XIAOMI A PRO 2026 vs Samsung Q7F

If you are hoping for a cinematic HDR effect in the new Xiaomi A Pro 2026, you better quickly cool your expectations. This TV is simply too dark to fully convey the capabilities of contemporary movies or series prepared for the highest quality picture. Our measurements showed brightness in the range of 200-300 nits, which are values that suit SDR content more than ambitious HDR productions. In practice, this means that most movies look okay, but they definitely won’t give you the "wow" effect that other TVs deliver. Fortunately, not everything is lost – a plus here is the use of the PFS LED filter, which is a solution similar to the quantum dot known from QLEDs. Thanks to this, the coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut reaches about 94%, resulting in vibrant, saturated colors in the vast majority of materials.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Q7F is not one of the bright televisions, and this directly affects the quality of HDR movies. The peak brightness of the panel is only about 250 nits, which is definitely too low to speak of true cinematic experiences. In practice, the image in HDR content does not differ significantly from classic SDR, making it hard to talk about any "wow effect" that usually accompanies us while watching such films. During testing movie scenes, the image simply looked dim, and brightness almost invariably hovered around the mentioned 250 nits. The worst performance was observed in shots with small, intensely glowing elements – the applied global dimming technique reacted very aggressively, dimming the entire screen to maintain the black effect. On the plus side, it is worth noting the presence of a QLED coating that expands the color palette. As a budget QLED model, the Q7F performs quite decently here: its DCI-P3 color coverage is about 93%, and BT.2020 reaches 70%. This means that colors, despite the low brightness, can look quite vivid and attractive.

What we saw in Filmmaker mode surprised us greatly – and unfortunately not in a good way. The mode advertised as Hollywood standard resembled more of a display in a store window. The white balance was shifted towards blue, leading to huge color errors and the effect of washed-out scenes in SDR content. It was a little better, though far from perfect, in HDR materials. There, problems were also visible – color saturation and the entire palette consistently shifted towards cooler tones, which made the image appear more artificial and cold rather than cinematic. In other words: even in Filmmaker mode, which should be the showcase of this television, we got a result far from expectations.

The factory color reproduction in the Samsung Q7F definitely isn't one of its strong points. In Filmmaker mode, which theoretically should be closest to neutral, the white balance issue is immediately noticeable. There's too much red on the screen, while blue is noticeably lacking. The effects of this are very easy to see – white, instead of being neutral, takes on warm, almost slightly orange tones. Over time, this makes the entire image look somewhat unnatural, and bright areas of the scene can seem unrealistic. The problems become even more apparent in HDR content. The graphs show that the TV has significant errors in the Color Checker palette, which translates to visible inaccuracies in the real image. In practice, this means that colors are not presented as they should be. The Q7F also heavily manipulates brightness; darker elements are overly boosted, causing them to lose their cinematic feel, while bright parts can appear dimmed. As a result, the image seems flattened, and instead of helping to bring out details, contrast only highlights its own limitations. This is particularly frustrating in HDR materials, as every detail matters there. In scenes where a subtle play of light and shadow should be felt, the Q7F either overdoes the brightening or, conversely, suppresses elements that were meant to draw the eye. This causes the image to lose its depth, and instead of cinematic realism, we get more of a simplification effect.

Even though Xiaomi is not a brand associated with top-of-the-line televisions, it must be acknowledged that even in a budget model like the A Pro 2026, the manufacturer left quite a few calibration settings. After a few adjustments, the SDR picture gained a completely new character. The colors stopped veering into blue tones, the whites became more natural, 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 material. Here, it was immediately noticeable what we had already mentioned - the overexposure of bright scenes and issues with balance control. Calibration only helped partially because the limitations of the panel itself played a role. However, it should be emphasized that in the case of SDR, the television transformed beyond recognition, and in a decidedly positive direction.

After professional calibration, we managed to bring the Q7F in order – at least in terms of SDR content. The picture in this mode looks really good: the white balance has been set correctly, the colors appear natural, and errors in the color palette have dropped to values that are practically invisible to the eye. The gamma behaves excellently, and the only minor drawback is a slight brightening of smaller elements, which results from the lack of local dimming. For everyday TV watching or standard quality films, the Q7F performs surprisingly well.

