Despite reviewing dozens of the best TVs of the last decade, none of them have been above 100 inches in size.
Sure, I’ve obviously had the chance to see screens of that size at special events, but no company was willing to send me one for testing at home…until Hisense made me the offer to ship me a 110-inch Hisense UX for review.
The review is still in the works — it turns out there’s a lot to say about the company’s $15,000 behemoth, both good and bad — but in the meantime I wanted to talk about the practicalities of living with a TV this size.
It took a small team to get the TV unboxed and set up, and for better or worse it’s now the focal point of my living room.
This is part cautionary tale, part diary of what it’s like to spend over three months living with a TV this size — the good, the bad and the ugly.
Finally, a proper cinema-size TV
One of the most appealing parts of actually going to see a movie in theaters — and frankly the only reason I’m still willing to pay exorbitant prices to be there — is for the size of the screen.
Until I brought this 110-inch monster into the house, the cinema was the only place with a screen that could fill 40% of my field of view.
Having a screen this size has quite literally changed the way I watch TV
I still have a few 65-inch TVs throughout the home, but having a screen this size has quite literally changed the way I watch TV. It’s made it easier to see details that I’ve missed before (“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is absolutely littered with fun homages to Nintendo properties) and video games are, well, simply mind-blowing.
Now, every time I have a friend over, their first question is if they can see something on the TV, whether that’s a MLS game streaming on Apple TV; a new episode of Severance on Apple TV Plus; or a movie like "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" on Max.
Without fail, friends and family will make the pilgrimage to my house for what seems like the sole purpose of watching whatever’s hot that week on the big-screen TV.
Wait a second…should I be charging an admission fee?
Set up is a huge pain in the rear
I regularly set up TVs in this house. Every few weeks, a new TV comes in and I box up the one that I was previously testing. It's not exactly fun, but I don't mind the physical labor aspect. The reward is a constant influx of TVs to write about.
That said, before I could experience the joys of setting up a 110-inch TV (and I mean that in the most sarcastic way possible), I had to shove a 250 pound box from one side of the room to the other.
Then, I had to peel off at least 10 pounds of protective material — all of which now likely lives in some landfill somewhere — and, with the help of two friends, lay the box ever so gingerly on its side to slowly pull the TV out.
At every step of this process, I was worried. Here we were man-handling a $15,000 TV and although I’ve unboxed dozens of TVs of the years with friends, this is easily the most expensive I’ve ever had to move myself. Screens this size can crack incredibly easily, so every movement had to be carefully coordinated.
To give some credit where credit’s due, Hisense did build sturdy handles into the back of the TV so that, after the feet are attached, you can haul it back upright. Those made the grueling process just slightly more bearable — but no less of a workout.
What I learned during set up were two things. One: that’s no longer my living room, it now belongs to the TV. And two: Plan on moving your couch about six feet back (at least) from where it’s currently placed when you get a screen this big.
My couch is around 10 feet away from the screen, and during bright or fast-motion scenes, I still feel the urge to push it back even further.
No 110-inch TV should be 4K in the year 2025
I'll save most of my opinions on the TV's performance for the proper review, but I do have to point out that, despite the size, this is still a 4K TV. When fed 4K content, even compressed 4K content from streaming services, it looks amazing.
But give this set a movie from 10 years ago or a YouTube video, and boy, it's rough.
I learned two things during setup. One: that’s no longer my living room, it now belongs to the TV. Two: Plan on moving your couch about six feet back (at least).
There's a few problems at play here. For one, pixel density means that objects aren't going to look that sharp. There's always going to be some fuzziness to objects on screen as each pixel takes up more physical space on a TV this size.
The problem is when the TV's processor needs to fill in the gaps in data through upscaling.
I've harped on Hisense's lackluster upscaling many times over the years (see: the Hisense U8N and Hisense U8K review) but at this size, it's a much bigger problem.
And before you say, "But Nick, there's no native 8K content out there!" I hear you. But 8K TVs have a greater pixel density, which means you're going to get more details regardless of what resolution the content was mastered at.
Plus, 8K TVs use different algorithms for upscaling. Samsung, for instance, even goes as far as to use wholly different processors for its 4K and 8K TVs.
Also, as you can see from the photos, there's a lot of glare during the daytime. Since I spend most hours of my day writing and editing in a different room, this doesn't bother me, but expect to hear an earful about it in the Hisense UX full review.
Be careful what you wish for
Lastly, I'm 100% aware that I'm privileged enough to use a TV this size, and I'm nitpicking small issues. I should be happy that there's such a big TV in my living room that I can go to at any time to get a genuine cinema-esque experience.
And, mostly, I am.
But I'd be lying if I told you it was exactly what I was expecting it to be. It was a lot more work than I was expecting, and breaking it down to ship back is going to be a whole 'nother ordeal that I'm not looking forward to.
The moral of the story? 110-inch TVs are awesome. Mostly. Sort of. But maybe I'll stick with one of the best 75-inch or 85-inch TVs in the future.
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