Xiaomi S Pro 2026 vs Samsung S85H

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.

Interestingly, the new WOLED SE panel has brought a slight improvement in brightness to the S85 series. In the same movie scenes the previous year's model stayed closer to about 700 nits, while the S85H can reach around 800 nits. Of course this isn't a change that completely transforms the HDR experience, but that extra headroom is noticeable especially with small highlights, reflections, and stronger special effects. Around 800 nits is already a very good result for an entry-level OLED and in most films it's enough for HDR to have the right impact. Bright elements can clearly stand out from perfect black, and that contrast still does most of the heavy lifting here. You should remember the typical limitation of organic technology, though. When a very bright scene covers a large part of the screen, brightness can drop by almost half. This is the result of the panel's protection mechanisms, which limit its power with large bright areas.

Colors

The S85H can produce very pleasant, saturated colors and in most HDR films it looks really good in that respect. We measured roughly 95% DCI-P3 coverage, so the palette most often used in movies is reproduced to a very large degree. Skin tones, greens, and stronger reds still have appropriate intensity, and during normal viewing it's hard to fault them. Only when you look more broadly at BT.2020 do the limitations of the new WOLED SE panel become apparent. Coverage was around 70%, a bit less than in previous-generation WOLEDs and noticeably less than in QD-OLED panels. In films this isn't a major loss, because most productions rarely use such highly saturated colors. You notice it more often in games, where developers are much more likely to employ more intense colors.

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.

To evaluate color we, of course, selected Filmmaker mode, and in SDR our S85H unit was very well calibrated out of the box. The biggest deviation appears in the white balance, where a bit of blue drops out as brightness increases. In practice this means whites and grays have a slightly warmer tint than they should. It's not a major error and during normal viewing it generally isn't very noticeable. Gamma also stays close to the reference value, so the image is neither overly bright nor unnecessarily dim. The S85H's SDR picture quality is therefore very good straight out of the box. A few more imperfections show up in HDR. Here the white balance shifts more as brightness increases, with blue becoming dominant and the red component noticeably lacking. That also leads to larger errors in some colors. These aren't yet distortions that completely change the character of the image, but compared directly with the reference the difference is easier to spot. Overall, Filmmaker mode is a very good starting point before professional calibration.

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.

Calibration yields very good results on the S85H. First, the white balance can be set almost perfectly, which removes the slightly too-warm image cast that was visible earlier in SDR. Color reproduction itself also improves significantly; most errors drop to a very low level, and in everyday viewing it's hard to notice any visible inaccuracies. You can also improve a lot in HDR, although some issues remain due to the TV's inherent characteristics. The S85H doesn't always perfectly follow the brightness curve. The darkest areas are slightly boosted, and as you approach the panel's limits you can see small deviations in the brightest highlights. On top of that there's limited coverage of the wider BT.2020 gamut, which no calibration can of course overcome. Despite this, the end result is very good, and after calibration the S85H can deliver a well-tuned, natural image.

Let's start with the issue we raised in the previous paragraph: can the TV even fix the awful tonal banding in dark scenes? Theoretically yes, the menu includes a feature with the promising name "Color Contour Removal". Well, "theoretically." Unfortunately, in practice this setting, regardless of which of the three strength levels you choose, produced absolutely no real results. So we're dealing with a feature that, in practice, only exists in the menu. Moving on to the actual quality of upscaling (scaling lower-resolution content to 4K), unfortunately we have more bad news. The S Pro 2026 handles this task very poorly. Interestingly, overscan (slight cropping of the image) is not a major problem here. The issue is that the TV simply shows a very raw, unprocessed image. Its attempt to pull the signal up to a higher resolution just looks flat and lacks any "intelligent" enhancement. There's no denying it: the whole digital image processing is the true Achilles' heel of this model.

For the S85H, Samsung used the same proprietary NQ4 Gen2 AI processor as in last year’s S85F, and in terms of digital image processing it performs quite well. Upscaling is one of this model’s strengths. Lower-resolution content is well sharpened, edges look natural, and the image doesn’t feel overly artificial. Just bear in mind a common Samsung quirk: at very low resolutions you can’t completely disable overscan, so the TV may slightly crop the left edge of the image. The "noise reduction" function, which smooths weaker tonal transitions, also works very well. The processor can effectively remove posterization and other imperfections visible in lower-quality material. However, you need to be careful with the strength of this feature, because Samsung can be fairly aggressive here. When it’s enabled, along with unwanted artifacts, fine image details such as the texture of skin or clothing can start to disappear.

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.

The S85H uses an OLED panel, so it performs excellently when it comes to motion blur. Pixels respond virtually instantly, so moving objects don’t leave the characteristic ghosting seen on some LCD TVs. This is especially noticeable with sports or fast-paced games, where the image stays very clean even during rapid motion. The panel runs at 120 Hz. That’s more than enough for movies, TV series, sports, or console gaming. It’s a bit of a shame Samsung didn’t include a higher refresh rate aimed at PC gamers, since more and more TVs now offer 144 or even 165 Hz at 4K. However, that doesn’t affect motion perception in films or sports. There’s also the classic motion smoothing feature with two settings, blur reduction and judder reduction. So you can choose whether films should keep their cinematic 24 frames per second or if you prefer to smooth them a bit. The S85H gives you plenty of flexibility here, and the interpolation works well and, with reasonable settings, doesn’t produce too many artifacts.

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.

The Samsung S85H is very well set up for gaming, whether you connect a console or a PC. The manufacturer didn’t skimp on ports and all four HDMI inputs support full HDMI 2.1. That means you can use 4K at 120 Hz, VRR, and ALLM without worrying which input to plug your console into. With several devices that matters, because you don’t have to choose between a console, a PC, or a soundbar connected via eARC. The feature set itself is very comprehensive. The S85H supports VRR, FreeSync, and automatic switching to game mode, and Samsung offers its comprehensive Game Bar, which lets you quickly view key signal parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only real omission is Dolby Vision, which will matter mainly to Xbox owners. That’s a typical trait of Samsung TVs. Game Motion Plus performs very well and is one of the features that have set Samsung TVs apart for years. It smooths motion in games running at 30 or 60 fps, but does so without as large an increase in input lag as traditional motion smoothing. In practice, with more relaxed games, racing titles, or action games this can really improve perceived motion, especially if you’re sensitive to low framerates.