XIAOMI S Mini 2026 (85"-98") 144Hz vs Samsung R85H / R86H

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.

When it comes to brightness, the R85H performs quite well. In most of our test scenes the TV reaches around 800–900 nits, and with larger bright elements it can exceed 1000 nits. These aren't, of course, on the level of the most expensive Mini-LEDs, but they're more than enough for watching films and TV series in HDR and the effect can be quite noticeable. The problem reappears in more demanding scenes, where there's a small bright element on a very dark background. Here the TV can greatly reduce its brightness to avoid lighting up too much of the screen. In our measurements such small highlights fell as low as around 200–250 nits, so it's clear that a limited number of local dimming zones combined with the specific behaviour of the algorithm has consequences here. Fortunately, it doesn't affect viewing all the time. In typical, mixed HDR scenes the R85H looks good and can provide good image dynamics. It's just that with very small points of light you shouldn't expect as strong an effect as on TVs with a much larger number of zones or on OLEDs.

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.

In Filmmaker mode our R85H sample in SDR performed adequately, but a few issues immediately stood out in the measurements. In the white balance, as brightness increased more red was added while blue decreased. As a result, the brighter parts of the image had a slightly too-warm tint. Gamma only held the target value at the start. It then gradually fell, which left most of the image a little too bright. The combination of these two factors also affected the colours, with errors growing particularly in the brighter and more saturated samples. It did not look bad, but for Filmmaker mode we expected a bit more accuracy. Interestingly, our sample fared noticeably better in HDR. The white balance was much more even and the individual components stayed close to one another across most of the range. Only in the brightest parts did red start to be lacking, causing white to shift subtly. The EOTF curve looked very good, tracking the target luminance across almost the entire range. That does not mean HDR colours were perfect. The Colour Checker still shows some deviations, especially for some of the more saturated colours, but the errors are clearly smaller than in SDR.

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 R85H shows it has really substantial colour reproduction capabilities. SDR performed best: white balance could be brought almost perfectly into line, and gamma stays very close to the target value across most of the range. That also translated into very low errors in the ColorChecker, so there's really little to criticise here. HDR also shows a clear improvement, although some issues can't be corrected as well. At the highest brightness levels the character of the backlight itself becomes apparent and the individual components of the white balance begin to diverge. The same applies to the most saturated colours, which don't always land exactly where they should. Despite these limitations the overall picture is considerably more accurate than factory settings, and the biggest difference is definitely visible in SDR. However, there is one thing calibration can't fix. With heavily saturated elements the colour can slightly bleed onto adjacent bright areas of the image. It's easiest to notice on white, which can pick up a faint tint of a neighbouring hue. It doesn't occur in every scene, but when the material is demanding the effect can be visible. This is more a feature of the way the RGB backlight operates than an issue with picture settings.

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.

In the R85H, image processing is handled by the Micro RGB AI Processor. The name is new, but when it comes to upscaling lower-quality sources, the TV's behaviour is very similar to what Samsung has shown before. And that's not a bad thing, because Samsung has handled this aspect quite well for years. Lower-resolution material is displayed cleanly, edges don't become overly soft, and the TV doesn't try to artificially extract detail at all costs. The result is simply balanced, and for regular TV or older recordings the R85H performs as you'd expect from Samsung at this level. There's still a small downside: overscan, which can't be completely switched off at the lowest resolutions. Another matter is the extra processing applied to low-quality sources. The R85H can smooth posterization and tidy up heavily compressed footage, but it's worth emphasising that it does so relatively aggressively. At stronger noise reduction settings it starts removing not only compression artefacts but also fine detail and the natural film grain. So it's best to use it only when the source actually needs it.

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.

R85H has a 144 Hz panel, so motion handling is really good here. You should remember that the extra hertz above 120 will mainly be used when connected to a computer, so in this category we don't treat them as any particular advantage. For films and TV, what's more important is that the panel is fast enough to provide access to an advanced motion smoothing feature, "Motion Clarity", which lets us set motion from more film-like to very smooth. The panel's response time is a bit worse. Since it's a VA panel, fast-moving objects can leave a slight trail. On a bright background this isn't very noticeable, but the darker the scene, the more noticeable the smearing becomes. This is a typical characteristic of this type of panel and it's easiest to spot in dark scenes.

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.

Samsung has been steadily expanding its gamer features for several years, and the R85H really doesn't lack anything important. The TV supports 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, so it can easily make full use of the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. HGiG also works properly, so when HDR is set correctly on the console, games maintain their intended brightness and you don't unnecessarily lose detail in the brightest parts of the image. The only bigger omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung doesn't support on any of its TVs.

The Game Bar is also very useful, a handy menu you can bring up without leaving the game. You can quickly check the frame rate, VRR status or change the key picture settings. Samsung also includes a few less obvious features, like the ability to change the aspect ratio or Game Motion Plus, which can further smooth games running at 30 or 60 fps. Of course this comes at the cost of higher input lag (around 55 ms), but for slower-paced titles it may be an interesting option for some.