XIAOMI A PRO 2025 vs Philips OLED820

In the HDR category, the television Xiaomi A Pro is, to put it plainly, lacking. Under ideal conditions, it offers brightness at around 250 nits. This is a poor result; however, in this price range, many competing models offer similar or lower values. Such brightness is too low to fully realise the potential of HDR content. In practice, this means that the image does not gain the appropriate depth and intensity expected from high-quality HDR. These values are more characteristic of standard dynamic range (SDR), which means that the true HDR effect remains beyond the reach of this model, and scenes that should stand out with spectacular brightness and contrast seem flat and lacklustre. However, for its price, the television offers good coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 92%, thanks to the use of quantum dot technology (specifically PFS LED). This results in vibrant and saturated colours, which will appeal particularly to gamers and film enthusiasts who appreciate richer shades and better colour reproduction compared to traditional televisions without this technology.

When it comes to HDR quality, the Philips OLED820 uses the same class of WOLED panel found in its biggest rivals – the LG C5 and Samsung S90F. This means we can expect really solid results. This year, mid-range OLED panels can exceed the threshold of a thousand nits, and the tested model reaches around 1300 nits in some films. This is an outstanding result, allowing the director's vision to be conveyed with immense precision, as this is the brightness range in which contemporary productions are mastered. Of course, there are situations where even the OLED820 has to compromise. Full-screen scenes filled with white, like those in the film The Meg, can drop brightness to 400–500 nits, which clearly weakens the effect. This is a characteristic of OLED technology that has yet to be fully eliminated. Despite this limitation, it is hard not to appreciate the HDR in this model – high luminance and a wide DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage of 99% make the image simply look fantastic.

The Xiaomi A Pro 2025 television has been tested in movie mode, which offers the best colour reproduction straight out of the box. However, it is worth noting that it is not free from flaws. Analysing the white balance, it can be observed that the values for green are in the negative. This phenomenon leads to some distortions in the shades of white, and with pure white, the graph shows clear deviations. The over-contrasted image results in inappropriate tonal transitions in red, negatively affecting the quality of colour display. Generally, in the image below, it can be seen that the overall scenery before calibration acquires pink hues. Additionally, when analysing gamma contrast, the graph is significantly below the 2.4 value, suggesting that the television overly emphasises dark tones, and the brighter areas of the image may be less vivid. Furthermore, the EOTF curve shows a strong peak at the beginning, which can lead to a loss of detail in bright scenes and an unpleasant feeling of over-drawing. These aspects indicate a need for further calibration to achieve a more balanced colour reproduction and improve the overall image quality. Users who expect precise colour reproduction may be forced to take measures to adjust the television settings to achieve more realistic and natural visual results. In the xiaomi tv a pro 2025, the factory colour settings in Xiaomi are average and may require calibration. After proper colour adjustment, the image gains a natural and vibrant colour palette, much closer to cinematic standards. It is worth adding that the issue of inaccurate colour reproduction is typical for many televisions in this class, meaning it is not a flaw unique to the Xiaomi A Pro 2025 TV. For those who value perfect colour reproduction, professional calibration will prove to be a key element that enhances the overall image quality.

The colour reproduction in the factory settings really surprised us, and positively so. The Philips OLED820, switched to Filmmaker mode, immediately showed that it was quite well tuned in terms of colour. The white balance was relatively accurate, though there was a slight deficiency in the blue hue, which occasionally gave the image a slightly yellowish tint. However, this is not a flaw that particularly detracts from everyday viewing. A bigger issue arose with the brightness characteristics. The gamma curve clearly deviated from the ideal, with the line below the expected values, causing the image to be excessively brightened, and the colours looked as if they were covered with a light milky filter. This effect was also noticeable in tests using the Colour Checker pattern, where more pronounced errors appeared.

Now it's time to check how the Xiaomi A Pro 2025 television has performed after calibration. The biggest beneficiary of this process is the white balance. After the calibration was conducted, all previous errors were corrected in both HD and 4K content, and most errors no longer fall significantly outside the value of "2". This means a much more balanced and natural colour representation, which certainly affects the viewing comfort. In terms of gamma, the drop was significantly reduced, resulting in a more consistent tonal representation across various scenes. Nevertheless, the EOTF curve has not been significantly improved due to a lack of effective control over dynamic tone mapping. This limitation means that there are still some issues with detail reproduction in bright scenes, which may affect the perception of certain materials. However, despite these minor shortcomings, the overall shape of the image is definitely better after calibration. The television has gained in quality, and the improved white balance along with reduced gamma issues allows users to enjoy a more realistic and pleasant visual experience. Further adjustment of settings may enhance image quality even more, but even now the television demonstrates its capabilities, meeting the expectations of many users.

