Haier M90E vs Samsung S85H

Haier M90E is a television that doesn’t lack brightness. In most film scenes, peak luminance exceeds 1000 nits, which gives the image a distinct "punch" and high dynamics. This performs really well with typical bright HDR material. However, one must take into account the previously mentioned dimming algorithm. In scenes that are not evenly flooded with light – for example, when displaying individual stars on a black sky – the high brightness highlights the shortcomings of zone control. Instead of a precise light point, we often see a distinct halo effect around bright objects. Despite these drawbacks, the overall presentation of the image can be pleasing, thanks in large part to the colour reproduction. The manufacturer has applied a PFS phosphor coating, which allows for wide coverage of the colour palette. In our measurements, the coverage of the DCI-P3 space reached a solid 95%.

Interestingly, the new WOLED SE panel has brought a slight improvement in brightness to the S85 lineup. In the same film scenes last year’s model sat closer to about 700 nits, while the S85H can reach roughly 800 nits. That’s not a change that completely transforms the HDR experience, but the extra headroom is noticeable, especially with point highlights, reflections or stronger special effects. Around 800 nits is a very good result for an entry-level OLED and in most films it’s enough for HDR to have the necessary punch. Bright elements can clearly stand out against perfect blacks, and that contrast is still doing most of the work here. However, you need to remember the typical limitation of OLED technology. When a very bright scene covers a large portion of the screen, brightness can drop to almost half. This is the result of panel protections that limit its output with large bright areas.

Colours

The S85H can deliver very pleasant, saturated colours and in most HDR films it looks really good in that regard. We measured around 95% coverage of DCI-P3, so the palette most commonly used in films is reproduced to a very high degree. Skin tones, greens and stronger reds still have appropriate intensity and under normal viewing it’s hard to have major complaints. Only when you look more broadly at BT.2020 do the limitations of the new WOLED SE panel become apparent. Coverage was about 70%, a bit less than WOLEDs of the previous generation and noticeably less than QD-OLED panels. In films this isn’t a big loss, since most productions rarely use such heavily saturated colours. You’re more likely to notice it in games, where developers more often opt for more intense colours.

For the measurements, we chose the Film mode, which is supposed to provide an image closest to the intentions of the creators. Unfortunately, in the case of the M90E, its characteristics – besides the reduced brightness – differ little from the Dynamic mode. In both SDR and HDR materials, the image is noticeably tinged with a cool blue hue. The white balance is heavily skewed towards blue, reminiscent of typical, aggressive "store" settings. This results in unnatural skin tone reproduction and makes the image tiring to the eyes during longer viewing sessions. The way brightness is managed also negatively impacts colour fidelity. The TV struggles to maintain proper levels – small details are often too dim, while larger, bright areas of the image become overexposed. These deviations in the brightness curve, combined with the cool white balance, lead to very large colour reproduction errors (DeltaE) in the factory settings.

To evaluate colours we of course used Filmmaker mode, and in SDR our S85H unit was set very well from the factory. The largest deviation appears in the white balance, where as brightness increases it starts to lose a bit of blue. In practice this means whites and greys have a slightly warmer tint than they should. However, it's not a big fault and during normal viewing it generally isn't very noticeable. Gamma also stays close to the reference value, so the picture is neither overly bright nor unnecessarily dim. The S85H's SDR picture therefore looks really good straight out of the box. A few more imperfections appear in HDR. Here the white balance shifts more with rising brightness, with blue starting to dominate and the red component clearly lacking. This also results in larger errors in some colours. These aren't yet colour errors that completely change the character of the picture, but in direct comparison with the reference the difference is easier to spot. Overall, Filmmaker mode is a very good starting point before professional calibration.

Haier M90E clearly improves after undergoing professional calibration, especially for SDR content. The television's menu offers a sufficient number of tools to effectively correct factory errors. We managed to "tame" the white balance and eliminate the dominant blue glow. We also adjusted, albeit to a lesser extent, the gamma curve, which allowed us to recover some details in the shadows that were too heavily dimmed in the factory settings. The final effect in SDR is a significantly more natural and pleasing image. In HDR mode, the success is only partial. While we managed to improve the white balance here too, color reproduction errors (Color Checker) remained at a high level. Analysis of the EOTF curve (responsible for brightness in HDR) points to the cause of the problem: the television imposes its own interpretation of the signal and does not provide tools to modify this curve. The source of high errors is not the calibration itself, but the specificity of the device – aggressive and imprecise zone dimming interferes with measurements and is "stiffly" embedded in the characteristics of this model.

Calibration delivers really good results on the S85H. First and foremost, we were able to set the white balance almost perfectly, which removes the slightly too-warm picture tone previously seen in SDR. Colour reproduction also improves significantly, with most errors falling to very low levels, and in everyday viewing it's hard to find any visible inaccuracies. You can also improve HDR quite a bit, although some issues remain that stem from the TV's inherent characteristics. The S85H doesn't always hold the luminance curve perfectly. The darkest parts are slightly boosted, while, as you approach the panel's limits, you can see small deviations in the brightest highlights. Add to that the limited coverage of the wider BT.2020 colour gamut, which of course cannot be overcome by any calibration. Despite that, the end result is very good, and after calibration the S85H can deliver a really well-tuned, natural image.

