Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500: Which budget TV should you buy?

It’s time for T3’s Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500 guide, where we’ll be taking a look at two of the best TVs under £500. It all comes down to fine margins at this price level, so we’re helping you choose the best option for your home.

Of course, you may be looking to stretch your budget a bit on one of the best TVs under £1000 or go all out on one of the best TVs overall. If you’re after a great TV in this price range though, it’d be hard to go wrong with one of these two.

Both the Hisense and the Samsung here are impressive specimens, and you can take an even closer look at them with our full Samsung TU8500 review or Hisense A7500 review.

Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500: Price

Starting out on price, it’s worth saying that these two budget 4K TVs are only available in the UK, and there aren't quite equivalent products in other markets. The US has the Samsung TU8000 as the nearest model from Samsung's range.

The Samsung TU8500 comes in four possible panel sizes, which are priced at £449 (43-inch), £529 (50-inch), £629 (55-inch) and £899 for the 65-inch top size.

The Hisense A7500 only has two sizes available, 43-inch and 50-inch, which are priced at £329 and £479 respectively. This makes it easier the cheaper of the two, sitting much closer in price to something like the Samsung TU7100.

Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500: Design & Connectivity

On the design front, there’s not much to write home about here. They’re both well made and should look at home in any living room, but you’ll never see much investment into flash touches when you’re shopping in this price bracket.

Looking at the two you can probably see that the Samsung TU8500 is the more expensive piece of kit, but you have to care a lot about the differences. Both TVs have reasonably small bezels around the top and sides, but Samsung’s is slightly slimmer. These are thicker on the bottom, and the Hisense has a chunkier angled edge here.

The bases look different but function in much the same way. The A7500 has an angled bar that curves underneath where the TU8500 has a more simple tripod. Either way, if you’re looking to put this on furniture, you should be fine. Both can be wall-mounted.

In terms of what they’ll let you plug into the back, the TU8500 has 3x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB, 1x composite, an RF Input, TOSLINK and ethernet. The Hisense A7500 provides a touch more with 4x HDMI 2.0, 2x USB, 1x Composite, 2x RF input, TOSLINK and ethernet.

Both TVs use eARC HDMI which is great for pairing with the best soundbars, but there’s not much between these here unless you desperately need a fourth HDMI slot. It’s worth saying these are HDMI 2.0 rather than the newer HDMI 2.1, which is pretty much the standard for the best gaming TVs.

Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500: Picture quality

On picture quality, there are a few ways to separate the two of these TVs. Both have 4K screens with a 3840x2160 resolution and HDR10+ support, but it’s only the cheaper Hisense A7500 that includes Dolby Vision HDR. Dolby Vision is what’s used by the likes of Netflix and Disney+, and it really helps making the most of the limited brightness on these budget TVs.

The Samsung TU8500 does make up for this by using a 'dual LED' backlight, with two different colours of LED used behind the screen to help provide richer black tones, and it really make a difference compared to most budget TVs.

The Hisense delivers some punchy colours, and that Dolby Vision means you’ll get the most out of your streaming services, but really, on almost every picture metric the Samsung TU8500 outperforms it.

Like pretty much all modern Samsung Ultra HD TVs, the TU8500 upscales HD to 4K really well and it has a high 120Hz refresh rate for smooth motion. It also just generally handles whites, blacks, skin tones and contrast better.

Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500: Verdict

The Samsung TU8500 vs Hisense A7500 competition ultimately isn’t all that difficult to resolve, and a lot of that comes down to the price – you pay more from the Samsung, and you get more from it.

The Hisense is a great cheap TV and if you’re not looking to spend anymore then you’ll get a great piece of kit, with Dolby Vision HDR, punchy colours and all the HDMI ports you can handle.

The Samsung TU8500 is the better performer, though – that refresh rate, dual backlight and strong HD upscaling are just going to produce a better picture more consistently. Add in Samsung’s excellent Tizen-based Smart TV software and it’s a well-rounded budget TV.