Hisense smart TVs at Walmart, Best Buy and Costco for under $200

The already crowded smart TV OS wars just got a little more heated with the quiet introduction on U.S. retail shelves of low-priced models made by Hisense and powered by the Chinese manufacturer’s Linux-based operating system, VIDAA.

Perusing the virtual shelves of Walmart, Best Buy and Costco, we found plenty of budget-minded sets in the 32-, 40- and 43-inch sizes, all lacking premium features like 4K capability but all priced at well under $200.

In fact, we couldn't find anything cheaper than this 32-inch, VIDAA-powered Toshiba set at BestBuy.com. (Hisense now has a license to manufacture TVs under the Japanese “Toshiba” brand name.)

Founded in 2019 by Qingdao, China-headquartered Hisense Group and other investors, Atlanta-based VIDAA makes what Hisense now calls “its preferred smart TV OS,” even though the company continues to sell TVs powered by Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.