I am no stranger to Hisense’s ultra-short throw laser TVs. I have covered multiple systems in the past several years which have come with various enhancements over the rest. Each year, Hisense improves its laser TV tech with new features and the latest Hisense 90L5H device comes with some new perks too. However, the biggest factor to consider with this new model is its 90-inch panel which makes it a lot more affordable than previous models. This 90-inch laser TV will set you back R34,999.
Watch the Hisense 90-inch 4K Laser TV 90L5H review below
The real raw truth of the matter here is that for R35,000 you can’t get a 90-inch TV so this laser TV is a fantastic option for those looking at larger entertainment solutions. It comes with the most modern-day features you would expect from a laser TV including 4K, HDR 10 and Dolby Vision as well as a built-in 30W speaker system that comprises of 2 15W speakers. It also comes with ALLM for gaming.
On the gaming front, Hisense has also brushed up on some of its motion tools to lower the response rate of the TV while also increasing the overall smoothness of gaming.
If you haven’t seen an ultra-short throw laser TV before, you need to know exactly what this tech is about. When you purchase a unit, it essentially comes with two items. You get the tech box itself that packs the X-Fusion Laser and all the speakers and ports. You then also get a 90-inch Ambient Light Rejection Screen where the laser shoots the image to.
Hisense arranged all the delivery and set up of this 90L5H for me. The team at Blingstallation came through to install the unit which revolved around assembling the screen, drilling some holes into the wall, mounting the panel and aligning the laser TV underneath it.
The real work behind the setup of this TV is really the screen assembly and drilling. Calibrating the laser TV unit to the screen is fairly simple and anyone can do it. It revolves around aligning the image from the unit to the corners of the screen. This can be done manually by dragging the points on the screen with the remote or via a smartphone. However, I have always found the smartphone method to be a bit buggy and if anything, take way more time than needed.
Once set up, the Hisense 90L5H is quite an attention seeker. Its giant screen is definitely a striking feature to have in your home. Everyone that came to visit me during my review period was impressed by this large cinema-sized display on my wall. Sure, you get bigger laser screens from Hisense out there but somehow, this 90-inch panel was a great middle-ground for the experience. A 90-inch panel also works great for large rooms as it has a recommended viewing distance of 3.5 meters. So you can position your life around it without worrying about losing image quality.
From the tech point of view, the Hisense 90L5H. of course, uses a different approach to its image than traditional TVs. Instead of the backlight of the TV powering the experience, this TV uses what Hisense calls an X-Fusion laser to project the image onto the screen. Technically, it is a projector and not a TV but Hisense says the features on offer here such as ALLM, 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision align this device more with a TV than other projectors and that’s why the company calls it a TV.
The definition of a TV is an electronic system of transmitting images and sound over a wire or through space by devices that change light and sound into electrical waves and then change these back into light and sound. Everything there is exactly what the Hisense 90L5H does so it warrants its TV tag.
Other TV features include 2 HDMI ports certified at 4K 60Hz, optical audio out, ethernet, 2 USB ports. Hisense calls the one HDMI port an Ultra High-Speed port but in fact, it is just an HDMI 2.0 port with eARC support. This means there’s no 4K120Hz on this unit at all. I am yet to test a Hisense laser TV with 4K 120Hz but hopefully, it will come soon.
All of this is packed into a device which sits on the TV stand quite nicely. The box includes some adjustable feet which help with the alignment of the image. The speakers are found at the front and you can slightly see them through the mesh.
The entire front unit is 531 x 117 x 335 mm and it weighs 7.7Kgs. The general design is nice. I wouldn’t say it is as fancy as the Hisense L9G that I reviews last year. That model had a stunning starlight finish on the box which looked extra premium. This unit is nice, don’t get me wrong. It also uses Hisense VIDAA OS and I do enjoy how fluid the system feels to get around. Apps launch quickly, stay running in the background for long and things just work. Hisense has yet to roll out Disney+ on VIDAA yet. The company said it would arrive in mid-2022 and that is likely the only app missing from the service at this point.
