Hisense E7Q / E79Q vs XIAOMI S Mini 2026 (55"-75") 60Hz

The Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a television with average brightness, with a peak luminance level of around 350-380 nits. This is an absolute minimum that allows for HDR content to be viewed in a way that is close to the creators' intentions, although without a distinct "wow" effect. Synthetic test results on white screens have been confirmed in practice – in film scenes, the bright parts of the image are stable and quite uniform, but it's hard to speak of a true "light punch." In everyday use, for example, when watching Netflix or YouTube, the HDR effect is acceptable and is perfectly sufficient for most users. However, it must be stated clearly – this is not the level of top-end screens, and one should not expect that in this price range. Fortunately, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q has an advantage that allows it to gain quite a few points: it features a PFS LED QLED panel, utilising an additional phosphor layer that improves colour reproduction. The measured range of the DCI-P3 colour gamut is about 92%, which means that colours in most scenes are vibrant, well-saturated, and pleasant to the eye, particularly for this price bracket.

When it comes to HDR, the capabilities of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 are really good, especially given the segment this model belongs to. The TV reaches around 1,000 nits of brightness without much trouble, allowing it to show a very pronounced HDR effect in bright scenes. The sun, reflections and brightly lit parts of the image can be really intense and at times almost striking in their brightness. It is a bit different in dark scenes, though. Very small light sources surrounded by black are displayed at much lower brightness, so they lack that pinpoint intensity seen on the best TVs. That said, this is not unusual for a Mini LED. The local dimming algorithm reduces the backlight to preserve the deepest possible blacks, which in such scenes matter more than a few extra nits.

HDR colours

Colour reproduction also performs well. Xiaomi markets the S Mini 2026 as a QLED TV, although the solution used here is effectively based on a PFS phosphor. The result is what matters, and it's quite good. Our measured coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut was about 94%, while in the much wider BT.2020 colour space it was about 74%. This means the TV can reproduce most colours used in HDR films with suitably high saturation. Its limitations are most visible with very intense shades of green, where the colour gamut starts to run out.

In Filmmaker mode, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q television was truly impressive. After the first measurements, it became clear that the white balance was quite well tuned, with the only minor deviation being a slight tendency towards a purple tone, which we mentioned earlier. However, this did not significantly impact the overall character of the image – it remained coherent and pleasant to view. A much larger issue turned out to be the brightness characteristics (gamma) in SDR content and the EOTF curve in HDR films. The television noticeably brightened the image, flattening the contrast and diminishing its depth. Gamma values could drop from the reference 2.4 to around 1.9, making the image look as if it were covered with a thin, milky layer. Fortunately, this is a problem that can be relatively easily corrected through calibration.

We tested the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 in sizes from 55 to 75 inches in Film mode, which offered the most accurate colours compared with the other presets. That did not mean the picture was correctly set up straight away. In our sample the white balance was clearly shifted towards warmer tones. There was too little blue and too much red, so whites and greys had a slightly warm tint. The TV also tended to brighten darker parts of the image too much. This was due to the gamma, which instead of staying around 2.4 dropped in places to about 2.0. As a result there was more detail visible in the shadows, but the image lost some depth. The factory settings were therefore not bad, but there was still some way to go to achieve accurate image reproduction.

The biggest beneficiary of calibration in the case of the Hisense E7Q / E79Q was undoubtedly the SDR mode. It managed to achieve an almost perfect image – most errors in the Color Checker test dropped below a value of 3, and often even 2, which is an outstanding result for this class of equipment. The greatest improvement came from equalising the brightness characteristic (gamma), which meant the image no longer appeared washed out and regained its natural depth. In HDR content, it was also possible to improve colours and eliminate the purple tint mentioned earlier, but errors in the Color Checker measurements were still noticeable. This is due to the fact that – as is often the case with Hisense televisions – the screen manipulates brightness quite heavily, overemphasising some colours. This was also indicated by the EOTF curve, which was slightly above the reference values, suggesting these minor issues with excessive brightness. Despite this drawback and the design limitations that emerge with HDR content, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q gained quite a lot after calibration. In everyday use, the television presents a consistent, natural, and pleasant image, and the difference compared to the factory settings is enormous.

