I saw Hisense's RGB Mini-LED TV next to LG's OLED and Samsung's QD-OLED – the results surprised me

As we come into TV season 2026 – and with the World Cup on the horizon further piquing people's interests – there's an abundance of new televisual technology on the market to consider.

It's rare to see different panel technologies side by side, but that's exactly what I got to experience at a Hisense product event, where the brand's latest UR9 RGB Mini-LED model was on display.

It wasn't standing alone, though, per my picture above, with neighbouring QD-OLED and OLED models on its shoulders, to give a direct comparison of what the competition offers from differing technologies.

While Hisense didn't reveal those specific TVs' details, a little investigation showed the QD-OLED to be Samsung's S90F (lacking the same anti-reflection panel as the step-up S95F) and the LG OLED C5 (a step down from the brand's OLED G5).

So in the battle to be the best TV of the year, can Hisense's Mini-LED beat the best OLED models right now? I was surprised by the results, but it's a split pack for a number of reasons – as I detail below.

Brightness

Let's start with the most obvious winning point of Hisense's UR9 model: its brightness. It can push to a claimed 4000 nits peak, which is far more than any OLED panel type to date (the Philips OLED 911 may claim otherwise) – and that was clearly visible in the side-by-side test.

By comparison, the Samsung S90F hits about 1500 nits in real-world testing, while the LG OLED C5 is around the 1200 mark, again in real-world tests. I've not got such measures for Hisense's set, so while I wouldn't expect it to be as high as theoretically claimed, it's still clearly got the brightness output upper hand.

However, brightness isn't everything. I viewed these three panels in their Vivid Mode or equivalent, which isn't how everyone watches all content types. Indeed, with high dynamic range (HDR) masters often capped at 1000 nits anyway, where subtleties to black levels are of key importance, it's here where I think OLED actually continues to shine.

Also to be considered is that a Mini-LED panel, by its very nature, has 'zones' of backlighting, so while the small scale of these (as named) miniature LEDs is more refined than the LED-backlit TVs of old, it's still not as precise as OLED – where each 'pixel' has its own self-emitting light source, mitigating any light 'bleed' or 'halo' effects.

Note, also, that this side-by-side test wasn't conducted viewing 'real' content; I wasn't looking at TV shows, live sport or movies here, so to gather a true impression of the benefits is skewed somewhat.

Clearly, the Hisense is the brighter model viewed front-on, which will have benefits in certain scenarios and make for punchy gaming and animation viewing, I'm sure.

Colour

Hisense's UR9 is also among its first RGB Mini-LED model types, with that acronym preface – identifying the individual 'red, green, blue' illumination – a major point of distinction.

By having this trio of backlight colours, the technology offers the scope to enhance saturation regionally, meaning a greater colour range (or gamut) is feasible. It's out-and-out visible in the Hisense UR9, which in Vivid Mode undoubtedly was the most vivid of the trio.

I'd like to see this with real-world content, however, as the likes of skin-tone nuance don't always benefit from greater colour saturation, for example. For me, the most natural visuals came from the LG classic OLED panel.

There's no doubt that the Hisense can do more, though; it'll be down to how this is applied through processing, applying the technology to best effect. For sport, it might give that extra pop, as one example, and many people do prefer more saturated visuals by default.

Interestingly, the QD-OLED competitor could look a little washed out in some broader areas of colour, especially across blues. This may be further exaggerated by the anti-reflection layer – but the Hisense UR9 also features a similar technology, without the same effect.

Viewing Angles

There is one area where the RGB Mini-LED can't keep pace with the other models, however, and that's viewing angle. As this is a VA panel – that's 'vertical alignment' – it doesn't fare so well when seen from off-centre.

This is pronounced in my pictures, too, where the brightness factor is somewhat mitigated, but the colour skew and saturation fall-off become much more extreme. Yellows become more orange-brown, for example, lacking their viewed-front-on pop.

The QD-OLED and OLED panels are better at maintaining their colour palettes and natural visuals, which is certainly a consideration if you know multiple sofa positions in a room will vary in how viewers will sit facing a panel.

Initial Impressions

With Hisense among the first out of the gate with RGB Mini-LED – TCL is in tandem with it, though, while LG is scrabbling for its position, and Sony is about to follow – it certainly delivers eye-catching results in its UR9 model.

The panel is undeniably bright, undeniably saturated, and undeniably eye-catching. How much it'll cost, however, is guesswork at this current moment – but the thinking is a top-tier OLED equivalent level.

Eye-catching is great for certain content, of course, but when it comes to nuance, viewing angles and natural visuals, I still think the classic OLED is going to suit a lot of people down to the ground – especially movie-lovers.

As a first step for viewing a new technology in a side-by-side comparison, however, the strength of RGB Mini-LED makes an even stronger case for itself when it comes to out-and-out brightness and colour potential.