After an announcement at IFA 2019 that Hisense was bringing the first Roku TVs to be available outside of the Americas, Hisense and Roku have both announced a date for when they’ll go on sale
The Roku range will be available in 43-inch (£329), 50-inch (£379), 55-inch (£479) and 65-inch (£699) sizes, and they’ll be exclusive to Argos from November 29th, just before Black Friday starts.
Related: Hisense updates UK TV range with Laser and 8K TV models
The TVs themselves are similar in style and build to the Hisense 7100 series, but do away with the Hisense Vidaa smart platform for Roku’s OS. Since its inception, Roku has made a name for itself in its platform agnosticism, curating a huge number of apps with access to the likes Google Play, Amazon Video, Netflix, Spotify and Now TV. With its TV OS, it now brings Freeview Play, along with picture and sound customisation into play.
The range will offer content in 4K HDR (HDR10 and HLG), with Roku’s simple interface able to matched to your needs and offering quick access to the content you want.
In 2019, one in three TVs sold in the US has been a TV with a Roku OS, so we’ll be interested to see how well it does in a smaller, more competitive market with the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, LG and Sony jostling for space. It does lack support voice assistants and any form dynamic HDR in Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and only supports Dolby Atmos passthrough. But Hisense’s focus on value-added TVs may give them advantage of a wider audience.
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Arun Bhatoye, senior marketing manager at Hisense, said: “We are incredibly proud to launch the first Roku TV models in the UK. These new 4K TVs offer stellar picture quality, endless entertainment and an affordable price. We are now just days away from the UK’s first Roku TV models to hit the stands; it’s a very exciting time.”
Bart Bomers, VP EMEA at Roku, added: “We are thrilled to launch Roku TV in Europe, starting with the UK. Roku TV models have been incredibly popular in the U.S. for years. Roku TV models simply offer a fantastic smart TV experience: are simple to use, packed with entertainment and deliver exceptional value.”
We’ll be looking to review the Hisense/Roku TV range in the coming weeks.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.