Hisense E7NQ PRO vs Xiaomi S Mini 2025

Based on the luminance chart, which indicates around 550 nits, it can be said that Hisense E7NQ PRO theoretically has the potential to somewhat "magically" enchant us with its image in HDR. While testing various scenes from films, we noticed that the television continually tries to balance maintaining appropriate brightness with preserving the deepest blacks possible. In favourable conditions – for instance, during a scene from “The Meg,” where the screen is flooded with bright light – this brightness can indeed impress us. In such moments, we feel that HDR actually adds that "something" to the image. Unfortunately, when more challenging shots appear on the screen with small, bright elements on a dark background, the situation looks significantly worse. The brightness then drops to 200-300 nits, which is decidedly too little to truly distinguish HDR from standard SDR.

It is clear that the television tries, but hardware limitations – mainly the limited number of local dimming zones – prevent it from fully spreading its wings. The final effect is therefore often quite uneven and just as mediocre as in the contrast tests. However, it deserves credit for its impressive coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut at 97%. Thanks to this, the television can display a truly wide range of colours, which, in suitable scenes, can give us at least a taste of the true HDR effect. It’s just a shame that the overall experience is not complemented by better control of brightness and contrast.

Since the Xiaomi S MiniLED boasts an impressive number of 308 dimming zones, it is time to test how it performs in HDR tests. Starting with luminance, or the ability to display bright scenes, the television achieved nearly 1000 nits of brightness – a result that can be considered outstanding in this class. Do these figures, however, translate to real experiences in film scenes? In the case of less demanding shots, such as those from the film The Meg, the television indeed showed excellent results, reaching up to 900 nits. Such values are impressive and can truly convey the power of HDR effects.

Unfortunately, much like with contrast, it wasn't without issues. When smaller, brighter elements appear on the screen – as in the challenging scenes from Sicario 2 – the aggressive operation of the dimming zones spoils the entire effect. Brightness in these moments drops to just 100 nits. This is definitely too little to capture the full magic of HDR. Instead of a dynamic and detailed image, the viewer receives a muted, almost flat impression, which takes away all the enjoyment from the viewing experience.

In summary, if we are looking for a television with high brightness for watching films during the day, the Xiaomi S MiniLED will easily fulfill that task. However, its inability to precisely manage the dimming zones means that watching films in the evening, especially in demanding HDR scenes, can be more frustrating than satisfying.

When we took our copy of Hisense E7NQ PRO out of the box, we immediately began to check the available picture modes. Among them, the Filmmaker mode seemed the most promising, although it too was not without its flaws. With standard SDR content, we noticed a clear tendency for excessive red enhancement, which made the image unnaturally warm. This was particularly evident in the comparative photo attached below. Conversely, when we switched to HDR content, the situation went in the opposite direction. This time, blue was dominant, and red was scarce, resulting in a cool effect, at times almost "shop-like" — although not as drastic as in those modes that are actually intended for display in exhibitions. As a result, in our tests assessing colour reproduction, these disturbances in colour balance led to significant errors.

Additionally, the television had issues with reproducing brightness characteristics. At lower resolutions, it noticeably brightened the darkest elements of the image, and with HDR content, the brightness curve (eotf) simply wouldn't conform as it should. Initially, the television excessively darkened the smallest details, only to then overly brighten larger areas. Fortunately, the E7NQ PRO provides us with plenty of calibration tools, so knowing that there is potential within it, we decided to take matters into our own hands and try to adjust it to eliminate these problems.

Xiaomi, like many manufacturers, offers a wide range of picture modes. On the S MiniLED, we can find both IMAX Enhanced and Filmmaker. Our tests were conducted in Filmmaker mode, which theoretically aims to reflect a reference image, but the reality turned out to be somewhat different.

Let's start with the test of SDR content. Here, the television had quite a few issues, especially with white balance. The clearly visible dominance of red made the image look too warm, with all colours taking on a reddish hue. This was particularly noticeable in a comparative scene from the film Star Wars. The brightness characteristics (gamma) also left much to be desired – instead of a smooth transition, we had a real "rollercoaster," with a visible excessive brightening of the screen.

