Buy the TCL 65QM8K. It is the only one of these two that states a native refresh rate — 144 Hz, manufacturer-stated, against no refresh figure at all on the Hisense row — and the only one you can plan an install from: 56.5 × 32.4 × 2 inches, a 46.5 lb weight and a 300 × 300 mm VESA pattern, all manufacturer-stated, where our Hisense row records no dimensions, no weight and no mounting pattern. It also states three things our Hisense row records nothing for at all — 4K UHD native resolution, Filmmaker Mode and Dolby Atmos output. Two things that look like TCL merits on an aggregator are not counted here: the dimming-zone count, 3,800 manufacturer-stated against 1,600 retailer-sourced, is reported and never ranked — zone counts are not a standardized measurement and these two are not even sourced alike — and connectivity is a genuine tie, because both rows record an eARC port and four HDMI ports in total. The second half of the reason is documentation rather than picture quality, and it belongs here rather than in a footnote: every one of the fourteen fields our Hisense row records is retailer-sourced, including the two figures a Hisense buyer usually shops on — a 3,000 nits peak and a 2.1-port count of two — so neither can be read as a specification on this page. Buy the Hisense 65U8N if those two retailer-listed figures are what you need and you are willing to treat them as a listing. What this page will not do is rank the two pictures: no measured contrast, colour or brightness figure appears on both rows, so there is nothing honest to rank them with.
Hisense's 65U8N and TCL's 65QM8K are the two Mini-LED sets this cross-shop keeps landing on, and on a spec-aggregator they look like a straight fight. Read our two rows and only one of them answers the questions a buyer actually asks at 65 inches — what refresh rate the panel runs at, and what it takes to hang it on a wall. The reason is worth stating up front: one row is manufacturer-stated field by field and the other is a retailer listing end to end, which limits what can honestly be compared.
Specifications · side by side · per-field provenance
● SOURCE-TRACKED
Spec
Hisense 65U8N
TCL 65QM8K
Price
price unknown
$738
Brand
Hisense
TCL
Screen size (in)
64.5
65
Panel type
Mini-LED QLED
Mini-LED QLED
Peak brightness, HDR (nits)
3000
not stated
Local dimming zones
1600
3800
HDR10
Yes
Yes
HDR10+
Yes
Yes
Dolby Vision
Yes
Yes
HDMI 2.1 ports
2
not stated
HDMI max bandwidth (Gbps)
48
48
HDMI total ports
4
4
eARC port
Yes
Yes
VRR support
Yes
Yes
ALLM
Yes
not stated
Operating system
Google TV
Google TV
Native resolution
not stated
4K UHD
Native refresh rate (Hz)
not stated
144
Filmmaker Mode
not stated
Yes
Dolby Atmos output
not stated
Yes
USB ports
not stated
2
Wi-Fi
not stated
Yes
Width, no stand (in)
not stated
56.5
Height, no stand (in)
not stated
32.4
Depth, no stand (in)
not stated
2
Weight, no stand (lbs)
not stated
46.5
VESA pattern (mm)
not stated
300x300
Shaded rows differ · green dot = lab-measured · amber = manufacturer-verified · blue = retailer/community-reported · grey = estimated · “not stated” means exactly that
Reading the numbers honestly
Read the source column before the numbers. Every field our Hisense row records — all fourteen of them, panel type and dimming zones and brightness included — is retailer-sourced; not one is manufacturer-stated. The TCL row is manufacturer-stated throughout except two entries, its HDMI max bandwidth and its VRR support, which are retailer-sourced on both sides. That asymmetry decides how each figure gets reported here. Dimming zones: 3,800 manufacturer-stated on the TCL against 1,600 retailer-sourced on the Hisense — zone counts are not a standardized measurement to begin with, and these two are not even sourced the same way, so the ratio is reported rather than ranked. Brightness: the only peak figure on this page is 3,000 nits on the Hisense row, retailer-sourced, and our TCL row records no peak-brightness figure at all — an unopposed number with a retailer behind it, which is not a win. Refresh runs the other way: 144 Hz native, manufacturer-stated on the TCL, against no native refresh rate recorded on the Hisense at all. The HDMI 2.1 question splits the same way: a 2.1-port count of two on the Hisense, retailer-sourced, against no 2.1-port count on the TCL, which states four HDMI ports in total (manufacturer-stated) — the same total our Hisense row records, retailer-sourced, alongside an eARC port, so the port count and eARC are ties and not TCL merits — and both rows put max bandwidth at 48 Gbps from a retailer listing rather than the manufacturer. Screen size is described twice: 64.5 inches retailer-sourced against 65 inches manufacturer-stated. And a blank is never a stated no in either direction — the TCL states Filmmaker Mode, Dolby Atmos output, 4K UHD native resolution, two USB ports and Wi-Fi where our Hisense row records none of the five; the Hisense states ALLM, retailer-sourced, where our TCL row records none.
Compatibility · computed, not written
Checked as the display leg behind a popular budget receiver, the Denon AVR-X1800H: Denon AVR-X1800H
Does the Hisense 65U8N keep VRR through a receiver like the Denon AVR-X1800H?
