TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 vs Hisense H9G (55R635 vs 55H9G, 65R635 vs 65H9G)

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TCL 6 Series 2020 (or R635) and Hisense H9G are the top models from each of their respective manufacturers. They both are an alternative choice away from a big name like LG, Sony, and Samsung. Even though generally they are budget televisions, their picture quality can rival models from the big names like Samsung, LG, and Sony which are sold for much more. Overall both are great budget TVs for most uses. Both are VA display TVs where typically the televisions with a VA panel usually have an excellent native contrast ratio. They both also come with Full Array Local Dimming to improve performance in a dark room. If you are searching the best budget televisions, these models are worthy of your consideration.

In the market, the TCL 6 series 2020 comes in 3 screen size variations, which is 55 inch (55R635), 65 inch (65R635), and 75 inch (75R653). On the other hand, the Hisense H9G comes in 2 screen size variations only, which is the 55 inch (55H9G) and 65 inch (65H9G). Considering those models with the same size screen (55R635 vs 55H9G, 65R635 vs 65H9G), the Hisense H9G is generally higher priced than the TCL 6 Series 2020. Of course, prices vary and change with time. So which is superior between them and which is a better choice for you?

TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 vs Hisense H9G Key Specifications

Technologies and Features Hisense H9G TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635
Screen Sizes Available 55 inches (55H8G), 65 inches (65H8G) 55 inches (55R635), 65 inches (65R635), 75 inches (75R635)
Panel Technology VA Panel VA Panel
Resolution 4K (3840 x 2160) 4K (3840 x 2160)
Backlight Technology Direct LED Direct LED
Local Dimming Full Array Local Dimming Full Array Local Dimming
HDR Supports HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG
Wide Color Gamut Yes Yes (Ultra Color Enhancer)
Native Refresh Rate 120 Hz 120 Hz
Motion Enhancement Motion Rate 480 Natural Motion 480
Variable Refresh Rate No Yes (48 – 120 Hz)
Smart TV Platform Google Android TV Roku TV
Remote Hisense’s Voice Remote TCL’s Enhanced Remote
Voice Command Support Yes Yes
HDMI Ports 4 4
USB Ports 2 1
Audio Channel 2 2
Sound Output 2 x 10 watts 2 x 8 watts

Features and Technology of the Hisense H9G and TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635

Panel Technology

As mentioned above, both the Hisense H9G and the TCL 6 Series 2020 use a VA panel technology. We’ve seen that TVs that use a VA panel usually have an excellent native contrast ratio. The drawback is that a TV with a VA panel typically has poor side viewing angle coverage. In recent years, some manufacturers like Samsung and Sony have developed an anti glare optical layer for improving the side viewing angle of their VA TV lineup, but for being budget producers the Hisense and TCL don’t incorporate that yet. For backlight technology, both use a Direct LED backlight with Full Array Local Dimming. For the 55 inch Hisense H9G (55H9G) it has around 132 dimming zones while the 65 inch Hisense (65H9G) has around 180 dimming zones.  The TCL R635 55 inch (55R653) has 128 dimming zones, the 65 inch  (65R653) has around 200 dimming zones, and 75 inch (75R653) has around 240 dimming zones.

HDR Support

Both the TCL 6 Series 2020 and the Hisense H9G can work with a broad range of HDR content. In addition to HDR 10 format (a most popular HDR format), they both support HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) which is an HDR format developed for TV broadcasting purposes. They both also support Dolby Vision format, a proprietary HDR format by Dolby Vision that already uses dynamic metadata. Special for the Hisense H9G, it also supports HDR10+, an improvement of the HDR10 format using dynamic metadata. This means that the Hisense H9G is a TV that supports the most complete range of HDR formats. Unfortunately it can not pass through a Dolby Atmos signal while the TCL R635 is able to pass through a Dolby Atmos signal.

Motion Technology

Both the Hisense H9G and the TCL R635 have native 120 Hz refresh rate panels. This means they both support any content with a frame rate up to 120 Hz. They both are able to interpolate low frame rate content up to 120 Hz. For the TCL 6 Series, it also supports VRR technology with a frequency range of 48 Hz to 120 Hz. VRR technology can improve the gaming experience by reducing screen tearing. Unfortunately, its not compatible with FreeSync or GSync — gaming features that are supported by most game consoles. On other hand, the Hisense H9G doesn’t support any VRR technology. This means, it doesn’t have a feature to reduce screen tearing when used for playing games.

To dim their backlight both use a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) dimming system. Their dimming frequency is similar, being around 960 Hz. Since the frequency of their flickering pattern is extremely high, this makes the screen to be almost flicker-free. For improving motion appearance, both have an optional BFI (Black Frame Insertion) that will match the dimming frequency to the frame rate of the content, particularly when playing 60 fps content.

Connectivity

Both the TCL 6 Series 2020 and the Hisense H9G are equipped with 4 HDMI ports. They support HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth, HDCP 2.2, and CEC. Additionally, each also supports ARC (Audio Return Channel) which is the HDMI 1 for the Hisense H9G and the HDMI 4 for the TCL 6 Series. The advantage of the TCL R635 is support for eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) so that it can accept high quality audio signals like Dolby Atmos via TrueHD. On the other hand, the Hisense H9G doesn’t support eARC. Unfortunately, neither series has HDMI ports that support HDMI 2.1. Talking about USB ports, the Hisense H9G has 2 USB ports while the TCL 6 Series 2020 only has 1 USB port. Their HDMI ports are USB 2.0 compatible and none are USB 3.0 compatible.

In addition to USB and HDMI ports, they have the same inputs and outputs. They both have 1 RF In, 1 Composite In (AV In), 1 Digital Audio Out (Optical), and 1 Analog Audio Out (Mini Jack 3.55 mm). They both do not have a Component In. And for connecting on the internet wirelessly, they both are equipped with built-in Wi-Fi that supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

Smart TV Platform

For their smart TV platform, they run different smart TV platforms. The Hisense H9G has Android TV 9.0 version or Android Pie, while the TCL 6 Series 2020 has Roku OS. As we have seen, Android TV is one of the most powerful Smart TV platforms. It’s easy and smooth to use, and this platform has a great selection of apps. Plus it has a wide variety of available apps such as Live TV, Streaming Apps, Games, Web Browser, and more, and there’s an apps store called Google Play Store that provides a massive selection of apps. For its controller, the Hisense H9G incorporates Hisense Voice Remote. This remote has a built-in microphone for voice navigation. Unlike the Tizen OS seen on Samsung TVs or WebOS seen on LG TVs with their own voice navigation platform, on the Hisense H9G the voice navigation works through the well-received Google Assistant.

The TCL 6 Series runs on Roku TV 9.3.2 version. Its interface is easy and very smooth to navigate. You’ll also find a great selection of apps you can download from its apps store. But unlike the Google Play Store that provides a huge of variety of apps, the Roku TV apps store only focuses on apps used for streaming along with Live TV. For the controller, it’s equipped with the Roku Voice remote RC580. But  the features of its Roku voice control are not as plentiful as what’s seen for the Hisense H9G. The TCL 6 Series also works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

Check the Latest Price
TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 Hisense H9G
55 Inches 55R635 on Amazon 55H9G on Amazon
65 Inches 65R635 on Amazon 65H9G on Amazon
75 Inches 75R635 on Amazon

TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 vs Hisense H9G Performance

Black Level and Contrast

Since they both use a VA panel, they both have an excellent native contrast ratio that makes produce a deep black. The native contrast ratio of the Hisense H9G is better, around 7000:1 while the native contrast ratio of the TCL 6 series is around 5500:1. Ignoring this difference, their native contrast ratio for each is strong enough to produce a deep black, making the black look really black, even in a dark room setting. They both also have FALD that can improve performance in a dark room. With the local dimming enabled, their contrast ratio is boosted to around 10500:1, making them produce black level deeper than 0.01 nits. This certainly is deep enough to show shadow details of HDR images just as expected.

