Technologies

I Watched a $30,000, 116-Inch TV. Now I Need a Bigger Living Room

I spent a couple of hours with the Hisense 116UX TV, which has an RGB mini-LED backlight and a superfast 165Hz panel. Also, it’s big.

The whole TV industry is moving towards bigger and bigger screens, and the new Hisense 116UX takes the concept to a room-filling extreme. This is a 116-inch 4K TV that costs as much as a decent new car. But it’s not just any 116-inch, $30,000 TV. Hisense built some sophisticated tech under the hood, and I got some hands-on time with it.

I can confirm that this is a truly massive screen. Like, absolutely huge. A real unit. To give you an idea of how big it is, I’m 6 feet tall and I could not touch one end and the other at the same time. I can also confirm that I kinda want one.

Read more: Best TVs of 2025

Unique tech, meet gigantic TV

First announced at CES, this Hisense 116UX is a different type of TV than the $20,000, 115-inch TCL we looked at last year. That was a «hang out with your buddies and watch the game» kind of TV. This Hisense is not just an inch larger diagonally and 10 grand more expensive, it’s squarely aimed at the (very) well-heeled video quality aficionado.

The LCD-based Hisense 116UX uses the company’s proprietary RGB, mini-LED backlight combined with quantum dots and 3,584 local dimming zones. As the name «RGB» suggests, each individual backlight is broken up into a trio of red, green and blue mini-LEDs. Representatives for the company said these zones can also be divided further through software, and that at full pelt the screen is capable of 8,000 nits peak brightness.

The TV is set for gaming on with a native 165Hz Panel and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Auto Low Latency Mode.

Though it lacks the level of anti-glare tech found on high-end Samsungs like the S95F I reviewed recently, Hisense’s TV has the company’s own Anti-Reflection Pro to ward off (though not completely obscure) reflected light.

Like most TVs from companies not called LG or Samsung, the 116UX runs on the Google TV operating system. If you have a Google smart home or Android phone it should integrate really well as a result.

And similar to recent Samsung remotes, 116UX comes with a suitably large remote control with a little photoelectric panel for charging with your overhead lights. Maybe it also charges from reflected light of the huge panel? It’s certainly bright enough.

The TV was the room

I spent a couple of hours with the Hisense 116UX, in Hisense’s New York demo room, which was only just big enough to fit the TV. I was reminded of Magritte’s painting of a massive apple in a small room. I watched some movie scenes, including scenes from Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer.

Apart from the size, I came away with the impression that this TV is great for HDR movies, as exemplified by its surprisingly deft handling of Oppenheimer. In the test scene I used, the Hisense was able to both bring out bright pinpricks of light while also able to show the hills and sky without banding.

Spider-Man showed how bright and colorful this TV could get. The huge screen was also able to keep up with the movie’s frenetic action scenes without smearing.

I tested its light output using a Konica Minolta LS-100 light meter, which registered an impressive 7,923 nits — pretty much exactly what Hinsense claimed. It’s also double the 65-inch Hisense U8Q, the brightest TV I’ve ever measured at CNET, and roughly four times brighter than the 65-inch LG G5, the brightest OLED TV.

While I didn’t test the TV’s gaming prowess, I have no doubt it would be a real blast to rid Mars of a new demonic scourge on a screen that truly is larger than life.

I listened to the 116UX for a little bit but it sounded disappointedly «like a TV,» with boomy lower mids and a vocal forwardness. If you can afford a TV like this, you can afford a sound system to go with it, and I will (maybe) come with you to help you buy it.

A big price tag to match

Is this the holy grail of TVs? For some, perhaps. Would I have one in my home? Yes, but only if I could find a rich benefactor to buy it for me — along with a bigger apartment. For its $30,000 price tag you could buy a hell of a lot of a lot of movie tickets instead. Like around 2,000 of them. But that’s hardly the point. This is currently the best (and only) 116-inch TV available, and if you really want to make your living room seem small, the Hisense 116UX is more practical and fun than a monster-sized piece of fruit.

Technologies

Tinder Users Must Start Logging In With Their Faces, Starting Nationwide

The social app now has new US requirements including face identification to help quell longstanding problems with catfishing and more.

US Tinder users will find a new feature when they open up the dating app starting Wednesday: A mandatory Face Check on their phones will be required before they can log into their profiles.

The Face Check step will begin with a new request to record a video of your face, a more casual version of setting up Apple’s Face ID login. Tinder will then run checks comparing your face data to your current profile pics and automatically create a small face badge for your profile. We already know how it works, because Tinder has already launched the feature in Canada and California before the full US rollout.

The technology, powered by FaceTec, will keep biometric data of the user’s face in encrypted form but discard the scanning video for privacy. Tinder will be able to use the face data to detect duplicate accounts, in an effort to cut down on fake profiles and identity theft.

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Tinder’s facial recognition rollout is also made to prevent catfishing, or people pretending to be someone else on Tinder to scam or blackmail them. But that also points to a deeper problem on the rise in dating apps — a growing number of bots, many controlled by AI, are designed to glean personal information or fool users into scammy subscriptions, among other problems.

Tinder’s working against these bots on several fronts, including this Face Check push as well as ID Check, which requires a government-issued ID and other types of photo verification.

The dating app also recently released a feature in June to enable double-dating with your friends, which Tinder reports is especially popular with Gen Z users. If you’re worried about the latest hazards on Tinder, we have guide to safety practices.

A representative for Tinder did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Oct. 23

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Oct. 23.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Like some weather, memories and I.P.A.s
Answer: HAZY

5A clue: Statement that’s self-evidently true
Answer: AXIOM

7A clue: Civic automaker
Answer: HONDA

8A clue: What fear leads to, as Yoda told a young Anakin
Answer: ANGER

9A clue: Foxlike
Answer: SLY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Verbal «lol»
Answer: HAHA

2D clue: Brain signal transmitter
Answer: AXON

3D clue: Hits with a witty comeback
Answer: ZINGS

4D clue: Sing at the top of a mountain, maybe
Answer: YODEL

6D clue: Name of the famous «Queen of Scots»
Answer: MARY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 23 #599

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 23, No. 599.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle might be Halloween-themed, as the answers are all rather dangerous. Some of them are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Please don’t eat me!

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Remember Mr. Yuk?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

POND, NOON, NODE, BALE, SOCK, LOVE, LOCK, MOCK, LEER, REEL, GLOVE, DAIS, LEAN, LEAD, REEL

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: