Haier M95E vs Xiaomi S Pro 2026

If there is one category in which the Haier M95E undoubtedly shines, it is the HDR effect, driven by the raw power of the backlighting. This TV cannot be denied that it is a truly bright device. Both in most movie scenes and during our synthetic measurements, the panel easily achieved and often even exceeded the threshold of 1200-1500 nits. This directly translates to the viewing experience – the image has a striking impact and truly allows you to feel the magic of materials recorded in this format. However, one must be aware of a certain compromise. When particularly demanding scenes filled with small, yet intense bright spots appear on the screen, the M95E does not lose its punch nor dims, but it pays a different price for it. A very strong and noticeably distracting halo effect is generated around these bright elements. It is evident here that the algorithms controlling the dimming have been programmed to prioritize brightness and visibility of the smallest details, even if this comes at the cost of flawless black levels. We are not entirely convinced that this is the healthiest approach; however, it must be acknowledged that the overall capabilities of the M95E in this regard are quite substantial. A significant advantage is the fact that we are dealing with a Mini LED QLED construction. The use of a quantum dot layer brings tangible benefits in the form of wide color gamut coverage, which in our tests reached almost 96% of the DCI-P3 color space. This guarantees that the television has full predispositions to display vibrant and appropriately saturated colors.

When it comes to HDR quality, the Xiaomi S Pro 2026 is undoubtedly a really bright TV. On our synthetic measurement charts, we were able to generate a peak brightness of around 1400 nits. This is not only a very good result but even spectacular, considering the price of this model. However, as we always repeat, for our editorial team, measurements and experiences from the content we watch every day—movies and series—are more important. So let's analyze how Xiaomi handles film material. Unfortunately, the result is somewhat mixed. When very bright scenes appear on the screen, the S Pro 2026 truly shows its full potential and can achieve real brightness of 800-1000 nits on bright elements. Moreover, even smaller objects can "burn" the eyes— in scenes from the movie Sicario 2, small metallic elements of the helicopter were really bright. The problem is this—and here the story comes full circle back to our assessment of contrast—that in such scenes, we cannot count on absolutely cinematic black. In our opinion, this compromise is too significant; high visibility of details in bright areas should not come at the expense of such a substantial boost in black levels. And even though the HDR effect itself can be striking here, it is important to remember that when very difficult, mixed scenes appear on the screen, we may feel a slight disappointment. Exactly the one we mentioned in the previous paragraph regarding dimming issues in HDR mode. On a positive note, it is worth adding that the S Pro 2026 is equipped with an additional PFS filter (which works similarly to a QLED layer), effectively broadening the color palette coverage. As a result, measurements showed a DCI-P3 color gamut coverage of up to 94%. This gives us the confidence that in most colorful scenes, the image will look rich and appropriately saturated.

We evaluate every television primarily based on its default cinema mode – in this case "Film" – which theoretically should be the "best" and most accurate right out of the box. Unfortunately, with the Haier M95E, the word "best" is absolutely not synonymous with the word "good." Even during SDR viewing, the picture revealed obvious issues: white balance skewed too much towards red, and excessive, unnatural color saturation led to visible color deviations. Worse still, the M95E also has trouble managing brightness (gamma curve), excessively darkening the entire scene. Such behavior is hard to commend, as it directly causes details in the shadows to blend into a black blob, which are irretrievably lost.

However, the real disaster struck after switching to HDR material while still remaining in "Film" mode. It's hard to guess who came up with such a fantastic idea – or perhaps it was simply a complete oversight of this stage by Haier's engineers – but the image, instead of cinema fidelity, began to resemble the bright "Dynamic" mode. The white balance exposed huge issues with the blue color, which in turn resulted in unnatural sharpening and artificial oversaturation of the entire scene. As if that weren't enough, the EOTF curve characteristics ruthlessly revealed that the television also has fundamental problems with local dimming management in this setting. We haven't calibrated many Haiers in our career, but we know for sure now that the M95E definitely needs it.

Of course, we conducted all our measurements in "Film" mode, which is usually the best and most accurate choice you get straight out of the box. And we have to say it bluntly: even though this is the best mode, it is still very far from ideal. First of all, the television has a clear tendency to give the image a cool, bluish tint – this is due to a poorly set white balance. Additionally, there is a problem with how the S Pro 2026 manages its brightness right after being taken out of the box, which results in an overly bright image. These two flaws contribute to really huge colorimetric errors (Delta E). In HDR content, they were able to exceed our expected error scale of "10" (meaning values close to 20). For reference – the threshold of perceivable error by the human eye is a Delta E value of around 3. Results at the level of 20 mean that the image significantly deviates from what the director intended.

The calibration process left us with extremely mixed feelings. On one hand, we noted significant success in the area of colorimetry. Utilizing the options available in the menu, we managed to tame the white balance and bring it down to an acceptable level. As a result, SDR content was finally freed from the annoying red dominance, and the HDR image no longer resembled a vibrant, store demonstration mode. The entire color palette and its saturation were also clearly corrected – perhaps not perfectly, but to the extent that the software allowed, and the difference was visible to the naked eye.

Unfortunately, this is where our list of corrections basically ends, as M95E simply did not allow for more. As we indicated earlier, most settings related to image brightness do not respond to our commands at all. This means we were unable to control its fundamental characteristics in any way – neither the gamma curve nor the EOTF. In practice, the television in SDR content still tends to darken details, which was confirmed by the inflated gamma, merging details in the shadows. On the other hand, the EOTF curve in HDR mode still mercilessly exposed all the previously mentioned issues with chaotic local dimming zone management. And while the calibration process itself yielded quite a lot, removing most of the color issues, ultimately we had to capitulate.

