There are four current TV models with picture quality that rises above all others we’ve tested. It’s probably no surprise they’re all OLEDs, which not only control each tiny point of light at the pixel level, but have also gotten brighter and better in each of the last few years. What might surprise you if you haven’t shopped TVs in a while is that Panasonic now joins the usual suspects from Samsung, Sony, and LG with its new flagship, the Z95B. It’s a doozy.
As with last year’s Z95A that marked Panasonic’s impressive US return, the Z95B provides near-flawless performance, from perfect black levels to pristine detail and colors. It’s brighter and more striking, thanks to skillful deployment of the same breakthrough RGB tandem panel used in the stunning LG G5, and its built-in sound is easily the best I’ve heard from any TV all year.
The biggest downside is that its premium performance is again paired with a budget smart interface; Panasonic’s version of Fire TV is awkwardly laid out and flooded with Amazon ads, right down to the remote. But for well-heeled buyers who’d rather sub in a streaming device over a soundbar or speakers, the Z95B is one of the best TVs I’ve laid eyes (or ears) on.
Screen on a Swivel
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Setting up the Z95B’s hardware is joyously simple once you pry it loose from its jigsaw of foam and cardboard. The industrial-strength swivel stand comes in one piece and attaches in seconds, keeping the 65-inch model I tested stable and accessible with four small screws. The TV looks the part of a premium flagship, with thin bezels and fabric-wrapped acoustic accents.
The circular base is slim enough to support an add-on soundbar, but this TV functions best as an all-in-one. One reason is the HDMI selection, which includes just two ports with HDMI 2.1 support for features like ALLM and VRR at up to 144 Hz, one of which is the eARC/ARC port where a soundbar or speaker system would connect.
The built-in sound system supports Dolby Atmos (but not DTS:X), with up-firing and side-firing speakers, a front speaker array, and a backside woofer. Panasonic even offers Sound Focus software to provide more directional audio. The Z95B sounds great for a TV, with impressive depth and a surprisingly immersive soundstage. My only complaints are that treble effects can occasionally get tinny, and the bass sometimes caused some console buzzing for me.
The TV adds plenty of gaming extras, including speedy input response, a built-in game bar, and support for AMD FreeSync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync. You’ll also get video streaming over AirPlay and Google Cast, ATSC 3.0 for Nextgen channels from TV antennas, and support for all major HDR flavors, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision—something no premium rivals offer.
Fire TV Is Not Fire
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
For all it offers, the Z95B’s Fire TV experience is frustrating compared to favorites like Google TV or Roku. That starts with a busy homescreen that somehow allows for just six streaming apps at a time, with a drop-down for others—not ideal in the bifurcated streaming landscape. As with the Z95A, multiple apps loaded slowly or froze for me over Wi-Fi. Moving to Ethernet fixed it, so it could be a network issue, but I test a lot of TVs over Wi-Fi without trouble.
The full setup requires an Amazon account, or you can choose the Basic homescreen, but that cuts your streaming options to just five apps. In either case, I found the Settings layout unintuitive, including some options that may need to be manually changed to use a connected sound system, such as the One Touch Play setting—another reason this TV works best as a stand-alone.
As for the remote, it isn’t backlit, offers no input key by default, and two of its four quick keys are Amazon services. Even the game bar needs to be manually assigned to the lone quick key for access. If you like Alexa, she can be summoned from both the remote and the TV, but if you don’t want her listening, you’ll need to turn off the mic switch hidden at the TV’s left flank.
In Fire TV’s defense, it’s pretty quick to navigate, its default screen savers are gorgeous, and there are multiple ways to jump back into content, including a solid Continue Watching option. Plus, if you like to fine-tune your experience, there are plenty of ways to do so.
That’s a Lotta Picture Modes!
