.

We tested the AX5125H with a viewing of Civil War, and found a cohesive and enveloping presentation with a surprising ability to project effects around the room.

"As the gentle guitar track recedes and is replaced by the sounds of war, we’re surrounded by gunfire and incidental effects," our Hisense AX5125H review reads. "Bullets whizz from the front to the back of the room and even behind the listening position, helicopters hover at ceiling height, and distant explosions rumble menacingly."

The subwoofer is also impressive for the price, going loud and deep while still offering enough tonal expression to sound musical.

Music playback is respectable too, delivering some subtlety despite occasional overenthusiastic bass notes.

At £199, you won't find a similarly priced package that sounds better, and going by the Amazon charts, it seems that the secret is out. If you want Award-winning Dolby Atmos sound at a bargain price, consider the Hisense AX5125H with £50 off at Amazon.

If you do have the budget to splash out a bit more, we also recommend these soundbar systems for more refinement:

MORE:

Here are all of the best budget soundbars you can buy right now

Also in the market for a new telly? Here are all of the best TVs

Check out our Sony Bravia Theatre System 6 review and Samsung HW-Q990F review

The Hisense PX4 Pro is a Swiss Army knife UST (ultra short throw) projector designed to work equally well as the beating heart of a proper home cinema as it is a casual lounge TV replacement or big-screen gaming display.

If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, it’s also the successor to a former What Hi-Fi? Award winner, the Hisense PX3 Pro, and comes loaded with a wealth of upgrades designed to improve peak brightness, colour accuracy and black level – all of which make it a very enticing piece of hardware for its target market.

The question is, with a barrage of fresh competition from the likes of Xgimi and AWOL, has Hisense done enough to retain its lead in the UST space? After running a UST battle royale in our viewing rooms, here’s what we found.

Price

The PX4 Pro launched at a price of £2499 / $3999 / AU$4499 and, by and large, that’s currently what you’ll pay for it. That’s the same price its predecessor, the PX3 Pro, launched at in the UK and Australia, but $500 higher in the US.

This pricing puts the PX4 Pro in a slightly awkward position in the UST market, with accomplished, five-star rivals costing not much more, and solid, slightly older alternatives costing quite a lot less.

Above it, you’ll find our current recommended UST, the five-star AWOL Vision Aetherion Max, which launched at a hefty £3499 / $4499 / AU$5999 but has recently dropped to £3199 / $3799 in the UK and US, respectively (the price in Australia is yet to change).

If you want to go even further, the Hisense L9Q UST that sits above it in the firm’s line is even more premium, costing £3999 / $5999 / AU$8995. Its other, untested, main rival, the newly launched Xgimi Aura 3 Max, is set to retail for $2399 (around £1775 / AU$3365).

For non-gamers, you can also buy the new, four-star, step-down Hisense PT1 for £1599 / $2199 / AU$2295, which shares common DNA with the PX4 Pro.

And, as a final spanner in the works, if you aren’t committed to getting a latest-generation UST, some stock of the PX3 Pro is still available, with most shops in the UK selling it for around £1599.

Design

Hisense’s PX line of USTs has never been known for its subtlety. Because of Hisense's traditional focus on selling PX projectors’ gaming credentials as much as their home cinema prowess, they tend to have striking angular designs with big metal grilles and garish flourishes.

This largely remains the case with the PX4 Pro, which eschews the classy, understated design of the step-down PT1 in favour of an angular, eye-catching metal box with a curved, amphitheatre-shaped metal speaker grille on its top. One of our reviewers described it as “what would happen if architect Frank Gehry designed a UST”.

The only UST we’ve seen that’s more ostentatious is the step-up L9Q, which has the same design, but with gold/brass metal and a fake wood finish and a larger chassis.

Thankfully, there is a reason for the atypical grille; it houses the new 66-watt, 4.0.2-channel sound system, which features six integrated drivers that have been tuned by French audio brand Devialet – which is responsible for the Phantom line of high-end speakers. A step up (at least on paper) on the PX3’s Harman-tuned system.

Outside of its aesthetics, the UST is fairly by the numbers, measuring in at 54 x 29 x 14cm, which is just about compact enough to fit onto most stands, or even small cabinets, without much hassle.

The 0.2:1 throw ratio also means you can project a giant 100-120-inch diagonal image from less than a foot away from the screen (or wall, if you’re a philistine). If you have the space to place it a little further away (around 35in / 89cm), Hisense has also extended its max projection size to a staggering 200 inches – a 50-inch improvement on the PX3 Pro.

Weighing 8.3kg, the PX4 Pro is fairly easy to move, though its fiddly set-up process means we’d recommend leaving it in place once you’ve got it running.

This set-up process remains unchanged from previous Hisense USTs. You have to place it on the stand and then awkwardly adjust the height of the feet and the position of the projector to make the image fit your screen. The trouble is that after that, as with other Hisense USTs, the auto-correction process (which forces you to take a photo of an image and upload it onto a Hisense website) does not work.

A dozen attempts, more swears than we can count and the same failure message every time. Once again, our reviewers had to manually tweak the focus and projected screen dimensions to get usable results.

The remote remains functional and, thankfully, once again supports USB-C and solar charging. On the other hand, the remote is also a little long and button-heavy, and it’s still not backlit, making use in a dark room a little trickier. A more streamlined, modernised zapper would be welcome.

Features

The PX4 Pro doesn’t radically change the line’s core offering. As well as a big-screen 4K (via pixel shifting) home cinema experience, Hisense is once again making a big deal about the fact that its projector can deliver a 1080p/240Hz performance for gamers.

The only changes are that Hisense has added yet more features and tech designed to improve everything from colour accuracy to peak brightness, black level and light control.

For starters, though it runs on the same core RGB Triple Laser tech as its predecessor, the PX4 Pro features newer Digital Laser Engine 3.0 tech, which Hisense claims lets it deliver 3500 Lumens peak brightness. That’s 500 Lumens more than the PX3 Pro and 200 more than the AWOL Vision Aetherion Max.

A custom, seven-level adjustable iris lens system and “Hisense-exclusive” CineBlack Pro tech then work in tandem to boost black levels, colour accuracy and contrast. This is apparently the key reason it has a quoted 6500:1 contrast ratio. To put that in context, the PX3 Pro has an also-claimed 3000:1 contrast ratio.

The combination of technologies additionally helps the PX4 Pro deliver a quoted 118 per cent coverage of the demanding BT.2020 colour gamut favoured by creative professionals. So quite the upgrade all around – at least on paper.

The projector’s feature set remains excellent elsewhere, too. It supports Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG. If you’re turning your nose up, asking “what about Dolby Vision 2”, don’t – this is only just starting to roll out for TVs, and we’re yet to see it on any projector.

There is also a dedicated Filmmaker Mode, IMAX Enhanced certification and Active 3D content picture modes. IMAX is a nice touch, given its recent support by certain big-name directors and growing catalogue of supported content on Disney+.

We’re less convinced by Active 3D right now. If you haven’t heard of this, it’s a 3D TV technology that uses special DLP Link 3D glasses to create a 3D depth effect. The PX4 Pro doesn’t come with glasses bundled. To take advantage of the feature, you’ll need to invest in a pair. Prices vary depending on the make, ranging from £20-£60 per pair – though usually they come in bundles of two.

Given how well 3D, and its reliance on specialist glasses, went the first time around in the early noughties, we don’t yet see this 3D feature as anything to get too excited about at this point, but there are still those burning a candle for 3D, and with some 3D movies in their collections. To them, the PX4 Pro’s Active 3D support will be welcome.

The use of Hisense’s Vidaa OS, instead of Google TV, may put off some potential buyers, but the OS is more than good enough, coming loaded with nearly all the apps you need. These include Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV. In the UK, Freely is also supported, which means you can easily catch up on local UK shows and use it as a straight-up TV, should you so choose.

The only missing apps are specialist ones, including Shudder, Hidive, and GeForce Now. Not a deal breaker, but an annoyance if you’re a dedicated fan of the genres they cover, or a PC gamer.

Hisense has also loaded the PX4 Pro with two HDMI 2.1 inputs, just like the PX3 Pro before it, and there’s support for ALLM and VRR.

There are two HDMI 2.0 sockets, too, taking the total complement of HDMIs to four. The PX3 Pro had two HDMI 2.1 sockets and a single HDMI 2.0, so this is a handy upgrade for those with lots of sources.

Interestingly, the eARC socket is one of the HDMI 2.0 ports, so you don’t lose one of the valuable HDMI 2.1 ports should you choose to add a soundbar or AVR to your projector.

Our only word of warning is to gamers. Yes, the projector can do 1080p/240Hz if a powerful enough PC is connected. And yes, that is awesome for online gaming, where the higher framerate and very low input lag (in gaming mode) can make the difference between (virtual) life and death.

But, despite the presence of so-called HDMI 2.1 sockets, the PX4 Pro is limited to 60Hz at 4K resolution, so 4K/120Hz gaming is off the menu. This won’t be a huge deal to all gamers, but it is worth noting that USTs with support for native 4K/120Hz are beginning to appear.

Picture quality

So how does the PX4 Pro perform? Starting with our standard Civil War 4K Blu-ray, the projector is initially a little too bombastic. Colours are overbaked, and the motion smoothing makes every one of the characters look as though they’re floating.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to fix the issue. A few button pushes gets us into Filmmaker Mode, which fixes all of our motion issues. Colours are improved, too, but they’re still not quite perfect, being noticeably too warm. Eventually, with some back-and-forth experimentation, we settle on Filmmaker Mode with the Warm 2 colour profile, Dynamic Tone Mapping switched on and the motion setting on Film.

Once done, the work Hisense has done improving its PX line over the past two years is immediately apparent, and the PX4 Pro leaves a strong impression. Characters' faces look more realistic, featuring more natural highlights and deeper shadows. As they move through a burning forest, the extra brightness helps the PX4 shine; the flames possess hues of red and orange that are entirely missing on the PX3. Blacks are deeper, but retain much more detail, giving silhouetted trees in the woods a much more defined presence, and the entire scene an added element of three-dimensionality.

The improvements continue as we switch gears to our F1: The Movie disc. The PX4 Pro demonstrates a wonderful level of control, handling very bright elements over dark segments, with the fireworks raging over the race track offering a wonderfully crisp, controlled burn that makes the PX3 and most of the cheaper USTs we’ve tested look flat by comparison.

To our surprise, the jagged, slightly jerky motion handling we’ve come to expect from Hisense USTs is also gone. Instead, the cars weave and zoom forward with pleasing heft and smoothness, without ever feeling artificial. A big achievement for Hisense considering how past models have struggled here.

But as we continue watching, there are a few minor flies in the ointment. As the F1 scene continues, our reviewers wince in unison as the rainbow effect rears its ugly head more than once.

Moving to Sinners, a demanding test disc due to its incredibly warm mastering and dim presentation, the PX4’s picture looks slightly off. That’s partly because there’s very minor black crush, with parts of gangster Stack’s jawline and beard that are visible on the more premium AWOL Vision Aetherion Max showing as flat black. But it’s mainly the colours, which look both overbaked and overly yellow, giving characters a slightly jaundiced look.

The issue briefly appears again as we switch to Blade Runner 2049, where during the difficult, dim opening scene, the projector occasionally struggles with colours not looking quite right. Though it is intermittent and generally limited to dark scenes, sadly, we don’t find a way to fix it, with the cooler Standard and Cool colour profiles pushing too far in the other direction. To be clear, overall, it’s still far from a terrible performance, but it’s just not quite as finessed as that which you’ll experience one step up in the flagship UST space. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

The projector’s upscaling is also much improved, but still middling. Tasked with our SDR True Grit Blu-ray disc, the PX4 does a decent job with the opening dark snowy scene, with only a few artefacts creeping in. But as the film goes on, the spaghetti western-style grainy tone occasionally looks a bit fizzy.

Sound quality

Hisense has made impressive strides, for the most part, with the PX4 Pro’s audio.

Despite its humble size, the Devialet-tuned system manages to do a surprising job throwing audio around the room. A flight of jets don’t scream overhead during Civil War in quite the same way they do on a capable soundbar, but they come with a sense of height that’s missing from most rival USTs.

The movements of cars in F1: The Movie traverse effectively from left to right, and then forward with enough dynamic heft to make it fun to watch – albeit still not quite bone-rumbling enough to do it true cinematic justice.

Switching to Sinners, the system offers an unusual (for inbuilt speaker systems) sense of musicality, with the medley of tracks racing around the speakeasy having a rhythmic drive that makes you feel like you're being pulled forward with the camera to the beat of the music.

But it’s still far from perfect. The Devialet tuning frequently pushes too hard and overestimates its capabilities. During scene two of Blade Runner 2049, it all but falls apart, speaker rattle creeps in, and the booming synth – which is meant to exude a sense of doom – comes out as a loud, flabby warble that drowns out most of the mid and higher frequencies.

Transitioning to the interview scene, voices are nicely separated and projected, but they have a harsh character, with sibilant hisses and a hard edge to the dialogue.

Overall, this is still a very solid sound performance by prevailing UST standards, but images this cinematic demand equally cinematic sound, and we'd advise you to budget for a dedicated sound system if at all possible.

Verdict

The PX4 Pro is a worthy improvement to Hisense’s line of mid-tier UST projectors, offering deeper blacks, more colour volume and a holistically improved, more three-dimensional-looking image.

It also sits in a space between entry-level and flagship USTs, a currently underserved segment of the market. That makes it a great option for movie fans looking for a big-screen UST, who can’t quite stretch their budget to accommodate the five-star AWOL Vision Aetherion Max.

Our only quibbles are that its gaming features are slightly less impressive than they first appear, with 4K/120Hz being beyond the projector; and that it occasionally lacks finesse with its handling of colours, especially during dark scenes.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the AWOL Vision Aetherion Max

Also consider the Hisense PT1

Read our Xgimi Aura 2 review

Best home cinema projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

Home appliance brand Haier is known for its glossy fridge-freezers, washing machines, and dishwashers, and more widely for producing medical equipment, gaming peripherals, and industrial robotics; but now it’s entering one of the trickiest markets of all.

That’s right, after years of testing the waters elsewhere, Haier is hoping to break into the TV market in the UK and Europe. It may be the newest player in a crowded and competitive market, but the brand has both huge aspirations and a plan to carve out an identity among its fellow super successful Chinese technology giants.

I sat down with Haier’s TV Business Director, Steve Macdonald, at IFA 2026 in Berlin to discuss where the brand wants to go next after launching its first QLED TV range in the UK earlier this year.

Competing with TCL and Hisense, or aiming higher?

The biggest takeaway from our conversation is that Haier knows it needs something special to differentiate itself from TCL and Hisense, which are currently dominating the market.

Haier is also well aware it is launching into a tough market, which is why it’s setting its sights on the premium segment. It is testing the waters with a fairly affordable QLED range at the moment, but I was reliably informed that this is just the first step for the brand.

Macdonald confirmed that Haier is open to adopting more advanced panel technology. Mini LED TVs are apparently already in the works, and I spotted an RGB Mini LED model on the show floor at Haier’s humongous stand at the Berlin Messe.

OLED is also on the table according to Macdonald. And that’s an interesting distinction, considering TCL and Hisense are both almost completely OLED-avoidant.

In fact, Macdonald says that Haier isn’t looking to tussle with the kings of budget TVs. Instead, it is looking to build a more premium reputation akin to those of Samsung and LG.

“I think the mindset we have is that what we would like to be is a more premium brand – and that will take time – but more akin to what the Korean brands are doing than some of the other brands,” says Macdonald.

He then clarifies that Haier isn’t looking to “become the new TCL or Hisense” when pressed on the matter.

Macdonald follows this by conceding this is a big aspiration and that the brand needs to have “an edge, otherwise we’re not going to survive in that area”.

Premium panels, KEF sound systems and accessibility upgrades…

To sharpen that edge, Haier is working hard to establish its own premium features, including a more powerful chipset to appeal to gamers, adding more potent accessibility features through its partnership with Amazon’s Fire TV platform (including visual and audio enhancement modes and easier navigation settings), and enhancing its anti-glare display coating.

Haier also wants to win over the hearts of serious AV fans (such as ourselves). And what better way to do that than to partner with one of the biggest names in audio?

For Haier’s latest TV range sports speakers tuned by legendary British hi-fi manufacturer KEF, a fact that inevitably piqued our interest almost immediately.

There was a pretty big emphasis on this partnership at IFA, with Haier hosting a dedicated sound-room experience with a KEF-branded TV and soundbar system, but Haier isn’t the first brand to get a big name in hi-fi on board for its TV sound systems.

Hisense has recently partnered with Devialet, TCL TVs sport Bang & Olufsen sound systems, Philips has a Bowers & Wilkins-equipped TV in its lineup, and Panasonic continues to leverage its Technics division for premium sound systems. So Haier can’t rely on this partnership alone to make its TVs appeal to home cinema enthusiasts.

But, unlike Hisense and TCL, Haier is open to exploring OLED panel technologies. Given What Hi-Fi?’s experience with even the most premium of backlit TVs, including the new RGB Mini LED variants, this could be a unique selling point for the brand.

An OLED TV with a KEF sound system sounds pretty good, after all. Especially if it has a similar sonic character to the five-star KEF XIO.

Making big strides, but also taking things one step at a time…

Haier’s wider strategy to gain some ground in the UK also involves a huge sports partnership with the Champions League and appealing to UK retailers by taking a specialised approach.

Macdonald notes that the KEF partnership will be a vital tool in appealing to home cinema retailers such as Richer Sounds, whereas Haier will take a different approach to its broader retail partners.

Most importantly, Macdonald confirms that Haier is constantly re-evaluating its position and direction, and it won’t be going all guns blazing quite yet. He says that “every couple of months, we have to reset what we’re doing and understand, and it’s not going to be an easy journey.”

Haier is unquestionably launching into the UK TV market at a turbulent time. But with its sights set high and a major audio partnership already in place, it could be the next brand to challenge the likes of Samsung, LG and TCL.

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best Mini LED TVs

As well as our TCL C7L hands on review

And our picks for the best OLED TVs

It may have been a week of looking forward to new tech, notably the long-rumoured foldable iPhone Duo and the very welcome surprise of the AirPods 5.

But if you're willing to consider some tech that's a little bit older, there are some absolute bargains available this week.

Bluetooth headphone fans especially are in for a treat, with new lowest prices on everything from budget earbuds to high-end over-ears.

The long-running Hisense HS214 has also somehow got even cheaper, while there are also savings on newer recommendations such as Sony's RGB Mini LED offering.

But it's not just the prices we're excited about – these are all high-quality products that we've tried and tested ourselves. We only recommend the best, and all the devices below earned at least four stars from our expert reviewers.

So take a look at this week's selection...

The fine Focal Bathys were five-star stunners even at their hefty £699 launch price, so with £300 off, they are now rather good value. For your money, you'll get two different levels of ANC, a transparency mode, aptX Adaptive support, a USB-DAC mode that supports 24-bit/192kHz and a compellingly big, spacious and clear sound.

The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd gen) have rather stubbornly stuck around the £400 mark, but are now suddenly seeing some generous drops. If you're after noise-cancelling, the QC Ultra 2 are class leaders and come with a wealth of functionality in a smart, nicely fitting design. £39.96 is removed at checkout to get this new lowest price.

The Sony WF-C710N not only received five stars, but are Award winners and our recommendation in this price range. They offer a great sense of musicality, fulsome, controlled bass and 30 hours of battery life. Save £10.28 at checkout for the lowest price we've seen.

If you want to upgrade your TV audio for the lowest possible price, we recommend the Hisense HS214 2.1. It's a truly rare breed of a soundbar that delivers a truly likeable home cinema sound at a bargain price, which is now the lowest we've seen. Save £20 with the code CLEAR20.

The Sony Bravia 7 II employs the new RGB Mini LED technology, and the result is one of the best backlit TVs we've tested. Sony's ever-reliable processing adds excellent picture depth and detail too. Get £200 off the listed price with the code TRADE200.

We only reviewed the Xgimi Titan a few weeks ago, and found it to be a highly ambitious offering with an extremely bright, detailed image. The built-in sound is good too, giving decent TV sound systems a run for their money.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Poor-quality TV audio can very quickly ruin a movie night.

Was the main character meant to sound that muffled in the climax? Or did they just explain something crucial to the plot?

That's just one of the reasons we at What Hi-Fi? usually recommend investing in a good soundbar or sound system. It doesn't have to be a super flashy or premium model either, which is why the Hisense HS215 has caught my eye for £59 at AO.com.

It's an inexpensive but effective way to improve your TV speakers, especially for clearer dialogue and a wider tonal range. And frankly, out of all the soundbars we've tested, there's nothing else we recommend at this price.

With darker nights on the horizon and cosy evenings on the sofa becoming more common, your TV speakers are going to get quite the workout over the next few months.

Which is why a quick soundbar upgrade might just save your autumn, especially if you have a nice TV that gives movies the picture they deserve.

The Hisense HS214 can do just that, adding a broader soundstage and a welcome touch of bass thanks to a 3-inch down-firing woofer on the underside.

Dialogue clarity is one of the key benefits of the HS214, sounding even better than the five-star OLED TV we were testing with.

"The HS214 anchors the vocal, meaning you can sit back and enjoy the unfolding drama without focusing on the subtitles," our Hisense HS214 review reads. "The enhanced depth that the bass unit brings to the table isn’t superfluous either; there’s a solid sound to the lows and kick that gives the sound a touch more musicality than you would otherwise experience."

The HS214 is also a surprisingly competent music player, an area where even expensive soundbars struggle. Despite its size, the soundbar produces a pleasant, uncluttered midrange and a decent stereo image, delivering Follow Me Around by Radiohead without the tinniness we often experience with small speakers.

It’s simple to set up, too: an HDMI ARC port means you can just plug your TV in via HDMI and be done with it, but there are also optical and coaxial sockets, a 3.5mm mini-jack auxiliary input, Bluetooth 4.2 and a USB port.

At only 9.2 x 5.8 x 65 cm, it's also compact enough to fit in small spaces, and a decent build quality means it will sit happily beneath both a new high-spec TV, or an older model. It can also be wall-mounted thanks to rigging points on the rear and fixings included in the box.

If you're looking for a decent upgrade to your TV speakers at the lowest possible price, the Hisense HS214 is for you.

MORE:

Read our Hisense HS214 2.1 review

Check out the best budget soundbars: cheap ’bars, tested by our experts

And the best TVs under £1000: affordable OLED, Mini LED and LCD models hand-picked by our experts

In the immortal words of Green Day, it might be tempting to skip this month and be woken up when September ends.

But then you'd miss the pretty great deals, especially if you or a loved one are heading to university in the coming weeks.

Whether you're into hi-fi or home cinema, there's a little something for everyone this week, all the way from mid-range Bluetooth speakers to premium AV receivers.

These are all products our expert reviewers have tried and tested, some as recently as last week. And all of the below have earned at least five stars to get the What Hi-Fi? recommended thumbs-up.

Curious? Take a look for yourself...

The Harman Kardon Luna 2 has a classy design with a ring light that is far more elegant than the garish party lights of other Bluetooth speakers. Sonically, it doesn't quite topple the class leaders, but it has an articulate, clear and spacious presentation with a particularly excellent midrange presence.

The iPhone 17 Pro may be superseded in a matter of weeks, but that just means there's some great discounts available now. At the time of writing, at least, the 17 Pro is the best iPhone yet for movies and music, with a gorgeous but balanced picture and superb sound.

The Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X may be studio headphones marketed at content creators, but there's plenty to offer consumers with excellent detail and a musical but articulate sound. If you’ve got a desktop hi-fi system in need of new headphones, these are one of our top recommendations, now at a new lowest price.

The Arcam AVR31 may be getting on a bit, but it's still one of the best AV receivers we've ever tested. It's a sophisticated, premium amplifier that offers both high-class sound and impressive connectivity features, with a healthy seven HDMI 2.1 inputs and three outputs. Now a whopping 57 per cent off.

A former What Hi-Fi? Award winner, the Sonos Era 300 is a wireless smart speaker that comes packing all the goodness and seamlessness of a Sonos system, with a key stand-out feature: spatial audio. However, it performs admirably with any format of music you throw at it, and the vast array of features go a long way toward justifying the price tag.

We've only just reviewed the Hisense PT1, but we were very impressed with the inclusion of a full tri-chroma (RGB) laser projection, built-in Vidaa smarts, a premium design and a potent integrated sound system for a very reasonable price. That price is now a whole lot more reasonable – pay only £1199 with the code RSTV400.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Hisense has given us a preview of its first 2027 soundbar at IFA 2026, and it has its sights set squarely on Samsung's Award-winning formula.

The UX1 bundles a soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and two wireless satellite speakers for a true surround sound experience, and Hisense claims it can output a staggering 1840W across the whole system.

The ethos behind this premium package is that Hisense wants to up its audio game to bring it in line with its premium TV offerings.

The company now sells made-to-order Micro LED sets and 116-inch RGB Mini LED TVs, so naturally it wants a premium audio offering that reflects its flagship products.

Hence the UX1's title – Hisense already offers the UX range of premium TVs, so this has been conceived as a dedicated audio companion for that range.

Generally speaking, Hisense is really paying attention to audio this year and, from what we've seen, next year, too – the Chinese tech giant's stand in Berlin had a whole section dedicated to soundbars, party boomboxes, and portable wireless speakers, so it looks as though the brand is taking sound seriously.

And the UX1 is clearly the most serious product of this new range, and I've walked away from the Hisense booth with three key thoughts on why it could be a genuine competitor for Samsung's dominant HW-Q990H system.

1. It's packed full of drivers

Hisense proudly touted the driver tech within this system during my stand tour, and I can see why.

This is an 11.2.6-channel system, and Hisense has packed 26 individual drive units into the soundbar, subwoofer, and surround speakers. 14 of those drivers appear to be in the main soundbar unit alone, with the rest embedded within the other components.

That includes side-firing and up-firing speakers within the soundbar and the surround speakers, which means that the UX1 should (in theory) have no issue presenting Dolby Atmos height effects.

We're anticipating the "bubble of sound" effect we look for in all premium soundbar systems here, so we're hoping the UX1 delivers.

2. It's taken some big bass inspiration

The subwoofer bundled with the UX1 uses an almost identical setup to the Samsung system. It sports dual opposing 8-inch woofers, which Hisense says will help to reduce unwanted bass distortion.

While I didn't get a chance to listen to the soundbar outside of some looping branded demo content, I have relatively high hopes for the bass performance, based on the specs.

That said, Hisense has taken a different approach to the design of its sub. Unlike the petite and polite Samsung subwoofer, this Hisense has quite the presence.

I think it wears its heft well, though: it combines sharp lines with smooth edges, and if the design facilitates better bass performance, then it makes sense to me.

3. It could be a high end version of a system we already love

Hisense struck gold with the AX5125H budget Dolby Atmos soundbar system, so think what it can do with a proper flagship version of that concept.

While that isn't always the case – sometimes budget products aren't indicative of their premium counterparts and vice versa, even when they come from the same company – I think it's fair to say that expectations are high based on our experience with the Award-winning budget package.

If Hisense can scale up the AX5125H into a flagship sound system, then Samsung could have a problem on its hands.

Pricing is, of course, crucial to figuring that part out, and with this being a 2027 product, we don't have that information right now.

That said, if I were Samsung right now, I'd be nervous. The HW-Q990H is a stellar soundbar system, but with fresh competition coming in 2027, the next version of that package might need to be more than an iterative update.

MORE:

Read our full Samsung HW-Q990H review

As well as our Hisense AX5125H review

And check out our picks for the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Quiz! I made a TV tech crossword to test your knowledge - can you get 100%?

A lifestyle projector needs to get the balance between performance and portability just right, and the Hisense C2 Ultra makes a pretty compelling case for itself.

Not only does it focus on convenience and is incredibly easy to set up, but it also delivers a bright, punchy 4K picture and outstanding built-in sound.

And now you can get all of that with a solid discount, too. The C2 Ultra is down to £1599 at Sevenoaks, a £200 drop from the £1799 price we tested it at only last week.

And there's more. You even get an Xbox Design Lab Controller and 1 month of Game Pass thrown in for free, so you can take advantage of the projector's many gaming features.

The Hisense C2 Ultra clearly has portability in mind, and this is reflected in the design. It's compact at 29 x 25 x 25cm (hwd), and even comes with a neat cloth carry bag.

Constantly moving a projector around can involve constant set-up adjustments, but Hisense makes this as smooth as possible. The C2 Ultra can rotate a full 360 degrees on its circular base, for starters, and its cradle design supports a generous 135 degrees of vertical tilt.

The Auto Magic AI Adjusting 2.0 system is also one of the most straightforward AI set-up systems we've seen, with a genuine plug-and-play experience that seldom needs any manual intervention.

The triple-laser DLP projector is rated to deliver up to 3000 lumens of brightness and claims to support huge image sizes of up to 300 inches. The larger you go, the more brightness you lose, though, and we found 100-150 inches to be the sweet spot.

The built-in Vidaa smart platform isn't quite as sophisticated as Google TV, but it does boast all the major domestic and international streaming services as well as Freely.

There's also support for all four HDR formats – including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision – a rarity for a projector, as well as an IMAX Enhanced picture preset.

Gaming features include ALLM, 240Hz refresh rate support, and a measured 34.4ms of input lag in Game mode with a 60Hz signal. Ideal for that bundled Xbox controller, then.

And it's not all features over performance – the picture the Hisense produces is still effortlessly watchable.

As our Hisense C2 Ultra review reads: "The C2 Ultra’s HDR images are bright, for starters, making full use of the available 3000 lumens to deliver images that look both excellently punchy in a dark environment, and strong enough to hold their own, retaining good colour saturation and solidity, even in fairly bright living room conditions."

Our only issue was a cloak of greyness in some uniformly dark scenes, and a moderate level of rainbow effect in bright highlights.

It's the sound that really impresses for a projector, however – the unusually powerful, 40W JBL sound system delivers a remarkable amount of bass, as well as a palpable sense of three-dimensionality for Dolby Atmos.

The Hisense C2 Ultra is absolutely stacked with features as well as being extremely user-friendly. Given how much you get for the price, this really is a bargain – and even more so with £200 at Sevenoaks.

MORE:

Read our BenQ W2720i review

Also read our BenQ TK705i review

Our pick of the best projectors across a range of prices

How to set up your projector and get the best picture

It’s easy to see why ultra short throw projectors have become so popular in recent years.

They can deliver bigger images and usually cost much less than the largest TVs, and do so while sat just inches from your screen, rather than having to squat in the middle of your living room.

It’s also easy to see why Hisense UST projectors in particular have done so well.

Hisense has more experience with them than most brands, which now typically pays off in superior performance levels, and it has the economies of scale to sell UST projectors more cheaply than most rivals.

Even by Hisense’s standards, though, the PT1 is quite the head turner, offering full tri-chroma (RGB) laser projection, built-in Vidaa smarts, a premium design and a potent integrated sound system for just £1599 in the UK.

Is this really Hisense’s biggest bargain to date, though, or does the price come with strings attached?

Price

The Hisense PT1’s £1599 / $2199 / AU$2500 price is aggressive for any UST projector, never mind one as well specified and richly featured as this one.

If your projector doesn’t need to be a UST model, Hisense has a strong ‘coffee table’ offering in the shape of the C2 Ultra, while BenQ’s Award-winning W2720i is a strong rival if you’re after a projector focused more on a dedicated home theatre approach.

Design

The PT1 doesn't stray too far from the conventional rectangular UST projector design, with speakers on the front edge and a lens slit on top. That's quite a contrast to models such as the futuristic AWOL Vision Aetherion Max and gleaming metallic Leica Cine 1.

It offers enough eye-catching refinement in its build quality and the crisp bronze metallic trim and side detailing, though, to look like it should cost more than it does.

Hisense’s love affair with UST projectors started with the notion that when partnered with a screen they could essentially replace the traditional TV set, so it’s no great surprise to find the PT1 shipping with pretty much the same long, sleekly finished and button-packed remote control you get with the brand’s latest premium TVs. It even has the same solar recharging panel at the bottom of its front edge, and a series of buttons for directly accessing various streaming apps.

Features

As a UST projector, the PT1 is capable of producing images as large as 150 inches when sat just inches from your wall. However, thanks to a slightly restrained claimed peak brightness of 2500 lumens (less than you get with Hisense’s cheaper PL2 UST model), you’re probably better off thinking of 120 inches or so as being the maximum image size this projector can stretch to while retaining the sort of punchy images you’ll likely want in today’s HDR world.

Talking of HDR, the PT1 joins other current Hisense laser projectors in supporting all four of the main HDR formats: HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Such comprehensive HDR support remains uncommon in the projector world, and it means the PT1 will always play the best version of any HDR content you feed it. It’s able to apply dynamic tone mapping to HDR10 content, too, in a bid to optimise such images to the projector’s capabilities.

The PT1 is capable of playing 4K images through its 2.07 million micro mirror DLP optical engine courtesy of Texas Instruments' XPR technology (a combination of pixel shifting and fast DLP mirror ‘flashing’), and its light comes from three separate lasers, one for each of the red, green and blue colour elements.

This is the most important way it differs from the cheaper PL2 model, which only uses single-element laser lighting, and it should enable the PT1 to produce a much wider colour range.

In fact, Hisense claims it can reproduce 110 per cent of the AV world’s most extreme (and actually rarely used) BT.2020 spectrum, making full coverage of the smaller DCI-P3 spectrum typically used in HDR mastering well within its reach.

The PT1 also carries an AI Colour mode that claims to fine-tune every frame to deliver, in Hisense’s words, “richer, more accurate colours that go beyond what typical displays can offer”.

The PT1's built-in smart system is the ninth generation of Hisense’s own Vidaa platform. While Vidaa might not be the most glamorous or ‘intelligent’ smart system on the market, it is straightforwardly organised and presented, making it relatively easy to use.

It also carries all the main global and UK apps, including the relatively new Freely UK platform that lets you livestream most of the UK’s terrestrial broadcaster channels rather than having to depend on an aerial to receive them. This is particularly handy given that the PT1 no longer sports the digital tuner input you used to get on Hisense’s earliest laser TV projectors.

Connections are still decent, though. They include three HDMI ports (two with ‘enhanced’ HDMI 2.1 gaming features), a USB-C port, an optical digital audio output, a headphone jack and a LAN port. There's also wi-fi and Bluetooth support, including Apple AirPlay.

Home theatre fans will be pleased to hear that the PT1’s available picture presets include both Filmmaker and IMAX Enhanced modes, while gamers will appreciate the projector’s support for 240Hz frame rates (at HD resolution), 4K resolution at 120Hz refresh rates, ALLM switching, and a reasonably speedy (for a projector) measured input lag of 37.1ms with 60Hz feeds in the default Game mode.

This input lag can be reduced, too, to 20.4ms if you activate the DLP Turbo feature in the picture menus. Activating DLP Turbo, though, switches off all your auto and manual keystone correction work – not ideal for us given the unexpected difficulties we experienced with getting the PT1’s provided auto keystone correction feature to get the edges of the images straight.

The relatively deep and substantial bodywork associated with UST projectors often helps them integrate substantial sound systems, and the PT1 sports an unusual 2.0.2 channel arrangement, where the two main front-firing speakers are partnered with a pair of up-firing units. Total amplification is 46 watts.

Picture quality

If you’re careful which settings you use, the PT1 is capable of delivering plenty of the impressively natural, balanced and refined pictures we’ve come to expect from Hisense UST projectors.

Provided you use its Filmmaker Mode or IMAX Enhanced presets with HDR10 footage, and the Dark Dolby Vision setting with Dolby Vision content, images enjoy a wonderfully no-nonsense and essentially glitch-free quality.

This is expertly built on a combination of remarkably deep and consistent blacks for such an affordable UST projector. There is excellent sharpness and texturing with both native 4K and upscaled HD sources; and eye-catchingly natural skin tones of the sort that elude so many other similarly affordable projectors.

Motion with 24p movie sources looks natural out of the box in the presets we’ve just recommended too, without the need to mess around with any motion compensation settings.

Both the Filmmaker Mode and IMAX Enhanced presets default to the Film option for the PT1’s Ultra Smooth Motion setting, confirming the sense we’ve got from other recent Hisense projectors that this Film setting is now one of the most cinematic movie motion presets in the projector world.

However, while the Filmmaker Mode, IMAX Enhanced and Dolby Vision Dark modes are endlessly watchable in pretty much fully blacked out rooms, they look a little dim and dull in any even half-bright living room environment.

This doesn’t matter, of course, if you’re looking for a projector to go into a dedicated home cinema room, but UST projectors such as the PT1 are typically positioned as lifestyle options, designed to cope with bright as well as dark room settings. So, while the PT1’s lack of brightness versus most UST projectors might actually serve its pictures well when it comes to their excellent black levels, they become a limitation if you’re looking for a UST projector to essentially take the place of a living room television. Don’t forget, either, that if you try to push the PT1’s pictures towards the biggest extremes of its claimed screen size range, the picture will shed significantly more brightness.

It’s perhaps telling that if you go into the PT1’s Screen Type menu, the only options available are Wide Angle ALR screen, High Gain ALR Screen 1, High Gain ALR Screen 2, and No Screen. There’s no option for a relatively neutral or negative gain screen of the sort a home cinema purist might prefer to use, perhaps acknowledging that the PT1’s limited brightness needs extra ‘help’ from whatever surface it’s being projected onto.

We were able to confirm that the PT1’s most accurate image modes do indeed benefit from a brightness boost when projected onto the 120-inch AWOL Vision Cinematic+ ALR Motorised floor-rising acoustic screen. However, the screen’s relatively high gain made dark scenes look a little less convincing in a dark room than they did on our usual almost-neutral-gain screen.

It also adds to the overall cost of the projector set-up, of course, as a good-quality ALR (Ambient Light Reflecting) screen is considerably more expensive than a regular neutral-gain screen.

