XIAOMI A PRO 2026 vs Xiaomi S Pro 2026

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.