Haier M95E vs Hisense E7Q PRO / E79Q PRO

If there is one category where the Haier M95E absolutely shines, it is the HDR effect, powered by the raw power of the backlight. This television cannot be denied its reputation as a truly bright device. In both most film scenes and during our synthetic measurements, the panel easily reached, and often exceeded, the threshold of 1200-1500 nits. This directly translates to the viewing experience – the image has punch and truly allows one to feel the magic of materials recorded in this format. However, one must be aware of a certain compromise. When particularly demanding shots filled with small but intense bright points appear on the screen, the M95E, while not losing its resonance and not dimming, pays a different price for it. A very strong and noticeably distracting halo effect is generated around these bright elements. It is evident that the algorithms controlling dimming have been programmed to prioritise brightness and the visibility of the smallest details, even if this comes at the cost of perfect black levels. We are not entirely convinced that this is the healthiest approach; nonetheless, it must be admitted that the general capabilities of the M95E in this regard are indeed substantial. A huge positive is that we are dealing with a Mini LED QLED construction. The use of a quantum dot layer brings measurable benefits in the form of wide coverage of the colour palette, which in our tests reached nearly 96% of the DCI-P3 space. This guarantees that the television has full predispositions for displaying vibrant and appropriately saturated colours.

When it comes to HDR effect quality, the E7Q PRO unfortunately is not a television that impresses with brightness alone. In real film materials, we measured around 250–300 nits, which is simply not enough for HDR to look spectacular. There's a lack of that "spark" in bright details, flashes, and light effects, and in many HDR scenes, it can resemble more of a good SDR than true cinematic HDR. The silver lining in all this is the colours. We managed to confirm that the E7Q PRO is a PFS type television, which means it has an additional filter that improves colour gamut coverage. Because of this, even if the brightness doesn't deliver, the colours in HDR content can be properly saturated and pleasing to the eye, without the impression of a "washed-out" image.

Each TV is evaluated primarily based on its default cinematic mode – in this case, "Movie" – which theoretically should be the "best" and most accurate straight out of the box. Unfortunately, with the Haier M95E, the word "best" is absolutely not synonymous with the word "good." Even during SDR viewing, the picture revealed evident issues: white balance skewed too far towards red, and excessive, unnatural colour saturation led to noticeable colour deviations. Worse still, the M95E also struggles with brightness management (gamma curve), excessively darkening the entire scene. Such behaviour is hard to commend, as it directly leads to the merging of details in shadows, which irretrievably disappear into a black void.

However, the real disaster arrived when switching to HDR content, still remaining in "Movie" mode. It's hard to guess who came up with such a fantastic idea – or perhaps it was simply a complete oversight by Haier's engineers during this stage – but instead of cinematic accuracy, the image started to resemble a vivid "Dynamic" mode. The white balance exposed significant issues with blue color, which in turn resulted in unnatural sharpness and artificial over-brightening of the entire scene. As if that wasn't enough, the EOTF curve's characteristics mercilessly revealed that the TV also had fundamental issues with managing the local dimming system in this setting. We haven’t calibrated many Haier TVs in our career, but we know for sure already that the M95E definitely needs it.

In terms of colour reproduction, we tested the Hisense E7Q Pro in Movie mode, which undoubtedly turned out to be the best built-in preset. It is this mode, unlike the Eco, Standard, or Dynamic settings, that offers the most natural colours straight out of the box. While no factory mode is completely free of flaws, the E7Q Pro deserves high praise for its colour rendition in standard SDR content. The colour palette has been very well tuned, and errors in the Color Checker tests often did not exceed a value of 3, which is an outstanding result rarely seen in such affordable TVs. The only drawback we noted in SDR is the tendency to darken certain elements of the image, as indicated by a slightly raised gamma curve. The TV performs slightly worse with colours in HDR mode. Here, colour errors become noticeable to the naked eye, mainly due to a deficiency of blue in the white balance. This causes the colours on screen to appear too warm, and for some viewers, they may seem almost "too cinematic." Of course, to improve these parameters, we proceeded with professional calibration.

The calibration process left us with extremely mixed feelings. On one hand, we noted considerable success in the area of colour. By using the options available in the menu, we managed to tame the white balance and bring it down to an acceptable level. As a result, SDR content finally freed itself from the irritating red dominance, and the HDR image stopped resembling the vivid, retail demonstration mode. The entire colour palette and its saturation were also clearly corrected – maybe not perfectly, but to the extent that the software allowed, and the difference was visible to the naked eye.

And on this, unfortunately, our list of corrections pretty much ends, as M95E simply didn't allow for any more. As we signalled earlier, most settings related to the brightness of the image do not respond to our commands at all. This means that we were not able to control its fundamental characteristics in any way – neither the gamma curve nor the EOTF. In practice, the television still tends to darken details in SDR content, which was confirmed by the inflated gamma, merging details in the shadows. Meanwhile, the EOTF curve in HDR mode still mercilessly exposed all those previously mentioned problems with chaotic local dimming management. And although the calibration process itself achieved a lot, removing most of the colour issues, in the end, we had to capitulate.

