Put 65 inches of Android TV goodness in your living room for just $250.
Hisense
This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2020, CNET’s gift picks with expert advice, reviews and recommendations for the latest tech gifts for you and your family.
It came, it went and now it’s coming back: The Hisense H65 65-inch 4K UHD smart Android TV for $250. In a Black Friday season full of TV deals, this one took the cake. Best Buy teased it several days before Thanksgiving, and it almost immediately sold out. In fact, this was the slightly smaller brother of an earlier, equally impressive deal: The 70-inch Hisense model for just $400. (It’s up to $450 now, but still $200 off and a pretty amazing deal.)
But back to the issue at hand: We haven’t reviewed the Hisense H65. And honestly, Android TV isn’t our favorite smart TV operating system, and we have no idea when or if this model will be upgraded to support the successor, Google TV. (Yes, Hisense also makes TVs running the Roku operating system, which we prefer.) But on paper, there’s a lot to like here: Beyond the 4K resolution, it supports Dolby Vision HDR and DTS Virtual Audio. It has Google Assistant and Chromecast built in, the former accessible via the voice-capable remote.
Read more: The best TVs for 2020
But honestly, scoring a TV this big for a price tag this small means you might have to make some compromises. And if that means opting to forego the built-in Android apps and instead use your game console — or, say, a $29 Roku Streaming Stick Plus — it’s all good. Because this TV is so cheap, you’ll have plenty of money left over.
Remember, too: As I discussed with CNET TV guru David Katzmaier in a recent episode of the Cheapskate Show podcast, not everyone cares about having perfect black levels or local-area dimming. Sometimes, size matters more. And should you need any further nudging: If you don’t like the TV, you’ve got all the way until Jan. 16 to return it. (That’s a specially extended return period.)
The tell: “Deal starts 11/28/20”
Best Buy/Screenshot by John Falcone/CNET
When does the deal start? Saturday, sometime
Now, fair warning: This TV will almost certainly sell out again as soon as it goes live on Best Buy’s site. And we don’t know exactly when that is beyond the “Deal starts 11/28” badge on the Best Buy product page. But we can tell you from experience that Best Buy’s daily deals often “flip” on the site at some point after midnight Central Time (thank you, Minneapolis Best Buy HQ). That’s 1 a.m. ET, or 10 p.m. PT. Will it be at exactly that time? Minutes later? Hours later? We have no idea. But now you know as much as we do.
If you’re looking for other options, check out our favorite Black Friday and Cyber Monday TV deals.
CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung promo codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.