Naturally, the PT1 has picture settings that can push the picture quite significantly harder in terms of brightness and colour saturation than the relatively accurate modes we’ve recommended so far. Using the HDR Standard, HDR Dynamic or, to a lesser extent, Dolby Vision Bright modes, however, has a really quite strange impact on the projector’s colour performance, with the tones that generally looked so balanced and authentic in Filmmaker Mode especially suddenly starting to take on some quite ‘off’ tones.

A kind of bluish green hue tends to dominate the overall tone of the HDR Standard setting, while skin sometimes takes on the sort of tones you only see in the real world with people who’ve spent way too long on a sun bed.

For example, the leaden skies over Los Angeles as Agent K heads to the old orphanage in Blade Runner 2049 take on a curious purple hue at times, and what should be subtle tonal differences become overstated, drawing too much attention to themselves by simply not looking subtle or authentic enough.

The brighter settings do create a more HDR feeling with HDR sources, including giving peak bright highlights impressive punch for a display technology that doesn’t have any local dimming processing to draw on. The overcooked nature of some of the colour tones is reduced a little by the natural desaturating effect of ambient light, too, if you’re in a non-blacked-out space.

Overall, though, we don’t find the Standard and Dynamic HDR10 settings and Dolby Vision Bright modes as truly engaging and immersive as we would have liked while using the projector in day-to-day living room conditions.

The PT1’s brighter presets also cause an increase in the rainbow effect, where the DLP projector engine causes stripes of pure red, green and blue to flit over stand-out bright objects, though it is far from the worst offender we’ve seen in this respect.

Sound quality

You certainly can’t accuse the PT1 of not trying to deliver a compelling audio performance to go with its king-sized pictures. In fact, if anything, it tries a bit too hard.

At first hearing, you’re immediately impressed by two striking audio achievements: loudness and the size of the soundstage. The speakers mounted on the projector’s front edge drive their sound forward with impressive power and volume, easily filling the gap between the projector and seating position with a potently expressed three-dimensional space.

The smaller up-firing speakers built into the PT1’s top are a little less well-rounded, but they deliver a palpable sense of height and plenty of subtle placement details within the resulting vertical wall of sound. Cooling fan noise, meanwhile, is noticeable by its absence, even during the quietest movie scenes.

Lower mid-range sounds are rich and rounded, too. The projector can even deliver enough bass to give big movie moments a level of heft and scale not found on most integrated TV and projector sound systems.

The only problem is that this bass doesn’t know when to stop, sometimes trying so enthusiastically to reproduce the movie world’s most foundation-troubling low-frequency sounds that the speakers either collapse in on themselves, so that the overall sound becomes swallowed and muted, or succumb to distracting crackles and buzzes.

Deep male voices can sound a bit thick and dominant, too, though we can finish on the good note the audio mostly deserves by adding that voices sound connected with the action on the screen, rather than as if they’re coming from the speakers below.

Verdict

The Hisense PT1 is yet another highly competent projector from Hisense. In its most accurate, dark room-friendly picture settings, in fact, it’s rather more than competent, delivering excellent images for its money, with outstanding black levels and natural colours.

Its relative lack of brightness compared with many of today’s UST projectors, though, together with some colour issues when using its brightest picture settings, make the PT1 less of a dark room/bright room all-rounder than people looking for the convenience of a UST projector might want it to be.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 4
• Features 4

MORE:

Read our review of the Hisense C2 Ultra

Also consider the BenQ W2720i

Read our Hisense PL2 review

Best projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

Happy Bank Holiday weekend!

While Bank Holidays are best known for long weekends away, late evening plans and general relaxation, they're also a great time for deals.

We've seen plenty pop up already, from last year's Product of the Year TV to 2026 contenders, to cinematic tablets and projectors. You can see them all below.

These are all products we've tried, tested and reviewed ourselves – regardless of the discount, we'll only recommend a product if it has earned four stars or more.

So sit back, relax and browse some deals as the weekend begins...

Even if you're not an audiophile, there's a good chance you've heard of the Sony 1000X series before. As a tenth anniversary present, the Japanese tech giant released Sony 1000X The Collexion, which combines the line's technology with a sonic signature that prioritises scale, detail and clarity.

If your budget only stretches to an entry-level OLED, then the Samsung S85H is an excellent contender. It features good peak brightness at this price level, as well as a punchy, three-dimensional picture and solid feature support. Use the code RED20 at checkout to get this deal price.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra has a huge, bright 14.6-inch screen that's ridiculously immersive for a tablet. It also boasts enough power to function as a laptop replacement. Use the code BH15 to save an extra 15 per cent this Bank Holiday weekend.

The Sony Bravia 8 II is our TV product of the year at its lowest price yet. Need we say more? We'd currently recommend not updating the system software due to current issues, but otherwise this is an exceptionally bright, vibrant and three-dimensional TV. Save £250 with the code TRADE250.

Finally, the Hisense C2 Ultra is designed with convenience in mind, but we still found the pictures to be bright and punchy and the sound often outstanding for a projector. We only reviewed the 4K projector this week, but there's already a £200 discount.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

Whether you’re after an eye-catchingly designed projector ‘cube', an ultra-short-throw projector you can leave on a sideboard, a serious home theatre projector or a design-led ultra-portable model, Hisense has got you covered.

In fact, as the many strong reviews the brand has received from us in recent years prove, Hisense hasn’t just got most of your potential projector needs covered; it’s got them nailed.

Not surprisingly, then, we have high hopes for the brand’s C2 Ultra model – despite its obvious focus on design and convenience.

Price

Value is usually a strong area for Hisense, and the C2 Ultra is no exception. Its £1799 / $2300 / AU$3495 pricing is aggressively low (particularly in the UK) for a projector that provides such specifications as 4K support, triple laser lighting, an integrated smart system, Dolby Vision support and 3000 lumens of peak brightness to go with its eye-catching lifestyle design.

There is some stiff competition around this projector's price, though, including BenQ’s Award-winning W2720i home theatre projector or, if you want something that maintains the C2 Ultra’s more portable, lifestyle design approach, BenQ’s TK705i or Epson’s significantly cheaper EF-72.

Design

The C2 Ultra’s compact (29 x 25 x 25cm) form employs one of the ‘cradle’ designs that have become all the rage these days, where the projector rests within a pair of support arms that allow the main body to tilt up or down to help you to get images to the right height on your wall/screen.

The projector also rotates around on its circular base to easily adapt to any tricky angles your room might present you with, and that base rather niftily carries a fairly large up-firing speaker on its top edge.

The C2 Ultra is finished in an appealing gunmetal grey colour, and boasts a neat combination of smooth matte, high gloss and grilled finishes over various parts of the main projector body’s ‘slightly squashed cube’ shape.

Unusually for a cradle-style projector, the C2 Ultra can be mounted onto an optional thin pole floorstand or ceiling mount bracket if you’re not happy just sitting it on a coffee table.

The C2 Ultra’s provided remote control features a nice finish, backlit buttons and an ergonomic layout that includes buttons for direct access to some of the world’s most popular integrated streaming apps. There’s also a mic button on offer, indicating that you can control aspects of the projector by talking to it courtesy of Hisense’s own ‘Vidaa Voice’ system or built-in Alexa support.

Features

The C2 Ultra is a 4K-capable DLP projector illuminated by a triple laser lighting system.

We should qualify the 4K claim by saying that, as ever with DLP projectors, it’s not ‘true’ 4K to the extent that it features a full 4096x2160 or 3840x2160 count of digital mirror devices on its image control chip. The combination of pixel shifting and rapid mirror ‘flashing’ created by Texas Instruments’ XPR system, though, creates a 4K effect from DLP projectors such as the C2 Ultra that’s actually been approved as genuine 4K by the influential Consumer Technology Association in the US.

The C2 Ultra’s laser lighting is rated to deliver up to 3000 lumens of brightness – a high number for such a portable projector, and one that raises the possibility of the projector genuinely holding its own against quite high levels of ambient light.

This brightness is also important to Hisense’s claims that the C2 Ultra can support images as big as 300 inches across – though because the larger you go, the more brightness you lose, we argue 100-150 inches will give you more satisfying results from an all-round image impact perspective.

Hisense also claims that the C2 Ultra can reproduce more than 100 per cent of the AV world’s most extreme BT.2020 HDR colour spectrum. Experience suggests such claims are optimistic in the real world, but Hisense quoting it at least points to a projector that is likely to deliver most if not all of the narrower DCI-P3 colour spectrum used for most of today’s HDR mastering.

The C2 Ultra’s small shape and cradled design make it a particularly portable projector, easily moved to different rooms or houses. It even ships with a neat cloth carry bag.

It builds on its portability, too, by being just about as easy a projector to set up as we’ve seen. It can rotate through a full 360 degrees on its circular base, for starters, and it supports a generous 135 degrees of vertical tilt to help you get the image in the right place.

Obviously, the sort of angles created by rotating and tilting projectors can cause distortions to the shape of the image on your wall/screen. Here again, though, Hisense has got you covered with its Auto Magic AI Adjusting 2.0 system.

Despite its awkward name, this combination of auto keystone correction, auto focus, auto obstacle avoidance, intelligent wall colour adaptation and intelligent eye protection works remarkably well and extremely consistently, contributing to a genuine plug-and-play experience that seldom needs any manual intervention to improve on its results.

The C2 Ultra even carries a 0.9-1.5:1 optical zoom system to help it adapt to a wide range of room sizes and room layouts. That’s more zoom range than you would typically expect to get with this sort of projector.

Most lifestyle projectors these days provide some sort of AI set-up system, of course. But the C2 Ultra’s system just works out of the box more straightforwardly than most.

The C2 Ultra’s connections comprise two HDMI ports (one with eARC support), an optical audio output, two USB 3.0 ports, a headphone socket, and ethernet, plus Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6e wireless connections.

The wi-fi connectivity feeds the built-in Vidaa smart platform. This isn’t as sophisticated or visually attractive as the popular Google TV system many projectors use, but it’s easy to follow and is strong on native streaming app support.

Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, All 4, My 5, Now TV, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Paramount+, and HBO Max apps are all present, and a firmware update has now also added support in the UK for Freely, through which you can live-stream many of the UK’s terrestrial broadcast services rather than having to use a traditional aerial system.

The C2 Ultra supports HDR video, as we’d expect of pretty much any proper home entertainment projector these days, but it doesn’t stop at the usual HDR10 and HLG formats – it also supports both the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats.

Finding one of these premium HDR formats on a projector at this level is still quite rare, so finding both on the C2 Ultra is excellent. Basically, it means the C2 Ultra will always play the best version of any source you present it with.

The playback flexibility doesn’t end there, either. The C2 Ultra has also earned IMAX Enhanced certification, and carries an IMAX Enhanced picture preset, while Hisense’s other usual punchy HDR Standard and HDR Day picture presets are also joined by a Filmmaker Mode calibrated to try and deliver pictures that get as close as the projector can manage to current mastering standards, for that ‘as the director intended’ feel.

There’s also support for 3D if you sort yourself out with a pair of DLP-Link 3D glasses, and an official ‘Designed For Xbox’ badge in the C2 Ultra’s marketing points to some unusually advanced gaming support. Confirmed features include ALLM switching when gaming sources are detected, 240Hz refresh rate support, and a measured 34.4ms of input lag in Game mode with a 60Hz signal.

You can get this down to 17.6ms if you call in a DLP Turbo Mode option, at the expense of some of the projector’s auto image correction tools.

A dedicated Gaming menu and information screen comes up if you hit the menu button with a game source running into the projector, and hooking up an Xbox Series X confirms 4K/120Hz support with HDR and VRR. Excellent.

One last feature in the C2 Ultra’s impressive feature locker for its money is a JBL-designed/tuned 40W sound system comprising 2 x 10W amplification and a 20W bass speaker cleverly built into the projector’s chunky circular desktop base.

Hisense’s materials on the projector suggest this sound system only supports DTS Virtual:X 3D audio, but Dolby Atmos also plays fine during our tests. Quite a lot better than ‘fine’, actually, but we’ll come back to that later.

Picture quality

As well as being fantastically easy to set up, the Hisense C2 Ultra’s pictures are effortlessly watchable. Hisense appears to have been doing living room projectors for long enough now to have forged a great feel for the sort of picture elements that most immediately warm viewers to a particular model’s cause.

The C2 Ultra’s HDR images are bright, for starters, making full use of the available 3000 lumens to deliver images that look both excellently punchy in a dark environment, and strong enough to hold their own, retaining good colour saturation and solidity, even in fairly bright living room conditions.

The C2 Ultra is even able to deliver bright highlights of HDR images with enough potency to almost have you believing it must be using a local dimming system somehow – even though this is, of course, not something current home projection technology can do.

Pictures are sharp and clean enough to look and feel like real 4K too, and the sharpness holds up well when there’s motion in the frame. Judder levels with 24p movie content feel strikingly natural rather than exaggerated or inconsistent.

Colour tones look nicely balanced and full of subtlety, too, helping 4K images deliver that three-dimensional feel that’s only fully unlocked by displays that are capable of a good combination of colour blending, contrast and clean, natural motion.

Black levels are only respectable rather than great, but for much of the time this relatively average part of the C2 Ultra’s performance is ‘hidden’ by the intensity and brightness of the rest of the images. It’s only uniformly dark scenes that suddenly reveal quite a cloak of greyness hanging over proceedings – especially if you’re using the projector’s Dolby Vision Bright, HDR Day or HDR Standard settings. You can also sometimes see a bit more detail in these elevated black areas than the content creators really intended you to.

The Dolby Vision Dark and HDR10 Filmmaker Modes improve on the excessive detail flaw without taking things so far that subtle details start to be crushed out of the image, but these modes are significantly less punchy than their brighter siblings, and the level of greyness lying over proceedings feels more or less the same. It’s just not offset by as much brightness as you get in the lighter HDR presets.

We also spot moderate levels of DLP projection’s rainbow effect over stand-out bright highlights, and while colours look well balanced, they can start to look slightly pallid in the brightest HDR images when using the projector’s relatively bright settings.

The brightest modes can also reduce the 3D effect that’s such a strong attraction with the Dolby Vision Dark and Filmmaker Mode settings.

Unless, however, you’re particularly susceptible to seeing the DLP projector rainbow effect (which a few people are), there’s nothing wrong enough or limited enough about the C2 Ultra’s pictures to prevent it from being consistently great fun to watch by class standards.

Yes, it sacrifices a little insight in the darkest and brightest scenes in its mostly highly successful quest to deliver as easy an ‘out of the box’ experience as we’ve come across in the projector world. But the overall picture results are still seriously easy on the eye for a projector that also has so many features and so much flexibility to offer.

Sound quality

The C2 Ultra’s clever integration of an unusually powerful three-speaker sound system pays off brilliantly. The volume and depth of bass delivered by that large up-firing woofer built into the projector’s base, for starters, are remarkable for such an affordable projector. It’s able to vary both the frequency response and volume of the bass it puts out better than the vast majority of TVs and pretty much all projectors, too.

The C2 Ultra builds on its strong bass foundations with similarly remarkable amounts of power and expressiveness for its midrange, too. It can get seriously loud without becoming muddy or congested, combining its raw power with strong levels of detail, without anything sounding too bright, clipped, thin or harsh.

The C2 Ultra even manages to deliver a palpable sense of three-dimensionality to its Dolby Atmos presentation, casting a soundstage that has genuine depth, height and width – and into which effects and scores are placed with excellent precision and dynamism.

As the cherry on the cake, the C2 Ultra not only delivers voices with a lovely rounded quality and great sense of context, but also ensures they’re projected, along with much of the rest of the sound, towards your screen, so that dialogue doesn’t sound as disconnected from the onscreen action as projector sound usually does.

The only problem with the C2 Ultra’s sound is that, while its woofer works brilliantly for the vast majority of the time, it can get caught out by the movie world’s most extreme and sustained low-frequency moments, suddenly succumbing to quite distracting amounts of crackling, whooping and phutting. It helps at such moments if you haven’t got the volume set much higher than its 60 level, but there’s no way of completely avoiding the occasional bass kerfuffle.

It’s also worth mentioning that even at its best, the integrated sound system isn’t a patch on the sound you would get from a decent soundbar, let alone a dedicated home cinema set-up, but that’s to be expected.

Verdict

The C2 Ultra isn’t perfect, but no lifestyle projector packed with so much flexibility and so many features at this price was ever going to be.

Even so, its rather grey dark scenes and rainbow effect issues cost it a mark in the context of the improved picture quality you can get from one or two less flexible rivals – especially the BenQ W2720i.

If its flexibility and features – especially its strong gaming support – sound like just what you need, though, you’ll likely be pretty amazed that such a user-friendly projector can also perform so well.

SCORES

• Picture 4
• Sound 5
• Features 5

MORE:

Read our review of the BenQ W2720i

Also consider the BenQ TK705i

Best projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

There are plenty of reasons you might want to connect your phone to your TV.

Perhaps you’re watching something on your handset and want to transfer it to the bigger screen in your living room; maybe you want a big display to show off the snaps from your latest holiday; or you might want to play some music via your TV.

Whatever you’re trying to achieve, there’s generally a way to do it. Allow us to show you how.

Cast video from your phone

If you want to watch a video from your phone on the big screen, casting is usually the easiest and best way to do it.

Rather than sending everything on your phone's screen to the TV, casting tells the TV to play the content itself, with your phone essentially acting like a remote control. That means you can usually carry on using your phone without interrupting playback, and in many cases you can even turn its screen off while the video continues playing.

Google's technology is now called Google Cast, although you might still see it referred to as Chromecast.

Google Cast is built into Chromecast devices, the Google TV Streamer and TVs running Google TV or Android TV. In the UK, that includes compatible TVs from brands such as Sony, Philips and TCL.

Other manufacturers have also added Google Cast to some models: newer LG TVs support it, for example, while compatible Panasonic Android TVs do, too.

But don't assume that every TV from a particular brand supports Google Cast: Samsung’s Tizen TVs, Hisense's VIDAA TVs and Panasonic's Fire TV models, for example, use different systems.

If your TV doesn't support Google Cast, don't worry: you may still be able to send content to it using AirPlay or the manufacturer's own casting/mirroring system.

How to cast a video

First, make sure your phone and TV are connected to the same wi-fi network. Then open the app containing the video you want to watch and look for the Cast icon – it's a little rectangle with three curved lines in the corner.

Tap it, select your TV from the list of available devices, and the video should start playing on the TV.

Once you're connected, your phone becomes a convenient remote control: you can pause, skip and adjust playback from the app, while the TV does the actual streaming.

The catch is that the app needs to support casting. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and many other popular streaming services do, but you won't necessarily find a Cast button in every app.

If there isn't one, you might be able to use screen mirroring instead, but some apps restrict this, too. Sky Go, for example, doesn't support casting of any kind, so you can't simply send its live football or other content from your phone to a Cast-equipped TV.

What about iPhone?

iPhone users can also use Google Cast with compatible apps and TVs, but Apple's own AirPlay system is also an option if you have an AirPlay-compatible TV or an Apple TV 4K streamer.

