TCL C9K vs Haier M95E

As we mentioned regarding black levels and contrast – the C9K can make a huge impression in synthetic tests. Our measurements showed that on a screen 10% filled with white, the television can achieve... 4000 nits of brightness! It sounds out of this world, but – and here's where the pattern unfortunately repeats – the numbers say one thing, and the practical experience says another. In real movie scenes, the situation looks different. In the best-case scenario, when light effects occupy a large part of the image and the local dimming algorithm doesn't have to ponder too much about what to do with thousands of zones, the effect is really quite good. At that point, the C9K can hit around 1500 nits, which delivers a pleasant, intense burst and can indeed leave a positive impression.

The problem arises with smaller elements – such as stars in the sky, the moon, or individual reflections. That's when the proverbial cat comes out of the bag: the algorithms are not yet refined, and brightness drops to as low as 400–500 nits. That's a huge difference from the potential 4000 nits we saw in lab tests. Why does this happen? Most likely, the television is trying to protect the black levels in this way and minimize the halo effect around bright objects. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of detail – some details simply vanish, and the scene loses its nature.

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.

For colour tests, we once again reached for the Filmmaker mode – a new feature in TCL televisions for 2025. While the direction is a step in the right way, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The white balance in SDR content turned out to be too warm – there was an excess of red. On the other hand, in HDR, it swung in the opposite direction: the image became excessively blue. The Colour Checker test revealed quite a few colour inaccuracies that were noticeable to the naked eye. An even bigger problem turned out to be what we mentioned above – brightness management. Regardless of whether we were watching SDR or HDR content, the image tended to wash out the entire scene, giving it an unnatural, almost grotesque character. Therefore, it’s hard to call this a "director's mode" – because no director has ever seen such an 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.

After calibration, we finally managed to tame the white balance – and it immediately translated into a more natural image. Colours finally started to look as they should, and the overall presentation was incomparably better than on the factory settings. In other words – it’s worth taking a moment to improve this, as the gain is really significant. The gamma responsible for brightness management also managed to be brought into order in SDR content, and the effect was more than satisfactory. Unfortunately, when we turned on HDR materials, the situation quickly became complicated. No matter how we set the local dimming, the television had a tendency to do what it liked with the image – either it overexposed everything or darkened the darkest parts too much. Just like we saw in the scene from the movie Billy Lynn. Colour-wise, the improvement after calibration makes a great impression, but brightness management in HDR remains the Achilles' heel of the C9K and presents a certain technological limitation.

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.

Digital image processing on the TCL C9K is rather average. The smooth tone transition feature seems to be present, but activating it practically changes nothing – colour bands are still visible, and it can unintentionally highlight elements we’d rather keep hidden, such as object textures. Fortunately, it doesn’t remove film grain, but that’s poor consolation given that the effects are still meagre. It’s therefore hard to recommend using this option.

On the other hand, image scaling presents itself much better. Lower quality materials look quite decent – characters and backgrounds are rendered clearly, although of course, with sources like 576p, the laws of physics cannot be fooled. Occasionally, there’s characteristic edge distortion of objects, but that’s the fault of the source itself, not the algorithm. A plus for not having issues with overscan – the image isn't artificially cropped or enlarged.

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.

Similar to the C8K, the C9K is also a really fast TV – both figuratively and literally. It features a 4K panel with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, and at lower resolutions, the panel can even ramp up to 288 Hz. Such speed translates into practice – while watching sports or playing games, the image looks very smooth and clear. Additionally, in movies, we get an extra motion smoother called Motion Clarity, which allows you to adjust the smoothness to your own preferences – from cinematic "judder" to almost theatrical smoothness.

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.

From a gaming perspective, the TCL C9K is a complete tool. It features two (out of four) full bandwidth 48 Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports, so all the key technologies work: VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Additionally, the manufacturer has included a really intuitive Game Bar that allows you to quickly check the most important parameters and adjust settings without fumbling through menus. Also, TCL's policy is a plus – the TV isn’t afraid of any HDR formats, even in game mode. Whether it's HGiG or Dolby Vision for the Xbox Series S/X console – everything works as it should, giving the player plenty of freedom.

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.