Contrary to appearances, the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 responds quite well to calibration. After our adjustments the white balance was noticeably improved and the picture stopped leaning towards overly warm tones. With SDR material the effect is really good, and the TV can render such content very accurately; it is hard to fault it on colour reproduction. We applied similar corrections for HDR, though not everything could be fixed there. Colours look better than on the factory settings, but the TV still tends to display the image a little brighter than it should. This is visible in the EOTF curve, which sits above the reference value. In practice this means some HDR scenes are brighter than the creators intended. It is a quirk of this TV and we have no influence over it.

In the case of the Hisense E7Q / E79Q, upscaling and digital image processing are not the strongest aspects of this television. It is evident that the manufacturer has opted more for simplicity rather than advanced image processing algorithms. The television does not offer any features to smooth tonal transitions or systems to improve image clarity, resulting in lower resolution materials looking simply very raw. On the screen, you can notice subtle compression edges that better processors in other models can effectively hide.

During the HD material tests, we noticed that the E7Q tries to artificially enhance detail, which sometimes works, and at other times has the opposite effect – the image becomes soft, slightly blurred, at times even “watery.” There is no aggressive sharpening that ruins naturalness, but there is also no finesse in the detail integration that better image converters offer.

Digital image processing in the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 is handled by the MT5896 processor. Unfortunately, in this respect the TV is rather mediocre. Low-resolution content is not scaled very well, and its limitations quickly become apparent on a large screen. The picture looks quite digital, and the TV cannot bring out many extra details. Additionally, overscan cannot be turned off for low-resolution content. The situation is even worse when it comes to smoothing posterisation. On the smaller models there is not even a dedicated setting to reduce visible banding between similar shades. So if such imperfections are already present in the source material, Xiaomi essentially does not mask them.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is a television with a 60 Hz screen, so fans of 4K sports may feel a slight disappointment – we simply won’t see such smooth images here as in more expensive models with higher refresh rates. Fortunately, the situation is much better for films. Cinematic materials recorded at 24 frames per second can be displayed here using a motion smoothing feature, allowing the user to tailor the picture to their own preferences – either more cinematic with visible frames or smoother, in a theatrical style.

The smaller variants of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 use a 60 Hz panel, and that is their biggest limitation when it comes to motion. For films and series this is not yet a major issue, because the TV has a classic motion interpolation for 24/30 fps material. So we can reduce the characteristic judder and adjust the motion settings to our own preferences. Sports and other 50/60 Hz content fare worse, because there is no additional function to improve smoothness. In such material we are therefore limited by the panel's capabilities.

In terms of motion blur the TV performs quite typically for a VA panel. Most trailing is visible behind objects moving on a dark background, while in brighter scenes the effect is noticeably reduced. It is not at a level that completely ruins the perception of motion, but in dynamic scenes you can tell the panel is not among the fastest.

Hisense E7Q / E79Q is truly a successful television for gamers, even though it does not support 4K signal at 120 Hz. The manufacturer, however, has ensured a set of features that until recently could only be found in more expensive models. There is ALLM, meaning automatic switching to low latency mode, allowing the television to activate game mode with very low input lag by itself. We also have VRR, functioning up to 60 Hz – while this may not look impressive on paper, in practice it is fully sufficient, as most games on consoles do not exceed this limit. All these settings can be quickly found in the Game Bar panel, a convenient menu created specifically for gamers. From this interface, one can change picture modes, enable a frame counter, or even... an on-screen reticle – humorously named "target point" in the Vidaa system, which is a result of awkward translation from the Chinese manufacturer.

Special praise should be given to the ability to play in 1080p at 120 Hz, which significantly improves the fluidity and responsiveness of the image. Therefore, if someone wants to play a few titles at a higher refresh rate, they can simply lower the resolution and enjoy much smoother motion. Despite the lack of 4K@120Hz, the Hisense E7Q / E79Q performs really well as a gaming television – especially for those who are not looking for perfection but rather a solid and fast screen for everyday gaming.

In larger sizes the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 is a much more interesting proposition for gamers. The panel natively runs at up to 144 Hz, so when connected to a PC you can use the high refresh rate even in 4K. At lower resolutions the TV can go even further, reaching up to 288 Hz. It also supports ALLM, automatic switching to game mode, and a Game Bar with the most important settings to hand. Of course, the TV has two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports. In terms of smoothness the difference compared with the 55 to 75-inch versions is therefore significant and especially noticeable with a PC or console. Not everything works perfectly, though. As with the smaller variants, we have reservations about the implementation of HGiG. The HDR setup screens on the PS5 and Xbox do not accurately match the TV's real capabilities, so if you set your console according to those prompts the brightest parts of the image can be blown out and lose some detail.