XIAOMI A PRO 2026 vs Samsung OLED S95H (S99H) (QD-OLED)

If you are hoping for a cinema-grade HDR effect in the new Xiaomi A Pro 2026, you better cool your expectations quickly. This television is simply too dim to fully showcase the capabilities of contemporary films or series designed for the highest image quality. Our measurements showed brightness in the range of 200–300 nits, which is more akin to SDR content than ambitious HDR productions. In practice, this means that while most films may look fine, they certainly won't evoke that "wow" effect that other televisions are known for. Fortunately, not everything is lost – we must credit the PFS LED filter used here, which is a solution similar to the quantum dot technology found in QLEDs. Thanks to this, the coverage of the DCI-P3 colour palette reaches about 94%, resulting in vibrant, saturated colours in the vast majority of materials.

When it comes to brightness alone, the S99H is an astronomically bright TV. Its peak brightness in film scenes can exceed 2800 nits. Whatever the scene, you can count on powerful HDR effects that are almost blinding, exactly what you expect from a top-tier screen. It is the nature of OLED panels that they cannot sustain the same extreme brightness in very bright, full‑screen frames as they can with small highlights, but the results are still excellent. In a bright scene from the film The Meg, the sun still exceeded 2200 nits. That means the S99H managed to sustain higher brightness than most Mini LED displays on the market. In terms of brightness, the S99H is currently the best OLED TV we have tested.

Colour gamut coverage

The S99H also handles colour extremely well, which is a direct result of the QD-OLED panel used here. Whether the test scenarios were synthetic test patterns or measurements taken with film material playing in the background, the results remained at a very high level. The S99H easily covers almost 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut, and for the more demanding BT.2020 colour space it reaches nearly 90%. That is absolute top-tier performance. These results match what we have seen in the new SQD-Mini-LED screens, and in real film scenes even outperform RGB Mini LED displays.

What we saw in Filmmaker mode took us by surprise – and unfortunately not in a good way. The mode advertised as Hollywood standard resembled more of a shop window display. The white balance was shifted towards blue, leading to significant colour mistakes and burnt-out scenes in SDR content. It was slightly better, though still not perfect, in HDR materials. There were also issues there – the colour saturation and the entire palette consistently drifted towards cooler tones, resulting in an image that had more of an artificial, cold tint instead of a cinematic character. In other words: even in Filmmaker mode, which should showcase this television, we got an effect far from expectations.

Samsung offers a whole host of picture modes and features, but as usual we recommend choosing Filmmaker Mode, especially if you want the most faithful rendering of the filmmakers' intent. Out of the box the TV is tuned very well, although it has minor shortcomings. These are mainly a slight drift in the white balance in SDR content and a slightly low gamma. As a result, in darker viewing conditions the picture can be a little too bright compared with the reference gamma of 2.4, which is the standard for watching films with the lights off. These are, of course, minor points, because overall colour reproduction remains at a very good level and the errors in the ColorChecker measurements are not large. However, we know that with a screen of the S99H's class you can, and arguably should, expect even more, which is why we carried out a professional calibration.

Although Xiaomi is not a brand associated with top-tier televisions, it must be acknowledged that even in a budget model like the A Pro 2026, the manufacturer left plenty of calibration settings. After a few adjustments, the SDR image gained a completely new look. Colours stopped drifting towards blue tones, whites took on a more natural quality, and most errors dropped to a practically invisible level. As a result, SDR content looked very good, surprisingly so for this price range.

It was somewhat different with HDR materials. Here, it was immediately evident what we had already mentioned – clipping in bright scenes and issues with balance control. Calibration helped only partly, as the limitations of the panel itself played a role. However, it must be emphasized that for SDR, the television had transformed beyond recognition and in a decidedly positive direction.

After professional calibration, FILMMAKER mode looks practically perfect. Because Samsung offers a rich set of advanced calibration features, we were able to fine-tune the colours to an almost perfect level. Above all, we managed to even out the white balance and the gamma curve, which resulted in noticeably improved contrast and proper image modelling. In this tuned picture profile there really isn't a single thing to criticise or call a flaw. After calibration, the S99H can deliver an essentially reference-quality image.