So how does the S Pro 2026 perform after our calibration treatment? We must admit that after calibration, the television becomes a really pleasant device for watching everyday content. As you can see in the graphs, we managed to bring both white balance and gamma values to nearly perfection in HD (SDR) material. Most importantly, the colorimetric errors have become practically invisible to the human eye. In this scenario, the S Pro 2026 is simply a great television that, after professional calibration, can provide a lot of enjoyment while watching. However, it is worth noting clearly – our efforts helped little in 4K HDR mode. Despite calibration, the television still interprets the image rather strongly "in its own way," which is clearly seen in the measurement of the EOTF curve (luminance tracking). It's a bit of a shame, because this shows that the problem lies not in the panel itself, but in the software. Underdeveloped image management algorithms in HDR content can, unfortunately, disqualify this television for many more discerning users.

Well, what happens with those color transitions when lower quality material full of compression artifacts comes on screen? Unfortunately, we have some bad news for you. Although we can find an option in the menu responsible for smoothing tonal transitions in older content, we definitely DO NOT RECOMMEND using it. Its activation causes a barrage of additional, ugly artifacts, noticeably blurring the entire image, and the funniest part – it often doesn’t even remove those unwanted “stairs” it was supposed to fight against. This feature might as well not exist at all.

We can write many more positive things about the overall upscaling, which is the process of raising lower resolutions to the native 4K matrix. The image after upscaling looks really good – it's neither overly jagged nor artificially smoothed. In this particular matter, the M95E simply delivers.

Let's start with the issue we addressed in the previous paragraph: can a TV even fix the problem of poor tonal transitions in dark scenes? Theoretically, yes – in the menu, we find a feature with the promising name "Color Contour Removal." Well, "theoretically." Unfortunately, in practice, this setting – regardless of which of the three power levels is selected – yielded absolutely no real results. So we have 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 handles this task very poorly. Interestingly, the phenomenon of "overscan" (slight image cropping) is not a big issue here. The problem is that the TV simply displays a very raw, unprocessed image. Its attempt to upscale the signal to a higher resolution looks simply poor and lacks any "smart" enhancement. There is no denying it – the whole digital image processing is the true Achilles' heel of this model.

When it comes to motion fluidity and ghosting, our feelings are quite mixed because the M95E is a paradoxical television. Let’s start with the absolute delights: the heart of the device is a 144Hz panel, but what truly impresses is its performance with 120Hz content, which is crucial for sports and console gaming. We must state with full responsibility that Haier has equipped the television with one of the best VA panels currently available on the market when it comes to minimizing ghosting. It is rare to encounter an LCD panel that offers such clean, sharp, and ghost-free motion. In this respect, the M95E is simply phenomenal.

And this is exactly why the unpleasant surprise waiting for us on the software side is so painful. It turns out that this fantastic hardware potential is completely untapped, as the television practically offers no functioning options for improving fluidity. The smoothing systems, which should assist with lower frame rate content, can indeed be found in the Menu but essentially do not respond to our settings. The conclusion is brutally simple: if you intend to watch high fluidity material, you must be sure that the source is transmitting it natively at 120. In every other case, you must resign yourself to a rather raw, choppy image because the M95E will not help smooth it out in any way.

On paper, the specification of the S Pro 2026 looks impressive. The television is equipped with a native 144 Hz panel, capable of displaying images up to 288 Hz in a dedicated gaming mode. These are amazing results, but what interested us the 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 today by consoles like PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and it is desired by sports fans. Generally speaking, the panel "holds up." The matrix is fast enough to meet these challenges, and objects displayed at native 120Hz fluidity are shown correctly. As for the software, the television is equipped with a motion smoothing system, but with a key caveat – it only works for input signals up to 60 Hz. This means it is mainly suitable for classic television, movies, 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.

When it comes to features for gamers, the Haier M95E presents some really strong arguments. First of all, it is fully ready for the new generation of consoles and powerful PCs. It is equipped with two full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, which handle 4K signals at 120Hz effortlessly and even allow for gaming at 144Hz. This is a foundation that guarantees us full utilization of the potential of our equipment. Moreover, the key technologies work flawlessly here. The television accurately detects the console and automatically switches to low latency mode (ALLM), so we don’t have to dig into the settings. The frame synchronization (VRR) also works smoothly, eliminating the annoying tearing of the image when the game's fluidity slightly drops. Considering the remarkably low motion blur of the panel, which we have already mentioned, the M95E creates a truly comfortable and responsive gaming environment. Of course, this is not a perfect package. A dedicated "Game Bar," which would be a handy menu for gamers, would be a nice addition, but in essence, it is just a nice extra. A more serious shortcoming is the lack of support for the HGiG standard, which complicates the ideal HDR configuration on the console and can lead to overexposures. Despite these shortcomings, the basic "gaming package" offered by the M95E is really solid and fully functional.

For gamers, the Xiaomi S Pro 2026 is, on paper, an almost ideal proposition. It is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 ports, allowing us to unlock (although these options are somewhat hidden in the menu) the full suite of features: ALLM, VRR, and, crucially, the ability to work in 4K at 144 Hz. This last feature should particularly please owners of powerful PCs. The TV also has something akin to a gaming panel – and while it’s hard to call it a full-fledged "Game Bar," it does its job by displaying key information. It’s just a shame that in its default form, it covers a relatively large part of the screen.

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