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Getting an accurate (and beautiful) picture can be as simple or involved as you desire, depending on how persnickety you are. All the film-forward modes (and there are several) look good. As with the Z95A, I prefer Professional 1 for basic HD/SDR broadcasts, as it’s brighter than modes like Filmmaker or True Cinema while still looking great in any setting by default. The TV’s HDR/SDR Sync feature means HDR10 and HDR10+ will match whichever mode you choose (unless you turn it off), and the HDR modes are even more alike, but I like that Professional 1 turns off ambient light sensors and motion smoothing by default.
There is one odd wrinkle in that all of the most accurate HDR10 picture modes have the backlight set to 70/100 rather than the usual 100. Interestingly, setting it to 100 created some clipping in contrast tests and overbrightening in others. As Panasonic’s engineers confirmed, the TV performs best at 70, and should properly light up the brightest highlights in 4K HDR Blu-rays. Those who want extra pop are welcome to crank it, but it shouldn’t be necessary to get the goods.
Dolby Vision HDR is a different entity, set at 100 backlight by default. Even the default Dolby Vision IQ mode looks fantastic, but I prefer the slightly dimmer but more accurate Dark Mode, which looks virtually flawless by default, no notes.
Stunning Payoff
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
When it comes to performance, the Z95B handles like a dream, letting you sit back and enjoy the ride. I kept calling it the “Avatar of TVs,” thanks to its ability to bring a theme park vibe to my favorite shows and movies. Before changing a single setting, I was stopped in my tracks as I passed my wife’s Boba Fett catch-up on Disney+. Flawless black levels, glittering stars, and beaded ruby cockpit lights shone beautifully against the pearlescent gleam of Mando’s helmet as he swooped through the depths of space.
Space is the right environment for a TV with this level of staggering contrast, and it’s not just the dramatic moments, but also the more subtly lit scenes that stand out. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 is full of searing highlights and colorful bursts of space glow, but moments like the crisp sunrise on the Guardians’ plumb-brown shirts or the dark corridors of their small ship were just as impressive thanks to the Z95B’s masterful color gradients and shadow detail.
That meticulous touch comes through in everything you watch, including plain old HD sitcoms like The Office, where I found myself oddly enamored with moments like the auburn highlights of Jim’s hair or the gleam of Andy’s tie. This may not be the reason you buy a premium TV, but it’s lovely to find joy in the little things. Skin tones look almost touchably natural and clean, enhanced by the TV’s knockout image processing, and even lower-quality video looks good with its improved upscaling.
That’s not to say you won’t find plenty of bombast here; the Z95B gets as bright as anyone should need when properly tasked. Playing Mad Max: Fury Road on 4K HDR Blu-ray with the Panasonic DP-UB9000 elicited the perfect dichotomy between the dull desert backdrop and the catastrophic lightning storm. The storm’s jagged bolts split the sky with precision, erupting with blistering shocks of orange and white, right down to that sputtering white-hot flare.
Part of the Z95B’s potency comes from its excellent glare reduction. Like the LG G5, it’s able to reduce everything but direct reflections while preserving its obsidian backdrop for a more dramatic contrast in brighter rooms than Sony’s rival Bravia 8 II QD-OLED. I think the Bravia beats both TVs for image clarity, but it’s close. Only Samsung’s similar S95F offers a more potent way to kill the glare while still preserving contrast.
The Z95B and G5 are unsurprisingly similar, given that they share the same panel. The Z95B feels slightly more natural in its color and lighting, and a bit better for off-axis viewing, but that may be recency bias. I’d need to see them back-to-back to point to any real differences. Some extra color banding in Dolby Vision streaming content and a bit of image stuttering are the only noticeable flaws I saw in the Z95B over two weeks. (Note: I reviewed the G5 after LG addressed initial complaints of HDR color banding.)
All four premium OLEDs provide knockout performance, each with its own specialty. I’m partial to the G5 and Z95B over the Samsung and Sony for their balance of fiery brightness with jet-black backdrops—and the G5 has an edge with its four HDMI 2.1 ports and better smarts. The Z95B is hard to deny, though. If you’re after an all-in-one screen that elevates everything to showcase levels, this is the TV to take home.
