XIAOMI S Mini 2026 (85"-98") 144Hz vs Samsung M80H

The larger versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 offer very similar HDR performance. Peak brightness reaches around 1,000 nits, which is a very solid result for a TV in this price bracket. It's most noticeable in bright scenes, where large, heavily lit areas of the picture can look really impressive. The TV has enough brightness headroom that HDR isn't limited to just a slightly brighter image. However, very small pinpoint highlights on an almost completely black background fare worse. In such cases the local dimming system significantly reduces their brightness to avoid lighting adjacent parts of the image and to preserve good blacks. As a result, small reflections or single lamps don't have the same intensity as in much more expensive models. This is typical behaviour for Mini LED TVs and it's hard to treat it as something unique to Xiaomi.

HDR colours

The colour performance is similarly comparable. Although the manufacturer uses the term QLED, the expanded colour gamut here comes from the PFS phosphor. In our measurements the TV covered about 94% of the DCI-P3 space and about 74% of the much more demanding BT.2020. In practice this yields well-saturated colours in most HDR material and it's hard to point to obvious gaps. Limitations appear mainly with the most saturated shades of green, which the TV can no longer reproduce fully.

The M80H is not one of the brightest TVs. Its peak brightness is around 350 nits, and we saw similar results across most of our test scenes. That's not enough to achieve truly striking HDR, as bright highlights lack punch and the overall image is a little too dim. In practice, HDR on the M80H feels more like well-presented SDR than noticeably more dynamic material with a wide brightness range. The picture can still look fine, but it's hard to point to strong highlights, clearly bright light sources, or an effect that immediately sets HDR apart from ordinary content.

Colours

One of the M80H's stronger points is its colours. The TV uses a PFS filter in the backlight, which lets it display a much wider colour gamut than a standard LCD without filters. Our measurements confirm this – the M80H covers about 96% of the DCI-P3 gamut and 72% of BT.2020. Those are very good results, which allow colours to be richly saturated. Samsung's positioning here is interesting. The M80H isn't part of the QLED family, even though in terms of colour it is practically on par with models carrying that badge. From an image quality point of view that doesn't make much difference – the colours are simply good.

On the larger versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026, Film mode performs best, although even here the out-of-the-box settings are not without flaws. In SDR the white balance was noticeably warm due to an excess of red. In HDR the opposite was true, with too much blue and too little red, which made the image cooler. Additionally, both the gamma response in SDR and the EOTF curve in HDR sat slightly above the reference values. In practice this resulted in a slightly brightened image, particularly in the midtones. It wasn't a major fault, but with more demanding material you could see that the image wasn't reproduced entirely in line with the filmmakers' intent.

Filmmaker Mode is pretty well set up out of the box, though it’s not perfect. In SDR material the most noticeable issue is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes the picture look a little warmer than it should. HDR content has a similar character. As for brightness response, in SDR the gamma stays close to the target value across most of the range. Small deviations are mainly visible in darker areas, which are in places slightly too dim. In HDR the very darkest details are slightly lifted, while from around 65% brightness the image starts to be gently darkened. This largely results from the way the TV controls its brightness. Overall, Filmmaker Mode looks good straight out of the box, but the picture can still be improved.

After calibration we mainly managed to even out the white balance, so colours look much more natural in both SDR and HDR. We also improved the gamma response, so SDR content is no longer unnecessarily brightened and stays closer to reference values. The only larger issue remaining is in HDR. Xiaomi still controls brightness a little too aggressively and renders some scenes brighter than it should. This is less noticeable on the larger models than on the 55–75-inch versions, but the EOTF curve still runs slightly above the reference. In practice HDR is therefore slightly brightened, even though colour reproduction after calibration is already very good.

After calibration the M80H performs very well, especially with everyday SDR content. Regular TV, YouTube and movies watched without HDR can look very good on it. After adjusting the white balance the errors are small, though you can sometimes still see the TV tends to push the most saturated reds too far. You can also improve the picture in HDR and correct its main faults, but it doesn't reach the level of more expensive models. Samsung quite heavily restricts colour adjustment options in HDR, so in many areas we have to accept what the TV offers out of the box. Calibration can improve some parameters, but we can't change the M80H's overall picture character.

