Xiaomi TV S Mini LED 98 2026: TV review that will replace a projector

When a box 238 centimeters wide is brought into your living room, the first reaction is not joy, but a quiet concern about whether you’ve made a mistake. The Xiaomi TV S Mini LED 98 2026 measures 248.9 cm diagonally and costs 54,999 CZK. Before this, I had a 65″ Samsung at home, then a 75″ Xiaomi. Neither of those experiences prepared me for this. After two months, I know that the difference between 75 and 98 inches is not gradual — it’s a leap into a different category of experience.

A box that won’t fit in the elevator

Before we get to the picture, we need to address the logistics, because at this size, it’s no longer a minor detail. The TV with its stand measures 217.9 × 131.4 × 44.8 cm and weighs 69.5 kg. The packaging is even larger. If you live in an apartment building, measure your elevator before ordering, and expect that handling it is a job for at least two people.

The body itself is surprisingly slim — without the stand, it has a depth of just 8.4 cm, so it doesn’t look like a piece of furniture on the wall. The VESA mounting is 600 × 500 mm, which requires a more robust bracket than for a regular TV. The stand is detachable, and the feet are placed far apart, so you’ll need appropriately wide furniture. Mine ended up on the wall, and in retrospect, I consider it the only sensible solution.

One more practical thing that no one really mentions: power consumption. The TV has an energy class of F in SDR mode and G in HDR, specifically 185 and 430 kWh per 1,000 hours of operation, respectively. With four hours a day and mixed content, we’re roughly talking about costs in the order of thousands of crowns annually. It’s not a reason not to buy the TV, but it’s fair to know beforehand.

Absurd size that the eye gets used to in a week

The first evening, I felt like I had bought an advertising billboard for my living room. The image occupied my peripheral vision, my eyes darted across the screen, and I didn’t know where to look. This feeling lasted for about five days. Then it disappeared and never returned. The eye is more adaptable than one would expect, and today, 98 inches feels like a natural size to me — jokingly, I could even handle bigger.

The recommendation that sellers work with is to maintain a viewing distance of at least twice the diagonal. For this TV, that would mean almost five meters, which practically no one has in a Czech living room. In practice, it works even significantly closer, because the rule comes from times when people watched Full HD and individual pixels were visible. With 4K content from streaming or a console, this problem does not occur.

More fundamental than the numbers is the change in how you use the TV. With 65 inches, I used to lean forward on the couch. Now I can lie down, rest my head, and still see the entire picture, including details. It sounds trivial, but it’s the most tangible difference compared to the 75″ model I had before. That TV was big. This one changes the viewing position.

880 zones, 1,200 nits, and the question of how much of it is marketing

The panel is a QD-Mini LED type with 880 local dimming zones. That number sounds impressive until you convert it to area. On a screen of this size, one zone covers roughly a square with a side of 5.5 centimeters. For comparison — movie subtitles are shorter. This means that with bright objects on a black background, you will see a halo effect if you look for it. In normal operation, i.e., with movies and series with mixed content, the contrast is clearly better than with any LED panel without local dimming.

It’s a similar story with brightness. Xiaomi states up to 1,200 nits, while admitting in a footnote that this is a value measured by their own laboratory on a white window covering 10 to 50% of the area. This is a common methodology, but it means you won’t see this value full-screen. Subjectively, the brightness is solid, not top-tier. HDR content works, highlighted reflections have sparkle, but anyone transitioning from a TV with 2,500 nits will notice the difference immediately — just in the opposite direction.

Another factor is that Xiaomi chose a glossy screen surface without an anti-reflective coating. In a dark room, this is an advantage; colors appear richer and blacks look deeper. However, in a sunlit room with a window opposite the TV, the entire interior is reflected on the two-and-a-half-meter diagonal. The color gamut covers 94% of the DCI-P3 space, and Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG, and Filmmaker Mode are supported.

A gaming TV that doesn’t have it written on the box

This is where the TV surprised me the most. Xiaomi doesn’t particularly boast about gaming marketing, yet the equipment is solid: three HDMI 2.1 ports, native 144 Hz, VRR support, and AMD FreeSync Premium. Three full-fledged 2.1 ports mean you can have a console, PC, and other devices connected without re-cabling, which is not a given with competitors at a similar price.

However, the practical impact of size on gaming is more interesting than the spec sheet. On 98 inches, you can read even small texts in the game interface — inventories, item descriptions, maps — from the couch at a distance where you would have had to squint or get up with a smaller TV. It sounds like a minor detail, but in reality, it determines whether you’ll only play shooters or also strategy games on the TV.

