Sony Bravia 8 MK2 vs Xiaomi S Pro 2026

Thanks to the new QD-OLED panel, the Sony Bravia 8 II can achieve astronomically high brightness levels of around 2000 nits, translating into nearly reference-quality for films and series recorded in HDR format. In test materials such as Life of Pi and Sicario 2, the effect is truly captivating – details in bright areas of the image remain perfectly visible, and night scenes enchant with depth and contrast. However, it is not perfect. Compared to its fiercest competitors, the Bravia 8 II shows a noticeable drop in brightness during full-screen, very bright scenes. When comparing maximum peak luminance with 100% white brightness in HDR mode, the Bravia 8 II appears even two or three times dimmer than LG G5 or Samsung S95F models. This was especially evident in a scene from the film The Meg – the screen became noticeably darker than in competing televisions. Despite this shortcoming, the results of the Bravia 8 II still place it among the top of the market. It deserves praise for its absolutely top-tier colour gamut coverage – nearly 100% DCI-P3 and close to 90% BT.2020. These parameters allow for fully extracting the potential of HDR content and providing experiences akin to those in a cinema within the comfort of home.

When it comes to HDR quality, the Xiaomi S Pro 2026 is undoubtedly a very bright television. On our synthetic measurement patterns, we were able to generate peak brightness of around 1400 nits. This result is not only very good but truly spectacular, considering the price of this model. However, as we always emphasise, for our editorial team, measurements and the experiences from the content viewed on a daily basis - from films and series - are more important. So let's analyse how the Xiaomi performs with film material. The result is, unfortunately, quite mixed. When very bright scenes appear on screen, the S Pro 2026 really shows its full potential and can achieve a real 800-1000 nits in bright elements. Moreover, even smaller objects can "burn" the eyes - in scenes from the film Sicario 2, small metal elements of the helicopter were truly vivid. The problem is that - and here the story comes full circle back to our contrast assessment - in such scenes we cannot count on absolutely cinematic black. In our opinion, this compromise is too great; high visibility of details in bright areas should not come at the cost of such a significant boost to black levels. And although the HDR effect itself can make a stunning impression here, it is essential to remember that when very challenging, mixed scenes appear on screen, we might feel a slight disappointment. Exactly the one we mentioned in the previous paragraph regarding issues with dimming in HDR mode. As a consolation, it is worth adding that the S Pro 2026 has been equipped with an additional PFS filter (similar in function to a QLED layer), which effectively broadens the colour gamut coverage. As a result, measurements showed DCI-P3 coverage reaching up to 94%. This gives us confidence that in most colourful scenes, the image will appear rich and appropriately saturated.

Straight out of the box, the Bravia 8 II performs quite well. In the best IMAX® Enhanced mode, the television is able to render colours in a pleasant and natural way, although “good” doesn’t mean “best in class” here. The white balance definitely needs adjustment – skin tones tend to lean towards slightly pink/cool hues, both in SDR and HDR materials. We also noticed that the characteristic of the EOTF curve reveals a certain tendency to brighten the darkest parts of the image. This is probably due to the manufacturer’s desire to highlight as many details as possible even in deep shadows. Is this a good approach? It’s hard to say definitively, but we know one thing – it is not an ideal solution.

Of course, all our measurements were carried out in "Film" mode, which is typically the best and most accurate choice we get straight out of the box. It needs to be said plainly: although it is the best mode, it is still very far from ideal. Firstly, the television has a clear tendency to impart a cool, bluish tint to the image – this is due to a poorly set white balance. Additionally, there is the issue of how the S Pro 2026 manages its brightness straight out of the box, which results in an overly vivid image. These two flaws contribute to truly significant colourimetric errors (Delta E). In HDR content, they were able to exceed our anticipated error scale of "10" by twofold (meaning values close to 20). As a reminder – the threshold for perceivable error by the human eye is a Delta E value of around 3. Results at the level of 20 indicate that the image significantly deviates from what the director intended.

After calibration, the excessive cooling of the image caused by an overly strong boost of the blue colour was mainly eliminated. The reds have become deeper, and skin tones have taken on a natural, healthy appearance. The actors, who previously seemed "cold," now look much livelier and more convincing on screen. However, one thing has not changed – the analysis of the EOTF curve still shows that the Bravia 8 II has a tendency to brighten the darkest areas of the image. It is difficult to determine whether this is a deliberate method used by the manufacturer or a result of the panel and software design. In practice, this means that scenes which the creators intended to leave in deep darkness can reveal more details than anticipated. Despite this, the image quality after calibration is clearly improved – warm, natural colours and realistic skin tones make viewing on the Bravia 8 II simply more pleasant to the eye.

So how does the S Pro 2026 perform after our calibration procedure? We have to admit that after calibration, the television becomes a really very pleasant device for watching everyday content. As you can see in the graphs, in HD (SDR) materials, both white balance and gamma values have been brought to nearly perfection. Most importantly, colourimetric errors have become practically unnoticeable to the human eye. In this scenario, the S Pro 2026 is simply an excellent television that, after professional calibration, can provide a lot of enjoyment from watching. However, it is worth clearly noting – our efforts have not helped much in 4K HDR mode. Despite the calibration, the television still interprets the image quite strongly "in its own way," which is clearly visible in the measurement of the EOTF curve (brightness tracking). It’s a bit of a shame, as it shows that the problem lies not in the panel itself, but in the software. Underdeveloped image management algorithms in HDR content can, unfortunately, rule out this television for many more discerning users.