The principle is much the same: start playing a video, tap the AirPlay button (a rectangle with a triangle pointing into it) and select your TV. Your iPhone and TV generally need to be on the same wi-fi network.

So, as a rule of thumb: if the app has a Cast or AirPlay button, use it. It's generally a better option for watching video on your TV than mirroring your entire phone screen.

Mirror your phone screen

If the app you want to use doesn't support casting, or you simply want to show something that's on your phone rather than stream a particular video, screen mirroring is the next option.

As the name suggests, mirroring shows what's happening on your phone's screen on your TV. Open a website, look through your photos or start an app on your phone, and you'll see the same thing on the big screen. It's particularly useful for things that don't have a dedicated TV app or don't offer a Cast button.

The exact method depends on your phone and TV. iPhone uses Apple's AirPlay system, while Android phones can use different systems depending on the manufacturer. Samsung calls its version Smart View, for example, while LG uses Screen Share on compatible models.

How to mirror your phone

On an iPhone, make sure your phone and TV are connected to the same wi-fi network, then open Control Centre, tap Screen Mirroring (the icon with two rectangles, one in front of the other) and select your AirPlay-compatible TV or Apple TV 4K. If a passcode appears on the TV, enter it on your phone.

On Android, look for a screen-mirroring option in your phone's quick settings. The name varies: Samsung phones use Smart View, while other manufacturers may call it Screen Share, Cast, Wireless Display or something similar. Select your TV from the list of available devices and accept the connection on the TV if prompted.

You'll generally need the phone and TV to be connected to the same wi-fi network, although the exact requirements vary between devices.

Mirroring generally isn't the best option for video

There's a reason we recommend casting where possible. With mirroring, everything on your phone is replicated on the TV, so a notification, incoming call or change of app can appear on the big screen.

And some streaming services restrict mirroring of protected video content, so don't assume that an app without a Cast button will necessarily work when mirrored.

For watching Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer and other supported services, casting or using the app directly on your TV is generally the better solution. Use mirroring when you want to show something that's actually on your phone, such as your photos or a presentation.

Play music through your TV

If you're listening to music, you're generally better off sending it directly to a wireless speaker, soundbar or AV system than using your TV. But there can be good reasons to put your music on the big screen, particularly when you're listening with other people.

The simplest option is to use your music service's TV app, if it has one.

Spotify, for example, has apps for many smart TVs, and you can use Spotify Connect on your phone to control what's playing. The TV can then display album artwork, track information and the playback queue, while everyone can see what's playing and take part in choosing the music.

But you don't necessarily need a TV app. Services including Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz can send music from their phone apps to compatible TVs using Google Cast, while AirPlay provides a similar option for iPhone users with a compatible TV.

So if your TV doesn't have a native app for the music service you use, check whether its phone app supports Google Cast or AirPlay before assuming you're out of luck. You may still be able to get your music onto the big screen.

Connect your phone with a cable

If a wireless connection isn’t an option, you can always connect your phone to your TV with a cable.

It's not as convenient as casting or mirroring, but a wired connection can be useful if you want a direct connection between your phone and TV, particularly if low latency is important – for example, when playing games.

Most modern phones use USB-C, so you'll generally need a USB-C-to-HDMI adaptor or cable, with the HDMI end connected to an HDMI input on your TV. Older iPhones with a Lightning connector require a suitable Lightning-to-HDMI adaptor instead.

Just bear in mind that not every USB-C phone supports video output, so check your phone's specifications before buying an adaptor.

Once connected, your phone will usually mirror its display on the TV, although the exact behaviour depends on the phone and adaptor.

And while a cable removes some of the potential complications of a wireless connection, it doesn't necessarily get around content restrictions: some streaming services can still block video output, or require the adaptor and TV to support the appropriate copy-protection standards (which they often don’t).

MORE:

Here are the best TVs you can buy right now

How far away should you sit from your TV?

If you're a fan of home cinema, you'll likely have heard a thing or two about Dolby Vision 2.

The tech was unveiled roughly a year ago and is the latest iteration of Dolby's dynamic HDR format. After a long wait, it is now finally rolling out across Europe, America and Asia-Pacific.

You'll need a supported TV from launch partner Hisense to access Dolby Vision 2, however – and we know just the one. Our TV experts put the Hisense UR9 through its paces earlier this year, and were highly impressed by the controlled backlight performance and rich cinematic HDR picture on the RGB Mini LED TV.

But we were even more impressed by the recent price cut – you can now pick up the 65-inch UR9 for £2099 at Sevenoaks with the code GDTV200, saving you a whopping £900 off the price we tested it at only three months ago.

Dolby Vision 2 comes with several perks over its predecessor, including a new image engine to enhance new and existing content, a new content recognition system for a more authentic image, and an intensity slider. We haven't tested the new format yet, but our TV experts will be looking at it soon.

The Hisense UR9 will even support the premium Dolby Vision 2 Max, which adds an extra layer of picture enhancements for home cinema enthusiasts. Be aware that iQIYI is the only current Dolby Vision 2 content partner operating in the UK, though we expect more services to join as the format grows.

The other big draw of the Hisense UR9 is its RGB Mini LED display, new technology which uses red, green and blue Mini LEDs in the backlight for greater brightness and more precise colour reproduction.

While we felt it fell short of OLED in several categories, the result was one of the best backlight TVs we have tested, with none of the flickering or shifting that we sometimes see in Mini LED sets.

“Black depth is consistently strong, shadow detail is excellent and subtle blooming is tightly controlled,” our Hisense UR9 review reads. “There’s also impressive richness and stability to colours, especially reds, which look wonderfully pure and saturated without drifting into pink or magenta tones.”

The panel is far from the only impressive feature, however, with three gaming-friendly HDMI 2.1 ports that support a whopping 4K/170Hz (including 4K/120Hz for consoles), VRR and ALLM. There is also a DisplayPort connection for PC gamers, a rarity in modern TVs.

All four current HDR formats are supported too, namely HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG.

All the major apps are included on Hisense's fast and responsive VIDAA platform, though do note that the Apple TV app lacks access to the Apple TV store.

There's also a lot to enjoy about the Devialet-tuned 4.1.2-channel speaker system, with a surprisingly expansive and full-bodied presentation. There are built-in up-firing drivers too, with support for both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

If you're keen to see some of the latest developments in home cinema, the Hisense UR9 may well be the TV for you. With a remarkably watchable RGB Mini LED display, incoming Dolby Vision 2 support and now a £900 discount at Sevenoaks, there's a lot going for the Hisense UR9.

MORE:

Also consider the Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G6 and Sony Bravia 9

Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

Let's face it, 2026 has been a bit of an underwhelming year for TVs so far. The good news is that might be about to change.

We don't want to sound too down, as we've tested a few truly impressive 2026 TVs. Take the Samsung S99H and LG C6 as examples. Both delivered stunning picture performances during our testing. But the two TVs are refinements on their five-star predecessors, so that isn't a huge surprise.

Elsewhere, the hot new panel technology of 2026, RGB Mini LED – and all its accompanying names from various manufacturers – has shown promise, but it hasn't blown our socks off quite yet.

Sony's duo of True RGB TVs, the Bravia 9 II and Bravia 7 II, impressed us in many ways but fell short in some crucial aspects of picture performance. Then Hisense's flagship UR9 produced impressive local dimming results, but at the expense of viewing angles.

However, all is not lost, and RGB Mini LED can certainly make a comeback, which is where the Samsung R95H steps in. It's the latest TV to be hauled out of its box and onto our testing benches, with testing commencing first thing next week.

Samsung's approach differs slightly from Sony's and Hisense's, as the Korean tech titan has created its own version called Micro RGB.

Not to be confused with the company's self-emissive Micro LED display technology, Micro RGB follows the same principles as RGB Mini LED, in that it trades a white backlight and colour filter for dedicated red, blue and green LEDs, but Samsung's managed to shrink said LEDs down even further.

Samsung's Micro LEDs, once again, not to be confused with Micro LED technology – blame Samsung's confusing naming convention for that one – reportedly measure in at under 100 microns. For reference, that's the size of a typical grain of table salt.

This has allowed the company to pack even more LEDs in, with the increased density expected to deliver enhanced contrast and light control.

Samsung could be the saving grace of the RGB Mini LED TV tech, and it really impressed us when we saw it during a Samsung hands-on event earlier this year. You can read our early Samsung R95H impressions here.

However, one of Samsung's biggest adversaries also shared some news this week, and we have an inbound TV that is special for a different reason.

Hisense, in partnership with Dolby, announced that its range of 2026 TVs will be the first to support Dolby Vision 2, with the higher-tier Dolby Vision 2 Max version being supported on all four of the premium models announced.

This includes the new UR8, the step-down model to the UR9 that we reviewed recently. It's also an RGB Mini LED, but unlike the Samsung we're about to review, it will support Dolby Vision 2 Max.

This technically makes it the first Dolby Vision 2-enabled TV to enter our AV testing room, which is certainly a milestone.

There is, however, one issue. Dolby Vision 2 content is, at the time of writing, slim to non-existent, especially here in the UK. Out of the three services announced – those being Canal+, Peacock, and iQIYI (a streaming service dedicated to Asian TV and movies) – only the last member of that trio is accessible here in the UK.

However, Dolby claims that "Hisense TV owners will immediately notice a difference across all Dolby Vision content", which means we should see the benefit of the new format even with existing Dolby Vision content. We'll be testing Dolby Vision streams and 4K Blu-rays to thoroughly test Dolby's claims.

With RGB LED panel technology and Dolby Vision 2 being the two headlining TV features of 2026, we're excited for the week of testing ahead, as we're hoping to put both to the test in the coming weeks.

MORE:

Dolby Vision 2 vs Dolby Vision 2 Max

RGB Mini LED: everything you need to know

Check out our picks for the best Mini LED TVs

After almost a year of anticipation and uncertainty, Dolby Vision 2 is finally launching, although you'll need one of the supported TVs to use it.

Dolby surprised home cinema fans with the announcement of Dolby Vision 2, the latest iteration of its dynamic HDR format, just before IFA 2025. With it came a buzz of excitement, but also many questions, most of which have been periodically answered throughout the year.

Now, Dolby has officially announced which TVs will be the first to access the new HDR format, and they all come from launch partner Hisense. We've also seen Dolby Vision 2 running on TVs from TCL and Philips at past press demos, although this launch is strictly Hisense for now.

Supported models include the UX, UR9 and UR8 RGB Mini LED TVs, and U7 Pro (also known as the U7 in the US) Mini LED TV. Interestingly, these models all support the higher-tier Dolby Vision 2 Max format.

The update is only coming to the Vidaa and Google TV versions of these models. Neither Hisense nor Dolby have confirmed if Dolby Vision 2 will come to older TVs yet.

At its core, Dolby Vision 2 brings three perks. First, "a powerful new image engine" which is set to enhance new and existing content.

Second, a new content recognition system that leverages metadata to deliver a more authentic image closer to the creator's intent.

Third, an intensity slider which allows you to "depth and richness of their Dolby Vision 2 experience" by compensating for contrast lost to viewing angles and reflections.

Dolby Vision 2 Max is reserved for TVs towards the premium end of the spectrum, and it adds an extra layer of picture enhancements aimed at home cinema enthusiasts.

These include the Authentic Motion feature, which aims for a "more cinematic feel while eliminating unwanted judder and soap opera effects", alongside Light Sense 2, which utilises your TV's ambient light sensor to optimise the picture settings based on your viewing conditions.

There is also a selection of pro settings which will allow experienced AV enthusiasts to dig deeper into the experience and customise as needed.

As for Dolby Vision 2 content, Dolby says that "Hisense TV owners will immediately notice a difference across all Dolby Vision content" for everything from TV and movies to gaming and sport. That said, the only current content partners that will support Dolby Vision 2 content specifically are Canal+, Peacock, and iQIYI.

These aren't household streaming names on the same level as Netflix, Disney+ or Apple TV, and two of the three services don't actually operate in the UK yet. That said, we presume that more services will support the new HDR format once it has found its footing.

Likewise, we expect more TV manufacturers to adopt Dolby Vision 2 over time. Sony and LG have yet to confirm whether their next batches of TVs will support the format, and Samsung has already developed its own answer to Dolby Vision 2 in the form of HDR10+ Advanced.

The software update to enable Dolby Vision 2 on the previously mentioned 2026 Hisense TVs is set to roll out in the coming weeks across Europe, America and Asia-Pacific.

We'll be testing out Dolby Vision 2 soon to see if it's the generational step up from the original Dolby Vision that we know and love.

MORE:

Dolby Vision 2 vs Dolby Vision 2 Max: everything you need to know

Read our full Hisense UR9 review

I saw the future of HDR at CES, and things are looking bright and smooth for 2026

Big displays have been the focal point of the AV world this decade, and if you’re looking at super-sizing your screen, chances are you’re choosing between either a projector or a 100-inch (or bigger) TV.

The question is this: which one is actually better?

You might be surprised how often the debate as to which of these options is better comes up here at What Hi-Fi?, but this time we decided to take the discussion to YouTube. Our latest video weighs up the pros and cons of each, as I take on Team Projector, while our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, is heading up Team TV.

Your first option is going down the traditional route: a projector. These have been the trusty go-to option for home-cinema purists for a long time, offering screen sizes well north of 100 inches and delivering the “movie magic” we associate with visiting the cinema.

That beam of light hitting your projector screen, with sound coming from a dedicated surround sound package, is almost impossible to beat, but it comes with some impracticalities and, as you can expect, large price tags.

Which is why we are seeing more projectors launch with smaller footprints and bigger feature sets, all at lower prices. They’re not perfect, as it’s usually picture quality that takes a hit to cram in these features, but they are certainly making projectors more approachable.

That said, what if you just don’t want to deal with any of the hassle that comes with a projector?

That’s where the recent phenomenon of XXL TVs comes into play. Popularised by Hisense and TCL, 100-inch TVs are starting to become more common, while the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG have jumped on the bandwagon to deliver TVs reaching 115- and 130-inches.

The benefit here is that everything is built in, including picture, sound and streaming; and prices are dropping surprisingly low. They do take up quite a lot of space, of course, and, as mentioned in our discussion, you won’t find our favourite panel technology at this size.

Ultimately, it’s worth noting that there isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to this debate, and personal preference will play a substantial role in your decision; but whichever one you pick, be sure to consult our best projectors and best TVs lists to choose the right models.

MORE:

Read our full Sony VPL-XW5000ES review

As well as our TCL C7K 98-inch review

And check out our list of the best Mini LED TVs

The Hisense PX4-Pro ultra short throw (UST) projector finally goes on sale next month, and we have some exciting new details to report.

As the successor to the Award-winning PX3-Pro, this is an eagerly awaited projector. Even more so considering it was first announced back on Christmas Eve 2025.

Now we can confirm that the PX4-Pro will have audio tuned by high-end hi-fi supremo Devialet.

This isn't the first collaboration between the two firms. They previously worked together on Hisense’s L9Q triple-laser ultra short throw (UST) projector, which cost $6000. But the PX4-Pro is much more affordable, having the same £2499 / AU$4499 price tag as its predecessor (the US price has increased by $500 to $3999.

The PX3-Pro featured Harman Kardon speakers. Like the PX3-Pro, the new model has Dolby Atmos to create a more immersive sound.

The audio was one of the few weak points of the PX3-Pro – we found it “flat and not suitably immersive”. Hopefully Hisense has fixed this with the Devialet partnership.

The PX4-Pro more than doubles its predecessor’s contrast ratio, to 6500:1, and ups the brightness from 3000 Lumens to 3500 Lumens.

It also offers IMAX Enhanced and FreeSync Premium. And it carries on its predecessor’s ‘designed for Xbox’ certification and again features the VIDAA operating system with support for all the major streaming apps.

The PX4-Pro is out now in the US, and comes to the UK in September. We’ll have a full review ready asap, so stay tuned to see if it can top its Award-winning predecessor.

MORE:

Read our Hisense PX3-Pro review

The best projectors around

Ultra short throw projectors: everything you need to know

Hisense has clearly decided that it’s time to capitalise on its huge success in the lifestyle projector world by launching a shiny, new no-holds-barred flagship model.

Boasting 6000 lumens of brightness, a triple laser lighting system, liquid cooling, a built-in Devialet sound system, an all-glass lens and support for every HDR format in town, the XR10 certainly makes all the right flagship noises.

But can Hisense marshal all these expensive pieces into a class-leading performance?

Price

With Hisense usually found successfully plying its trade in the mid-range lifestyle projector arena, the £5999 / $6000 / AU$9995 price of the XR10 really is a major step up for the brand.

In fact, it will doubtless be a step too far for many home cinema-loving households, and even raises the question of whether a projector that seems from the outside at least to have been designed more as a ‘lifestyle’ model than a serious home theatre machine really makes sense at such a price.

As we’re about to explain, though, we think the XR10 makes all kinds of sense, even at its very high price.

Design

The XR10’s design is nuts in all the best ways. For starters, it ships in a beautifully designed, built-to-measure real leather carry case complete with wheels and an extendable handle that looks like Hisense thinks you’re going to love the projector so much you’ll want to take it on holiday with you.

The projector’s spectacular bodywork, meanwhile, is actually transparent in some places, so that you can marvel at some of the cool things going on under the projector’s hood.

A huge lens aperture sits within a bold bronze-coloured metallic square on one side of the projector’s front, while the left side houses two vertical stripes, one recessed, one not, housing sensors that the projector can use to help it deliver a more effective automatic set-up system.

The projector’s left, right and top edges are finished in the same bronzy colour as the area around the lens housing, while the projector’s shape resembles a larger (and much heavier) version of the sort of roughly cubic designs we’ve started to see dominating the living room projector market in recent times.

The top plate sports a beautifully designed round dial-style volume adjustment, as well as a large ambient light sensor the projector can use to optimise its picture performance to different room conditions.

That volume control, along with the grilles built into the XR10’s left and right edges, reflects the fact that the XR10 carries a built-in sound system deemed powerful enough to enable the projector to be used as a standalone wireless speaker if you so desire.

The various finishes to different sides and even within the front edge of the XR10 ought, by all rights, to make its design look a bit of a mess. Actually, though, it all comes together remarkably well in a vaguely cyberpunk kind of way.

Features

The XR10 is mostly specced to kill.

Its 6000 claimed lumens of laser-delivered peak brightness is huge by serious projector standards, for starters. That’s easily enough to punch through quite a bit of ambient light if that’s what you want it to do; drive a particularly big screen (Hisense claims 300 inches); and/or potentially handle HDR sources better than most projectors can.

Brightness alone can actually be anything but a friend to projector picture quality, though, so it’s impressive to see Hisense backing this brightness up with a healthy claimed native contrast performance of 6000:1. This jumps, too, to a very impressive claimed 60,000:1 courtesy of the projector’s premium lens iris system. As ever, though, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Hisense has gone the extra mile, too, to avoid the sort of rowdy cooling-fan noise you might normally expect to hear from a 6000-lumen projector by integrating liquid (water) cooling into the XR10’s chassis. This is the first time, we believe, that such cooling has been used in an albeit premium living room projector.

