Haier M95E vs IFFALCON U85X

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.

iFFALCON U85 handles HDR in a rather dual manner – on one hand, it can surprise with a solid peak brightness of around 650 nits, which places it significantly above average in this price segment. This is particularly evident in bright, full-screen scenes. Examples from movies like Life of Pi or the final test sequences from The Meg prove that the television can maintain the power and essence of the HDR effect when the entire panel needs to “ignite,” providing truly satisfying experiences. However, problems arise in high-contrast scenes, where smaller, bright details appear on the screen; the dimming algorithms prioritise black depth so much that they can crush the brightness of small bright points down to just 100 nits, drastically lowering the image dynamics and depriving us of the real “bite” we expect from HDR standards. However, the question of colours remains a sweetener, as thanks to the use of the PFS phosphor filter (marketed as QLED by the manufacturer), they look very good, achieving nearly 94% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, which allows for a rich and vivid image in most content.

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.

We tested the factory colours in the iFFALCON U85X model in “Film” mode, which is definitely the most accurate among all available settings, although it is still far from perfect. The main issue that catches the eye in both SDR and HDR content is the improper white balance – an excess of blue and red contributes to a slight purple tint in the image, detracting from the naturalness of the film scenes. An even greater challenge is how the television manages its brightness. Analysing the gamma chart for SDR signal, we noticed significant instability: instead of adhering to the standard value of 2.4, the device oscillates around 2.2, then suddenly makes an unnatural jump to around 3.0. In practice, this leads to confusing effects – large, bright surfaces on the screen appear too dark, while smaller elements are unnecessarily brightened. A similar characteristic can be found in the EOTF curve, which makes the image unpredictable and loses its cinematic authenticity.

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.

After professional calibration of the movie mode, we must admit that the effect is more than satisfactory – the iFFALCON U85X undergoes a true transformation here. Colour errors in SDR content have dropped to a level below 2, making them practically undetectable to the human eye. We managed to set the white balance almost perfectly, and brightness management (gamma) has become almost exemplary. As a result, with standard quality materials, the television simply looks perfect and it's hard to fault it.

In the case of HDR signal, the situation has also improved significantly, although here the nature of the device is a bit more noticeable. Colour errors have been reduced to around 3, which is an outstanding result in this price range. It's worth taking a look at the EOTF chart (available on the right side of the screen in filters: 4K HDR, gamma / EOTF) to see what is not immediately apparent regarding brightness management by the U85. Though the reference line looks decent, in actual film scenes the television still interprets the signal “in its own way” due to very aggressive local dimming zone algorithms. Does that disqualify this model for watching HDR content? Absolutely not. It’s simply a typical issue with nearly every Mini-LED that has to balance high brightness with the attempt to maintain deep blacks. One just needs to be aware of these technical limitations, which are unavoidable in this segment.

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 scaling images to 4K resolution, the iFFALCON U85X performs solidly. The device effectively boosts low-quality signals, making even older materials look clean and clear on the 4K panel. At extremely low resolutions, such as 480p, you can notice slightly jagged edges (especially on thin lines), but let’s be honest – this is a scenario you'll only encounter while watching very old recordings, so in everyday use, it’s not a real issue.

On the other hand, the digital processing aimed at smoothing tonal transitions performs significantly worse. Although the menu features a function called “Gradual Smoothing”, its effectiveness is at least debatable. In practice, it does not effectively eliminate banding (colour stepping) and, worse yet, can cause more harm than good. This filter can be too aggressive where it shouldn’t be, artificially smoothing out details that shouldn’t be touched, such as the natural texture of the face or the fine details of skin texture. Instead of improving quality, this function can give the image an unnatural, “plastic” look, so it’s best to use it with caution or, preferably: leave it turned off.

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.

Unlike budget constructions that can resemble a slideshow in dynamic sports scenes, the iFFALCON U85X is a heavyweight player equipped with a panel featuring a native refresh rate of 144Hz. It's worth remembering that in the realm of movies, series, or sports, we'll predominantly operate at 120Hz due to the specifics of image enhancement systems. Such a fast panel is excellent news for gamers and sports fans, as it opens the door to advanced motion settings that simply aren't available in cheaper 60Hz models.

Everything is managed from the menu “Motion Clarity”, where instead of using ready-made, often overly aggressive modes, we strongly recommend a custom configuration based on two sliders. The most important of these, Flicker Reduction, is responsible for fluidity in films – here, it's best to aim for a value around 4, which helps maintain the natural, cinematic character of motion without falling into the artificial “soap opera effect.” Meanwhile, the first slider, Motion Blur Reduction, is key to success in sports broadcasts. In this case, it's worth going all out and setting it to maximum, ensuring that the image remains sharp during fast-paced action on the field, while annoying ghosting is eliminated.

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.

iFFALCON U85X is an outstanding piece of gear for gamers that has pretty much everything you could ask for from a modern screen for console or PC. It features two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports with a full bandwidth of 48 Gbps, which opens the door to key technologies such as VRR and ALLM, ensuring smooth gameplay without screen tearing and with minimal lag. The TV effortlessly handles high refresh rates at various resolutions, and a real curiosity is the mode that allows for up to 240Hz when dropping down to Full HD quality. Everything is managed by the Game Bar (which is a faithful copy from TCL), allowing for instant switching of picture modes, personalization of the interface appearance, or even adding a virtual crosshair in the middle of the screen.