XIAOMI A PRO 2026 vs Philips PUS7000

If you're counting on the cinematic HDR experience in the new Xiaomi A Pro 2026, it's best to temper your expectations. This TV is simply too dim to fully realise the potential of contemporary films or series designed for the highest quality image. Our measurements showed brightness levels in the range of 200–300 nits, which are values that are more suited to SDR content than to ambitious HDR productions. In practice, this means that while most films look decent, they certainly won't evoke the 'wow' effect that other TVs do. Fortunately, not everything is lost – credit has to be given to the PFS LED filter used here, a solution similar to the quantum dot technology found in QLEDs. Thanks to this, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette reaches about 94%, resulting in vibrant, saturated colours in the vast majority of materials.

Unfortunately, the PUS7000 is not suitable for watching HDR content. This screen is simply too dark. A brightness level of 200 nits is insufficient to display this format correctly. Even if a HDR signal message appears on the screen, the image will resemble a standard SDR recording. Therefore, it’s better to stick with the latter format to avoid errors in displaying bright scenes, as you will read below. The situation is worsened by the fact that this is a classic LCD model without additional layers that improve colours, such as QLED or PFS. As a result, colours in HDR may seem washed out. Ultimately, this provides a worse effect than in the standard SDR format, which is simply better suited to the capabilities of this panel.

What we saw in Filmmaker mode really surprised us – and unfortunately not in a good way. The mode advertised as the Hollywood standard resembled more of a display in a shop window. The white balance was shifted towards blue, which led to massive colour errors and the effect of blown-out scenes in SDR content. It was a bit better, though far from perfect, in HDR materials. There were also problems there – colour saturation and the entire palette consistently drifted towards cooler tones, resulting in an image that had an artificial, cold tint rather than a cinematic character. In other words: even in Filmmaker mode, which should be the showcase of this television, we got an effect far from expectations.

We tested the television in movie mode, which theoretically should provide the best and most natural colours. And indeed, this mode is quite correct; however, when we connected the calibration equipment, its biggest flaw became apparent. The PUS7000 has significant shortcomings in displaying reds. Poorly tuned white balance and too low saturation of this colour cause the image to appear too cool. As a result, one might get the impression that the displayed content lacks vibrant colours. The situation is worsened by the fact that both SDR and HDR content are excessively brightened. This is confirmed by the gamma curve and EOTF graphs, which show that the television displays the image brighter than it should. This causes scenes to lose their depth and can make them seem slightly washed out. Fortunately, in the Philips menu, we find plenty of features to improve these aspects, so we immediately proceeded to calibration to see what we could extract from this screen.

Even though Xiaomi isn't a brand associated with top-tier televisions, it's fair to say that even in a budget model like the A Pro 2026, the manufacturer left plenty of calibration settings. After a few adjustments, the SDR picture took on a completely new look. The colours stopped veering into blue tones, the whites gained a sense of naturalness, and most errors dropped to a practically invisible level. As a result, SDR content looked very good, surprisingly so for this price range.

It was a slightly different story with HDR materials. Here, it was immediately noticeable what we had already mentioned – the overexposure of bright scenes and issues with balance control. Calibration helped only partially, as the limitations of the panel itself were at play. However, it must be emphasized that in the case of SDR, the television changed beyond recognition, and definitely for the better.

After professional calibration, it’s evident that the PUS7000 responds well to image adjustments. In this price range, that’s not a given. The effects are best evaluated in two scenarios, depending on the content we plan to watch. SDR performs the best. After our adjustments, the image looks really good. Most colour errors have dropped below level 3, which is the threshold at which discrepancies usually become visible to the naked eye. Movies, series, sports, and regular television present naturally, without unpleasant deviations. If someone mainly watches classic channels or streams in HD quality, the difference after calibration will be noticeable straight away. However, it must be said clearly that the PUS7000 is still not a television suited for proper HDR, and calibration doesn't change much in this regard. The reason lies in the hardware: colours remain too unsaturated. The television lacks solutions that widen the colour gamut, such as PFS filters or a quantum dot layer, so the panel simply cannot display the intense colours required by HDR. This is most evident in reds, which still look washed out. This limitation cannot be circumvented through menu settings, as it stems from the design of the backlighting and the panel itself.

