Samsung R95H Micro RGB vs XIAOMI S Mini 2026 (85"-98") 144Hz

In terms of brightness the Samsung R95H shows that we’re still dealing with a top-tier TV, although the results aren’t always as spectacular as you might expect from a flagship Micro RGB model. In synthetic tests the TV can exceed 2,400 nits, so it definitely has plenty of headroom. Importantly, it can sustain high brightness even when bright elements occupy a larger portion of the screen. In real movie scenes the situation is a bit more complex. The R95H most often reaches around 1,000 to 1,400 nits, which still delivers a very good, strong HDR effect. Bright sunlight, reflections, or lights can look truly impressive, and the TV has enough power for HDR to be clearly distinguishable from regular SDR.

The problem appears mainly in very dark scenes with single, small light sources. Here the local dimming algorithm favors deep blacks and reducing the halo over maximizing the brightness of such elements. As a result, small lights can be noticeably dimmed. Overall HDR performs well, but not without limitations. The R95H has huge brightness headroom, especially in larger and brighter parts of the image, but in difficult, dark scenes its capabilities are mainly limited by how the local dimming operates.

Colors

Colors were meant to be the biggest revolution enabled by the RGB backlight, and the R95H does show considerable potential here. The assessment is not, however, as simple as synthetic measurements might suggest. On test charts the TV performs superbly. BT.2020 coverage reaches almost 94%, and DCI-P3 98%, so especially strongly saturated reds and greens can look really impressive. The picture changes a bit when, instead of test charts, we start measuring real movie scenes. Then BT.2020 coverage drops to about 87% and DCI-P3 to 93%. It seems that with more complex imagery the RGB zones are not always able to maintain the same high color saturation as on simple charts. They are still saturated, but the advantage of the new backlight is no longer as large as the manufacturer's numbers might suggest.

The larger versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 offer very similar HDR capabilities. Peak brightness reaches around 1,000 nits, which is a very solid result for a TV at this price point. This is most apparent in bright scenes, where large, heavily lit areas of the image can look really striking. The TV has enough brightness headroom that HDR isn't reduced to just a slightly brighter image. However, very small pinpoint highlights on an almost completely black background perform worse. In those situations the local dimming system significantly reduces their brightness to avoid illuminating adjacent image areas and to preserve deep blacks. As a result, small specular highlights or single lamps don't have the same intensity as in much more expensive designs. This is, however, typical behavior for Mini LED TVs and is hard to treat as something unique to Xiaomi.

HDR colors

Color performance is similarly comparable. Although the manufacturer uses the term QLED, the expanded color gamut here is achieved by a PFS phosphor. In our measurements the TV covered about 94% of the DCI-P3 color space and about 74% of the much more demanding BT.2020. In practice this yields well-saturated colors in most HDR material and it's hard to point to obvious shortcomings. Limitations appear mainly with the most saturated shades of green, which the TV can no longer reproduce in full.

To assess factory color reproduction, we of course chose Filmmaker mode, the setting that's supposed to be closest to how the creators intended the image to look. Unfortunately, the R95H does not fully exploit the potential of its panel. The biggest issue in SDR is the gamma. The image is noticeably brightened across almost the entire range, which robs it of some depth and makes it look flatter than it should. The white balance isn't ideal either, as increasing brightness brings a red bias and a lack of blue, making the image too warm. This is especially visible in bright elements and skin tones, which can appear redder than they should.

It's similar in HDR. The EOTF curve sits above the reference value for much of the range, so the R95H again brightens the image compared with how it should look. Combined with the inaccurate white balance, this means colors here are not as precise as we'd expect from a TV of this class. The factory Filmmaker setup is therefore not one of the R95H's strengths. At first glance the picture may look impressive because it's bright and highly saturated, but in terms of fidelity to the source material there is still plenty of room for improvement.

In the larger versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026, Film mode performs best, although the factory settings here are not without flaws. In SDR the white balance was noticeably warm due to an excess of red. In HDR the situation was the opposite: there was too much blue and too little red, which made the image cooler. Additionally, both the gamma curve in SDR and the EOTF curve in HDR were slightly above the reference values. In practice this resulted in a slightly brighter image, especially in the midtones. It wasn't a major fault, but with more demanding content you could tell the image wasn't reproduced exactly as the creators intended.

