Hisense or TCL?

Hisense is the better TV brand between about £345 and £450, and TCL is the better brand above £500 and below £300. At matched prices on Amazon UK at the time of writing (October 2026), the Hisense 55E78QTUK PRO at £445 gives the most features per pound: 144 Hz, HDMI 2.1, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Freely. The TCL 55C6K at £569.98 has the better picture because its QD-Mini LED backlight dims locally, and the TCL 55T6C at £379 is the cheaper film TV.

This comparison reuses the picks from Best budget 55 inch TV UK 2026 and Best TV brands UK 2026, and compares each Hisense with the TCL nearest in price.

Is Hisense or TCL better?

Hisense wins on features at mid-budget prices, and TCL wins on picture once Mini-LED becomes affordable. The two Chinese makers sell overlapping ranges in the UK, but they spend the money differently:

• Hisense puts a 144 Hz panel, HDMI 2.1 and Freely into its E78Q PRO QLED range from 43 inches at £345. Every Hisense UK TV runs VIDAA and carries a two-year warranty, according to Hisense UK.
• TCL splits its range: Fire TV models (V6D, T6C) at the bottom, and Google TV QD-Mini LED models (C6K and up) above £499. TCL makes its own panels through its CSOT subsidiary, which is why its Mini-LED sets undercut rivals on brightness per pound.
• Quality differences at the same price come from the backlight, not the badge: a TCL with local dimming beats a Hisense without it, and the reverse holds when Hisense moves to its U7 Mini-LED range.

Both brands trail LG and Sony on upscaling and motion processing, which shows most on Freeview HD sport and older DVD-quality films. At the budgets covered here, that gap matters less than panel type: a 4K set at £345 to £570 is judged on refresh rate, HDR format support and backlight, and Hisense and TCL both supply Dolby Vision and HDR10+ on every E78Q PRO, T6C and C6K model. Samsung, by contrast, supports HDR10+ but not Dolby Vision.

Hisense vs TCL at the same price

At every size, the Hisense and TCL TVs nearest in price are £54 to £126 apart, and the gap buys either 144 Hz (Hisense) or Mini-LED (TCL). Compare Electronic paired each Hisense E78Q PRO with the TCL nearest in price on Amazon UK on 3 October 2026:

The pattern is consistent. Where the Hisense costs more, it is buying refresh rate and gaming features; where the TCL costs more, it is buying a better backlight. The smallest gap is at 65 inches, where £54 separates a direct-lit QLED from a Mini-LED, which makes the TCL 65C6K the stronger buy at that size for anyone who can stretch to £649.

Which has the better picture quality?

TCL has the better picture from £499, and the two brands are close below that. The TCL 55C6K pairs a QD-Mini LED backlight with local dimming, a 1,000-nit HDR rating and an HVA panel that TCL rates at up to 7,000:1 native contrast. TCL lists up to 512 dimming zones on the 50C6K. Local dimming switches off parts of the backlight behind dark areas, so black bars stay black while highlights stay bright.

The Hisense 55E78QTUK PRO and TCL 55T6C are both direct-lit QLED TVs without local dimming. Quantum dots widen the colour range over a plain LED set such as the Samsung U7020H, but without dimming zones, blacks look grey in a dark room and HDR highlights lack punch. Between these two, picture quality is close; the Hisense wins on motion because its panel runs at 144 Hz.

VIDAA vs Google TV vs Fire TV: which is better?

Google TV on TCL's C-series has the widest app choice, VIDAA on Hisense has Freely and the longest update promise, and Fire TV on TCL's cheaper sets suits Alexa homes. All three carry BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+.

Freely streams BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 live channels over broadband in one guide, without an aerial. Freely's own TV list includes Hisense E78Q models and TCL's Fire TV sets, but no TCL Google TV models and no Samsung or LG TVs. Every TV here still has a Freeview tuner for an aerial. Hisense announced up to eight years of VIDAA updates for 2025 and later models, though it has not published a model-by-model list. A TV whose platform slows with age can be fixed with a streaming stick; see Best streaming stick UK 2026.

Which is better for gaming, Hisense or TCL?