Another big justification for the XR10’s price is its use of an all-glass, 16-element lens system that Hisense claims will deliver better light transmission and temperature stability than a plastic system could, resulting in more brightness/contrast and more consistent 4K sharpness.

The colour coverage claimed for the XR10’s laser lighting/DLP optical system is huge too: up to 110 per cent of the massive BT2020 colour space. That’s well beyond the DCI-P3 colour system used for most HDR mastering.

Talking of HDR, the XR10 is one of a very rare breed in the projector world that’s capable of playing all four of the AV world’s main HDR formats: HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. It’s even received IMAX Enhanced certification, meaning it has been deemed capable of doing justice to the special IMAX mastering system (which focuses on creating a noiseless look to the image). Basically, the XR10 will take in the best version of any content you feed it.

For all their advantages, setting up premium projectors can often be a pain. Hisense couldn’t have worked harder to simplify the physical aspect of set-up, though. The XR10 carries an industry-first four-8MP-camera and dual Time-of-flight (TOF) intelligent sensing set-up that it can use to correct image size, keystone and focus without you having to lift a finger. Plus, that ambient sensor we mentioned earlier can tie its readings into the calculations of a ‘Smart AI’ auto-adjustment system so that images can auto-adjust to compensate for changing room conditions.

As well as all its sensors and AI brainpower, the XR10 carries an exceptionally wide-ranging 0.84-2.0x optical zoom and bags of vertical and horizontal image shifting. It’s therefore able to (auto) adapt itself to a seriously wide range of different room sizes and layouts – and is also capable of delivering a 100-inch image from a throw distance of just 1.86m.

As we’ve come to expect from today’s lifestyle projectors, the XR10 carries a built-in smart system so that you can stream video without the need for any external sources. Rather than the Google TV system found in most projectors, though, the XR10 turns to Hisense’s own VIDAA system. This is good news, as it’s straightforward and stable to use, and it carries all of the streaming services the vast majority of households will need, including the BBC iPlayer app that’s almost always absent from Google TV systems.

The XR10 is, of course, a 4K projector. It doesn’t have a full 3840x2160 count of digital mirror devices (DMDs) that would be needed for a ‘true’ 4K experience, though. Instead, it features Texas Instruments’ XPR technology to create a 4K image from a lower DMD count using pixel-shifting. The Consumer Technology Association in the US deems the resulting images to be true 4K, though, and as we’ll see, it’s hard to disagree with that stance based on the XR10’s real-life 4K performance.

The XR10’s connections impressively comprise three HDMI ports (one 2.0, two 2.1), three USBs, an optical digital audio output, a headphone jack, an Ethernet port, and the now-expected wi-fi and Bluetooth wireless options. Apple AirPlay 2 is included in the projector’s wireless content sharing options, too.

There is one connection disappointment, though, as we couldn’t manage to get even the two HDMI 2.1 ports to handle 4K content at 120Hz from our Xbox Series X. 120Hz is possible at 1440p resolutions with the HDMI ports set to Enhance Mode Pro, but there’s no VRR support in this set-up, and nor can the projector sustain HDR gaming at any refresh rate above 60Hz.

One last premium aspect of the XR10 is its audio. Not only does it carry a 2.1 speaker system that includes a dedicated bass driver and supports DTS: Virtual X playback, but this speaker system has been tuned by acclaimed audio brand Devialet, picking up on a relationship Hisense previously forged for the speaker systems of its high-end TVs.

Picture

We’ve consistently referred to the XR10 so far as a ‘lifestyle’ or 'living room' projector, based chiefly on its appearance and convenient set-up features. It’s worth reflecting before we get into its performance, though, on the fact that Hisense describes the XR10 as being “built for cinephiles who want the big-screen theatre experience without sacrificing design, flexibility or fidelity”.

In other words, Hisense is backing the XR10 to be good enough to satisfy proper home cinema enthusiasts as well as the more casual projection market. And we’re happy to report that it’s absolutely right.

Particularly spectacular and key to its success is its ability to deliver both extreme levels of brightness and some of the deepest, most convincing blacks the HDR projection world has to offer.

Using any of the XR10’s relatively aggressive picture presets, bright HDR images are absolutely radiant, punching through even high levels of ambient light if you’re watching the projector in a regular daytime living room environment. In a dark room, meanwhile, this brightness can be used to deliver HDR with levels of intensity that we’ve only witnessed a handful of times before – mostly on ultra-high-end laser theatre projectors costing way more than the XR10.

Dark room viewing makes it obvious just how good the XR10 is with dark scenes and, even more impressively, scenes that contain a mix of light and dark elements. Provided you’re careful with the settings you use (more on this later), the XR10 can not only deliver dark imagery with much less greyness around than most, if not all, very bright, HDR-friendly projectors, but it also manages to retain all the faint shadow details you want to see if dark scenes are to feel consistent in depth with bright scenes. There’s little if any ‘black crush’ to worry about here.

Even better, the XR10 doesn’t just retain detail in the darkest image areas; it also retains excellent colour tones and saturations in such light-limited areas, avoiding the widespread tendency in both the projector and TV worlds for dark images to become desaturated.

The XR10’s colour performance is more obviously spectacular, of course, with very bright HDR images. Rather than the brightest highlights of HDR pictures starting to look thin or washed out, the XR10’s colour volume just keeps expanding as it’s fed more light.

Colour volumes push into places, in fact, that we haven’t seen before, beyond, perhaps, a couple of Xgimi models. Crucially, though, the XR10 does a substantially better job than those admittedly more affordable Xgimi rivals of making even the most vibrant colours across almost all of its picture presets look balanced and surprisingly natural. Or, at least, extremely believable.

To put it another way, while the XR10 is proud to show off what it can do, it only does so on a foundation of immersive consistency and a constant connection to the source material.

Despite the extreme vibrancy, brightness and contrast of which the XR10 is capable, as you’d hope of such an expensive and ambitious projector, it also cares about the little things in AV life. Its 4K pictures look fanatically detailed and densely textured, for instance – and this is down as much to the almost infinite subtlety of its colour rendition as it is to raw sharpness. The sharpness feels natural rather than forced or processed even in the projector’s most aggressive settings, and motion is handled without smearing or resolution loss.

If you find judder a touch obvious with 24p content, especially during bright scenes, the projector’s Film motion processing option does a pretty smart job of reducing judder without the results devolving into the dreaded soap opera effect.

While many will find it hard to resist the fantastic dynamism and richness of the XR10’s relatively aggressive image presets, film fans who want to see images that look as their creators wanted them to look can rest assured that their needs are catered for brilliantly, too, by the projector’s Filmmaker Mode preset.

This removes a big chunk of the brightness that is one of the XR10’s strengths. But the resulting images look natural, beautifully balanced, full of subtlety and still just excellently watchable despite Filmmaker Mode turning off many of its picture enhancement technologies.

If there’s an issue with the default Filmmaker Mode, it’s that black levels look a bit grey without any of the projector’s contrast enhancement tools in play. Simply setting the projector’s manual iris setting to its ‘One’ level, though, immediately improves black levels, at the expense of a just slightly cooler look to the image.

Aside from some DLP rainbow striping with very extreme contrast content, this set-up suggestion leads us to arguably the XR10’s one major image flaw. Namely, you need to be prepared to tinker with a few of the projector’s settings to get the best from it. It’s not quite the simple 'unbox, switch on and instantly relax deal' you might have been hoping for.

For instance, while the Dolby Vision Bright preset the XR10 defaults to with Dolby Vision content delivers great contrast for such a bright projector, it pushes some colours too strongly. Greens are over-dominant and skin tones look too ripe. The core colour temperature can also fluctuate within a shot if there are significant light level variations to cope with, and you can sometimes see the projector’s dynamic iris system doing its work too obviously.

Setting the manual iris setting to level 1 helps balance colours and eliminates the fluctuating colour tone, but suddenly sees green tones taking on a strangely brownish hue. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution to this one that simply involves switching to the Dolby Vision Dark preset. This instantly fixes colour balance/consistency issues, delivers natural blacks and skin tones and, if you set the iris feature to ‘0’, leaves the image looking totally stable.

The XR10’s complex iris options include a few presets alongside the multi-step Manual mode. Cinema 1 delivers a nicely judged combination of brightness and contrast, but leaves you having to hit the colour calibration tools to try and stop skin tones and red colours looking too pink, and can also cause some noticeable fluctuations in brightness from the dynamic iris. Cinema 2 delivers some of the best black levels we’ve seen from any projector, but at the expense of huge amounts of the brightness that’s so enjoyable a part of the XR10’s usual picture make-up. Only in a fully blacked-out room is this setting even worth considering, and even then, maybe only the most die-hard accuracy enthusiasts will find the dimness tolerable.

In the end, even where the XR10 offers pre-programmed attempts to provide helpful out-of-the-box feature presets, we ultimately end up reverting to manual intervention via the all-important manual iris setting. A setting which, for better or worse, is kept outside of the picture settings encompassed by the projector’s defined picture presets, so that whatever lens setting you choose applies across every preset for every source until you go back in and change it again.

There are other bits of tinkering we’d recommend too, including turning the sharpness setting to zero but leaving a separate Super Resolution feature active, and braving the projector’s more in-depth colour and white-balance controls, too, if you dare.

The bottom line, though, is that for the most part, making the effort to spend just a few minutes fine-tuning images when you first get the XR10 rewards you with what can be absolutely spectacular but also thoughtful and subtle results. Results capable of adapting, moreover, to pretty much any room shape or ambient light condition.

It’s important to add, too, that the projector responds excellently without manual intervention to the extra picture information provided by the HDR10+ format, making us wish more projectors would adopt this alternative/rival to the Dolby Vision system.

Maybe even more importantly, the XR10’s out-of-the-box dynamic tone mapping system with basic HDR10 content is outstanding. The way it maps the available image data of core HDR10 sources to the projector’s capabilities so that they look dynamic and punchy without succumbing to clipping, unevenness, black crush or colour imbalances is superb, and actually requires less manual intervention than you’d usually expect with most HDR projectors.

The XR10’s automated hardware image correction features work brilliantly, too. So while some of its presets could be better, it’s also actually more helpful than most rivals in other areas of usability and set-up.

One last strength of the XR10 to mention is how incredibly quietly it runs for such a monumentally bright projector. The liquid cooling system Hisense has taken considerable trouble to integrate into the projector proves well worth the effort.

Sound

The XR10’s speakers are capable of pumping out levels of volume and dynamic range that shame many premium TVs. Even at just 50 per cent of its maximum volume, it’s loud enough to satisfy even a quite large room.

Trebles reach high peaks without sounding brittle or warbly, even at high volumes, while at the other end, bass reaches remarkably deep without falling prey to dropouts or crackles, or causing the projector’s metal bodywork to start buzzing. This helps low frequencies avoid sounding overly dominant or distracting, despite how present and deep they are. Similarly, the XR10’s ability to produce high levels of detail in a film or TV mix doesn’t leave busy soundtracks sounding too forensic or ambient effects too bright.

Voices are clean and well-rounded too. The only issue is that they sound a bit trapped inside the projector’s bodywork compared with the rest of the sound mix, which means they also sound rather dislocated from the onscreen action on the other side of the room, and sometimes rather decontextualised from the rest of the soundstage.

Verdict

While it might be the XR10’s startling, beautifully built design that first catches your eye, Hisense’s new showcase projector ultimately justifies its premium price tag with its combination of a startlingly powerful sound system and the best picture quality we’ve seen from any lifestyle or, more accurately, lifestyle/home theatre crossover projector before.

As statements of intent go, it’s hard to see how the XR10 could have served Hisense much better.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 4
• Features 4

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Best projectors: the best options tested by our home cinema experts

Projector brand Xgimi has been on a roll with a continuous stream of new models flooding the shelves in the last year. And there are two more joining their ranks.

The new Elfin Flip Laser and flagship Elfin Flip 4K claim to build on the existing Elfin series to deliver “a significant upgrade in both optical performance and audio experience”.

Both projectors offer a claimed maximum brightness of 1600 ISO lumens and use an RGB triple laser light source. Unsurprisingly, the flagship model offers 4K resolution compared to the Flip Laser’s 1080p.

For gamers, the 4K model also offers VRR and ALLM support. However, like most projectors, it only runs at 1080p@120Hz. 4K is still locked to 60Hz.

The design looks practically identical to the predecessor, featuring a “book-sized” foldable build that can be tucked away when not in use. “Pick it up, place it, and the picture is ready” is Xgimi’s mantra here.

Both projectors come with Google TV built-in, which gives you access to a range of streaming platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Netflix. In terms of sound, the models are equipped with a 7W Harmon Kardon tuned speaker with Dolby Audio support, which will supposedly “eliminate the need for external audio equipment”.

There is a range of features designed to make setup easier as well, including auto-keystone, auto-focus and obstacle avoidance.

The Elfin Flip 4K is priced at £869 / $999, and the Elfin Flip Laser comes in cheaper at £689 / $799.

That puts the flagship against the likes of the Award-winning Hisense M2 Pro, which is currently available for around £870. The five-star Hisense model will certainly prove tough competition for Xgimi’s latest bombshell, thanks to its bright picture and easy setup.

Still, the Elfin’s more portable design and promising picture specifications could challenge the current champion.

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These are the best portable projectors

And check out the best projectors

This is our review of the Xgimi MoGo 4

Finding it a bit hot to do much?

Well, have no fear – you can sit and scroll through the week's best deals without moving, and there are some scorchers this time round.

Soundbars have been seeing great deals ever since Prime Day, but we're also happy to see one of our favourite mid-range AV receivers get a £600 discount, as well as a chunky saving on a pair of luxury audiophile cans from Bowers & Wilkins.

As always, these are products we've reviewed and rated ourselves, and all have earned at least four stars from our expert testers in order to earn our recommendation.

We'll explain why we like these products so much below – but for now, take a look at the deals....

The Denon AVC-X3800H is a five-star mid-range AV receiver packed with features and a future-proof design that lets you upgrade further down the line. With a warm, refined sound, it's also quite the bargain with £600 off.

The Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are a few years old now, but that does mean that their premium asking price is now more affordable. With excellent build quality, impressive comfort levels and high levels of musical insight, these are luxury audiophile headphones now at a more affordable price.

It's summer party season, so if you are braving the weather for an outdoor get-together, then the Bose SoundLink Max can provide for a gathering of any size. The premium Bluetooth speaker comes with 20 hours of battery life and bucketloads of lively, energetic sound.

The Hisense HS214 is the cheapest soundbar we recommend. It is a simple, affordable way to upgrade your TV speakers. Despite its compact size, it offers a decent low end and clear vocal projection.

If you're really short on space or looking to upgrade your desktop sound, then the Creative Stage Pro is another easy and affordable choice. The 2.1 setup includes a subwoofer, which adds nicely integrated and surprisingly powerful bass.

If you're serious about ANC, then the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) are the class leaders. They also have a smart, folding design and effective spatial audio for movie watching.

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Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

When you watched the England v Mexico game (whether live or on catch-up), could you truly feel the stadium atmosphere of the mighty Azteca? Could you clearly hear every boo from the crowd, every goal hit the net, and the sweet celebratory sound of Wonderwall being played?

If you couldn’t, you might want to consider upgrading your sound system. And I have been eyeing up the Hisense HS214, which can now be yours for £60 at Amazon, as the ideal affordable replacement for my muffled TV speakers.

The HS214 is currently one of Amazon’s best-selling soundbars, and it’s not hard to see why. While soundbars this cheap usually set off alarm bells, our expert testers found the HS214 to be a straightforward and highly effective way of boosting your TV’s sound.

My living room set-up has been getting quite the workout recently from the World Cup – and it has exposed the sonic shortfalls of my TV’s built-in audio.

And that’s where the Hisense HS214 comes in. It doesn’t have the dynamic performance and features of more premium models, but it offers great value for money and a straightforward solution to muffled sound.

You can get a lot less for the money at this price – we were pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of a three-inch woofer, which adds a welcome touch of bass, improved dialogue clarity, and a broader soundstage.

“The enhanced depth that the bass unit brings to the table isn’t superfluous either; there’s a solid sound to the lows and kick that gives the sound a touch more musicality than you would otherwise experience,” our Hisense HS214 review reads. “Watching Leonardo DiCaprio grapple with a bear in The Revenant on Blu-ray, that extra bit of heft means each blow and snarl has more impact and danger attached.”

The HS214 is also excellent at anchoring vocals, so you can be sure the commentary isn’t getting jumbled up amongst all the other stadium sounds. It excels at music too – an area where even expensive soundbars struggle. Despite its size, the soundbar produces a pleasant, uncluttered midrange and a decent stereo image.

It’s simple to set up, too: an HDMI ARC port means you can just plug your TV in via HDMI and be done with it; but there are also optical and coaxial sockets, a 3.5mm mini-jack auxiliary input, Bluetooth 4.2 and a USB port.

With a quality build, the HS214 would fit aesthetically with both a new high-spec TV or an older model, though its compact 9.5 x 65 x 5.8cm (hwd) size might make it a better fit for smaller rooms and screens. There are also rigging points at the rear, with fixings included in the box should you wish to wall mount.

The Hisense HS214 is our super-cheap soundbar of choice, then. If you have a bit more of a budget, though, you might want to consider these alternatives:

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Read our Hisense HS214 2.1 review

Check out the best budget soundbars: cheap ’bars, tested by our experts

And the best TVs under £1000: affordable OLED, Mini LED and LCD models hand-picked by our experts

Prime Day (or should that be Prime Week?) may just be a memory now, but that doesn’t mean the savings have dried up.

Several discounts have stayed live long after the Prime curtain came down, while others have popped up out of the woodwork. And (this shouldn’t be right, surely?) some top Prime Day deals have somehow got even cheaper.

So if you’re looking to upgrade your home cinema for the final weeks of the World Cup or seeking a Bluetooth speaker for the next heatwave, we’ve got you covered.

These are all products we have reviewed and rated ourselves, and all have been awarded a full five stars. So you can buy with confidence.

It’s been a banner week this week, with several Award-winners and new 2026 releases up for grabs. Take a look yourself:

If you’re after powered speakers on a budget, then the Elac Debut ConneX DCB41 are our recommendation. They are full of features, with Bluetooth connectivity, a switchable stereo input/moving-magnet phono stage and HDMI, optical and USB inputs; but most importantly they also serve up a balanced, insightful sound.

Two of our favourite OLED TVs of 2026 are on sale this week! Up first is our mid-range pick, the LG C6, which is even cheaper than it was during Prime Day. This deal price includes the £40 cost of an AO Five-Star membership, which is needed to unlock the discount.

The JBL Charge 6 is our Product of the Year Bluetooth speaker, and we were astonished when it dropped to £100 over Prime Day. We were even more astonished, however, when it dropped even further this week, with the black finish now £96 at Amazon.

If you’re after a new flagship OLED, then the Samsung S99H is the one to beat this year. It has dazzlingly bright highlights, awesome contrast and excellent three-dimensional depth, making it perfect for the World Cup, GTA 6, or pretty much anything you plan to use it for. Unlock the deal price with the code TRADE250 and a £250 cashback offer from Samsung – full Ts&Cs can be found here.

The Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 7 + S excels where several Dolby Atmos soundbars fail, with the included subwoofer adding plenty of tight, agile bass. We reviewed this package only in April, and now it’s available with its first discount.

The Hisense AX5125H was one of the earliest deals we covered on Prime Day, and also one of the best. The fact you can get a Dolby Atmos soundbar system at this price is quite incredible. What’s more incredible is that it also sounds pretty good.

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Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

We have entered the final day of Amazon’s Prime Day sales event – sales are set to cease at midnight.

While we have been carefully choosing which deals to recommend to you and which are best avoided, it’s time to determine which deals are Prime Day winners, and who has provided the biggest disappointments during the sales event.

We have seen loads of excellent AV deals, and some of them can genuinely save you hundreds, and in some cases a thousand, pounds. These are the deals that we think are genuinely worth investing in this Prime Day; they knock prices down to new lows and ensure you’re getting the maximum bang for your buck.

Some products, however, haven’t been discounted at all. One company even decided to raise the prices of its products this Prime Day. These are, unsurprisingly, the losers.

So let’s find out who our Prime Day champions are…

Winner: LG C5 OLED TV

If there’s one TV that has enjoyed some seriously impressive discounts, it’s LG’s Award-winning step-down OLED from last year. We have recently reviewed the five-star C6, and it’s a great TV, but we believe the heavily discounted C5 is the better buy this Prime Day.

We’ve seen the 42-inch model drop to as low as £611, though it seems to have bounced slightly back up to £623 at Amazon; all in all, still a considerable saving over the £1099 price we reviewed it at.

Stepping up to the 48-inch model will also grant you some serious savings, as it can be found for just £725 at Amazon, down from its original price of £1399.

However, the 55-inch model is looking like the sweet spot to us. This set has dropped to a staggering £969 at Amazon – we reviewed it at £1900, so you're essentially saving a grand here.

This versatile OLED TV will impress gamers and cinephiles alike, thanks to its four HDMI 2.1 sockets, VRR support, and LG’s Game Dashboard feature, as well as its detailed, contrast-rich, and balanced picture performance.

Winner: Dolby Atmos soundbars

If there was ever a time to invest in a Dolby Atmos soundbar, Prime Day is it. We are seeing major discounts attached to some of our favourite Award-winning models, meaning now is the ideal time to ditch your TV’s underwhelming built-in speakers.

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 has dropped from £449 to £337 at Peter Tyson, marking a £112 discount on the best entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar. The Hisense AX5125H, which adds wireless surround speakers and a subwoofer to the mix, can now be snapped up for a truly impressive £199 at Richer Sounds.

For us, though, it’s the Samsung HW-Q990F at B&Q for £695 that really steals the show here. We have never seen it drop this low before.

That means our reigning Product of the Year winner is currently £1004 cheaper than the price when we reviewed it. And that makes this easily the best soundbar deal of Prime Day, and perhaps one of the best deals we have seen during the entire sales event.

Winner: 4K Blu-ray

Physical media is back!

Well, at least it is this Prime Day; we are seeing a few great deals on 4K Blu-ray. Could they be enough to tempt you away from streaming?

HMV’s 3 for £50 multibuy deal is a tempting choice for those looking to stock up on or start their collection, while Amazon seems to be the best place to buy single discs and box sets.

We are seeing savings on big franchise 4K box sets, including The Lord of the Rings, Mission: Impossible and John Wick, as well as deals on F1: The Movie, Interstellar, Sinners and plenty more.

If you’re sick of streaming, these deals will help you enjoy your favourite films with a greatly improved picture and sound experience, and of course you get to keep them for life.

Loser: Apple

How do you take the concept of Prime Day, and do the complete opposite? Simple: you raise the prices of your five-star hi-fi and home-cinema products.

Apple pulled a blinder in the middle of Prime Day by increasing the price of the Apple TV 4K in both its 64GB and 128GB + Ethernet configurations. We also saw the prices of the HomePod 2, HomePod Mini, and iPad Air rise sharply.

The 64GB version of Apple’s Award-winning streamer now costs £199 (up from £149 / $130 / AU$219); the 128GB model now costs £249 (originally £169 / $179 / $249).

Just to clarify, this is the same 2022 model that Apple is currently refusing to upgrade. In our original review (published back in 2022), we said that “the best video streamer just got better (and cheaper)”, but it looks like we’ll have to amend that line.

Thankfully, a few retailers haven’t caught on to Apple’s price hike yet, so you can still pick the Apple TV 4K up for its original launch price if you’re quick. Buying direct from Apple should be avoided at all costs while these retailers are offering the original prices.

Loser: 4K Blu-ray players

While the 4K Blu-ray format itself seems to be thriving this Prime Day, disc players haven’t enjoyed the same discounts.

Panasonic and Sony, practically the last bastions of the 4K Blu-ray player market, have opted to leave the prices of their respective disc spinners unchanged this Prime Day.

The Award-winning DP-UB820EB is currently sitting at £349, which is higher than the original £290 we reviewed it at thanks to a price increase a couple of years ago (we see where Apple got the inspiration from). Sony’s UBP-UX700K (which is essentially the same as the UBP-UX700), meanwhile, is a whopping £9 off at Amazon, down from its usual £249 price.

Our recommendation for anyone looking to pick up an affordable disc player this Prime Day is to consider the Panasonic DP-UB150EB, which is a fairly affordable 4K Blu-ray player at £159.

That is still £30 more than the price we originally reviewed it at, but price increases seem inevitable these days.

MORE:

Amazon Prime Day 2026: the 86 best deals on headphones, TVs, speakers, home cinema and more

Find the best OLED TV deals here

Check out our picks for the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

You're probably well aware of this, but England are playing Panama in the World Cup tomorrow, and it's now a much bigger game than it should have been, thanks to that tame no-score-draw with Ghana.

The good news is that this should also be a fun game, with at least a couple of goals for Tuchel's chaps.

If you're still using your TVs built-in speakers, though, you're still missing out on a fair bit of the fun that football can offer. The good news is that there's still time to rectify that.

I've scoured the Amazon Prime Day (and adjacent) sales to find a high-quality soundbar that you can have delivered tomorrow. Somewhat surprisingly, I can't find a model I recommend at Amazon with fast enough delivery.

But, thankfully, Currys has come up trumps with a full Dolby Atmos soundbar system that I tested and we gave a What Hi-Fi? Award to – and it can be delivered tomorrow.

Said system is the Hisense AX5125H, which comprises soundbar, a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surrounds for a record-equalling low price of just £199 at Currys.

Delivery tomorrow will cost you an extra £6.99, which seems very reasonable for the convenience, or you might find you can pick up from a local store for free.

At £199, the AX5125H isn't just a cheap way to improve your TV's sound – it's one of the very best-value Dolby Atmos packages we've tested.

Unlike most soundbars at this price, you get a complete 5.1.2-channel system in the box, with wireless surround speakers and a wireless subwoofer helping to create a much bigger, more immersive sound than your TV could ever hope to produce on its own.

During testing, we were particularly impressed by the Hisense's ability to project effects around the room. That makes it a brilliant choice for sport, where crowd noise, commentary and the atmosphere of the stadium all feel far more involving than they do through a TV's built-in speakers. If (when!) England find the back of the net against Panama, you'll feel much more like you're there to celebrate it.

It's not just for football, either. We found the AX5125H delivered an energetic, spacious and surprisingly cinematic performance with movies, while dialogue remains clear and easy to follow. Music playback is respectable, too, making this a genuinely versatile all-rounder rather than a one-trick pony.

No soundbar is perfect at this price, and there are more refined and dynamic systems available if you're prepared to spend considerably more. But at £199, the Hisense simply delivers too much performance to ignore.

That's why we gave it five stars, a What Hi-Fi? Award and, now that it's back down to its record-equalling lowest price, it's one of the easiest Prime Day alternatives I can recommend.

MORE:

Here are all of the best budget soundbars you can buy right now

Also in the market for a new telly? Here are all of the best TVs

There’s a conundrum that many movie fans face. You might be perfectly happy with your TV’s picture performance, but the audio is often another matter entirely. Punchy action scenes might be missing a sense of energy, and it may be difficult to make out dialogue during busy parts of a film.

Luckily, there is a way to fix this common problem. If you don’t have the budget or space for a multi-speaker package to upgrade your sound, then adding a soundbar to the mix is a great way to go.

• View all the Prime Day deals on Amazon

And, for those on the hunt for an even more room-filling experience, there is the option of getting a soundbar with Dolby Atmos support, which can provide a much-desired extra boost of surround sound.

With Amazon Prime Day deals swarming your search like ants to a melting Calippo, it can be hard to find a model that is genuinely right for you. That’s where we come in. We have tested hundreds of soundbars over the years, and have hand-selected four products that provide immersive sound and are at a discounted price right now.

Sonos Beam Gen 2

The Sonos Beam Gen 2 holds the crown as the top entry-level Dolby Atmos bar in our best soundbars guide.

The Beam Gen 2 measures just 7 x 65 x 10cm (hwd) and weighs 2.8kg, making it easy to place in front of your TV without obscuring the picture. Under the hood, you will find four front-facing elliptical mid-woofers and a centre tweeter.

Most importantly, it offers a detailed, rich, and enveloping audio experience, which is particularly impressive considering its compact footprint.

Despite the bar’s lack of up-firing drivers, the soundfield is immersive and we get a good sense of height as well as scale. In fact, we note in our review: “Whether it’s a chirping bird, a car or a voice, there’s remarkable consistency across the complete soundfield, and seamless handover between drivers, which we have to say doesn’t always happen when a Dolby Atmos soundbar has upward drivers to contend with.”

It launched at £449, but this Prime Day deal has seen its price drop to £337 at Amazon. That’s a saving of £112, and is well worth considering if you are looking to add an Atmos soundbar to your system.

Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9

If you are looking for a step-up soundbar to add to your system, then the Sony Bravia Theatre Bar 9 is hard to beat. This Sony sounds exceptionally crisp and precise, and the Atmos-ness of its delivery is hugely impressive for a standalone bar.

We find there is a slightly clinical tone in its overall delivery, but its superb detail and punch mean it still achieves five-star success.

In terms of connectivity, gaming fans will be pleased to hear that the Bar 9 has a dedicated HDMI 2.1 input and support for 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM.

You can find it for £999 at Richer Sounds, chopping £400 off its launch price. At this price, it is also worth considering the Award-winning Sonos Arc Ultra. It’s a brilliant-sounding system, offering a rich overall sound with expressive vocals.

It features only a single HDMI eARC port, however, which is not as comprehensive as the Theatre Bar 9’s offerings. The Sonos model is currently available at its launch price of £999 at Smart Home Sounds, but we have our fingers crossed for a reduction before the end of Prime Day.

Hisense AX5125H

All-in-one soundbars work excellently for some people, but you might be craving that extra sense of immersion that can come with a soundbar package. And our top budget soundbar system recommendation is currently available for an absolute steal.

You can pick up the Award-winning Hisense AX5125H for just £199 at Currys, making it easily one of the best-sounding affordable soundbar systems we have heard.

The 5.1.2 system, which supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, offers a relatively compact design that is easy to accommodate in most homes. It is made up of two small wireless surround speakers, a wireless subwoofer and the main soundbar. Even though the surround speakers are surprisingly compact (each one measures just 14 x 9 x 11cm), they produce an impressively enveloping soundfield that massively improves upon our experience with the TV’s sound.

We noted in our review when watching Civil War: “Bullets whizz from the front to the back of the room and even behind the listening position, helicopters hover at ceiling height, and distant explosions rumble menacingly.”

Vocals are clear and sound relatively emotive too, although the subwoofer can get a little overzealous and cause them to become muffled in the busiest sections. Still, the Hisense system is a top performer in its class and is even more tempting at this discount.

Samsung HW-Q990F

Finally, we have the Samsung HW-Q990F, an Award-winning 11.1.4 soundbar package. Like the Hisense system, it is made up of a soundbar, a subwoofer, and two surround speakers.

It is a chunkier system in terms of its build, though. The surrounds, for instance, measure 25 x 25 x 25cm and the soundbar comes in at a more hefty 7 x 123 x 14cm (hwd).

With support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, we were impressed by the soundbar’s ability to create that all-important dome of sound as well as ensuring the sound moves organically between the channels.

When it comes to its bass performance, we say in our review: “There is a much greater sense of tonal variation from this subwoofer [compared with the older Q990D model], which unearths a new layer to the bass. The Q990F’s bass feels more organic, balanced, and seamlessly integrated into the system as a result.”

That all makes it a focused, tonally varied overall sound that immerses us in whatever we listen to. You can find the system for £750 at Amazon, saving you around a whopping £949 off its original price.

We recently reviewed the Q990F’s successor – the Samsung HW-Q990H. This new system managed to build upon our favourite aspects of the older model, resulting in an even more detailed and nuanced performance. That meant the Q990H took the crown when we put them head to head – but the Q990F is without doubt still a brilliant performer in the category.

Plus, the Q990H's price has dropped only a small amount for Prime Day (the cheapest we have seen so far is £1299 at Amazon). That makes the older model all the more tempting.

MORE:

These are the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Check out the best budget soundbars

And here are the best TVs right now

As a deals writer, I spend my days hunting down the best savings on What Hi-Fi? recommended products, whether that's the latest home cinema release, hi-fi separate or other AV tech.

For Prime Day, though, I didn't have to hunt very hard – we've been flooded with savings, and luckily, most of them have been rather good.

So to celebrate, I've put together a little visual collection of some of the best Prime Day deals so far from the worlds of hi-fi and home cinema.

As always, these are all deals on products that we have tested and rated ourselves, and our expert reviewers have given them at least four stars – or, in some cases, five stars and maybe even a What Hi-Fi? Award.

I'll go into detail down below, but for now, feast your eyes on these great Prime Day savings.

The LG C5 won multiple What Hi-Fi? Awards at our most recent ceremony, thanks to its excellent picture quality and incredible gaming specs. There are LG C5 deals on virtually every size, but we've highlighted the 42-inch model as it gives you an Award-winning LG OLED TV for only £623.

The Dali Oberon 5 are a bit long in the tooth now, but they're still remarkably accomplished floorstanders for anyone getting into hi-fi or working on a budget. This is the first decent discount we've seen on the speakers – our Editor-in-Chief has been waiting half a decade.

The Award-winning Hisense AX5125H gave us quite the shock when we tested it – despite its low price tag, the soundbar system produced a room-filling, sofa-shaking, exuberant sound with amazing scale and a convincing Dolby Atmos effect. Get it quick, as it was also on offer during Black Friday last year and promptly sold out.

The JBL Charge 6 is our current Product of the Year in the wireless speaker category, thanks to its expansive, detailed and clear sound from a portable design. It hasn't been this low in price since Black Friday and is the top Bluetooth speaker deal we'd recommend this Prime Day.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 may have been replaced by their successor, the XM6, but they had a long reign as one of our favourite wireless over-ear headphones and are still an excellent choice to this day – especially at this new lowest price.

If you're looking for more budget headphones, then it doesn't get much cheaper than the Earfun Air. They're only £23, and are five-star earbuds that still offer great value.

MORE:

Amazon Prime Day 2026 Live Q&A: personalised hi-fi and home cinema buying advice, direct from our experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: all the top TV, soundbar and projector deals handpicked by our home cinema experts

Prime Day 2026 Live: the best headphone, speaker and vinyl deals picked by our hi-fi experts

TVs are getting bigger, and bigger… and bigger.

Hisense and TCL have been selling 116-inch and 115-inch TVs for quite some time now – and both of those look fairly modest compa red with Samsung’s behemoth 130-inch RGB Micro LED TV, which was unveiled at CES 2026.

The sensibly sized living rooms of many British homes are simply not built for a TV of that size – and many will find a proper surround sound package to be a squeeze as well. So does that mean you simply can’t fit a home cinema system into your house?

Of course it doesn’t!

We have tested plenty of smaller TVs and soundbars with modest footprints; and what they lack in size, they make up for in performance.

In fact, I have built a complete system, which includes a 42-inch OLED TV from LG, a superb scaled-down Hisense soundbar package (which even supports Dolby Atmos), and a five-star Amazon streamer that is no bigger than your average chocolate bar.

All of these products are Award-winners and, thanks to Amazon Prime Day, they are now all hugely discounted. At launch, this set-up would have cost you £1418; thanks to some pretty astonishing Prime Day discounts, it can now be yours for just £862.

This trio of petite home-cinema gadgets strikes the three core pillars of any good home cinema setup: picture, sound, and content.

And if you are happy to use LG’s webOS software platform and don’t mind a slight decrease in picture and sound performance, you could ditch the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max entirely, saving you a further £40.

The 42-inch LG C5, a compact OLED TV, is the definition of small yet mighty. Sporting a panel that delivers inky blacks and perfect contrast with ease, the C5 is a superb choice for movies – it’s and our pick for the best gaming TV, too.

We applauded its sharp, warm and rich picture, which we felt was hugely cinematic despite the comparatively small screen size from the 55- and 65-inch sets we usually test.

Furthermore, its gaming features are second to none. With a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz – ideal for PC gamers and more than enough for console gamers – and four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets. The smaller display also makes this a solid choice for dedicated gaming rooms, and it can even be used as an oversized desktop monitor.

The only area that the C5 stumbles in is sound. OLED TVs, in our experience, often disappoint when it comes to their built-in sound systems, and it’s no surprise that a TV this small doesn’t break the mould.

That’s where the Hisense AX5125H comes in. Tongue twister of a name aside, this soundbar system delivers proper surround sound at a price as modest as its footprint. The package includes a soundbar, subwoofer and two surround speakers, all of which pair wirelessly and with very little fuss out of the box.

We were surprised by its weight, scale, and spaciousness, which (much like the C5) far exceed its size. Dolby Atmos is supported with two dedicated upward-firing drivers on the main soundbar unit, and there’s even an HDMI 2.0 passthrough socket. (Maybe Sonos could learn a thing or two.)

The LG and Hisense make a great cinematic space-saving duo – and, in truth, you could leave it there. But by adding the heavily discounted, Award-winning Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, you get a pretty big streaming upgrade.

Amazon’s top-tier Fire TV Stick delivers 4K streams with oodles of detail and natural colours, and with an extremely comprehensive selection of apps, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to content.

If you’re looking longingly at our best TV deals and best soundbar deals pages, but think that you can’t get involved with the Prime Day sales due to a lack of space, then hopefully this petite (and massively discounted) home cinema setup has changed your mind.

MORE:

Check out the best Amazon Prime Day AV deals live

As well as the best Amazon Prime Day hi-fi deals

And find the best OLED TV deals here

I love watching sport outside.

I think it's at least partly thanks to fond memories of watching football matches in pub gardens, cold beer in hand, sun on my back, perhaps a bowl of chips within arm's reach. Glorious.