R95H responds very well to calibration. In SDR we were able to set the white balance and gamma almost perfectly, and color errors dropped to very low levels. The difference compared with the factory settings is therefore considerable, and after calibration the picture looks much more natural. In HDR we can also improve a lot, especially regarding white balance and overall color accuracy. The issue of managing brightness and color saturation looks a bit different. Here, at some point we run into limitations resulting from the way RGB backlighting and local dimming work. Individual zones have to control both brightness and the color of the light at the same time, so in more demanding scenes it is not always possible to achieve exactly the same saturation and brightness that the TV shows on simple test patterns. Calibration simply can't completely overcome that. Despite this, after calibration the R95H delivers accurate image reproduction, and most of the errors we saw in the factory settings can be effectively eliminated.

After calibration, we were mainly able to even out the white balance, so colors in both SDR and HDR look much more natural. We also improved the gamma curve, so SDR content is no longer unnecessarily bright and stays closer to reference values. The only significant remaining issue is in HDR. Xiaomi still controls brightness a bit too aggressively and renders some scenes brighter than it should. That is less noticeable on larger screen sizes than on the 55–75 inch models, but the EOTF curve still runs slightly above the reference. In practice, HDR is therefore slightly brightened, even though color reproduction after calibration already looks very good.

Samsung R95H uses the new Micro RGB AI Processor, but in practice we didn't notice a big leap compared to the NQ4 AI Gen2 or Gen3 chips found in the manufacturer's other TVs. The upscaling itself still performs very well. The image is appropriately smoothed, yet retains plenty of sharpness and doesn't look overly soft. That's definitely one of Samsung's strengths. It's just a shame that with very low-resolution content you still can't completely turn off overscan.

The processor also handles gradients well and can effectively smooth unwanted posterization. The noise reduction feature works very effectively, but you need to use it judiciously. At higher settings it can noticeably interfere with the image and even remove natural film grain. So it's best to use it only when the source material is actually heavily compressed.

Larger variants of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 also use the MT5896 processor and perform similarly in terms of digital image processing. Upscaling is not a strong suit of this model. Low-resolution content is upscaled to 4K in a fairly basic way and it does not recover fine detail as well as more refined TVs. The 85- and 98-inch versions do include a feature intended to reduce posterization, but its effectiveness is very limited. With it turned on it's hard to notice any real improvement, so in scenes with visible color banding the TV still does little to address it.

The Samsung R95H has a 165 Hz panel, so its motion handling is excellent. At 120 Hz, like when gaming on a console or watching sports, motion blur is minimal, and when connected to a PC you can use the full 165 Hz to further improve motion clarity. However, keep in mind that it’s still a VA panel, so it doesn’t respond as instantly as OLED. You may sometimes notice a faint trail behind moving objects, but from a normal viewing distance this shouldn’t be distracting. For movies and series you can also use the adjustable motion smoothing. You can keep the more cinematic 24 fps look or gradually smooth the motion if you prefer a smoother image. Samsung gives you plenty of freedom here, and it’s easy to choose a setting that matches your preferences.

The biggest difference between the various sizes of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 is the panel's refresh rate. The 55–75-inch models use a 60 Hz panel, which in practice means noticeably less motion smoothness than the larger versions. It's easiest to notice this when watching sports, fast-moving scenes, or playing games, where the picture isn't as smooth or clear in motion.

When it comes to gaming the Samsung R95H is almost a complete TV. When you connect a PS5 or Xbox Series X you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR and ALLM, and the TV also works properly with HGiG. The only major omission is Dolby Vision Gaming, which Samsung, like with its other TVs, simply does not support. There's also the Game Bar, familiar from other Samsung models, which lets you quickly check frame rate, VRR status or the HDR format and change the most important settings without leaving the game. You can also brighten darker parts of the image or change the screen aspect ratio.

Samsung also offers Game Motion Plus, a motion smoothing feature designed specifically for games. It makes the most sense for games running at 30 fps, where it can noticeably improve smoothness and make camera movement look much nicer. Just remember this comes at the cost of higher input lag (about 60 ms), so it's not the best choice for online or faster paced games. It's also worth noting Gaming Hub, which lets you run some games directly from the cloud without connecting a console. In terms of features for gamers, it's hard to find any major omissions in the R95H.

Unfortunately, the smaller versions of the Xiaomi S Mini 2026 have a significant limitation for gamers: a 60 Hz panel. In 4K we're therefore limited to 60 fps and can't fully take advantage of the PS5 or Xbox Series X. You can run 120 Hz, but only after dropping the resolution to 1080p or 1440p. Otherwise it's fairly reasonable. The TV supports ALLM and automatically switches to Game Mode when it detects a console. There's also a Game Bar that lets you quickly view the most important gaming settings. Our biggest issue is with HGiG. The HDR calibration screens on the PS5 and Xbox don't match the TV's actual capabilities. If you set HDR exactly according to them, some of the brightest highlights may simply be clipped.