The evaluation of the image processor must be divided into two distinct aspects, as the Haier M90E behaves inconsistently here. The first issue is the upscaling itself, which is the process of scaling lower resolution content to 4K. In this task, the television performs quite decently. The algorithms effectively enhance detail, making the final image relatively sharp, clear, and readable. In this respect, it’s hard to have major complaints about the device.

The situation is completely different with materials that have a high degree of compression, which we encounter in older recordings or on platforms like YouTube with a lower bitrate. Here, the processor struggles with smoothing tonal transitions and masking the imperfections of the source. The television fails to hide compression blocks, resulting in a very harsh, "digital" character of the image. The lack of effective artifact reduction can certainly deter viewers from watching lower quality content on this screen.

Samsung's S85H uses the same proprietary AI processor, AI NQ4 Gen2, as last year’s S85F, and in terms of digital image processing it performs quite well. Upscaling is one of the model's stronger points. Lower-resolution material is well sharpened, edges look natural and the picture doesn't come across as overly artificial. Just remember a common quirk of Samsung TVs: at very low resolutions you can't completely turn off overscan, so the TV may slightly crop the left edge of the picture. The "noise reduction" function, that is smoothing weaker tonal transitions, also works very well. The processor can effectively remove posterisation and other artefacts visible in lower-quality material. However, be careful with the strength of this function, because Samsung can be fairly aggressive here. When it's activated, along with unwanted artefacts, fine details such as skin or clothing texture also start to disappear.

Haier M90E is equipped with a simple yet functional motion smoothing system (MEMC). In the settings menu, users will find a three-level adjustment scale: low, medium, and high. This allows for adjusting the level of intervention in the image to personal preferences – from gentle smoothing of 24p films to maximum fluidity (soap opera effect). The system operates stably and fulfills its purpose in typical applications.

The S85H uses an OLED panel, so it performs brilliantly when it comes to motion blur. Pixels respond almost instantly, so moving objects don't produce the characteristic ghosting seen on some LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable with sport or fast-paced games, where the picture stays very clean even during rapid motion. The panel itself runs at 120 Hz. That's more than enough for movies, TV shows, sport or console gaming. It's a shame Samsung didn't include a higher refresh rate aimed at PC gamers, as more and more TVs now offer 144 or even 165 Hz at 4K. However, that doesn't affect motion handling in films or sport.

There's also the classic motion smoothing feature with two settings: blur reduction and judder reduction. So you can choose whether films should keep their cinematic 24 frames per second, or whether you'd prefer to smooth them a bit. The S85H gives plenty of freedom here, and the interpolation itself works well and, with sensible settings, doesn't generate too many artefacts.

From a hardware perspective, the Haier M90E is a solid offering. The television is equipped with two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, which ensure support for key technologies: VRR (variable refresh rate) and ALLM (auto low latency mode). Another plus is the correct implementation of Dolby Vision for gaming, which maintains a relatively low input lag. Problems arise with the software configuration. The biggest drawback is the forced, continuous dynamic tone mapping by the television's processor. This prevents proper HDR calibration from the console using system panels (HGiG) – the television ignores source settings and processes the image in its own way. We also noted deficiencies in the interface: the M90E does not have a typical "Game Bar" (overlay with parameters), which is standard among competitors. Cooperation with Xbox consoles has also proven problematic with atypical parameters – the device struggles to properly display 1440p resolution at 120 Hz refresh rate. Despite the aforementioned software shortcomings, the Haier M90E remains a very attractive screen for gamers. The final reception is saved by a solid hardware foundation. Native refresh rate of 144 Hz and the presence of full-featured HDMI 2.1 ports are advantages that are crucial in everyday use. If we are looking for a television that provides high fluency and supports 4K signal, this model will do its job.

Samsung S85H is very well prepared for gaming, essentially regardless of whether you connect a console or a computer. The manufacturer didn’t skimp on connectors and all four HDMI ports support full HDMI 2.1. That means you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM without worrying which input to plug your console into. With multiple devices that matters a lot, since you don’t have to choose between a console, a PC or a soundbar connected via eARC. The feature set itself is very complete. The S85H supports VRR, FreeSync and automatic switching to Game Mode, and Samsung also offers its expanded Game Bar, which lets you quickly view the key signal parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only real omission is Dolby Vision, which will matter mainly for Xbox owners. That’s a typical trait of Samsung TVs. Game Motion Plus performs very well and it’s one of the features that has set Samsung TVs apart for years. It smooths motion in games running at 30 or 60 fps, but does so without as large an increase in input lag as a classic motion interpolator. In practice, for slower-paced games, racing or action titles it can genuinely improve motion perception, especially if you’re sensitive to low frame rates.