The CanvasTV looks beautiful on a wall, but I wish Hisense offered more than one style for its virtual mat. (Rick Broida/Yahoo)
If you've been eyeballing Samsung's The Frame TV but weeping over the price tag, good news: Hisense just unveiled a strong competitor, the CanvasTV S7N, and there's already a sale: You can save $100 on the 55-inch model or $202 on the 65-inch. I'm nearly finished with my review of the latter, and let me tell you: It's pretty darn good. With this discount, I'm bumping that assessment to pretty damn good. (Please don't tell my editor I swore.) Here's what you need to know about the Hisense CanvasTV — and why you should jump on this deal.
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Available sizes (inches): 55, 65 | Frame included: Yes | Dolby(s): Vision | Operating System: Google | Smart-Home Compatibility: Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant | Voice controls: Push-button
Hisense's first-ever art TV is very, very good and far more affordable than Samsung's venerable model. But it needs more art and better mat options, shortcomings the company could easily remedy.
The CanvasTV not only makes a great addition to your wall, it also comes with a backlit remote. This is the 55-inch model, but if you have the space, it's worth the extra $200 to get the 65-inch.
The 55-inch CanvasTV lists for $1,000; the 65-inch, for $1,300. Those prices are already considerably below Samsung's for the same-size models. I'm honestly surprised to see Hisense lowering them already — it's not Prime Day or Black Friday yet! — but I'm certainly not complaining. It just makes an already good deal even better.
In case you're unfamiliar with them, so-called "art TVs" have a special mode that displays paintings, photos and other images when you're not actually watching TV, the idea being that the TV becomes a piece of wall decor.
To that end, and to further the framed-art illusion, Hisense supplies a magnetic teak frame. This is significant because Samsung charges extra for one (ironic given the TV's "Frame" moniker).
So if you have plans to wall-mount your next TV, why not choose something that can pull double-duty? You get Netflix and all the other streaming apps when you want them and some lovely artwork the rest of the time.
Beyond the highly competitive pricing and the included-in-the-box frame, the CanvasTV is notable for its subscription-free art collection, lovely matte-finish screen and above-average remote, which is nicely laid out and — drum roll, please — backlit!
I'm still doing my testing, but so far I've been impressed by the TV's brightness, contrast and color. It's also great for gaming, thanks to its high variable refresh rate (VRR).
However, its art mode feels a little unfinished. Hisense doesn't have an "art store" for procuring more than the 120 included works, and there's only one mat design — not a very good one, in my opinion. (It's wide at the sides and narrow along the top and bottom.)
The speakers aren't great, either — you'll definitely want to consider adding a soundbar. And be mindful of where you're going to mount this and what connections you might need, because all the ports are on the back of the TV, where they're very hard to reach post-mounting.
These aren't insurmountable issues, though. On the whole, I think Hisense has crafted a very good alternative to The Frame. It's certainly a much more affordable one.