Hisense is the cheaper way to 144 Hz, and TCL is the better gaming TV once the budget reaches £499. The Hisense E78Q PRO runs at 144 Hz with VRR, ALLM, HDMI 2.1 and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro from £345 at 43 inches, £395 at 50 inches and £445 at 55 inches. A PS5 or Xbox Series X outputs up to 120 fps, so 144 Hz matters most for a gaming PC.

TCL's 144 Hz models start with the C6K. The TCL 50C6K at £499 has four HDMI 2.1 ports, enough for a PS5, an Xbox and a PC, while the TCL 55C6K has two. The TCL 55T6C and V6D models run at 60 Hz; the V6D adds VRR and ALLM through Game Master, which reduces tearing but caps consoles at 60 fps. The full shortlist is in Best 50 inch TV UK 2026, where the TCL 50C6K is the top pick and the Hisense 50E78QTUK PRO the best under £400.

Hisense vs TCL vs Samsung: which is best on a budget?

Hisense and TCL both beat Samsung on features per pound under £450. The Samsung U7020H 55 costs £349, a Crystal UHD 4K LED set with HDR10+, Tizen and Gaming Hub, but Samsung supports no Dolby Vision on any TV, and the U7020H runs at 60 Hz without quantum dots or Freely.

The TCL 55T6C adds quantum dot colour, Dolby Vision and Freely to the Samsung U7020H for £30 more. Samsung's case rests on Tizen, which Samsung backs with seven years of upgrades, and on SmartThings for households already using Samsung phones and appliances.

Which has the better warranty and updates?

Hisense and TCL tie on standard warranty at two years, and Hisense leads on published software support. Hisense UK gives a two-year manufacturer warranty on all its TVs, and TCL UK gives 24 months. Samsung UK's standard TV warranty is 12 months.

• TCL five-year offer: TCL adds three years, provided by Opia, on eligible 2026 models (the X11L, RM9L, C8L, C7L, RM7L, Q7D and A400 ranges) bought from participating UK retailers by 30 June 2027 and registered within 30 days. The C6K, T6C and V6D models covered here are not on that list.
• Updates: Hisense promises up to eight years of VIDAA updates on 2025 and later models; Samsung promises seven years of Tizen upgrades; TCL leaves Google TV and Fire TV updates to Google and Amazon and publishes no figure.
• Consumer Rights Act 2015: every TV sold in the UK carries up to six years to claim for a fault present at purchase in England and Wales, five in Scotland, whatever the brand.

Which brand wins at each budget?

TCL wins four of the seven budget bands Compare Electronic priced, and Hisense wins three, all between £345 and £600. The table names the winning model at each band on Amazon UK on 3 October 2026:

The TCL 43V6D and TCL 55V6Dwin the cheapest bands because Hisense's E78Q PRO range starts at £345. The Hisense 43E78QTUK PRO is the top pick in Best 43 inch TV UK 2026. Above £700, the comparison moves to Hisense's U7 and TCL's C7L Mini-LED ranges, covered in Best Hisense TV UK 2026.

Who should buy Hisense, and who should buy TCL?

Gamers on a budget under £450 should buy Hisense, and film watchers with £499 or more should buy TCL. In more detail:

• A console player with £345 to £445: Hisense E78Q PRO at 43, 50 or 55 inches, for 144 Hz and HDMI 2.1.
• A film watcher in a dark room with £499 or more: TCL C6K, for local dimming that a QLED without zones cannot match.
• A household without an aerial: Hisense VIDAA or a TCL Fire TV model, both with Freely; a TCL Google TV model needs an aerial or apps.
• A buyer who wants the most apps: TCL on Google TV, with Chromecast built in.
• A Samsung phone and SmartThings household: the Samsung U7020H at £349, accepting HDR10+ only and 60 Hz.

Buyers choosing a size first should read 50 vs 55 inch TV, which prices both brands at both sizes.

Verdict

Hisense is the better brand for features per pound between £345 and £450, and TCL is the better brand for picture from £499. The Hisense 55E78QTUK PRO at £445 is the pick for most budget buyers, matching the verdict in Best budget 55 inch TV UK 2026. The TCL 55C6K at £569.98 is the upgrade for films, and the TCL 55T6C at £379 is the cheaper Dolby Vision TV. The wider brand ranking, including LG, Sony and Samsung, is in Best TV brands UK 2026.