We’re running 2026’s “OLED killer” head-to-head with the best TV our editor has ever tested

Hisense UR9 TV on stand — (Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

This week, after over a year of waiting, we finally have a key bit of home cinema hardware in our viewing rooms, ready for testing.

Specifically, we’ve got the Hisense UR9, and are going to start our gruelling comparative testing process in mere hours.

Why’s that a big deal?

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But, if you still don't get why we’re making such a big deal about the UR9, it's pretty simple This is the first TV we’ve got in for testing featuring RGB Mini LED panel technology.

In fact, the companies betting on the tech are so confident that the words “OLED-killer” have been muttered numerous times at the various demos we’ve had. This includes our look at Sony’s latest prototype last month.

And with the UR9 costing the same as a flagship OLED, it’s clear Hisense really thinks it can go toe-to-toe with our current top dog for picture quality in the TV market. But, will it actually deliver in the real world? After all, we heard the same inflated boasts about base Mini LED when it first came out many moons ago.

We’re going to find out, as we’re set to run it head-to-head with our current Product of the Year winner in the What Hi-Fi? Awards TV category, the Sony Bravia 8 II – a set our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, openly described as “the best OLED he’s ever tested” when we reviewed it.

We’ll be doing all our standard checks to see if the new, ultimately still backlit, Hisense can actually deliver a five-star OLED-beating performance, using our ever-expanding suite of test discs to check everything from peak brightness and black level to colour accuracy.

But, as ever, we want to get you, our awesome cinephile readers, involved. Do you have any questions about the UR9 or RGB Mini LED in general? Let us know in the comments section of this page, and we’ll endeavour to answer them while we have the set in our viewing rooms.

These are the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed

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Alastair is What Hi-Fi?’s editor in chief. He has well over a decade’s experience as a journalist working in both B2C and B2B press. During this time he’s covered everything from the launch of the first Amazon Echo to government cyber security policy. Prior to joining What Hi-Fi? he served as Trusted Reviews’ editor-in-chief. Outside of tech, he has a Masters from King’s College London in Ethics and the Philosophy of Religion, is an enthusiastic, but untalented, guitar player and runs a webcomic in his spare time.

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