The larger variants of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 also use the MT5896 processor and perform similarly in terms of digital image processing. Upscaling isn't a strong suit of this model. Low-resolution material is upscaled to 4K in a fairly basic way and it doesn't recover fine detail as well as more refined TVs. The 85- and 98-inch versions do include a feature intended to reduce posterisation, but it's barely effective. When it's switched on it's hard to notice any real improvement, so in scenes with visible colour banding the TV still does little to address it.

Although the M80H is positioned fairly low in Samsung’s line-up, the maker equipped it with one of its stronger processors, the NQ4 AI Gen2. The same chipset is used in Neo QLED TVs and the higher‑ranked S85H OLED. That’s good news, because the processor handles improving weaker sources really well. Upscaling is its strongest suit. Low‑resolution material is displayed properly and edges don’t look overly jagged. The TV won’t of course create details that aren’t in the source, but regular broadcast TV and older recordings look decent on it. One drawback is overscan, i.e. edge cropping, which can’t be completely turned off. The feature that smooths tonal transitions, the so‑called noise reduction, also works well. The processor can effectively reduce visible signs of heavy compression, but it doesn’t do so without side effects. At higher settings it can smooth the picture too much, remove some fine detail and even eliminate film grain. For that reason we recommend using this feature mainly for material that genuinely suffers from heavy compression and posterisation.

The biggest difference between the various sizes of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 is the panel's refresh rate. The 55–75-inch variants use a 60 Hz panel, which in practice means noticeably less smooth motion than the larger versions. This is easiest to spot when watching sport, fast-moving scenes or gaming, where the picture isn't as smooth and clear in motion.

The M80H performs very well for watching sport and for gaming. The TV is equipped with a panel offering a refresh rate of up to 144 Hz at 4K, and when the resolution is reduced to Full HD it can handle up to 240 Hz. That second option will be used mainly by PC gamers.

The panel also handles 120 Hz content well, which matters especially for console gaming. A high refresh rate is also useful when watching sport, and motion blur is relatively low. That's important because VA panels are not known for the best performance in this area. On the M80H, fast-moving objects do not produce a very noticeable blur.

The smaller versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 unfortunately have a big limitation for gamers — a 60 Hz panel. In 4K we’re therefore limited to 60 fps and can’t fully take advantage of the PS5 or Xbox Series X. You can run 120 Hz, but only after dropping the resolution to 1080p or 1440p. Other than that, it’s pretty reasonable. The TV supports ALLM and automatically switches to game mode when it detects a console. There’s also a Game Bar where you can quickly check the main gaming settings. Our biggest reservation is HGiG. The HDR calibration screens on the PS5 and Xbox don’t match the TV’s actual capabilities. If you set HDR exactly according to them, some of the brightest elements can simply be blown out.

The M80H could be a very good choice for gamers on a slightly smaller budget. In terms of features it offers pretty much the same as Samsung’s much more expensive TVs. All three HDMI inputs support HDMI 2.1, so even if one is taken by a soundbar connected via eARC there’s still room for a PC and consoles. There’s also VRR up to 144 Hz in 4K and up to 240 Hz in Full HD. Samsung has correctly implemented HGiG as well, so after performing HDR calibration on the console games are properly matched to the screen’s capabilities. That won’t make the M80H any brighter, but at least it won’t unnecessarily wash out the brightest parts of the image. On top of that there’s a Game Bar for quick access to key settings and a Gaming Hub that lets you play in the cloud without a console. The M80H also includes Game Motion Plus, which generates extra frames and improves the smoothness of games running at 30 or 60 fps. Input lag then increases to around 59 ms, but is still about one third of what you’d see with typical motion smoothing on other manufacturers’ TVs. We wouldn’t really recommend it for online multiplayer, but it can work very well in slower‑paced titles.