Xiaomi S Mini 2025 vs SAMSUNG S90F (WOLED)

Since Xiaomi S MiniLED boasts an impressive 308 zones of dimming, it's time to see how it performs in HDR tests. Starting with luminance, or the ability to display bright scenes, the television achieved nearly 1000 nits of brightness – a result that can be considered outstanding in this class. But do these numbers translate to real-life experiences in film scenes? In the case of less demanding shots, such as those from the film The Meg, the television indeed delivered excellent results, reaching up to 900 nits. Such values are impressive and can truly convey the strength of HDR effects.

Unfortunately, just like with contrast, there were some issues. When smaller, brighter elements appear on the screen – as in challenging scenes from Sicario 2 – the aggressive action of the dimming zones ruins the entire effect. Brightness in these moments drops to just 100 nits. That is definitely too little to convey the full magic of HDR. Instead of a dynamic and detailed image, the viewer gets a muted, almost flat impression, which takes away all the enjoyment of the viewing experience.

In summary, if we're looking for a television with high brightness for watching movies during the day, the Xiaomi S MiniLED will easily fulfill that task. However, its inability to precisely manage the dimming zones makes watching movies in the evening, especially during demanding HDR scenes, potentially more frustrating than satisfying.

Does the S90F handle not only blacks but also bright parts of the image? Definitely. The stories about OLEDs as "dark screens" can slowly be regarded as myth. The Samsung S90F, like the LG C5 based on a very similar panel, achieves brightness exceeding 1000 nits. This is a value more than enough to enjoy impressive and dynamic HDR images – both in movies and series. Most of the scenes we tested look stunning, with well-defined highlights and high contrast. Of course, OLED technology still has its limitations – in very bright, full-screen sequences, such as the test card from the movie The Meg (photo 5), the television may noticeably dim the image. However, it should be emphasized that such scenes are rare. It can be said that the HDR effect is good enough that even mid-range OLED models like the S90F can provide a cinematic experience in the home living room.

Xiaomi, like many manufacturers, offers a wide range of picture modes. On the S MiniLED, we can find both IMAX Enhanced and Filmmaker. Our tests were conducted in Filmmaker mode, which theoretically aims to reference the image, but the reality turned out to be somewhat different.

Let’s start with the SDR material tests. Here the TV had quite a few problems, especially with white balance. The noticeable dominance of red made the image appear too warm, and all colours gained a reddish hue. This was particularly evident in the comparative scene from the film Star Wars. The brightness characteristic (gamma) also left much to be desired – instead of a smooth transition, we had a real "rollercoaster," with visible excessive brightening of the screen.

In 4K materials, the situation looked considerably better. The white balance, though still not perfect, was much more balanced, with a slight dominance of red and blue, but no excessive impact on the overall perception. The EOTF curve (responsible for brightness in HDR) showed some brightening in the brightest parts of the image, which was noticeable in the test scene from the film Pan that we described above. These brightening effects may disturb the precision of the image, but in 4K, the overall effect was far more acceptable than in SDR.

Although Xiaomi S MiniLED can pleasantly surprise in 4K materials, its factory settings in SDR require significant corrections, especially regarding white balance and brightness. It's definitely a TV that would benefit from calibration.

Samsung S90F, like most modern televisions, offers many picture modes, but – following our testing tradition – we checked it out in the best one, which is the Filmmaker mode. Thanks to this, the image looks much more natural than in the default, often oversaturated settings. It was neither overly saturated nor artificially dimmed – simply closer to what one should see. Of course, “more accurate” doesn’t mean “perfect”. Unfortunately, our S90F had significant issues with white balance, particularly in the blue color range, resulting in a slightly yellowish filter being applied to most scenes. Someone might say it looks more “filmic” – because it’s warmer – but let’s not kid ourselves, George Lucas didn’t film Star Wars in sepia 😉 (you’ll find a comparison with the scene below as always).

Additionally, in HDR materials, there was an issue with brightness management. The EOTF curve showed a clear “spike” in brightness – the television brightened the image more than it should have, causing some effects to look too intense and deviating from the reference. Fortunately, some of these problems can be eliminated through professional calibration – you’ll read about its effects later in the review.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a television that gains a whole new life after calibration. The results are truly impressive and show how much potential this model has.

In SDR mode, the white balance is almost perfectly aligned. The errors are so minimal that in many cases they can be considered negligible. This is confirmed by the Colour Checker palette results, where errors did not exceed 2 ΔE – a truly rare outcome. Gamma also performs very well, although there are slight brightening effects in the darkest elements at the beginning of the graph. However, this is a minor exception that does not significantly affect the viewing experience.

In 4K HDR material, calibration also brought visible improvements, particularly in white balance. The image looks natural and consistent. However, the characteristic of brightness remains an issue. EOTF analysis in film materials shows that the television tends to overly brighten or darken the smallest elements on the screen. This is the effect of limitations in the dimming algorithms that we previously discussed regarding HDR and contrast testing. Unfortunately, this is a technical feature of this model that cannot be completely eliminated.

Despite this minor flaw, calibration has allowed us to extract the maximum capabilities from this television. The image now looks phenomenal, and its quality impresses in every type of material. Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 demonstrates that with the right settings, it can compete with more expensive models.

After calibration, we managed to eliminate practically all the previously mentioned errors. Older movies in SDR quality finally look like they should – without the sepia effect or artificial aging of the image. The atmosphere of the classics is back in place (no thanks needed, Star Wars fans), and the colours no longer resemble an Instagram filter.