Winner: Hisense H9G

Local Dimming Performance

For improving contrast ratio the local dimming of the TCL R635 performs best, but for minimizing blooming the local dimming of the H9G performs better. When showing a small bright object in a dark scene, the screen of the TCL 6 series has blooming that is still visible around a small bright object. On the other hand, blooming can be minimized well on the screen of the Hisense H9G. So when they are showing subtitles in movies, on the screen of the H9G the subtitle can be shown fairly bright and there is no blooming around it; while on the screen of the TCL 6 Series the subtitle doesn’t get very bright and around it there is still some visible blooming. Keep in mind, this is result is for their 55 inch model, the bigger sizes may get better visual results.

Winner: Hisense H9G

SDR Peak Brightness

Both the TCL 6 Series 2020 and the Hisense H9G have a good SDR peak brightness. With real content, the Hisense can get around 615 nits while the TCL R635 can hit around 680 nits. Although we noticed for real scenes that the TCL R635 can hit brighter, even though the Hisense H9G gets much brighter in the window test. They both hit their brightest peak brightness on a 25 % window (25% of the screen is bright while the rest is black) where the Hisense H9G hit around 1400 nits and the TCL 6 Series hit around 1000 nits. The other % window tests, for 2%, 10%, 50%, and 100 % windows; the Hisense H9G hits around 840 nits, 1280 nits, 900 nits, and 580 nits respectively while the R635 hits around 550 nits, 900 nits, 850 nits, and 600 nits. Ignoring this difference, their SDR peak brightness is equally great, making them fight glare easily, even in a bright room.

Winner: Hisense H9G

HDR Peak Brightness

Both the Hisense H9G and the TCL 6 Series 2020 have good HDR peak brightness. Again with real content the TCL R635 also can get brighter to be around 830 nits while the Hisense H9G hit around 730 nits. Even so, just like with their SDR peak brightness, their HDR peak brightness varies depending on the content. And just like with their SDR peak brightness, both of them hit their highest peak brightness on a 25% window where the Hisense H9G hits around 1700 nits and the TCL 6 Series hits around 1050 nits. On a 2%, 10%, 50%, and 100% window, the Hisense H9G hits around  850 nits, 1450 nits, 1050 nits, and 650 nits respectively; while the TCL R635 hits around 650 nits, 980 nits, 770 nits, and 650 nits. Ignoring this difference, their HDR peak brightness is great and bright enough to make highlights really pop the way they should in HDR content. In certain scenes they both can even show HDR images at 1000 – 4000 nits of brightness range just like those intended by the content creator.

Winner: Hisense H9G

Color Gamut and Color Volume

Both the TCL 6 Series 2020 and Hisense H9G support a wide color gamut. In DCI P3 color space, the color coverage of the Hisense H9G is around 915 in DCI P3 xy and around 92% in DCI P3 uv while the coverage of the TCL R635 is around 91% in DCI P3 xy and around 94% in DCI P3 uv. In Rec.2020 color space, the color coverage of the Hisense H9G is around 67% in Rec.2020 xy and around 70% in Rec.2020 uv, while the TCL 6 Series is around 70% in Rec.2020 xy and around 79% in Rec.2020 uv. This means that regardless of whether they are showing HDR content mastered in DCI P3 like HDR10 and HDR10+ or that mastered in Rec.2020 like Dolby Content, most colors of HDR content can be shown accurately on screen. In addition to an excellently wide color gamut, they both also have good color volume. Both can show deep dark color fairly well due to their high contrast ratio. Additionally bright colors also can be shown as well as darker colors. Overall both can show their wide color gamut at their entire brightness range. But just like most LED TVs, they both can not produce very bright blues.

Winner: TCL 6 Series

Color Gradient

While color gradient and color volume of the TCL 6 series is better, the Hisense H9G has a much better color gradient. Overall it can be said that the Hisense H9G has good color gradient handling. In red, green, and dark gray, there may still be little banding, but in normal content this would be hard to notice. It also has a feature that can be used to improve gradient handling called “Digital Noise Reduction” or “Noise Reduction”. Unfortunately enabling this feature can not remove banding significantly. Meanwhile, the gradient handling of the TCL R635 is only mediocre. Banding is visible in almost all colors and it is more noticeable in the blues and dark grays. Just like the Hisense H9G, it actually has a feature called “Noise Reduction” for reducing banding. But just like on the H9G, enabling this feature doesn’t have a significant impact on the color gradient. As a side note, the gradient handling of the TCL 6 series is even worse than the lower model TCL 5 Series.