Hisense 65U8N supports VRR and the Denon AVR-X1800H passes VRR through — the variable-refresh chain holds with a console wired through the receiver.
Does the TCL 65QM8K keep VRR through a receiver like the Denon AVR-X1800H?
TCL 65QM8K supports VRR and the Denon AVR-X1800H passes VRR through — the variable-refresh chain holds with a console wired through the receiver.
Computed from the catalog's normalized fields — the same fields the builder's compatibility engine reads. A missing field reads as "can't check", never as a pass.
Buy the TCL 65QM8K. It is the only one of these two that states a native refresh rate — 144 Hz, manufacturer-stated, against no refresh figure at all on the Hisense row — and the only one you can plan an install from: 56.5 × 32.4 × 2 inches, a 46.5 lb weight and a 300 × 300 mm VESA pattern, all manufacturer-stated, where our Hisense row records no dimensions, no weight and no mounting pattern. It also states three things our Hisense row records nothing for at all — 4K UHD native resolution, Filmmaker Mode and Dolby Atmos output. Two things that look like TCL merits on an aggregator are not counted here: the dimming-zone count, 3,800 manufacturer-stated against 1,600 retailer-sourced, is reported and never ranked — zone counts are not a standardized measurement and these two are not even sourced alike — and connectivity is a genuine tie, because both rows record an eARC port and four HDMI ports in total. The second half of the reason is documentation rather than picture quality, and it belongs here rather than in a footnote: every one of the fourteen fields our Hisense row records is retailer-sourced, including the two figures a Hisense buyer usually shops on — a 3,000 nits peak and a 2.1-port count of two — so neither can be read as a specification on this page. Buy the Hisense 65U8N if those two retailer-listed figures are what you need and you are willing to treat them as a listing. What this page will not do is rank the two pictures: no measured contrast, colour or brightness figure appears on both rows, so there is nothing honest to rank them with.
Gaming refresh rateTCL 65QM8K — 144 Hz native, manufacturer-stated on the TCL; our Hisense row records no native refresh rate at all.
Planning a wall mountTCL 65QM8K — 56.5 × 32.4 × 2 inches, 46.5 lb and a 300 × 300 mm VESA pattern, all manufacturer-stated on the TCL; our Hisense row records no dimensions, no weight and no VESA pattern.
Sound straight out of the TVTCL 65QM8K — Dolby Atmos output is manufacturer-stated on the TCL row; our Hisense row records no Atmos-output field, which is a blank rather than a no.
Peak brightnessEither — The only figure on the page is 3,000 nits on the Hisense row and it is retailer-sourced; our TCL row records no peak-brightness figure at all, so there is nothing to compare it to.
Dimming zonesEither — 3,800 manufacturer-stated against 1,600 retailer-sourced — zone counts are not a standardized measurement and these two are not even sourced alike, so nothing here ranks them.
Counting HDMI 2.1 inputsEither — A 2.1-port count of two on the Hisense row, retailer-sourced, against no 2.1-port count on the TCL. Both rows record four HDMI ports in total and an eARC port, and both take their 48 Gbps bandwidth from a retailer listing.
How much of each sheet you can checkTCL 65QM8K — A caveat, not a picture-quality verdict: the TCL row is manufacturer-stated throughout apart from its HDMI bandwidth and VRR entries, while all fourteen fields on our Hisense row are retailer-sourced.
The provenance asymmetry IS the comparison here, and no spec aggregator shows it: every one of the fourteen fields our Hisense row records is retailer-sourced and not one is manufacturer-stated, while the TCL row is manufacturer-stated throughout except its HDMI bandwidth and VRR entries.
Dimming zones read 3,800 manufacturer-stated against 1,600 retailer-sourced — zone counts are not a standardized measurement in the first place and these two are not even sourced the same way, so the figures are reported and never ranked.
The only peak-brightness figure on this page is unopposed: 3,000 nits on the Hisense row, retailer-sourced, against no peak-brightness figure recorded on the TCL at all.
Refresh runs the other way and is the cleaner claim: 144 Hz native, manufacturer-stated on the TCL, against no native refresh rate recorded on the Hisense row.
The HDMI 2.1 answer is two different shapes of blank: a 2.1-port count of two on the Hisense, retailer-sourced, against no 2.1-port count at all on the TCL, which states four HDMI ports in total — and BOTH rows take their 48 Gbps max bandwidth from a retailer listing rather than the manufacturer.
Even the screen size is described twice: 64.5 inches retailer-sourced against 65 inches manufacturer-stated, the same panel class written two ways.
Mounting exists on one row only: 56.5 × 32.4 × 2 inches, a 46.5 lb weight and a 300 × 300 mm VESA pattern, all manufacturer-stated on the TCL, against no dimensions, no weight and no VESA pattern on the Hisense row.
Five features are stated on the TCL and blank on the Hisense row — Filmmaker Mode, Dolby Atmos output, 4K UHD native resolution, two USB ports and Wi-Fi — and one runs back the other way, ALLM, retailer-sourced on the Hisense and absent from the TCL row; a blank is read as a blank in both directions.