One of the key changes was also the improvement of brightness characteristics in HDR content. We managed to control the EOTF curve in almost a reference manner. Admittedly, the most demanding users may detect minimal deviations in brightness, but honestly – most viewers won't even notice that. And it's no surprise because the vast majority of errors fall below the ΔE 3 value, which is below the threshold of visibility. After calibration, the S90F (WOLED) becomes a truly excellent display – one on which you can enjoy nearly perfect image quality.

When it comes to tonal transitions in lower-quality materials, such as YouTube or television, the Xiaomi S MiniLED comes with a feature called “Colour Contour Removal.” In the "low" setting, it works quite well, but its effectiveness can be uneven. Sometimes it appears as if the TV struggles to smooth things out, which creates a bit of dissonance. On the plus side, we didn’t notice any visible side effects, although given the instability of this feature, one might suspect that unexpected issues could arise in certain situations.

Image scaling also comes across as average. There’s slight jaggedness, especially on thin elements like branches, and text can be a bit ragged. It may not be overly bothersome, but a more discerning eye will certainly catch these imperfections. Overall, most users should be satisfied with the scaling and smoothing quality, but the TV may not satisfy those who expect perfection in every frame.

Digital Image Processing in S90F:

Fortunately, Samsung, like in most of its models, manages to effectively tackle the unwanted posterisation effect in the S90F. The function responsible for this element is noise reduction, which does a pretty good job of smoothing tonal transitions and eliminating unnatural colour blending – of course, within its capabilities. Unfortunately, it works quite aggressively, so using it comes with trade-offs. In addition to improving gradation, it can also remove film grain or slightly soften facial features. In this case, the choice is yours – do you prefer a more "clean" image, or do you care about preserving the original texture of the material.

Image Scaling in S90F:

In this year's model, Samsung has implemented its proprietary AI processor – NQ4 Gen3, which really handles upscaling quite well. In our test scenes, the TV effectively "pulled up" lower quality towards artificial 4K – the image was more enjoyable to view, and the differences in sharpness between native and scaled content were minimal. Unfortunately, behind all this AI marketing façade lies a certain shortcoming. The S90F struggles with overscan. If you reach for truly archival material – e.g. a VHS tape of your parents' wedding – you have to reckon with the fact that the lower part of the image may get cut off. The function to adapt the image to resolution simply does not work as it should here.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is equipped with a 4K@120Hz (1080p@240Hz) refresh rate panel, providing sufficient smoothness for both watching dynamic sports broadcasts and playing the latest games. This level of refresh rate makes the image look fluid, even in the most intense scenes. Additionally, the television offers a "Motion Smoothing" feature that allows users to adjust the way the image is displayed in films. We can choose a more choppy effect, typical for cinematic experiences, or a smoother one, resembling the so-called "theatrical effect". As a result, every user can tailor the settings to their preferences and enjoy smooth images in their favourite content.

S90F really handles motion excellently – after all, it’s an OLED with a 144 Hz panel, so sports and games look absolutely stunning on it. The image is smooth, clear, and there’s no room for ghosting or blurring, which can sometimes plague cheaper LCDs.

The TV also comes equipped with motion smoothness settings that allow you to customise everything to your liking. We have motion blur reduction and judder reduction – you can set it so that the image is super smooth (even to the point of looking a bit soap opera-like), or more cinematic, with the classic “jumpiness” of 24 frames. The choice is yours, Samsung imposes nothing.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a television that has a lot to offer gamers. With two HDMI ports boasting 48 Gbps bandwidth, we can easily connect modern consoles or PCs, utilising their full potential. Additionally, the ALLM feature automatically switches the TV to low latency mode – something we appreciate during fast-paced gaming without annoying lags. No matter what we connect, it runs smoothly, and the TV handles various resolutions exceptionally well. There’s also the GameBar, which may not look as flashy as the "bars" on competing models, but makes up for it in practicality. It’s a straightforward settings panel that allows us to quickly change the most important options or check stats – a perfect solution when time is of the essence.

However, we must admit that navigating the TV itself – or rather, finding gaming features – was quite a challenge for us. We approached the Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 test several times to locate all the necessary options. The hidden menu allowed us to discover the "GameBoost" feature, which enables switching the TV to 240 Hz mode, activating VRR, and allows for enabling the image in HGIG mode.

In summary, the Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a TV that definitely deserves praise in the gaming equipment category. Its rich set of features – 240 Hz mode, VRR, HGIG, and "GameBoost" – provides an exceptional gaming experience. Unfortunately, the intuitiveness of the menu itself leaves much to be desired and can pose some challenges for the average user.

When it comes to gaming features – the S90F has absolutely nothing to complain about. Aside from the lack of Dolby Vision, which is already the norm for Samsung. The television operates at 144 Hz, has four HDMI 2.1 ports, so you can easily connect more than one console or PC. Onboard, we also find Game Bar – a practical tool that allows you to quickly preview picture settings, VRR status, ALLM mode, and other useful options. Game Motion Plus deserves special mention – Samsung's proprietary motion smoother that actually works sensibly in games. The image appears smoother, but without any artificial effects or slowdowns.

It's also worth mentioning the HGiG feature, which – and this may be a slight surprise – works correctly. We bring this up because Samsung clearly messed something up in one of the recent updates, and in some models, the option responsible for HGiG simply... disappears from the menu. Setting it up becomes almost impossible. Fortunately, our S90F unit did not have this issue, but the situation is dynamic, so it's worth keeping this in mind and regularly checking for new software versions and information from the manufacturer.