In the case of materials with standard dynamic range (SDR), our actions in Filmmaker mode turned out to be largely cosmetic 😉. We mainly focused on a subtle adjustment of the white balance and equalising the gamma curve, which allowed us to recover details in the darker areas of the image that previously tended to get lost. However, it's worth noting that the E7Q Pro unit we tested happened to be exceptionally well-made from the factory. We remind you that these parameters depend on the specific unit – with mass production, factory calibration can be random, so your unit may require slightly different adjustments. The biggest beneficiary of professional calibration was undoubtedly HDR mode. This is where we did the most work, which brought spectacular results. We successfully tamed the excessive warmth of the image, caused by a factory shortfall in blue colour. After calibration, colour errors were reduced to a significantly lower level, which will certainly please those watching a lot of streaming content in HDR format, expecting faithful reproduction.

No worries, but what happens to those colour transitions when lower quality material with compression artifacts comes on screen? Unfortunately, we have some bad news for you. Even though in the menu we can find an option responsible for smoothing tonal transitions in older content, we definitely DO NOT RECOMMEND using it. Its activation causes an avalanche of additional, nasty artifacts, noticeably blurring the entire image, and ironically – it often doesn’t even remove those unwanted “jaggies” it was meant to tackle. This feature might as well not exist at all.

We can write many more warm words about the overall upscaling, which is the process of raising lower resolutions to the native 4K matrix. The image after upscaling looks really decent – it’s neither overly jagged nor artificially smoothed. In this particular area, the M95E really does the job.

When it comes to upscaling and digital image processing, the E7Q PRO deserves praise. The scaling performs really well here and doesn't fall dramatically short of much more expensive, advanced TVs. Lower quality materials can look clear and reasonable, without the impression that the image is artificially "overdrawn." The smoothing function, however, presents a bit worse. Yes, it can be effective and improve tonal transitions in low-quality materials, but at the same time, it can introduce unwanted effects. Sometimes it removes film grain or adds unwanted artifacts, giving the image a more "digital" character. Therefore, we mainly recommend it to those who prefer a smoother, less cinematic image style.

In terms of motion fluidity and blurring, our feelings are quite mixed because the M95E is a paradox television. Let's start with absolute admiration: the heart of the device is its 144Hz panel, but what really impresses is its performance with 120Hz content, which is crucial for sports and console gaming. We must state with complete certainty that Haier has equipped it with one of the best VA panels currently available on the market when it comes to minimising blurring. It is rare to encounter an LCD panel that offers such clear, sharp, and ghosting-free motion. In this regard, the M95E is simply phenomenal.

And that is why the unpleasant surprise waiting for us on the software side is so painful. It turns out that this fantastic hardware potential is completely underutilised because the TV virtually offers no functioning options for improving fluidity. The smoothing systems that should help with lower frame rate content can indeed be found in the menu, but they essentially do not respond to our settings. The conclusion is brutally simple: if you intend to watch high fluidity materials, you must be sure that the source is broadcasting them in native 120. In every other case, you will have to come to terms with a rather harsh, stuttering image, as the M95E will not help smooth it out in any way.

In the category of motion blur and fluidity, the E7Q PRO has one very strong argument. At this price, Hisense has added a 120 Hz panel, and in PC mode, it can even operate at 144 Hz. This immediately provides greater possibilities in motion settings, as more options for smoothing the image appear in the menu. Among other things, we have frame interpolation options, allowing us to adjust the fluidity for sports or movies, depending on whether we prefer a more cinematic character or a "theatrical" smoothness.

When it comes to features for gamers, the Haier M95E offers some strong arguments. First and foremost, it is fully prepared for the new generation of consoles and powerful gaming PCs. It comes equipped with two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, which effortlessly handle 4K signals at 120Hz and even allow gaming at 144Hz. This is the foundation that guarantees us full utilisation of our available hardware. Furthermore, the key technologies work flawlessly here. The TV accurately detects the console and automatically switches to low-latency mode (ALLM), so we don’t have to fiddle with the settings. The frame syncing (VRR) also works efficiently, eliminating annoying tearing when the game’s smoothness slightly drops. Considering the exceptionally low motion blur of the panel, which we've already mentioned, the M95E creates a truly comfortable and responsive gaming environment. Of course, it's not a perfect package. A dedicated "Game Bar", which is a handy menu for gamers, would be useful, but that's really just a nice extra. A more serious omission is the lack of support for the HGiG standard, which impedes the perfect HDR configuration on consoles and can lead to overexposure. Despite these shortcomings, the core "gaming package" that the M95E offers is really solid and fully functional.

E7Q PRO is a phenomenal screen for gamers. Besides the typical "issue" with Hisense, which is the lack of support for the HGiG format due to constantly active tone mapping, we get practically everything one could expect from a TV that is supposed to have a gaming tag. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, along with a full set of key features. We have variable refresh rate, automatic switching to game mode, and support for 4K at 120 Hz. On top of that, all the important settings are at hand in the clear Game Bar. This tool not only looks modern, but it also has a typically "gaming" edge and actually makes life easier while gaming.