Hisense XT 880 UHD and XT900 Series U-LED Televisions Preview

Hisense boasts that it is the world’s fifth-largest LCD television manufacturer. That's actually pretty good, in the global market, even though most consumers have never heard of the brand here in the US. Today the company tried to turn that around by unveiling its new flagship television range, the Ultra-LED (or U-LED) XT900. The TVs are available in 65", 84" and an eye-popping 110" sizes and offer the ultimate in picture quality with pixel-busting 3840 x 2160 resolution panels. That's true 4K and four times the resolution of standard HDTV. The TVs also don't lack in the rest of the expected features you'd want in a top-of-the-line television, including WiFi-enabled Smart TV features, active shutter 3D technology, 120Hz panels, and precise local dimming.

The new XT900 also comes with a USB-mounted detachable camera, so as Skype calling is possible, as is the built-in gesture control and facial recognition functionality (much like Samsung is positioning in its new Smart TVs. The ergonomically designed remote control also houses a microphone, so users can control many of the television’s functions with select voice commands.

The XT900 certainly has the feature-set to be called a flagship product, the real question will be distribution: will Hisense have it in sufficient quantity to make a significant dent in the US market? We certainly hope they can make some headroom as the competition will be welcome.

If flagship isn't in your budget. the Hisense also showed off its full lineup of XT880 series Ultra High Definition (UHD) televisions. These sets are specifically targeted to bring 4K UHDTV technology into a more affordable area for consumers. On top of that, the XT880 series of 3D and WiFi-enabled Smart TVs will be available in 50-, 58- and 65-inch sizes.

Pricing and retail distribution for the XT880 and XT900 series of televisions has not yet been announced. For more information about Hisense USA products, visit www.hisense-usa.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.