In 4K content, the situation improved significantly. The white balance, although still not perfect, was much more balanced, with a slight dominance of red and blue, but without excessive impact on the overall perception. The EOTF curve (responsible for brightness in HDR) showed some brightening in the brightest parts of the image, which was noticeable, for example, in the test scene from the film Pan that we described earlier. These brightening effects may disturb the precision of the image, but in 4K, the overall effect was much more acceptable than in SDR.

Although Xiaomi S MiniLED can pleasantly surprise with 4K content, its factory settings in SDR require solid adjustments, especially regarding white balance and brightness. This is definitely a television that would benefit from calibration.

Thanks to the tools available in E7NQ PRO, we managed to extract quite a decent image from it, especially with lower quality content. After refining the white balance of the SDR materials, the colours look much more natural, and what we see on the screen seems closer to the vision that the manufacturer intended to present. Additionally, we improved the brightness characteristic (Gamma), which means the television is no longer prone to excessive brightening, and everything presents itself distinctly better than before our intervention.

We also managed to achieve some results with HDR materials, although it isn’t quite as rosy here. Indeed, the white balance has approached an acceptable level, but the problem lies elsewhere. It concerns the EOTF curve, which is the way the television manages brightness and tonal range of the image. At first glance, it might seem that the biggest issue only relates to mid-tones being overly brightened. However, after more detailed testing and enabling the filters for displaying the EOTF curve, it becomes apparent that the receiver tends to brighten the entire screen. This appears to be a limitation arising from the small number of local dimming zones and generally modest brightness management capabilities. Such hardware limitations are simply insurmountable. Despite this, after our calibration, the image is noticeably better than at the outset. One just needs to be aware that in terms of contrast and brightness management, this model has its limits, which even good calibration cannot fully overcome.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a television that gains a completely new life after calibration. The results are truly outstanding and show how much potential is in this model.

In SDR mode, the white balance is nearly perfectly aligned. The errors are so minimal that in many cases they can be considered negligible. This is confirmed by the results of the Colour Checker palette, where the errors did not exceed a value of 2 ΔE – this is really a rare result. Gamma also performs very well, although at the beginning of the graph there are slight brightenings in the darkest elements. However, this is a minor exception that does not significantly affect the perception of the image.

In 4K HDR materials, the calibration also brought visible improvements, particularly in the white balance. The image looks natural and cohesive. However, the characteristic of brightness remains a problem. EOTF analysis in film materials shows that the television tends to over-brighten or under-darken the smallest elements on the screen. This is a result of limitations in the dimming algorithms we discussed earlier with HDR and contrast testing. Unfortunately, this is a technical characteristic of this model that cannot be completely eliminated.

Despite this minor flaw, the calibration allowed for maximising the capabilities of this television. The image now looks phenomenal, and its quality impresses in every type of material. Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 shows that with the right settings, it can compete with more expensive models.

When it comes to the function of smoothing tonal transitions in lower quality materials, the "smooth and gradient image" feature in Hisense E7NQ PRO unfortunately does not impress. At the lowest setting, the change is hard to notice at all – it is rather a cosmetic improvement. Switching to "Medium" mode yields a noticeable effect, but it is still nothing special, and in the process, the television begins to excessively interfere with other elements of the image, which can look unnatural.

Moreover, image scaling is rather average. On the test screen, where a portrait of a model and text are displayed, slight jagged edges are visible, making the overall appearance less smooth and aesthetically pleasing than one would expect in this class of device. It's simply difficult to talk about truly effective improvement in the quality of lower resolution.

When it comes to tonal transitions in lower quality materials, such as YouTube or television, the Xiaomi S MiniLED is equipped with a feature called "Colour Contour Removal." At the "low" setting, it performs quite well, although its effectiveness can be inconsistent. Sometimes it seems as though the television is struggling to smoothen, which creates a certain dissonance. On the positive side, we did not notice any visible side effects, although due to the instability of this feature, one could suspect that unexpected issues may arise in certain situations.

