48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: which small OLED is better?

The premium 48-inch TV used to be the domain of the LG C-series alone, with other manufacturers focusing their OLED efforts on 55-inches and up (yes, 48 inches is now considered “small”).

These days, though, rival brands such as Panasonic and Samsung are in on the 48-inch OLED act.

The Panasonic Z90B and Samsung S90F are actually both better than the 48-inch C5 – but which is the better of the two, and therefore the ultimate compact living room TV?

We’ve pitted them against each other to find out.

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: price

The 48-inch Panasonic Z90B is not available in the US or Australia, but arrived on UK shores at £1499. That puts it exactly on par with the Samsung S90F, which launched at £1499 / $1500 / AU$2499.

However, both models have seen discounts since then – the Panasonic has gone as low as £1099, but the Samsung has seen some incredible savings, dropping as low as £819 at one point.

Despite having the same launch price, the Samsung S90F is consistently available for less than the Panasonic Z90B, so it wins this round.

**Winner: Samsung S90F**

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: build

Both TVs are sleek and thin, making them easy to mount flush on a wall. For standing, both TVs come with a rectangular pedestal with no swivel option.

However, the Panasonic comes with a notably larger pedestal. We’d prefer a smaller footprint, but the pedestal is well-made and sturdy, with no sway or flex during testing – and may well be a selling point for those with toddlers or large pets.

As is customary for Panasonic’s premium TVs, a speaker bar is prominent on the bottom of the Z90B. While this speaker bar should result in better sound quality (we’ll get to that in the sound section), it’s going to be a bit annoying for those who already have or are planning to get a dedicated sound system, particularly a soundbar.

The Samsung features a smaller pedestal that sets the screen higher than the Z90B, allowing room for a small soundbar to be placed underneath without blocking the view.

There are also gaps in the pedestal’s top and sides that make it easy to pass cables through – a small quality-of-life optimisation that we think makes a huge difference.

It’s also worth noting how easy it is to connect the pedestal to the Samsung, with the screw-free design meaning assembly takes less than a minute.

When it comes to remotes, the Z90B receives the same large, clunky remote that all Panasonic OLEDs have. It has all the app shortcuts you’ll need, but there’s no backlight, solar or USB charging.

The Samsung, on the other hand, actually comes with two remotes – a traditional, retro slab and a streamlined modern handset with USB charging and a rear-facing solar panel.

The win has to go to Samsung for this one – from a design perspective the Panasonic is held back slightly by old-school looks, the bolted-on soundbar and outmoded remote, while the Samsung is more stylish and offers a thoughtful cable management solution.

**Winner: Samsung S90F**

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: features

Pound-for-pound, the Panasonic Z90B and Samsung S90F (and LG C5, for that matter) are quite similar when it comes to features.

Both TVs feature a WOLED panel, despite larger versions of the Samsung S90F featuring a brightness-boosting QD-OLED panel in some regions.

One of the Panasonic Z90B’s big advantages, however, is a heatsink, which should let Panasonic push the panel harder for a brighter performance, all while reducing the risk of burn-in and panel degradation.

The Panasonic features the HCX Pro AI Processor MKII chipset, the same silicon seen in the flagship Z95B, which has an AI processing focus like all the other TV chips we have seen this year.

A perk of the HCX Pro AI Processor MKII includes Panasonic’s 4K Remaster Engine upscaling and a new Amazon Prime Video Calibrated picture setting, similar to the mode Sony added to its 2024 range.

Panasonic’s partnership with TV calibration specialists Portrait Displays continues, which means the Z90B can be Calman calibrated with relative ease (providing you have the equipment and technical know-how).

The S90F sports the NQ4 AI Gen3 processor, which is again the same as its step-up sibling, the S95F. The AI focus of the silicon includes Samsung’s 4K AI Upscaling Pro, AI Motion Enhancer Pro and AI Colour Booster Pro services, all catered for.

These all do pretty much what they say on their respective tins – to improve contrast, boost colour accuracy and intelligently upscale content to 4K as required.

The Panasonic features Amazon’s Fire OS. This provides strong app support, including the big international streamers as well as specialist services and local catch-ups. Our only quibble is that it’s a little ad-heavy, and it’s not immediately clear which content is free and which is paid for.

The Samsung naturally uses the company’s own Tizen OS, which also has solid app support with all the usual suspects, whether international, local or specialist. There’s also more AI focus, with curated profiles and recommended shows based on user habits.

The Panasonic offers all-encompassing HDR support, including all four common standards: HLG, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. This is in contrast to Samsung, which, as usual, lacks support for Dolby Vision, though the other three standards are supported.

However, the Panasonic loses points for having only two full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as its eARC.

That will be fine for people who have just one current-generation games console and a Dolby Atmos soundbar, but those with multiple consoles and a soundbar will have to do some cable swapping if they want their games to run at full speed.

The Samsung, on the other hand, offers four full-fat HDMI inputs – ideal for those with an Atmos soundbar and a mixture of PS5, Xbox Series X or gaming PC.

Those HDMI 2.1 ports even go up to 4K/144Hz on both TVs, and there’s VRR and ALLM on both sets, too. Both feature dedicated gaming menus too, though only the Panasonic supports Dolby Vision gaming.

All in all, the Panasonic Z90B and Samsung S90F are pretty even-stevens when it comes to features. The Panasonic’s biggest flaw is the two HDMI 2.1 ports, but it makes up for it with Dolby Vision support, which is the S90F’s most glaring omission. So we’re going to call this round a draw.