After calibration, both the Filmmaker mode and the gaming mode gained a lot. A slight adjustment of the white balance and an improvement in brightness characteristics produced excellent results in SDR content – the image looked almost perfect, natural, and very close to reference. In the case of HDR materials, the situation was similar, the colours were presented wonderfully, and it was hard to find anything to criticise. However, we noticed a certain feature, which we already pointed out when comparing scenes from the film Billy Lynn. The analysis of the EOTF curve showed that the television has a slight tendency to dim details in the blacks, so the darkest parts are not always displayed exactly as intended by the director. Nevertheless, the effect after calibration is stunning, and the OLED820 is emerging as one of the more interesting screens in its class. It just needs a little pampering, and there really is nothing to worry about.

How does the Xiaomi A Pro 2025 television cope with tonal transitions, especially with lower-quality materials? Thanks to advanced digital processing, the colour contour removal function works surprisingly well. We recommend setting this option to "Medium" – the television significantly improves the fluidity of tonal transitions while avoiding excessive smoothing of other image elements, such as film grain.

In the case of the tested image featuring a model and numerous branches in the background, the Xiaomi A Pro 2025 showcased its capabilities in terms of digital processing. Adding artificial sharpness to this scene made the details of the model more pronounced, and her hair appeared more detailed. However, delicate contours appeared around the branches in the background, which were a result of digital interference. Although this enhances the overall impression of detail, excessive sharpness can make some elements of the image seem unnaturally emphasised.

Fortunately, the earlier effects of the mentioned posterisation can be quite effectively mitigated. The "distortion reduction" function set to a medium level deals with unwanted colour banding, improving the smoothness of tonal transitions. It does happen that it works a bit too aggressively and also smooths out some details – such as minor skin imperfections of the actors – but nevertheless, it can be considered worth using without substantial compromises. The upscaling in the OLED820 also performs quite well. The test image with the model is exceptionally soft, sometimes even too much so, although this can be rectified by slightly boosting the sharpness in the picture menu – this is really a matter of individual preference. The absence of overscan issues with very low-resolution content is also commendable, meaning we don't have to worry that the image will be unnecessarily cropped.

Xiaomi A Pro 2025 offers a motion smoothing feature called "Motion Smoothing," which primarily works in films. It can be adjusted to prefer either a more cinematic, film-like effect with visible frames, or a smoother, theatre-like image. This function should satisfy those who intend to watch mainly films on it. However, gamers and sports fans may feel disappointed. The 60 Hz refresh rate panel, typical in this price range, does not impress. Our "Ufo" test revealed some motion blur. Those expecting better sharpness of moving objects may be slightly let down.

The fluidity of motion is an area where OLEDs always shine, and the Philips OLED820 confirms this rule. The panel itself offers a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which primarily benefits PC gamers, but even with standard television sources or consoles, where it operates at 120 Hz, the motion is fast, sharp and simultaneously smooth, without signs of blurring. This is thanks to the remarkable response time between pixels, which maintains image clarity in every dynamic scene. The manufacturer has also added its own smoother called "Motion Style". In the menu, we find two sliders – the first, responsible for fluidity, allows adjustments to the number of artificially added frames in films. This way, we can choose a raw, cinematic character with a distinctly visible film frame or a more theatrical image with smooth motion. The second slider is for motion blur reduction, particularly useful in sports broadcasts. Here, we definitely recommend setting it to the maximum value, as the effect is truly excellent.

Xiaomi A Pro 2025 offers several features useful for gamers, including Game Bar, which is different from the typical "dashboards" with interfaces found in other manufacturers' products. Thanks to this, users can quickly access game-related settings, which is convenient during intense sessions. The TV also supports Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM), meaning it automatically switches to a mode optimised for gaming, reducing signal latency. Unfortunately, it lacks support for HDMI 2.1, limiting its capabilities for connecting the latest gaming consoles that may require higher bandwidth. Additionally, the TV does not support features such as VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) or G-Sync, which are increasingly desired by gamers, as they allow for smoother visuals and eliminate tearing. For these reasons, although Xiaomi A Pro 2025 has some features for gamers, in this price range, better options can be found that offer more advanced solutions dedicated to gamers.

The Philips OLED820 is one of the most complete televisions for gamers. On board, we find practically everything one could expect: two HDMI 2.1 ports with full bandwidth of 48 Gbps (it's a shame there aren't four), variable refresh rate VRR, automatic game mode ALLM, support for Dolby Vision in games, and a good implementation of the HGiG mode. The television handles lower resolutions at 120 Hz with ease, so one can count on considerable flexibility when choosing different picture modes on the console. Philips also includes a Game Bar – a panel that allows changing picture modes, adding a crosshair, or previewing parameters. Although it looks rather clunky and is less polished than that of the competition, it does its job. In practice, therefore, the OLED820, in addition to a full set of four HDMI 2.1 ports, offers nearly everything a gamer could need.