Winner: H9G

 Side Viewing Angle

As mentioned above, the use of a VA panel allows them to have a good native contrast ratio, but this also makes them have poor side viewing angle coverage. Starting at around 20 degrees off center and front, dark shades of images will look washed out. Additionally their brightness levels also decrease if viewed from the side, starting at around 35 degrees off center and front. And finally the color also shifts and looks washed out starting at around 25 degrees off center and front. This means that if you watch either TV from the side, the picture displayed on screen will not look as good as when viewed from the center and front. And the wider the angle you watch from, the picture displayed on their screen will get worse.

Winner: Draw

Motion Handling

Both series have excellent pixel response time and this is good for playing fast moving images. The pixel response time of the Hisense H9G is around 8 ms while the TCL 6 Series 2020 is around 11 ms. Regardless of this difference, each pixel response time is low enough to make motion look clear and smooth when playing fast moving images. Although the response time may be a bit slow in a dark transition that may cause some motion artifacts in dark scenes, in general the motion looks clear on their screen. Following a fast moving object, there is only a short ghosting trail that would be hard to notice.

For improving motion appearance, both series have an optional BFI (Black Frame Insertion) mode. As we have mentioned, by default their dimming frequency is extremely high at around 960 Hz. Even so, enabling the BFI mode makes their dimming frequency drop to 60 Hz. This is very helpful to make motion smoother, particularly when they are playing 60 fps content like sports or video games. To enable the BFI, on the Hisense H9G you just need to turn on “Motion Clearness” while on the TCL 6 Series you just need to turn on “LED Motion Clarity.” Unfortunately they both don’t support 120 Hz BFI mode which means they both can not flicker 120 Hz when playing 120 fps content.

Both also  do a great job when handling 24p judder. Regardless of the source for 24p movies, both the TCL R635 and the Hisense H9G can show them judder-free. This means that no matter if the source is native 24p movies like Blu-Ray or DVD movies, 24p moves from native streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Videos, 24p movies via 60i signal like movies from satellite TV, or even 24p movies via 60p signal like movies from a streaming device or PC, you’ll enjoy them smoothly and judder-free. For removing the judder, on the Hisense H9G, especially when playing 24p movies via 60p signal, you just need set the “Motion Enhancement” setting to “Film,” while on the TCL 6 Series 2020, you don’t need to do anything.

Winner: Hisense H9G

Input Lag

Both also have good input lag in PC and Game mode. And comparing them, the input lag of the Hisense H9G is a bit lower than the TCL 6 Series 2020. With 60 fps content, regardless whether the resolution is 1080p, 1440p, 4K, 4k @ 4:4:4 chroma, etc, the input lag of the Hisense H9G is around 15 ms while the TCL 6 Series is around 18 ms. With 120 fps content, the input lag of the TCL 6 Series is around 9 ms on both 1440p and 1080p resolution. Keep in mind that the Hisense H9G doesn’t support native 120 fps content while the TCL 6 Series doesn’t support 4K @ 120 Hz. Aside from this difference, their input lag is low enough to make them responsive for any game, even fast paced games that require quick reflexes. Unfortunately the Hisense H9G doesn’t support any VRR technology to improve the game experience. On the other hand, although the TCL R635 supports VRR technology, it’s not clear what gaming feature is compatible with its VRR.

