Xiaomi S Pro 2026 vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

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.

Philips PQS9000 is a moderately bright TV. In our HDR scenes it reached roughly 450 to just over 500 nits. That's enough to notice a difference compared with SDR. Reflections of the sun, lamps or flares have a bit more sparkle than on basic TVs, whose brightness often tops out around 300 nits. However, it is not a level at which bright elements make a particularly strong impression. The biggest limitation remains contrast. Without local dimming, when the TV brightens a bright object it also raises the black level around it. There is therefore no clear separation of strong highlights from a dark background, and it is that contrast that can show what HDR can do. The PQS9000 offers more than the cheapest models, but despite decent brightness the effect remains fairly basic.

Colours

Philips deserves praise for the colours. Although the manufacturer calls this model QLED, in reality a PFS phosphor is used here instead of quantum dots. That choice does not prevent the TV from achieving good results. On both test patterns and in measurements of film scenes we recorded about 94% coverage of DCI-P3 and 75% of BT.2020. For this class of TV that is really good. In practice this means that the vast majority of colours used in HDR films and series will have appropriate saturation. Vibrant green or intense red are not much of an issue and add appeal to the picture. Limitations are easier to notice in some games and in rarer content that use the most saturated shades of the wide BT.2020 gamut. In such situations, displays with wider colour coverage, such as SQD or RGB LED, can show more. In its price bracket, however, the PQS9000 has nothing to be ashamed of.

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.

Unfortunately, the factory picture settings for Film mode on the PQS9000 need refinement. In SDR the most noticeable problem is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes whites, greys and skin tones too warm, sometimes even slightly pinkish. On top of that the gamma runs below the reference across most of the range. The TV therefore brightens midtones and highlights, making the overall image look flatter than it should.

In HDR the white balance itself is much better. Apart from minor deviations the RGB components track closely, so there is no pronounced colour cast as in SDR. However, the EOTF curve shows a slight brightening of parts of the image, and the biggest issue appears in measurements of the wide colour gamut. Many hues deviate significantly from the target, with errors reaching levels of 8–9. The good gamut coverage we praised earlier therefore does not mean the TV hits specific colours equally well. It can display a wide colour range, but out of the box it does not use it very precisely.

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.

Calibration brought a significant improvement, especially in SDR material. We managed to even out the white balance and remove the previous colour cast, and the Color Checker measurements now look really very good. Colours are much closer to what should be on screen, so with ordinary TV or SDR films we can be satisfied with the outcome. Unfortunately HDR somewhat spoils that result. On the one hand it is limited by the panel itself, because calibration won't improve contrast or replace local dimming. On the other hand there remain colour errors that we couldn't correct because the CMS settings, that is the colour management controls, were greyed out and inactive. That costs Philips points with us. The white balance can be fine‑tuned, but without access to wide‑gamut adjustments it's not possible to order HDR colours equally well. It's a shame, because the SDR results show the potential is there, but we weren't allowed to make full use of it everywhere.

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.

Digital picture processing in the Philips PQS9000 performs well, though we have a few reservations. The "Distortion Reduction" function helps to smooth tonal transitions in lower-quality material, but it works rather unevenly. It can improve one part of the image, only to seem to lose its effect a moment later, still in the same scene, and show banding between shades again. A plus is that it doesn't remove film grain or fine noise, so the image retains its texture. We found the 'Medium' setting worked best and we recommend it. The upscaling to 4K itself is acceptable, although the image is very soft. Edges are heavily smoothed, which may leave some viewers feeling the picture lacks definition. In that case, it's worth slightly increasing the sharpness in the TV's menu, as this will make edges appear more defined. However, don't overdo the sharpening slider, otherwise artificial halos may appear instead of an improvement.

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.

In terms of motion handling the Philips PQS9000 performs exceptionally well for an LCD TV. It's not just the 144 Hz refresh rate, but above all how quickly the panel itself responds. At 120 Hz there are virtually no typical trailing smears behind moving objects. What is particularly pleasing is that this also applies to darker scenes, where many VA panels clearly struggle. Here motion remains clear and, in this respect, Philips pleasantly surprised us.

The "Motion Styles" feature lets you adjust how motion is displayed. It includes two sliders: "Smoothness" and "Blur Reduction", allowing you to tailor the effect to the content you're watching and your own preferences. Our suggested settings are shown in the photo. Treat them as a starting point and try to find the level of smoothing that suits you best.

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.

Gaming features

In terms of gaming features, the Philips PQS9000 has a lot to offer. Four HDMI 2.1 ports let you connect several devices without having to choose which one gets the full-capability port. Consoles can use 120 Hz at Full HD, 1440p and 4K, while a PC can also make use of 144 Hz at 4K or 240 Hz if you drop to Full HD. There's also VRR, which matches the refresh rate to the frame rate and prevents screen tearing. Its range is 48 to 240 Hz, with the upper limit applying in Full HD mode.

ALLM is present, so the TV automatically switches to game mode, and HGiG works properly, which is useful when setting HDR on a console. There's also a Game Bar for quick access to settings and signal information. The list even includes Dolby Vision gaming, but it's hard to enjoy this option because of very high input lag. Aside from that caveat, the feature set is really solid.