**Winner: draw**

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: picture

Both companies have legacies – Samsung TVs tend to push their panels for a fun, blow-your-socks-off experience that can be a little overcooked, while Panasonic has a reputation for wonderfully authentic, as the director intended, movie experiences. And that’s largely what we see here.

Both TVs perform poorly out of the box, but switching to Filmmaker mode on each model improves things immensely.

We find the Samsung requires some additional tweaking to motion and colour settings, but once that’s done, movements lose their artificiality and colours look much more realistic. However, the skyline is still too red for our liking.

The Panasonic’s unchanged Filmmaker Mode, though, rewards us with the best picture we’ve yet seen on a 48-inch TV.

The Z90B excels at retaining warm detail in background dunes and colour volume in dim scenes, details that are lost on the Samsung.

The warmth extends from the darkest parts of characters’ faces to the brightest part of the picture, with wonderful colours, shades and detail, and no loss of authenticity or addition of artificiality.

What is interesting is that the Z90B is generally dimmer than the S90F, but it saves its punchiness for moments that are genuinely meant to go bright.

This is notable during a test viewing of Civil War. Peak highlights are every bit as bright and full of detail as on the S90F, but because the Z90B chooses to focus its efforts on the areas that are meant to be bright, “they hold a much more distinct, realistic place in the picture, adding weight and a true sense of three-dimensionality to the scene”, to quote from our Panasonic Z90B review.

Bright areas such as the chandelier in the White House are a notable example, with every bauble visible and sharp, whereas parts of the ornament just come across as white on the S90F.

However, the drawbacks of this dimmer display start to show in darker scenes. While blacks are nice and inky, and we can see every nook and cranny of an approaching spaceship in Alien: Romulus, we do have to look harder to see the ship in the first place.

The same occurs when we test SDR with the True Grit Blu-ray, as details that are visible on the S90F in the opening night-time scene are completely black on the Z90B. Things improve in brighter scenes, but the SDR performance still lacks dynamic range and definition compared to the S90F.

The Samsung, on the other hand, has plenty of pop, with explosions in a night-time battle in Civil War proving to be dazzlingly bright, while also retaining colour volume and offering solid levels of detail in both the darkest and lightest parts of the picture.

The S90F’s strengths in low light continue in Alien: Romulus, with an immersive picture as the spaceship descends, even if contrast is a touch heavy-handed.

The S90F also boasts one of the best upscaled pictures we’ve seen in quite a while, with True Grit retaining its spaghetti western, grainy feel, but featuring a wonderful sense of depth, with every stitch and dirt stain in the characters’ clothing looking sharp.

There are pros and cons to both sets here, with the Samsung S90F’s higher brightness resulting in more pop, especially during low-light scenes. It’s also the stronger upscaler, with a greater dynamic range and more definition than the Z90B.

However, it does tend to overbake colours, even after fiddling with the settings. And this is where the Z90B comes into its own – once in Filmmaker mode, you’re rewarded with a picture that is wonderfully authentic and weighty. It may come down to “wow” factor versus “as the director intended” here, but for our money, the Z90B gets the win for its startling commitment to cinematic authenticity.

**Winner: Panasonic Z90B**

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: sound

The Samsung S90F’s audio is, bluntly, a mixed bag. The 60-watt, 2.1.2-channel Dolby Atmos-ready sound system is very weak, as we were easily able to hold a conversation with the volume set at 100.

Even more concerning, distortion becomes noticeable when the volume exceeds 60, especially during scenes with gunfire and explosions.

We attempt to remedy this by switching to Amplify, the only other mode available other than Standard.

This does not help, however – rather than offer better separation between different parts of the audio, the low end is pushed down so far that we only hear dialogue and upper frequencies. We soon switch back to Standard, which is far more balanced.

Despite being a tad weedy, the speakers do at least offer some directionality. Top Gun: Maverick is an ideal test for this, and we find the audio does at least match the jet plane’s on-screen movements.

Moving to the Z90B, we have a 60W, 2.1 arrangement that Panasonic markets as offering an audiophile experience. We wouldn’t say it lives up to this description, but it is easily better than the Samsung S90F – and every other 48-inch OLED we’ve tested recently.

Once again, there’s a good sense of directionality during a gunfight in Civil War, but this time, there’s noticeably more low-end heft and volume, with the explosions offering rumble even at moderate volumes.

This doesn’t come at the expense of the dialogue, however, with a reasonable separation between background noises and characters’ voices, even during scenes with heavy, low-end action.

It’s still no match for a moderately capable soundbar, thanks to imprecise bass and underpowered front drivers, but it’s the best audio performance you’ll find on an OLED this size – giving the Z90B another win.

**Winner: Panasonic Z90B**

48-inch Panasonic Z90B vs Samsung S90F: verdict

Both TVs are solid OLEDs for smaller rooms, and among the best TVs we have tested at this size.

The Samsung S90F is noticeably cheaper than the Panasonic Z90B and it also boasts a more modern, user-friendly design. It goes toe-to-toe with the Z90B when it comes to features, and offers a dazzlingly bright, punchy picture, even if it is a little overbaked.

However, it can’t quite trump the Panasonic Z90B when it comes to picture quality. The Z90B may suffer some drawbacks from its less bright screen, but for cinematic authenticity and an “as the director” intended experience, the Z90B easily comes out on top.

Add in a superior, if not perfect, built-in sound system, and the Panasonic Z90B is the top choice out of the two, and indeed out of all the 48-inch OLEDs we have tested.

**Winner: Panasonic Z90B**