Hisense PX4 Pro 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