Samsung OLED S90F (QD-OLED) vs Xiaomi S Pro 2026

The biggest difference between the 65-inch S90F and the other versions is brightness. The QD-OLED panel can achieve up to 1700 nits in laboratory tests, which is over 500 nits more than the variant with the WOLED panel. This translates to a significantly stronger and more engaging HDR effect. In most scenes, bright parts of the image look fantastic, and we have to admit we were pleasantly surprised because we expected results closer to the WOLED version, but we got an effect that makes a big impression even in movies. As with any OLED, there are moments when the panel has to limit brightness somewhat. This mainly concerns full-screen, very demanding scenes – for example, in the last test frame from the movie "The Meg," brightness drops to around 800 nits. However, it's hard to consider this a flaw since it’s still an excellent result, unprecedented in OLED TVs in this price range. All signs indicate that the 65-inch S90F could be one of the best choices this year for those looking for a strong OLED at a reasonable price. Another advantage of the QD-OLED panel in HDR content is its color gamut coverage. Thanks to quantum dots, the television achieves almost full 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and nearly 90% of the BT.2020 gamut. These values place it alongside much more expensive models and make it exceptional in its class.

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.

Samsung S90F, like most modern televisions, offers several picture modes, but in keeping with our tradition, we checked it in the most important one, which is Filmmaker. This setting makes the picture look much more natural than in the default, often oversaturated modes. It is neither overly saturated nor artificially subdued – just closer to what you should actually see. However, that doesn't mean it's perfect. The S90F had noticeable shortcomings in white balance, primarily in the blue range, which created a slightly yellowish filter effect on most scenes. One might argue that it looks more "cinematic" because it's warmer, but let's not kid ourselves – George Lucas didn't shoot Star Wars in sepia 😉 (you'll find a comparison with a scene below as always). In HDR materials, there was also a problem with brightness management. The EOTF curve clearly showed that the television brightens the picture more than it should, which led to some effects looking too intense and deviating from the reference. Fortunately, many of these shortcomings can be eliminated through professional calibration – we will discuss the effects of this procedure further in the test.

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.

Calibration quickly showed that the S90F has a substantial reserve of capabilities. The image in SDR immediately gained a natural quality – classic films stopped looking as if someone had applied a yellowish filter to them, and the colors regained their true character. It’s a return to the atmosphere of the original, without the impression that someone tried to "age" it artificially. In HDR content, the difference was even more pronounced. The EOTF curve was managed almost to a reference level, and any deviations are so subtle that most viewers won't even notice them. In practice, the S90F after calibration displays an image very close to perfection. Compared to the WOLED version, it performs even better – mainly due to the wider color gamut coverage, which makes the colors look fuller and more vibrant.

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.

The S90F performs really well here, although there are some comments that are repeated in the case of most Samsung TVs. The noise reduction feature can effectively smooth out unwanted color transitions in lower-quality materials, such as television or YouTube, making them simply look better. However, it should be noted that it operates quite aggressively and can also soften elements that we wouldn't want to touch, like facial details. Therefore, if we want to use it, it’s best to use it in the "medium" setting and be aware of the compromise it brings. The upscaling itself is at a high level – low-quality materials are enhanced towards a 4K-like image. The only caveat is that the S90F can still have problems with so-called overscan, which is slight trimming of the edges in very poor materials like 576p and lower.

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.

S90F is an OLED with a refresh rate of 144 Hz, but in practice, what matters most is how it performs at 120 Hz, as this frequency is the most significant when watching sports. The QD-OLED panel is no different in this regard from WOLED panels—the pixel response is almost instantaneous, allowing motion to be rendered with surgical precision. The effect is easy to predict. The image is practically free of ghosting, making gaming on consoles, matches, or other sports broadcasts a great pleasure on the S90F.

Fans of movies and series are not forgotten either. Like every Samsung TV with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and above, the S90F is equipped with a proprietary motion smoother called "Image Clarity." Here, we find two sliders—motion blur reduction and judder reduction—that allow you to improve the fluidity of materials recorded at 24 frames and adjust the effect to your personal preferences.

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.

S90F is a television that truly brings a lot of joy when gaming. Right off the bat, we get four full-fledged HDMI 2.1 ports, which means you can connect all consoles and PCs without having to figure out which device takes priority. This is a convenient and practical solution that is not a given with other manufacturers. Additionally, there are key features such as the automatic game mode (ALLM), which switches the screen to low-latency settings, and VRR frame synchronization working over a wide range from 48 to 144 Hz. This ensures that the picture remains smooth regardless of whether we are playing fast-paced online shooters or calmer story-driven titles. Another noteworthy feature is the Game Bar – a panel that allows quick access to several useful additions. For example, you can turn on an additional crosshair in the center of the screen, enlarge the minimap, or, in the case of a PC, change the aspect ratio. Finally, there is also the unique Game Motion Plus mode exclusive to Samsung. Its purpose is to smooth out older or less optimized titles, and it actually works quite well. Thanks to this mode, even less polished games can look better and provide more enjoyment than on other televisions that theoretically offer the same technical specifications.

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.