It was much more difficult to tame HDR content. Despite adjusting the white balance, the television continues to manipulate brightness significantly, causing scenes to sometimes look unnatural – what was meant to be subtly darker can end up being overly brightened, and bright parts of the image sometimes appear dull. The final effect is better than in the factory settings, but it is evident that the design limitations of the Q7F do not allow for fully utilizing the potential of HDR materials.

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 TV wasn’t designed to achieve record brightness levels, the manufacturer would have opted for a more robust processor and a set of features that would "enhance" lower quality images. Unfortunately – we were also quite disappointed here. On the plus side, there is reasonably decent upscaling that handles HD materials and elevates them to 4K in an acceptable manner. However, this is where the list of advantages ends. The TV does not offer any features to 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, this lack of support makes lower quality materials look simply bland. An additional problem is the phenomenon of overscan. When watching older materials, it sometimes happens that part of the image is cut off, which only intensifies the impression that Xiaomi still has a lot to catch up on in this category.

Upscaling and digital image processing in the Q7F is a bit of a sine wave. On one hand, we have really nice upscaling – weaker sources look better than one might expect. The image becomes clearer, sharper, and even older movies or terrestrial TV hold up well. Samsung has been strong in this area for years, and the Q7F confirms that. On the other hand… things start to get tricky. The TV has a problem with overscan – part of the image is simply cut off, and it looks rather unrefined. Additionally, we were let down by a feature called "noise reduction," which should improve the smoothness of tonal transitions in weaker materials. In other Samsungs, it works relatively well, but here it practically makes no difference – the banding in gradients remains. It's a bit disappointing because we could have expected more from a model that is aimed at users looking for a display for SDR content.

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

Motion blur and motion fluidity in the Q7F is probably the most budget-conscious element of this TV. The 60 Hz panel is noticeable, with blur being quite evident, especially in dynamic scenes, and it's rather difficult to consider this model as equipment designed for watching sports or playing fast-paced games. In tests with the little green man, there was a long tail, and the ball in a football match would leave trails behind it.

On the plus side, the presence of motion smoothing is commendable. It really makes a difference in movies - especially since most materials are recorded at 24 frames. Here we can decide for ourselves whether we prefer a more "cinematic" image, with the slight jerkiness characteristic of cinema, or a smoother, more "television-like" one. This actually works quite well and helps improve the viewing comfort for series or movies.

Indeed – since Xiaomi has added the "Game Boost 120 Hz" feature here, one might expect that they would follow up with a solid gaming package. Unfortunately, reality quickly dampens that enthusiasm. Aside from this mode (which, it must be said, is a great addition in a budget build), we have just a rather bizarre player panel. It's hard to call it a fully-fledged "game bar" – it's more of a simple overlay on the TV Menu with limited options. And that would be about it. There is no ALLM, so the TV won't automatically switch to game mode. There is no VRR, so you can forget about smooth frame synchronization. We also won't find support for Dolby Vision in games or the HGiG format, which are becoming increasingly standard on consoles. In short: apart from Game Boost 120 Hz, which does indeed make playing more enjoyable in 1080p or 1440p, the Xiaomi A Pro 2026 offers nothing particularly appealing to gamers.

Features for gamers in the Samsung Q7F is a topic that evokes quite a mix of emotions. On one hand, no reasonable person expected miracles here, as this is a 60 Hz television, and it was clear from the start that it wouldn't be equipment for extracting the maximum from consoles or PCs. On the other hand, since the manufacturer promised specific solutions in promotional materials, it is natural that we wanted to see them in practice. At the outset, it’s quite decent. The automatic game mode (ALLM) works, so you don’t have to manually fiddle with the settings, the console itself switches the television to low-latency mode. In addition, we have Game Bar, which looks impressive and allows you to view some basic parameters without leaving the game. And this is where the good news ends.

[UPDATE] We have updated our tests of Samsung televisions from the 2025 model year due to the release of software version 1131, which restored the key feature for gamers, HGiG.

The biggest problem with the Q7F is VRR, or rather its absence. Indeed, a relevant icon appears in the menu, and you can even see it in the Game Bar, but throughout the entire test, the feature remained inactive and could not be activated in any way. It’s even more disappointing regarding HGiG; this option was actually available at the beginning, but after the software update, it completely disappeared, which is just unprofessional. Therefore, the Q7F is suitable only for absolute basics. Sure, you can turn on the console, play calmer titles, and enjoy low input lag, but if someone is counting on more advanced features that the manufacturer promised, they will be disappointed. This is not a television that you buy with gaming in mind, and it’s better to be aware of that before making a purchase.