TCL C75B vs XIAOMI S Mini 2026 (55"-75") 60Hz

During our test, the TCL C75B "spat out" around 380 nits of brightness. We recorded similar results while watching most of the films we tested. They can be considered average – the television does not perform poorly in this segment, but around 400 nits is definitely too low to fully experience the magic of HDR effects. Of course, these results are better than those of budget models, which can achieve almost half the brightness values. However, for HDR enthusiasts seeking stronger lighting effects and greater realism, the C75B may prove insufficient. On the positive side, it's worth mentioning the DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 95%. This is a very good result that easily suffices to enjoy a wide range of colours in content available on popular streaming platforms. Vivid and rich colours are definitely a strong point of this model.

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.

TCL C75B offers several picture modes, but in our opinion, the best choice is the “Film” mode. Although its settings are quite decent, the television struggles with some colour reproduction issues. In our tests, we noticed that the image had a noticeably pinkish tint compared to what could be considered accurate. This effect was particularly evident in skin tones, which appeared unnaturally flushed. The main culprit for this phenomenon turned out to be the white balance, characterised by an excessive amount of blue and red in both HD and 4K HDR materials.

An additional problem was the way brightness was rendered. The gamma, which is responsible for the visibility of details in darker materials, was definitely boosted, causing details in the darkest parts of the screen to be invisible, disappearing into complete blackness (e.g., the lower part of the screen in the comparison photo - around the actress's ear). Similarly, the situation was reflected in the EOTF curve, which was below the correct value, suggesting that we might encounter a similar problem in 4K HDR content.

Thanks to our experience and the right tools, we decided to take matters into our own hands and see how much we could extract from this model after professional calibration. We describe the details in the next section.

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.

After calibrating the TCL C75B, it has clearly improved in terms of colour reproduction. Although the television does not offer many options for adjusting the white balance, we managed to enhance its settings quite significantly. As a result, the image is no longer excessively pink, and the colours now look much more natural and harmonious.

The gamma jump, which was previously an issue, has not completely disappeared, but we have managed to reduce it considerably. This has made details in dark scenes more visible – both in HD and 4K HDR materials.

Unfortunately, the lack of local dimming is still noticeable. The "blooming black" effect remains, but that is a limitation of the display itself. Nevertheless, the colours after calibration look far better, and the image is much more enjoyable to watch.

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.

TCL C75B has a tone transition smoothing function, but unfortunately, we cannot commend it. Regardless of the selected level – low or high – tone transitions in older materials remained visible, as if the function wasn't working at all. It's hard to say anything positive about it, as in practice it seems completely useless.

The image scaling is better. The television performs quite decently, although on thinner elements, like branches in the background, you can notice slight jaggedness. However, this is not something that significantly interferes with daily viewing.

Unfortunately, a bigger problem turned out to be overscan, which is cutting off the edges of the image. In our tests, there were instances where news tickers or other elements near the edge of the screen were cut off. This is definitely something to pay attention to, especially if we use the television for watching news programmes or content with text on the screen.

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.

The TCL C75B definitely has something to offer gamers. The television is equipped with a panel that can display images with a refresh rate of 144 Hz in 4K, and even 240 Hz in Full HD. These are really impressive results, especially for a model from the entry-level range.

In addition, there are features for improving fluidity and reducing motion blur in films. The "Motion" option allows precise adjustment of the effect on a 10-point scale, which offers great personalisation possibilities - everyone can set the fluidity as they like.

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.

The TCL C75B is undoubtedly a television designed with gamers in mind. It offers nearly everything that even the most demanding console users could need. With the implementation of fully capable HDMI 2.1, the television supports features like ALLM (Automatic Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) – operating within the full potential of the television, up to 240 Hz in Full HD resolution.

Additionally, the television supports advanced HDR technologies, including Dolby Vision and HGiG, allowing for even better detail reproduction in HDR-optimised games. The C75B is also equipped with a very convenient interface for gamers in the form of Game Bar, where all key parameters such as refresh rate, input lag, and image settings can be checked – all within a single click.

In a nutshell: the C75B is a great choice for gamers, offering a wide range of features that allow users to fully enjoy the capabilities of modern consoles and games.

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.