Image scaling also performs moderately. There is some slight jaggedness, particularly on thin elements like branches, and subtitles can appear slightly jagged. While this may not be very bothersome, a more discerning eye will certainly pick up on these shortcomings. Overall, most users should be satisfied with the quality of scaling and smoothing, but the television will not satisfy those who expect perfection in every frame of the image.

Thanks to the use of a 144 Hz panel, E7NQ PRO performs excellently with nearly every type of content. Whether we are watching fast-paced matches, dynamic games or action films – the smoothness of motion leaves a good impression. When it comes to films, the manufacturer has equipped the television with two key tools: "motion blur reduction" and "judder reduction". Each of these functions can be adjusted on a scale from 1 to 10.

At lower values, the processing is subtle, barely noticeable, and gently smooths out motion without compromising the cinematic quality of the image. The higher we move up the scale, the more the television interferes with the presented material, smoothing out motion more intensely, and consequently – minimising any judders or micro-cuts. Conversely, the highest settings can resemble the so-called "soap opera effect", which makes the image appear excessively smooth, slightly losing its filmic atmosphere. However, with such a scale, we can find a happy medium, adjusting the smoothness of motion to our own preferences.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is equipped with a panel featuring a refresh rate of 4K@120Hz (1080p@240Hz), which provides sufficient smoothness for both watching dynamic sports broadcasts and playing the latest games. This level of refresh rate makes the image appear fluid, even in the most intense scenes. Additionally, the television offers a “Motion Smoothing” feature that allows you to adjust the way the image is displayed in films. You can choose a more frame-like effect, typical of the cinematic experience, or a smoother one, reminiscent of the so-called “theatrical effect.” This way, every user can tailor the settings to their preferences and enjoy smooth images in their favourite content.

If we sometimes enjoy turning on the console and immersing ourselves in the world of games for long hours, E7NQ PRO can make quite an impressive impact. Thanks to the 144 Hz refresh rate, gameplay is surprisingly smooth, and support for HDMI 2.1 and VRR ensures that the picture doesn't 'tear' even during the most dynamic actions. Additionally, there's ALLM, which automatically sets the lowest latency as soon as we switch to the console – so we don't have to fiddle with the options ourselves.

A major plus is also the ability to run games in Dolby Vision, making colours and contrast simply look better. Hisense has also added a clear 'gamebar', allowing us to constantly monitor the most important parameters and change settings without leaving the game. The only thing we might regret a bit is the lack of HGIG support. While it may not be a crucial element, it could matter to some gamers aiming for the most faithful representation of the creators' vision. Nevertheless, in practice, the E7NQ PRO performs excellently and provides truly enjoyable gaming experiences.

Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a television that has a lot to offer gamers. With two HDMI ports boasting 48 Gbps bandwidth, we can easily connect modern consoles or PCs, utilising their full potential. Additionally, the ALLM feature automatically switches the TV to low-latency mode – something we will appreciate during dynamic games without annoying lags. Regardless of what we connect, it functions smoothly, and the television handles various resolutions exceptionally well. There is also the GameBar, which may not look as impressive as the "bars" from the competition, but makes up for it with practicality. It is a simple settings panel that allows us to quickly change the most important options or check statistics – an ideal solution when time is of the essence.

However, we must admit that operating the television itself – or rather finding the gaming features within it – posed a significant challenge for us. We approached the testing of the Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 several times to locate all the necessary options. The hidden menu allowed us to discover the "GameBoost" feature, which enables switching the television to 240 Hz mode, activating VRR, and allows for enabling picture in HGIG mode.

In summary, the Xiaomi S MiniLED 2025 is a television that definitely deserves praise in the gaming hardware category. Its rich set of features – 240 Hz mode, VRR, HGIG, and "GameBoost" – provides an exceptional gaming experience. Unfortunately, the intuitiveness of the menu itself leaves much to be desired and may pose a challenge for the average user.