These days, my pub garden visits are a little less frequent, so ahead of the World Cup I decided to try to bring the experience home. My plan was simple: set up a projector in the garden, fire up the BBQ and spend the summer watching football under the open sky.

What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

Before we begin, I should point out that while I've spent almost 20 years reviewing TVs, projectors and home cinema kit, I have exactly zero experience of building an outdoor cinema. I also approached this project with a level of wanton optimism that, in hindsight, was entirely unsupported by evidence.

Still, if nothing else, my mistakes might help you avoid making the same ones.

Mistake 1: assuming an indoor projector would work outside before dark

The first challenge was deciding what to use as a display.

The windows for three rooms of our house face the garden, which limits the available wall space. After some negotiations with my equally football-obsessed wife, it was agreed that a projector screen could temporarily be hung across the dining room windows.

A projector seemed the obvious answer. After all, I wanted the biggest image possible, and no TV I can afford stretches to 150 inches.

While a portable projector might seem the natural choice, most battery-powered models aren't especially bright and often won't last through an entire football match. Since I was going to need mains power anyway, I borrowed the Hisense M2 Pro from our review stockroom.

It's a five-star projector, it's relatively compact, and it supports both BBC iPlayer and ITVX – a surprisingly rare combination in projector land and an essential one for World Cup duty in the UK.

So far, so sensible.

Then came Friday evening. Canada versus Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kick-off at 8pm.

At around 6pm, I wheeled the projector into position using some spare sections of hi-fi rack, ran an extension cable across the garden and powered everything up.

And... nothing.

Well, not quite nothing. The projector was clearly producing light, but there was no discernible image on the screen.

I moved the projector closer.

Nothing.

Closer still.

Nothing.

Eventually, with the projector just inches from the screen, a tiny image emerged from the gloom.

At this point, I began to suspect that projecting onto a giant screen outdoors before sunset might not have been my finest idea.

To be clear, this wasn't blazing Mediterranean sunshine. It was an overcast British evening on the opposite side of the house to the sun. Yet even that proved too much for a projector rated at 1300 ANSI lumens.

The lesson? A projector that looks bright indoors can look surprisingly dim outside.

Mistake 2: buying the cheapest 150-inch screen I could find

Perhaps I should have mentioned the screen.

Wanting something easy to put up, take down and store, I ordered a portable 150-inch projector screen from Amazon for the princely sum of £36.

It had excellent reviews.

It also turned out to be little more than a stretchy white sheet with a black border.

In hindsight, perhaps "buy the cheapest giant screen available and hope for the best" wasn't the sort of rigorous testing methodology that has sustained my career for almost two decades.

The biggest problem, I think, was that the screen had no backing. I hadn't considered this when ordering, but once it was hanging in front of our dining room windows, I could immediately see the issue: light was passing straight through it.

Thankfully, the screen was at least easy to install. With the help of some included ropes, a couple of conveniently positioned hanging basket brackets and my long-suffering wife, it was up in a matter of minutes.

Unfortunately, being easy to hang is only one of the qualities you want in a projector screen.

Mistake 3: forgetting that darkness and warmth rarely arrive together in Britain

I left the projector running while I finished cremating dinner on the BBQ and hoped conditions would improve.

By the 8pm kick-off, the picture was technically watchable, but only just, so we ended up watching the first half indoors.

By half-time, though, it was a different story.

As darkness fell, the image suddenly looked pretty decent.

The projector had enough light output after all, but only when the sun stopped competing with it.

At this point, I was even able to move the M2 Pro further back, create a much larger image and enjoy a picture that was genuinely impressive considering the circumstances.

The projector automatically re-focused itself each time I moved it, too, which was very handy.

At last, I had the something approaching the outdoor football experience I'd been aiming for.

There was just one problem.

It was absolutely freezing – hence the blanket-covered child in the photo above.

After about 10 minutes, common sense prevailed and we headed back inside.

What I'd do differently

The good news is that most of the problems were self-inflicted.

For starters, I picked the wrong projector.

The Hisense M2 Pro is an excellent lifestyle projector that's plenty bright enough for indoor use. It was never designed for outdoor use, which is an entirely different challenge, and I should never have expected it to work in daylight, regardless of the overcast skies.

Clearly, something much brighter is required. Perhaps the 3500 ANSI lumen-rated BenQ TK705i or Nebula X1 Pro might fare better.

I also need a better screen. At the very least, one with a black backing to prevent light passing through it. An ambient light rejecting (ALR) screen would be better still, though those tend to cost considerably more and are often designed for permanent or semi-permanent installation, which isn't where I am with this project.

Finally, I hadn't considered comfort enough. The irony of outdoor football viewing in the UK is that the picture often improves just as the temperature drops to unpleasantly nippy levels.

So yes, this first attempt was largely a failure, and, at 10pm last night, I was ready to abandon the whole idea.

This morning, though, I found myself browsing projector screens again, and I'm already planning phase two, which will probably involve a better screen, a fire pit and the considerably brighter Nebula X1 Pro – which, handily, we currently have in for review.

If that doesn't work, I may have to accept that the answer isn't a projector at all, but an outdoor TV.

Unfortunately, outdoor TVs are eye-wateringly expensive, particularly at the sort of size I'm aiming for.

Which means there's every chance I'll end up exactly where I started: watching the World Cup indoors and wondering why I thought I knew better than the British weather.

MORE:

Here are the best outdoor projectors you can currently buy

And these are the best projectors in general

We've built an awesome playlist that features a local artist from every World Cup 2026 host city

The World Cup is now officially in full swing, and you've likely had a taster of what your home cinema set-up can do when it comes to football.

But do you wish it could do a bit better? Well, we have you covered. This week has seen plenty more TV deals, from brand new RGB mini LEDs to budget 2026 OLEDs at head-turning prices.

Not that hi-fi has been left out – we've only just reviewed the stunning five-star Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i, but they've already got a tasty discount.

So what are you waiting for? We'll go into more detail on each product below, but for now, happy shopping!

The Hisense UR9 is one of the first mainstream RGB Mini LED TVs to hit the market, and the technology delivers an impressively controlled and consistent backlight performance. Enter the code RSTV100 at checkout to save £100, and you can also claim a 40-inch QLED TV absolutely free. Ts and Cs here.

The newly reviewed Wharfedale Diamond 12.3i replaces the Award-winning 12.3 model, offering a more exciting and dramatic listen as well as greater bass authority and punch. Excellent for beginners or those on a budget, especially with £30 off.

We haven't tested the LG B6, but we were impressed when we saw it in action and we're fans of previous B-series models. For £879 you'll get a brand new 2026 OLED, with superb gaming specs and plenty of features. Use the code LG20PERCENT to get this price.

The TCL C7K is mightily impressive, offering explosive brightness, contrast and colour as well as rich gaming support. What might be most impressive, however, is that it offers this picture quality and features for under £720. The code TCL10PERCENT gets you this deal price.

We've only just reviewed the Soundcore Nebula P1, and we were particularly impressed by the clean yet punchy sound. The code WS24D2431UK will get you a £51 saving, but bear in mind you'll have to cast from your phone or use a streaming stick to get BBC iPlayer.

If you're looking for the ideal blend of quality, portability, and affordability, then the recently discounted Tribit StormBox Micro 2 is a great choice. You'll get an abundance of features and a booming sound level for only £46.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless headphones you can buy

And the best TVs for all budgets

Interested in the bigger picture? Here are the best projectors we have tested

There’s a war going on for your living room. The premium TV technology of choice of the last few years – OLED – is under attack from a new, stunningly bright and vibrant foe – RGB Mini LED.

Every major brand has either launched its first RGB Mini LED TVs or is about to. Hisense launched its first RGB Mini LED models last year, in fact, but those were gigantic, 100+ inch sets, so a long way from a serious proposition for most people.

Hisense is also the first brand to submit to us a proper, mainstream RGB Mini LED TV to review, though – the UR9.

RGB Mini LED TVs are pitched at different levels by different brands, but Hisense is absolutely pitching the UR9 as a rival to flagship OLEDs. The price confirms as much.

So, what better way to benchmark it than against our current favourite flagship OLED, the Sony Bravia 8 II.

That, then, is what we’ve done. Over several days, we’ve tested the Hisense UR9 and Sony Bravia 8 II side by side, feeding all of our favourite discs and streams into both simultaneously, and judging them on picture quality, sound quality, features, usability, design and price.

This might not be a full RGB Mini LED vs OLED battle – the Hisense UR9 doesn’t represent all RGB Mini LED TVs, after all – but it is the opening skirmish in the broader TV tech war. And it's an eye-opening one at that.

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: price

The Hisense UR9’s pricing is interesting to say the least. In the UK, the 65-inch model we tested is priced at £2999, which places it in the same price category as brand-new flagship OLEDs.

In Australia, meanwhile, the UR9’s price of AU$3999 makes it slightly more affordable by local standards.

In the US, though, the pre-launch price of $3500 had dropped vastly to just $2000 by the time the TV actually hit stores.

Things are much more straightforward with the Sony Bravia 8 II, the 65-inch version of which launched at £2999 / $4000 / AU$5295, but can now be bought for £2299 / $2798 / AU$4995.

The inconsistent international pricing of the Hisense UR9 makes it a little tricky to judge this round, but seeing as we’re a primarily UK publication, and that we reviewed a UK sample, we’re going to prioritise the UK pricing and call this it in favour of the Bravia 8 II.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: design

The Sony Bravia 8 II and Hisense UR9 are both smart-looking TVs, but they take rather different approaches to design.

Sony has essentially carried over the styling of the A95L, resulting in a TV that looks purposeful, premium and monolithic. While it lacks the ultra-thin glamour of some rival OLEDs, the Bravia 8 II still feels like a flagship product, with its clean lines and understated aesthetic giving it a suitably high-end appearance.

The feet can be installed in either a low-profile position that leaves the bottom edge of the screen sitting just millimetres above your furniture, or a raised position that creates space for a soundbar. The downside is that those feet can only be positioned at the furthest extremes of the chassis, meaning you'll need furniture that's at least as wide as the TV itself.

The Hisense UR9 is a more practical proposition. At 4.5cm thick, it's chunkier than the Sony and doesn't have quite the same premium flair, but it is solidly built and neatly finished, with slim bezels and a restrained dark metallic finish.

Hisense has also made a couple of sensible usability-focused decisions. The centrally mounted pedestal stand occupies a footprint of only around 42cm, making the TV much easier to place on narrower furniture, and it too offers two height positions so that a soundbar can be accommodated beneath the screen.

The UR9's integrated Devialet sound system is more visually obvious than Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup, with perforations running down the sides of the chassis and across the top edge to house the side- and up-firing speakers. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does contribute to the TV's more functional, engineering-led appearance.

Ultimately, neither of these TVs is likely to be bought primarily for its styling, but the Bravia 8 II's cleaner, more premium design gives it the edge. The UR9 is practical and perfectly attractive in its own right, but it lacks the sense of sophistication that Sony's flagship delivers.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: features

The biggest difference between these two TVs is, of course, their panel technologies.

The Sony Bravia 8 II uses Samsung Display's latest QD-OLED panel, paired with Sony's XR processor and a custom heatsink. Because OLED technology is self-emissive, every pixel can be controlled independently, with no need for local dimming zones.

Sony doesn't publish specific brightness figures for its TVs, but the Bravia 8 II is estimated to hit around 1900 nits in small highlights, making it one of the brightest OLED TVs currently available.

The Hisense UR9, meanwhile, uses an RGB Mini LED backlight with 980 local dimming zones. Rather than relying on a conventional white backlight shining through colour filters, it uses separate red, green and blue Mini LEDs to generate colour directly. Hisense claims a peak brightness of up to 3500 nits for the 65-inch model we tested.

On paper, then, these TVs take radically different approaches to creating their images. We're not going to award points for one technology over the other here, though, because what ultimately matters is how those technologies perform in practice. We'll get to that in the picture quality section.

There are other differences in the feature sets of the two TVs worth highlighting, though.

Hardcore gamers are generally better served by the Hisense. All three of its HDMI sockets are full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, with support for 4K/170Hz, 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It also features a DisplayPort connection, which remains extremely rare on TVs and could prove useful for committed PC gamers.

The Sony supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, too, but still offers only two HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as the eARC connection. That limitation remains one of our biggest frustrations with Sony's flagship TVs.

That said, we'd probably take the Sony's two HDMI 2.1 sockets and two additional standard HDMI inputs over the Hisense's three HDMI sockets and DisplayPort arrangement. The latter will be useful to a niche audience, but many buyers are more likely to benefit from having an extra ‘standard’ HDMI connection available.

HDR support favours the Hisense, though. The UR9 supports every major HDR format currently in use, including HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. The Bravia 8 II supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but, as is customary for Sony TVs, HDR10+ is absent.

The Bravia 8 II fights back with Google TV, which remains one of the stronger smart TV platforms available and features excellent app support. The UR9's VIDAA operating system is fast and responsive, but there are some notable omissions.

Most significantly, while the Apple TV app is present, it lacks access to the Apple TV Store and users' purchased libraries. That's a genuine disappointment, as Apple's movie store remains the best pay-as-you-go film streaming service available, particularly for 4K HDR movies.

Sony also offers IMAX Enhanced certification, its Studio Calibrated Modes for services such as Netflix and Prime Video, and Sony Pictures Core integration.

Ultimately, neither TV completely dominates on features, but the Hisense's broader HDR support, extra HDMI 2.1 socket and more advanced gaming specification give it the edge overall.

WINNER: Hisense UR9

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: picture quality

This is, of course, the section that really matters.

The Hisense UR9 makes an immediately strong impression. Once switched into either Filmmaker Mode or IMAX Cinema, it produces a rich, vibrant and remarkably composed image that rarely behaves like a traditional backlit TV.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the UR9 is how well controlled its RGB Mini LED backlight is. Throughout our testing, blooming is kept impressively in check, black levels are consistently strong and the TV almost entirely avoids the brightness pumping, flickering and shifting backlight behaviour that often gives Mini LED technology away.

Extra-bright HDR content is a particular strength. Movies such as Pan look spectacular on the UR9, with dazzling highlights and bold colours that comfortably outgun the Bravia 8 II for outright brightness. Sunlight bursting through clouds and glinting off fantasy scenery is delivered with real punch and intensity.

The UR9 is also a very accomplished motion performer, and it combines its brightness with rich colours, excellent shadow detail and a pleasingly cinematic warmth that stops the image from ever becoming gaudy or overblown.

In isolation, it's one of the best backlit TVs we have ever tested.

Direct comparison with the Bravia 8 II reveals why OLED remains the reference technology, though – at least for now.

Despite its impressive brightness and excellent local dimming, the Hisense simply can't match the Sony's pixel-level contrast control. Counterintuitively, some of the brightest highlights against the darkest backgrounds actually appear more impactful on the Bravia 8 II than on the much brighter Hisense, because the OLED can render them without any concern about blooming.

More significantly, the Sony produces a more solid and perceptually three-dimensional image. Objects and characters stand out from their surroundings with greater depth and dynamism, while subtle gradations within shadows, clouds and highlights appear more convincing and refined.

We've observed this extra solidity from OLED many times before, but the side-by-side comparison between these two TVs demonstrates it particularly clearly. Next to the Bravia 8 II, the UR9 simply looks a little flatter and less immersive.

The Sony also has the advantage when it comes to viewing angles. While the Hisense holds up better than many LCD-based rivals, the sweet spot in which it performs at its very best is still relatively narrow. Thanks to its OLED panel, the Bravia 8 II performs consistently from almost any angle.

And while blooming is rare on the UR9, it isn't entirely absent. Difficult scenes such as the bomb-test sequence in Oppenheimer or the opening starfield of Alien: Romulus reveal imperfections that even this highly accomplished RGB Mini LED set cannot completely escape.

The Bravia 8 II, meanwhile, is simply sensational. Its combination of dazzling brightness by OLED standards, vibrant colours, exceptional shadow detail and razor-sharp definition creates an image of astonishing depth and realism.

What impresses most isn't any single strength, but how naturally all of its strengths come together. The Bravia 8 II consistently delivers a picture that feels balanced, authentic and effortlessly cinematic, whether you're watching a pristine 4K Dolby Vision disc or a much more humble SDR stream.

The Hisense UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED can get surprisingly close to flagship OLED performance, and many viewers will adore its combination of brightness, richness and stability. But when viewed side by side, the Bravia 8 II remains the more complete and convincing picture performer.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: sound quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Hisense UR9 are unusually sonically accomplished by modern TV standards.

That's important, because while we always recommend pairing a premium TV with a dedicated sound system, for many buyers that’s either impractical or unpalatable.

The Hisense UR9 certainly doesn't disappoint. Its Devialet-tuned 4.1.2-channel sound system delivers a presentation that is impressively spacious and full-bodied, with particularly convincing width and height effects.

Dolby Atmos soundtracks benefit from a strong sense of scale, while bass is deeper and more substantial than most flatscreen TVs can manage. The overall character is smooth, rich and easy to listen to over extended viewing sessions.

The UR9's audio system isn't flawless, though. Dynamics can feel a little restrained during big action sequences, and dialogue doesn't always have the clarity and expressiveness we'd ideally like.

We also found ourselves preferring the Standard sound mode over the more expansive Theatre setting. While Theatre mode undoubtedly sounds bigger, it can introduce a slightly diffuse and faintly echoey quality to voices that makes dialogue seem less natural than it should.

The Sony Bravia 8 II takes a very different approach. Rather than relying on conventional speaker placement, its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system uses actuators to vibrate the screen itself, effectively turning the display into a speaker.

The result is one of the most cohesive and convincing audio performances we've heard from a TV.

Dialogue and effects are tied directly to the action on screen in a way that traditional TV speaker systems struggle to replicate, creating a stronger sense that sound is genuinely coming from the people and objects you're watching.

Like the Hisense, the Sony also sounds surprisingly spacious, with effects extending well beyond the edges of the screen. Detail levels are excellent, too, and the Bravia 8 II combines subtle dynamic nuance with enough punch to make action scenes engaging and exciting.

Bass depth isn't as generous as it is from the Hisense, but it's impressively controlled, and the overall tonal balance is exceptionally well judged.

Ultimately, these are two of the best-sounding TVs you can currently buy. The Hisense delivers scale, warmth and impressive Atmos effects, but the Sony's superior detail, greater dynamic expression and uniquely direct delivery give it the edge.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Hisense UR9 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: verdict

The Hisense UR9 is a hugely important TV.

Not only is it the first mainstream RGB Mini LED TV we've fully reviewed, it's also the first serious attempt to take on flagship OLEDs with a fundamentally different display technology.

And the good news for RGB Mini LED fans is that, in some ways at least, it succeeds.

The UR9 is bright, vibrant and impressively refined. More importantly, it avoids many of the traditional pitfalls of backlit TVs, with excellent black levels, impressively restrained blooming and a consistency that often feels surprisingly OLED-like.

In several respects, it's one of the best backlit TVs we've ever tested.

But while the UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED is a genuinely exciting technology with enormous potential, it also demonstrates just how high the bar currently is at the top end of the OLED market.