The TV has an MEMC function, which interpolates frames for smoother motion. It’s useful for sports, but turn it off for games. It adds latency and smoothness that the high refresh rate already provides on its own.

Google TV that finally doesn’t stutter

Foreign reviews of smaller models in this series complain about a slow system — the editorial team testing the 65-inch version described second-long delays between button presses and reactions. I don’t experience anything like that on the 98-inch unit. The Google TV interface runs smoothly, switching between applications is instantaneous, and in two months, I haven’t experienced a crash or freeze.

The explanation is simple and relates to what will be discussed shortly — larger models received 3 GB of RAM, while smaller ones have to settle for two. The base consists of a quad-core Cortex-A73 processor with Mali-G52 graphics and 32 GB of storage. It’s not hardware that would impress anyone, but it’s sufficient for running the system and streaming applications.

The support for the Czech market deserves praise. In addition to global services like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and SkyShowtime, Oneplay, SledováníTV, and Vodafone TV are also pre-installed. Wireless mirroring covers both Chromecast and Apple AirPlay 2, so iPhone owners are not left out. The remote communicates via Bluetooth, which you’ll appreciate with a two-and-a-half-meter screen — you don’t have to point at it.

The speakers aren’t a disaster. I’ll get a soundbar anyway

Honestly, I expected a disaster. Xiaomi put two 15 W speakers into the TV, totaling 30 W, which is almost comically little for this area. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are supported, but without dedicated tweeters, it’s more about virtual processing than true surround sound.

The reality is milder than the specs suggest. Dialogues are clear, the sound doesn’t rattle even at higher volumes, and it’s perfectly sufficient for watching news or a regular series. However, bass is noticeably lacking — in action scenes, you hear that something is happening, but you don’t feel it. I plan to get a soundbar and consider it a necessary investment, not a whim.

This, incidentally, reveals one of the few weaknesses compared to the competition. TCL puts a 40W ONKYO 2.1 system with a built-in subwoofer into its 98-inch models, meaning audio that can be lived with without additional purchases. Xiaomi saved money and factored into the price that you’ll handle the sound yourself.

Five TVs, one name

This is the most important paragraph of the entire review, and Xiaomi deserves a scolding for it. The TV S Mini LED 2026 series is sold in five sizes from 55 to 98 inches under a single name, but the differences between them are so significant that they are effectively different products.

The 55″, 65″, and 75″ models have a 60Hz panel, do not support Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos, come with Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, only one HDMI 2.1 port, and 2 GB of RAM. The seventy-five-inch version makes do with 512 zones instead of 880. In contrast, the 85″ and 98″ models offer native 144 Hz, a complete HDR package, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and three HDMI 2.1 ports.

Practically, this means that a review of a smaller model will tell you almost nothing about the large one — and vice versa. Anyone who buys a 55″ based on enthusiastic reviews of the 98″ will be disappointed. Unified naming is convenient for the manufacturer, but confusing for the customer.

Final Verdict

After two months, I’m clear: 98 inches is the main feature of this TV; everything else is a supporting program. The panel is good, the system is snappy, the gaming features are surprisingly solid, but if Xiaomi offered this exact same hardware in 65 inches, it would be an uninteresting TV. In the hundred-inch category, it makes sense because a screen of this size changes the way you spend your evenings at home.

However, the price of 54,999 CZK puts Xiaomi in an uncomfortable position. On Alza, you can find the TCL 98Q6C for 39,990 CZK, which, although it only has 420 zones, offers better audio and is fifteen thousand cheaper. Above Xiaomi are TCL C6K and C7K series models, which offer either more zones or significantly higher brightness. Xiaomi has the best ratio of zones to price, but it doesn’t win outright anywhere.

So, who should I recommend it to? To someone who has a large enough room, wants the maximum diagonal without installing a projector, and expects to buy a soundbar. On the other hand, anyone looking for reference HDR or viewing in a bright room should look for a model with higher brightness and an anti-reflective layer. And anyone who just wants a large TV for the least amount of money will save with the competition.

I would buy it again myself. Not because it’s the technically best TV on the market, but because the only thing I wanted to change after two months was the sound. Neither the picture nor the size gave me any reason to regret it — and that’s a pretty good testimonial for a purchase costing more than fifty thousand crowns.

Editor’s rating: 90%

Would a hundred-inch TV fit in your living room, or is 65 inches your limit?