Upscaling and digital image processing in the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 are not among the strengths of this model. One might expect that since the television was not designed to achieve record brightness levels, the manufacturer would focus on a more robust processor and a set of features that would "enhance" lower-quality images. Unfortunately – and here we are also faced with significant disappointment. On the positive side, we can note reasonably good upscaling, which handles HD materials and boosts them up to 4K in an acceptable manner. However, this is where the list of advantages ends. The television does not offer any features that improve tonal transitions or smooth out digital imperfections, so in most cases, we get a raw image, exactly as we deliver from an external source. On a large screen, such a lack of support makes lower-quality materials simply look bland. An additional problem is the phenomenon of overscan. When watching older materials, it happens that part of the image gets cut off, which only amplifies the impression that Xiaomi still has a lot of ground to make up in this category.

The proprietary Samsung NQ4 Gen3 processor is responsible for upscaling and digital image processing. It handles upscaling lower-resolution material to 4K very well. The picture is clear without looking artificial or overly sharp. The only rather specific drawback appears with very old material recorded at 480p or below. In such cases the TV can slightly crop the edges of the picture.

The processor also copes quite well with artefacts visible in lower bit-rate material, for example heavily compressed YouTube videos. The noise reduction function effectively smooths the image and reduces posterisation, but it operates quite aggressively. It can remove not only unwanted artefacts but also some fine detail, and even natural film grain. Wanting to preserve the source material as faithfully as possible, we decided not to use it. However, if someone prefers a clean, as-smooth-as-possible picture over retaining every detail, it may prove useful.

The fluidity of motion in the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 is an interesting compromise that arises from the hybrid matrix used here. At its native 4K resolution, the maximum refresh rate is 60 Hz – sufficient for those who mainly watch films and series. It is precisely with them in mind that the manufacturer has added a motion smoother, allowing users to adjust the image to their own preferences – opting for greater fluidity or leaving more "cinematic" frames depending on the settings.

Another major advantage of organic OLED panels is their excellent motion handling. Thanks to the pixels' virtually instantaneous response time, the Samsung S99H exhibits virtually no motion blur. Fast-moving objects do not produce visible halos or trailing outlines, so the television performs very well for both watching sport and gaming. One characteristic of OLED screens compared with LCDs, however, is the way they render low-frame-rate material. With very slow camera movement the image can appear noticeably more 'choppy'. This can, however, be fairly effectively mitigated using a frame-interpolation system. Samsung lets you adjust judder reduction and blur reduction separately, so it's easy to find a compromise between smoother motion and preserving the cinematic character of the content.

Exactly – since Xiaomi has included the "Game Boost 120 Hz" feature, one might expect that they would follow up with a solid gaming package. Unfortunately, reality quickly dampens this enthusiasm. Aside from this mode (which, it must be admitted, is a great addition in a budget design), we only have a rather odd player panel. It's hard to call it a full-fledged "game bar" – it’s more of a simple overlay on the TV Menu with limited capabilities. And that would be about it. There’s a lack of ALLM, so the TV won’t automatically switch to game mode. There’s no VRR, so you can forget about smooth frame sync. We also won’t find support for Dolby Vision in games or the HGiG format, which are becoming increasingly standard on consoles. In short: besides the Game Boost 120 Hz, which actually allows for a more enjoyable experience at 1080p or 1440p, the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 offers nothing that could particularly attract gamers.

The Samsung S99H is also a great TV for gamers. It offers almost every possible and useful feature... well, except for the obvious lack of Dolby Vision for the Xbox console. It's equipped with four full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports that offer the full 48 Gbps. This lets you use VRR frame-rate synchronization and the automatic game mode (ALLM) without any problems. This year Samsung also has no issues properly supporting HGiG, so HDR setup on a console is quick and straightforward. Samsung's TVs are also known for interesting extras. In the Game Bar menu you'll find options to add an on-screen crosshair, enlarge the minimap or change the displayed image's aspect ratio (PC).

Particularly noteworthy is Samsung's Game Motion Plus feature. It's Samsung's proprietary motion-smoothing system that uses interpolation to increase smoothness in games. Input lag then rises to around 40 to 50 ms (depending on the strength of the setting), which is an excellent result compared with the competition. The system makes gameplay noticeably smoother. So if someone has their eye on a demanding game (e.g. GTA 6 😉) that runs on a console at only 30 frames per second, the S99H can display it much more smoothly than competing models.