Upscaling and digital image processing in the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 are not among the model's strong points. One might expect that since the television was not designed to achieve record brightness levels, the manufacturer would have opted for a more robust processor and a set of features that would "enhance" lower quality images. Unfortunately – we were also met with significant disappointment here. On the plus side, it has reasonably decent upscaling, which handles HD content and boosts it to 4K in an acceptable manner. However, that is where the list of advantages ends. The television does not offer any features to improve tonal transitions or smooth out digital imperfections, so in most cases, we receive a raw image, exactly as we deliver it from an external source. On a large screen, this lack of support makes lower quality content look simply bland. An additional problem is the phenomenon of overscan. When watching older material, it happens that part of the image is cut off, which only intensifies the impression that Xiaomi has quite a bit of catching up to do in this category.

The PUS7000 handles digital image processing quite well. The distortion reduction feature deserves praise, as it effectively smooths unwanted tonal transitions even at a low setting. However, it has its downside: with too aggressive operation, it can introduce undesirable artifacts on the screen. It would be a good idea to experiment with this setting to find the golden mean between a smooth image and the clarity of details.

The upscaling, or enhancing the quality of lower materials to 4K, is decent. The image after processing is very "soft," which is typical of almost all Philips TVs. The edges are plastic and smooth, making the image look cohesive. If someone finds it too soft, it can always be adjusted with the sharpness slider in the menu for a more pronounced effect.

The motion fluidity in the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 is an interesting compromise that results from the hybrid matrix used here. At a native resolution of 4K, the maximum refresh rate is 60 Hz – sufficient for those who mainly watch movies and series. It is with them in mind that the manufacturer added a motion smoother, allowing users to adjust the image to their own preferences – one can opt for greater fluidity or leave it with more "cinematic" frames depending on the settings.

In this regard, we actually have no good news. It might seem that the biggest downside is the lack of a 120 Hz panel, but in this price range, that's actually the norm, and it's hard to expect more. However, the worst part is that the television has no motion smoothing features. There are no supporting systems in place for either movies or sports. We have to come to terms with the fact that the image on the PUS7000 is processed "raw." This means that during dynamic scenes or fast camera movements, motion can appear choppy or unclear. We have no option to enable any smoothers that could alleviate this effect.

No indeed – since Xiaomi has added the "Game Boost 120 Hz" feature here, one might expect that they'd follow up with a solid gaming package. Unfortunately, reality quickly dampens that enthusiasm. Aside from this mode (which, it must be said, is a great addition in a budget build), we only have a rather peculiar player panel. It's hard to call it a full-fledged "game bar" – it's more of a simple overlay on the TV's Menu with limited options. And that’s about it. There’s no ALLM, so the TV won’t switch to game mode automatically. There’s no VRR, so you can forget about smooth frame synchronisation. We also won’t find support for Dolby Vision in games or the HGiG format, which are increasingly becoming the standard on consoles. In short: apart from Game Boost 120 Hz, which indeed allows for a more enjoyable experience at 1080p or 1440p, Xiaomi A Pro 2026 offers nothing that particularly appeals to gamers.

Even though the PUS7000 isn’t marketed as a gaming TV, it doesn't perform as poorly in this category as one might expect. True, it doesn't support 120 Hz refresh rates, which is understandable at this price point, but the manufacturer has included several important features that significantly improve the console gaming experience. The most important of these are VRR and ALLM technologies. VRR is responsible for synchronising the screen with the number of frames generated by the console. This means the image doesn't "tear" and remains consistent even during sudden drops in frame rates while playing. On the other hand, ALLM is a solution that automatically switches the TV to a mode with the lowest latency immediately after detecting a signal from the console. All these parameters are easily accessible thanks to the Game Bar feature. This is a special control panel for gamers that can be brought up on the screen at any time. It allows for a quick view of current settings and connection status without interrupting gameplay, which is a very convenient solution.