Upscaling and digital image processing are a true showcase of the capabilities of the Bravia 8 II. Sony has long been regarded as a master in this field, and here it only reaffirms its reputation. The proprietary XR processor can extract nearly the maximum from lower-resolution materials – whether it's television or an old DVD film, the image appears clearer, with more detail and better depth. Of course, if we feed it exceptionally low-quality material (like our archival photo with the Model), it won't work wonders, but in everyday viewing, it's hard to find fault with it.

The gentle gradation feature also performs excellently. In the "Medium" setting, it effectively smooths tonal transitions, eliminating banding in coloured and grey gradients, while not destroying the film grain or fine details in the image. It is this balance between subtlety and effectiveness that keeps Sony televisions among the best on the market in this category.

Let's start with the issue we raised in the previous paragraph: can the television actually fix the problem of dreadful tonal transitions in dark scenes? Theoretically, yes – in the menu, we find a feature with the promising name "Colour Contour Removal." Well, "theoretically." Unfortunately, in practice, this setting – regardless of which of the three power levels is chosen – yielded absolutely no real results. So we are dealing with a feature that, in practice, only exists in the menu. Moving on to the quality of upscaling (scaling the image from a lower resolution to 4K), unfortunately, we have more bad news for you. The S Pro 2026 performs very poorly at this task. Interestingly, the phenomenon of "overscan" (slight cropping of the image) is not a major issue here. The fact is that the television simply displays a very raw, unprocessed image. Its attempt to upscale the signal to a higher resolution looks simply lacklustre and lacks any form of "intelligent" improvement. There is no denying it – the entire digital image processing is the real Achilles' heel of this model.

The smoothness of motion is practically a closed topic in the case of the Bravia 8 II. The OLED with a refresh rate of 120 Hz naturally provides a very clear, sharp image in dynamic scenes, so it's hard to complain about anything here. However, one of the best motion smoothing systems on the market truly deserves special praise. They allow precise adjustment of film smoothness to one’s own preferences – from gentle smoothing to almost a “theatrical” effect – without the risk of artificial jumps, tearing of the image, or annoying artifacts. This is one of those features that will be appreciated both during movie screenings and while watching sports.

On paper, the S Pro 2026 specification looks impressive. The television is equipped with a native 144 Hz panel, with the ability to display images at up to 288 Hz in a dedicated gaming mode. These are amazing results, but what interested us most, in the context of everyday use, was how the television handles motion blur and how the image looks at 120 Hz. After all, this is the frequency used by consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, and it is desired by sports fans. Generally, the panel "holds up". The matrix is sufficiently fast to meet these challenges, and objects displayed at native 120Hz fluidity are shown correctly. As for the software, the television is equipped with motion smoothing technology; however, with a key caveat – it works only for input signals up to 60 Hz. This means it is primarily suitable for traditional television, films, and series. Thanks to this, we can adjust the fluidity of the image to our own preferences – from a very smooth, "theatrical" approach to setting the slider to "zero" and maintaining a fully cinematic character.

Sony has really learnt its lessons from previous years and in the Bravia 8 II has prepared a package of features for gamers that is hard to describe in any other way than "almost perfect". We have everything you'd expect from equipment of this class – VRR, ALLM, Dolby Vision Gaming mode, HGiG, and even a handy Game Bar that allows you to quickly preview parameters and change settings without leaving the game. It's also worth noting how smoothly and seamlessly these features work – no delays, no strange stutters. You simply start the game, and everything looks as it should. Unfortunately, there are a few "buts". The manufacturer still only provides us with two full-bandwidth HDMI ports, so if someone has a console, PC, and another device such as a soundbar connected via eARC, it becomes a hassle of switching cables. It is also surprising that there is no support for 1440p resolution at 120 Hz – particularly important for Xbox gamers. Overall, however – this is one of those televisions that can easily be placed in the centre of a gaming lounge and enjoyed without significant compromises.

For gamers, the Xiaomi S Pro 2026 is almost an ideal proposition on paper. It is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, which allow us to unlock (although these options are somewhat hidden in the menu) the full package of features: ALLM, VRR and, crucially, the ability to work in 4K at 144 Hz. This last feature should particularly please the owners of powerful PCs. The television also has something resembling a gamer panel – and although it's hard to call it a fully-fledged "Gamebar", it serves its purpose by displaying key information. It’s just a shame that in its default form, it obscures a relatively large portion of the screen.

The biggest issue we have with this model, however, concerns how the S Pro 2026 handles games in HDR mode. To put it bluntly: it doesn’t handle it well at all. Due to the television having a poorly implemented HGiG feature (the HDR tone mapping standard for games), it is very easy to "overexpose" the image during initial HDR calibration on the console. If someone is unaware of this software flaw and follows the on-screen instructions, they will simply set the image incorrectly, resulting in burnt-out details in the bright areas. Another major problem is the Dolby Vision mode for games. While it does work, it generates such a high input lag that it becomes noticeable in dynamic titles. (You can check all our lag measurements in the paragraph below). In summary: Generally speaking, this is a really very good screen for gamers, but with one small caveat. We would rather avoid using HDR mode on it – unless we decide to manually set the brightness bar on the console "by eye", completely ignoring the instructions from the console’s pictogram.