OPINION: With this column’s usual writer Kob Monney being away on a work trip this week, I was able to go in his stead to Hisense’s launch event for its gigantic 110-inch 110UXN TV. Needless to say, it’s quite the thing to behold.
Nothing makes your existing TV seem quite so inadequate as seeing one that, in my case, offers quite literally double the display size. As soon as I walked into the event space the 110UXN commanded my attention by its sheer presence – this is no longer a thing that friends and family gather around to watch some entertainment, but rather an entire conversation starter in itself.
Of course, I say this knowing full well that even with smaller cinema screens (let alone IMAX showings), watching entertainment on a large scale screen isn’t exactly a new concept but seeing that in a domestic setting is, and the obvious thing to point out – which Hisense is well aware of – is that this set won’t be for everyone. Before you can even get into the question of price, there’s a logistical component afoot as to whether or not the 110UXN could even fit into most abodes, but if you do have the space then good for you. There are even four gigantic handles on the back of the thing to allow two people (presumably Olympian weightlifters), to manoeuvre it onto a stand.
Despite this, it’s easy to see why someone at this end of the market might opt for something like the 110UXN as opposed to a projector, which is where my mind would typically go when discussing how to go about building a proper home cinema. A dedicated TV can be far brighter than a projector (the 110UXN goes up to 10,000 nits) and by extension it can be used with greater ease at all times of day, whereas a projector almost always demands a dark setting to operate at its best.
With that said, I was still very much in the mindset that what I was seeing in front of me was a true luxury product, intended for a very small part of the TV market. That illusion pretty much fell apart when I was introduced to some pretty jaw dropping statistics about these gargantuan TVs.
For some, bigger is always better
As it turns out, the appetite for super-sized sets is a growing one. CNN reported only last month (via a study conducted by research firm Circana) that sales for TVs of sizes ranging between 75 to 96 inches have increased by a phenomenal 877% over the last year. The study attributes part of that rise due to a 53% decrease in average prices for 98-inch TVs, owed to similarly decreasing manufacturing costs.
Even now, I still can’t quite wrap my head around the idea that there’s now huge demand for these sets in 2024 to the point where, as a spokesperson from Hisense described at the event, these larger sets are now considered to be a crucial part of the company’s TV division as it tries to present itself as the industry leader in this area, and to Hisense’s credit, it might just do that on the cost to the consumer alone.
While the 110UXN has a high asking price of £19,999, a quick gander on the internet shows that you can now pick up the 100-inch Hisense 100E7N for just shy of £2000 which is pretty mindblowing. As a Hisense representative was keen to point out, you’d spend almost as much on a new iPhone 16 Pro Max with all the trimmings included (1TB storage, Apple Care protection, etc.).
Even though I am not the target market for this TV (I’ve never spent more than £400 on a new set and space is unfortunately a key factor), I still found myself enamoured with the idea that you could buy one of these sets for a price far below my expectations, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t trying to imagine how to fit one in my living room. It might sound a bit daft but trust me – when you see one of these things for yourself, you’ll be pondering the same thing.