The X-Fusion Laser tech is able to produce a native 3840 x 2160 image. The lens measures up to 2,100 lumens but it is hard to compare that to the nits of a TV. That’s because nits are measured by the total light emitting from a source whereas this short-throw projector shoots light from its lens onto the screen. I would say that this laser TV is as bright as you would expect a 500 nits TV to be. In a light room, you can still see what’s happening on the panel when you’re within the viewing angles.
The Ambient Light Rejection Screen goes a long way to dispel backlighting in the room too. So if you have a back-facing window, the matte finish on the screen will reduce the amount of glow it causes on the panel.
Testing out a Hisense Laser TV is a little different from other TVs I review. There’s no real way to measure the nits, you can test dimming zones, black uniformity and colour accuracy. That’s because the source once again shoots the image onto the screen. However, I can tell you that the Hisense 90L5H does a decent job delivering entertainment across the board.
Watching HDR videos on Netflix resulted in vibrant images shown as crisp as possible. Hisense’s Pure Color tech delivers accurate colour that looks great. This is elevated by the 3000:1 contrast ratio which delivered rich black detail without the image quality getting washed out. Even streaming DStv’s shoddy 720p content on the app, looked great. The upscaling methods work well here.
When it comes to gaming, the Hisense 90L5H is able to produce a one-of-a-kind experience. To play LEGO 2K Drive and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom on a 90-inch display is unworldly. Every game I threw at the TV looked good. The input lag was also incredibly low. I measured 28.5ms on 4K 60Hz games which were decent too. There’s no 120Hz on this unit so gaming is limited to 60Hz which is also okay. There are still very few games out there that really take advantage of 120Hz properly.
The viewing angles on the Hisense 90L5H were good. There’s definitely a loss of quality on the image when you’re sitting to the side of the screen. Anything past 50 degrees starts to look washed. I could still see what was on the TV at the time but the colour and brightness is diminished. You’ll want to try and set this up as central to your couch setup as possible.
The more dramatic angles to the side, say around the 70-degree mark, get quite nasty to look at. Not only is the image quality quite bad but you also see the reflection from the laser unit which causes even more problems. So 45 degrees is the sweet spot here. Again, this is similar to other TVs on the market anyway.
The sound system in the Hisense 90L5H was also good. By no stretch of the imagination does this 2 15W speaker system produce Dolby Atmos but I did find the sound to be ample enough to enjoy movies and games. I have found myself using my sound system less and less now with loadshedding due to the amount of power it uses. So the speakers in the unit here offered enough punch to enjoy the explosions in Dune and the gunfire in The Division 2. Of course, if you want surround sound and all the great listening features, you’ll want to stick to your other systems.
Lastly, I wanted to test this out on loadshedding to see just how much power this unit consumes. Given our current state of blackouts in SA, it is nice to see that the Hisense laser TV is quite adaptable for loadshedding. When in use, the unit consumed 235W of power. This was with the backlight on max. Lowering the backlight to a minimum reduced this wattage to 130W. On my EcoFlow Delta 2, max backlight use would see the unit last for four hours. With the backlight set to low, this was pushed to 6 hours.
There’s no real way to extend this further due to the laser unit always using the same brightness. Even on black images, the unit would still use the same energy to produce the image.
So is the Hisense 90L5H good? Well considering this only costs R35,000, there’s a lot of value to enjoy here. The unit makes a statement and the 90-inch panel provides the next-level cinematic and gaming experience in your home. I did find the unit to be a bit dimmer than the previous model tested, the 9LG. This meant I had to take into consideration how bright the room was. The previous model was super bright even in bright rooms without the curtains drawn. So keep that in mind if you have a bright room with no way to darken it.
Of course, you can’t compare this TV to say Mini-LED units on the market because that’s not what this is. This is a large-scale entertainment system and for that, it definitely leaves its mark.
The Hisense 90-inch 4K Laser TV 90L5H is available from R34,999. Find out more here.
Summary
The Hisense 90-inch 4K Laser TV 90L5H model packs some incredible value for money. It manages to deliver bright images and vibrancy even in the brightest of rooms. It might falls short on its gaming features but this large-scale display is a definite option for those looking at bigger entertainment solutions.