Winner: Hisense H9G

Check the Latest Price
TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 Hisense H9G
55 Inches 55R635 on Amazon 55H9G on Amazon
65 Inches 65R635 on Amazon 65H9G on Amazon
75 Inches 75R635 on Amazon

Conclusion

For Watching Movies

Both the TCL 6 Series 2020 and the Hisense H9G are great TVs for watching movies in a dark room. Comparing between them the Hisense H9G is better. Both have an excellent native contrast ratio that makes them produce a deep black. Both also do a great job in handling 24p judder. Black uniformity of the Hisense H9G is better than the TCL R635. The local dimming of the Hisense H9G is also better than the TCL 6 series, particularly in minimizing blooming. So when you are watching movies with a subtitle, the subtitle will look more obvious on the screen of the Hisense H9G than the TCL 6 series. On the screen of the TCL R635, subtitles do not look as bright as on the screen of the Hisense H9G. Although not as good a performer as the Hisense H9G, the performance of the TCL R635 when used for watching sports is still very good.

Winner: Hisense H9G

For Watching Sports

When used for watching sports, the Hisense H9G is better than the TCL 6 Series 2020. The pixel response time of the H9G is lower, which makes motion loo clearer on its screen than on the screen of the TCL 6 Series. Additionally the Hisense H9G has brighter SDR peak brightness and better reflection handling, making sports look sharper on its screen than on the screen of the TCL R635, particularly when you watch sports in a bright room. Although not as good as the Hisense H9G, performance of the TCL 6 Series when used for watching sports is still great. Although not as fast as the HG, its pixel response time is also fairly low. Additionally, it also has good SDR peak brightness, making it can fight the glare easily in most bright rooms. It also has a BFI mode that can help to make motion smoother, particularly when it is playing 60 fps content. Ignoring the superiority of the Hisense H9G, both of these models are good TVs for watching sports. Since they both have a poor side viewing angle, both are not suitable for watching sports with a group of your family and friends.

Winner: Hisense H9G

For Playing Games

Meanwhile, when used for playing video games, their performance is also equally great. In addition they both have good motion handling and good picture quality, they both also have low input lags. Their input lags may be not as low as the competitor like Samsung Q60R or LG Nano 85, but their input lags still low enough to make them very responsive for any games, even for fast faced games that require fast reflexes. But unfortunately, special for the Hisense H9G, it doesn’t have any VRR technology that can improve its gaming performance. Meanwhile, for the TCL 6 Series, although it already supports VRR technology but its VRR technology doesn’t work with FreeSync or GSync. Meanwhile, a bit advantage of the TCL 6 series is that its HDMI ports already support ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode while none of HDMI ports of the Hisense H9G support ALLM. But overall, Hisense H9G is a bit better than the TCL R635.

Winner: Hisense H9G

HDR Performance

Although both series are budgets TVs, they each have good HDR Performance. Black produced by each is very deep; deep enough to reveal details in dark scenes of HDR images and having shadow details of HDR images shown as sharp they should be in HDR. Additionally both have good color gamut coverage in DCI P3 and Rec.2020 color space. They both also have good color volume where they can show their wide color gamut at their entire brightness range. This makes HDR images look colorful on their screen. Not only that they both also have good HDR peak brightness, making highlights pop in HDR the way they should. Even in certain scenes, they both can show HDR images at 1000-4000 nits of brightness range as intended by the content creator. When comparing between them, Hisense H9G is a better deal than the TCL 6 Series 2020. In addition to better black uniformity and local dimming performance, it also has much better color gradient and brighter HDR peak brightness. On the other hand, although not as good as the Hisense H9G, as a budget TV the HDR performance of the TCL R635 is also great.

Winner: Hisense H9G

Summary

Overall, the Hisense H9G is a better deal than the TCL R635. Almost all aspects of picture quality produced by the Hisense H9G are better than the TCL 6 Series. It has better black uniformity, better local dimming performance, smoother color gradient, lower response time, lower input lag etc, making it better than the TCL 6 Series 2020 for just about any use. Although not as good as the Hisense H9G, considering its low price the performance of the TCL 6 Series 2020 is also great, no matter what is being viewed. So which is a better choice for you? Overall the Hisense H9G may have better picture and performance, but with the same screen size (55R635 vs 55H9G, 65R635 vs 65H9G), it is more expensive than the TCL R635. Now the decision is yours according to your need and preferences.

Check today’s Price
TCL 6 Series 2020 / R635 Hisense H9G
55 Inches 55R635 55H9G
65 Inches 65R635 65H9G
75 Inches 75R635

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