Ultimately, picture quality remains the most important factor in any TV buying decision, and it's here that the Sony Bravia 8 II retains a clear advantage. The Hisense has the stronger gaming specification, broader HDR support and spectacular brightness, but the Sony's superior contrast control, greater three-dimensionality and more natural, cinematic image make it the more accomplished performer overall.

This isn't a verdict on RGB Mini LED versus OLED as technologies, and it certainly isn't the last battle in what is shaping up to be one of the most interesting periods in TV tech for years.

Instead, it’s the verdict on the very best OLED TV currently available versus the first mainstream RGB Mini LED model. And while the Hisense UR9 proves that RGB Mini LED is ready to compete with the very best, the Sony Bravia 8 II remains the TV to beat.

OVERALL WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

The World Cup has long been the ideal excuse to upgrade your TV.

And it could also be a great opportunity to try some brand new technology. The Hisense UR9 is the first TV we have tested that uses the much-hyped RGB Mini LED panel tech, which uses red, green and blue Mini LEDs in the backlight for greater brightness and more precise colour reproduction.

And guess what? The 65-inch model is seeing its first discount – it’s now £2899 at Richer Sounds.

Enter the code RSTV100 at checkout and you’ll save £100 off the listed price.

And that's not all. Buy the UR9, and you also get a free 40-inch QLED TV!

Hisense has not named what model this would be, but you will be able to claim your free TV from the 21st August. Terms and conditions can be found here.

Any doubts about RGB Mini LED were pretty quickly dispelled once we had the Hisense UR9 in for testing.

The result was one of the best backlight TVs we have tested, with none of the flickering or shifting that we sometimes see in Mini LED sets.

“Black depth is consistently strong, shadow detail is excellent and subtle blooming is tightly controlled,” our Hisense UR9 review reads. “There’s also impressive richness and stability to colours, especially reds, which look wonderfully pure and saturated without drifting into pink or magenta tones.”

Gamers have three HDMI 2.1 ports to use, with support for a whopping 4K/170Hz (including the console-friendly 4K/120Hz), VRR and ALLM. There is also a DisplayPort connection for PC gamers, a rarity in modern TVs.

All four HDR formats are supported – namely HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and HLG. This includes the Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive variants, which cleverly respond to ambient room lighting conditions.

Hisense’s VIDAA platform is on board too, which is fast, responsive and includes all the major apps, though do note that the Apple TV app lacks access to the Apple TV store.

Sound is provided by a Devialet-tuned 4.1.2-channel speaker system with dedicated up-firing drivers, plus support for both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. There is a lot to enjoy here, with a surprisingly expansive and full-bodied presentation with ample bass depth and a smooth, rich sonic character.

With Hisense leading the RGB Mini LED charge and also sponsoring the World Cup, now would certainly be a good time to invest in one of its pioneering TVs. With the Hisense UR9, you can now get your hands on some innovative new technology with £100 off at Richer Sounds.

MORE:

Also consider the Sony Bravia 8 II, LG G6 and Sony Bravia 9

Here are all of the best TVs you can buy right now

The World Cup kicks off in less than a week, and we bet that plenty of people are making some last-minute upgrades to their set-ups, including splurging on a new TV.

TV shipments are up six per cent year on year, according to global technology market research firm Omdia, and while we hope that everyone buying a new set is consulting our carefully curated list of the best TVs, the likelihood is that there is a fair amount of impulse purchasing happening.

We don’t judge here, and we understand that many people will walk into a shop and pick the biggest and cheapest 4K TV that you can get, but we urge you to take stock before swiping your card and calling it a day.

The World Cup is running for just over a month, but your TV will last a whole lot longer; maybe not for life, but multiple TV manufacturers tell us that the average person replaces their TV every seven years.

With that in mind, I have devised a simple three-question system that anyone primed to make an impulse purchase this weekend should ask themselves.

Question 1: is this TV good value?

A cheap 4K TV is one thing; a good value 4K TV is something else completely.

Yes, we are seeing the likes of Hisense and TCL line shelves with super-affordable 4K sets, and some of them are truly great TVs – take the Award-winning, sub-£400 TCL C6KS, for example. But some of these super cheap sets can cut corners.

Panel technology becomes more basic at this level. That’s fine for those who want to catch the game, but for cinephiles who appreciate films as much as they do footy, you might want to consider looking up towards the mid-range Mini LED models at least.

Picture processing also tends to be more pared back at this level, too. Motion and upscaling are two processing factors to be mindful of – the former to accommodate fast-moving players springing across the pitch, while the latter can deal with sharpening up standard-resolution feeds from terrestrial broadcast channels.

Gaming specification also takes a hit here, with very few TVs at this level offering HDMI 2.1 support. While they are not entirely barebones, you can expect to miss out on high-framerate console gaming at 4K, and some budget 4K sets sport fewer HDMI sockets overall.

While opting for an affordable 4K set is by no means a bad decision, you also have to remember that you will be using this TV for plenty of years to come, so future-proofing is always advisable.

If you’re looking for TVs that tread the line of cheap and good value, you should check out our list of the best cheap TVs for some inspiration.

Question 2: will it stand the test of time?

Nearly every TV we see these days features a smart platform. Google TV is used by TCL and Philips, Tizen OS is featured on Samsung, webOS is on LG TVs, and Hisense uses its Vidaa platform on its sets.

Not all operating systems are made equal, and updates and app support can vary greatly between brands. While we are seeing decent coverage of the major streaming apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, we have seen some worrying gaps.

BBC iPlayer, for example, is missing on Philips’s current suite of TVs, which is quite an issue when we take into account that a considerable number of World Cup matches will be streamed free on BBC iPlayer.

Longevity is also, once again, something to be mindful of. Notably, Samsung and LG have both committed to supporting their respective TVs with seven years of software support.

If you want a TV that lasts, and you rely on built-in streaming apps, then we recommend going for a TV from one of these brands, or instead investing in an external streaming device.

Question 3: am I leaving room in my budget for a soundbar?

Our advice to anyone buying a new TV is to budget for a soundbar to pair with it.

TV sound, unless you’re looking at the upper-echelon of OLED TVs that feature speaker systems tuned by notable hi-fi brands, is almost always a let down.

And if you’re preparing to listen to commentators for hours on end, the last thing you want is a built-in sound system that is thin, tinny, and fatiguing on the ears.

A good soundbar doesn’t have to cost the Earth. Take the Sony HT-SF150, which delivers a solid cinematic sound experience for less than £100; or the Award-winning Hisense AX5125H, which includes Dolby Atmos support, surround speakers and a subwoofer for under £200.

While a good sound system will undoubtedly give you a more authentic experience during the matches (think of audiences chanting and cheering), you will also find a range of benefits, including a better audio experience when it comes to music and movies.

MORE:

Here are the ultimate World Cup tech deals

Check out our picks for the best budget soundbars

As well as the best OLED TVs

The FIFA World Cup is fast approaching on the 11 June, and that means the football fans among you are likely looking for the best way to experience one of the biggest sports events of the year.

If you are hunting for a way to watch the first kick on the big screen, then you may have considered a portable or coffee table projector. Both categories have the advantage of being compact enough to carry from room to room easily, all while boasting a larger screen size than the average TV. The only difference is that a portable projector features a built-in battery, whereas a coffee table model does not.

But which projector is the best choice for you? We have hand-picked three projector models that cater to slightly different needs, so there is something for everyone.

Whether it's portability or picture quality at the forefront of your mind, we have got you covered.

Best cheap

It’s fair to say that when we first had the Wanbo Vali 1 in our test room, we were not expecting greatness from the affordable model. That’s because it launched at a jaw-droppingly low price (£270 / $279 / AU$499) and is available even cheaper right now in the UK at Amazon for £229.

Despite its low cost, the Wanbo model exceeded our expectations. It’s not the perfect projector, but it delivers a natural and enjoyable picture.

We say in our review that, when watching Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes: “During the opening minutes, as our ape protagonists swing through the green undergrowth and out into the open trees, the projector portrays a surprisingly balanced image that neither jumps out as overly vibrant nor dull.”

The built-in speakers are not quite as impressive, but they still deliver clear dialogue. For the World Cup commentary and crowd atmosphere, we recommend using a separate speaker for the best experience.

You can tilt the body up to 200 degrees, so the image can be projected onto a screen, ceiling or the wall (we strongly recommend investing in a screen to get the best picture quality from the hardware). It offers a maximum screen size of 180 inches as well.

There is no built-in battery on board, so you will need to have access to the mains. In terms of streaming, it comes with Android TV built-in (more on that later). The projector itself is easy to carry around, weighing about 2.8kg. It also sports a white, rounded body and large single lens which makes for a practical-looking design.

If you are looking for a projector to deliver a big-screen experience on a budget, the Wanbo Vali 1 is a great option.

Best portable

For those looking to take their viewing experience on the go, the Xgimi MoGo 4 offers a portable design that is also worth your time.

It comes with a built-in battery and claims to offer up to 2.5 hours of battery life. That figure is only applicable for Eco mode, which reduces the picture’s brightness, so it is not ideal for outdoor viewing.

That means it offers a fair bit of wire-free usability without being connected to the mains. You can project an image up to 120 inches without warping the picture, and auto-keystone and auto-focus features make for easy set-up.

In terms of design, the Xgimi projector is incredibly compact. It measures 21 x 10 x 10cm (hwd), which is about the same as a large water bottle. That makes it easy to pop into a bag if you are on the move. Google TV comes built-in, and getting the projector up and running takes a matter of minutes.

There is a small remote that hangs off the body of the projector so that you don’t have to keep track of multiple components. This remote keeps things extremely minimal with just controls for volume, a D-pad to navigate the menu and a back button. You can also use the more comprehensive separate remote which offers more navigation features.

While it is more expensive than the Wanbo model, the MoGo 4 is still a budget-friendly projector, coming in at £509 / $499.

But how does it actually perform? When we had it in our test room, the Xgimi MoGo 4 offered a sharp and punchy picture. While its vibrancy can be a little heavy-handed at times and motion can appear smeary, the overall image is easy to watch and keeps a fairly natural balance.

Best entry-level 4K

If your budget can stretch a bit wider, then there’s an Award-winning 4K projector model that is ideal for your sports needs. Enter the Hisense M2 Pro, which scored a five-star review when we had it in our test room.

It is currently available for £899 / $1299, which is a fair bit more expensive than the above models. But that is justified by its 4K resolution (via pixel shifting) and more premium-feeling design.

The M2 Pro sports a silver box-shaped body with a spherical glass lens at its front and speakers at its sides. A hinged stand is bolted to its bottom, which makes it easy to adjust the angle of the image. There's also a common thread adapter in the base, which opens up the possibility of mounting the projector to the ceiling.

As with the Xgimi model, you will find Google TV built in to give you access to a selection of streaming services. You can push the screen up to 200 inches, and auto-keystone and auto-focus are available.

In terms of its picture performance, we call it "one of the best performers we’ve seen in its class" in our review. That is thanks to its sharp image, warm skin tones and well-handled dark detail.

Its 2.0 in-built speaker system offers enough clarity and separation to keep voices and background noise separate enough for comfortable viewing, but loses composure with more intense, busy audio.

Despite this, the Hisense is a brilliant 4K projector that takes both movies and sports matches to the next level.

The streaming conundrum

While all of the projectors on this list (and the majority of those in the portable or coffee table market) come with a smart platform built-in, there are some extra considerations that must be made when it comes to watching the World Cup.

In the UK, all of the matches will be split between BBC iPlayer and ITVX. If you are looking for 4K coverage, the BBC says it will be selected matches in UHD but we don't know exactly how many that will entail.

If you are based in the US, you can watch platforms such as Fox Sports and YouTube TV.

Each streaming platform has slightly different offerings when it comes to native app support. Google TV, for instance, tends not to include BBC iPlayer, but ITVX is usually available. This differs with individual models, but it has been our experience with the models on this list.

Luckily, there are ways to get around this, such as casting from your phone or laptop. This will let you watch the content on the big screen, but it comes with its own issues, such as high latency. That means you could hear the screams or groans of your neighbours before you see the ball hit the back of the net.

Another option is to use a streaming stick with support for the missing apps. Our best budget recommendation currently goes to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Generation), which offers a wide range of streaming support, including ITVX and BBC iPlayer. You can currently snag the streamer for £70 at Argos in the UK.

There is the even cheaper Amazon Fire Stick HD which retails at £40 at Amazon, but we have yet to review this. If its performance is anything like its more premium sibling, however, then it has the potential to be a worthy choice.

MORE:

These are the best projectors on the market

Check out the best streaming devices

Here is our review of the Hisense M2 Pro

As always, the Memorial Day sales have started early, and deals are already bursting onto the scene at several retailers.

If you're planning a BBQ for the big day, we've found some excellent deals on some of the best Bluetooth speakers, capable of lighting up any garden party.

We've also included some great wireless headphones to keep you entertained if you're travelling, exercising or just out and about.

If you're preparing to stay in for a summer of sport, especially with the US hosting the FIFA World Cup, then there's no shortage of deals on big, bright, five-star TVs and expansive soundbars.

Check out the deals below!

If you're after a new TV for the soccer, then the LG C5 is one of our top recommendations. This OLED TV won a What Hi-Fi? Award for its punchy, crisp image and excellent contrast, and is now available with some heavy discounts.

The Fire TV Stick is a sales staple, and this latest 4K Max model is Amazon's best yet. Fuss-free, effective and with support for all HDR formats, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd generation) is an easy recommendation.

The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 Bluetooth speaker may be tiny, but the sound makes a big impact. Perfect for a Memorial Day BBQ, the Micro 2 is highly portable and IP67-rated waterproof and dustproof.

The Sonos Beam (Gen 2) remains the best Dolby Atmos soundbar at its price, and produces an impressively spacious movie sound that works just as well with music. An affordable, all-in-one device perfect for summer sports and beyond.

The 1000x series has been Sony's flagship wireless series for a decade, and the Sony WH-1000XM6 are our top overall recommendation for the best headphones thanks to their exceptional insight, great sense of dynamism, and superb ANC.

If you're after a large budget TV, then the TCL QM7K (also known as the TCL C7K) is our top choice. With 1008 dimming zones and expansive Quantum Dot colour, the TCL QM7K offers explosive brightness and contrast and is superb value even at full price.

If you're after noise-cancellation in your wireless earbuds, then the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) are for you. They deliver the brand's typically excellent noise-cancelling, plus a punchy, full-bodied sound, and secure, comfortable fit which makes them excellent all-rounders.

If you want impressive sound and awesome portability from your next Bluetooth speaker, then the JBL Flip 7 is more than up to the task. Its IP68-rated build should survive any environment you use it in, and it's still nicely portable thanks to its burrito-like shape and carabiner clip. The Flip 7 also offers superb clarity and sonic precision, and punchy bass for its size.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

And the best OLED TVs for all budgets

Interested in vinyl? Here are the best turntables we have tested

“OLED killer” is a phrase we’ve heard many times before. That's why, when we first saw RGB Mini LED at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we took most of the boasts to that effect with a minor pinch of salt.

After all, for serious movie fans with deep pockets, OLED has been the TV panel tech of choice for nearly a decade despite the sea of “killers” squaring up to it. If you’ve checked our yearly list of What Hi-Fi? Awards winners in the TV category, there’s no denying OLED's dominance in the upper echelons of the market.

But, with our first set with the tech, the Hisense UR9, reviewed and rigorously tested against key rivals, including the Product of the Year-winning Sony Bravia 8 II, we can confirm our scepticism wasn’t entirely merited – and there is a lot to like about the hardware.

RGB Mini LED is an evolution of the base Mini LED tech we’ve seen for a while now. The key change is that the new panel creates colours using independent diodes made up of individual red, green and blue LEDs that feed directly into an optical lens behind the LCD panel.

Traditionally, Mini LEDs have done this by passing blue light through a QDEF (Quantum Dot Enhancement Film) sitting between the backlight and LED panel.

Companies, including Hisense, claim the new approach will let TVs offer improved colour accuracy, wider gamut coverage, higher brightness (resulting in improved contrast) and more.

And we definitely noticed improvements in all these areas, using the UR9, especially when playing bright HDR content.

“Extra-bright HDR material suits the UR9 especially well, too. Pan looks spectacular here, with dazzling highlights and bold, vibrant colours that comfortably outgun the Sony Bravia 8 II for outright brightness in many scenes. Sunlight bursting through clouds and glinting off the fantasy scenery of Neverland is delivered with real punch and intensity," wrote TV and AV editor Tom Parsons in our UR9 review.

“Crucially, though, the UR9 generally achieves this brightness without sacrificing balance. Skin tones remain natural, and there’s a pleasing cinematic warmth to the image – and it doesn’t drift into gaudiness.”

But, we're still not ready to call time on OLED's dominance, and the reason is a simple argument we've made before. Despite all its perks, the UR9 still can’t match a top tier OLED’s pixel-level light control.

It’s this ability to control every individual pixel, creating perfect blacks, and a holistically more three-dimensional experience, that still gives OLED its edge, and as Tom said prior to me writing this article, “I don’t see any way that a backlit TV will ever match OLED in those regards.”

And because of that, the team and I all have one question: Is RGB Mini LED’s place really at the top end of the market?

From what we’ve seen so far, it may be that its sweet spot is actually just below OLED, in the upper mid-range.

This was the case with Mini LED sets, such as last year’s Award-winning TCL C7K. Though the TV couldn't match a good OLED on pure picture quality, it proved a performance-per-pound/dollar champion and the best set you could get under £1000 thanks to its competitive pricing.

And we’re not alone with this thought. There are already several companies viewing RGB Mini LED the same way.

Philips Senior Director of Product Strategy, Danny Tack, openly told us OLED is better from a pure performance perspective when we asked where the firm’s new RGB Mini LED sets will sit in its 2026 range, at a press event earlier this year.

TCL, though it has high hopes for the tech, seems to have a similar feeling, already pitching its even more premium, but still backlit, SQD-Mini LED as being superior to RGB Mini LED.

Yes, we’ve only reviewed one RGB Mini LED TV so far. And yes, we’ll be happy to be proven wrong if a better set with it appears. We always advocate the best real-world performer in our advice and are hardware agnostic, after all.

But for now, it looks like OLED’s time in the sun is far from setting, at least in the premium end of the TV market.

MORE:

These are the best Mini LED TVs we’ve tested

Our picks of the best OLED TVs money can buy

We rank the best TVs

It's official: we're entering summer festival season – even if the UK weather hasn't quite realised it yet.

And while there's no Glastonbury this year, there are still plenty of options to enjoy, whether you're heading to the iconic Isle of Wight Festival, Reading and Leeds or one of the other many music celebrations across the country.

Or maybe you're looking to enjoy the festival vibes from the comfort of your own home? We've got some outdoor projectors perfect for creating your own mini festival in your garden, as well as some of our favourite sound systems and Bluetooth speakers to enjoy the tunes in the best quality possible.

Either way, these are all products that we've tried and tested ourselves, and all come with the seal of approval from our expert reviews team. If you're not lucky enough to go to a festival this year, these What Hi-Fi? favourites will at least make it feel like you're actually there.