'When it rains it pours' is a common saying we’ve all heard many times before – and over the past months we can see why, given the sea of OLED TVs we’ve had flooding into our test rooms.
Read last week’s adventure in AV, or my previous rant about having to group test this year’s 48-inch step down OLEDs and you’ll already know that.
But, thankfully between my grumblings about many sets trying to hard with their peak brightness and the impact swapping them in and out was having on my back, I can confirm two new sets in particular shined – both of which come from a certain Japanese tech giant famous for its focus on delivering “as the director intended” experiences.
Specifically, the 65-inch Panasonic Z95B and smaller, step-down 48-inch Panasonic Z90B, which both not only earned five-star recommendations, but also dethroned two longstanding recommendations in our best Panasonic TVs guide.
Starting with the Z95B, which dethroned last year’s Panasonic Z95A as our new recommended premium set.
Out of the box we found it looked a little flat on some occasions, especially compared to its main rivals, the Sony Bravia 8 II and LG G5, despite featuring a brightness-boosting Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel. But after a few tweaks in its settings things soon picked up.
The focus on controlling the panel and making sure it only burns bright when it is meant to, in the sections of the picture that require the extra nit count, coupled with its stellar colour volume and general accuracy make it one of the best sets available for its target audience.
Hence our reviewers’ verdict:
“Once you have it dialled in, you can expect to be rewarded with a rich, authentic and engaging picture. This is backed up by a decent set of gaming and streaming features, as well as a sound system that’s certainly a cut above the vast majority of TVs, resulting in a solid all-rounder of a TV.”
Our only word of caution is that we mean it when we say “for its target market” (cinephiles and serious movie fans) as the focus on control and authenticity will make some viewers feel it lacks the kind of 'oomph' and vibrancy seen on some rivals. This is why it isn’t featured in our main best TV guide.
Moving on to the smaller 48-inch Panasonic Z90B. The biggest praise we can give for the set was our reaction when we first took it out of the box and ran it head-to-head with the 48-inch LG C5 and 48-inch Samsung S90F, with two out of the three testers in the room immediately muttering “wow”.
Though it has a basic OLED, rather than the next generation, panel seen in the Z95B, the Z90B manages to expertly deliver a balanced picture full of dark and light detail that never sacrifices colour accuracy – a common problem on sets this size.
As we said in our Panasonic Z90B review:
“From sparkling desert dunes in sci-fi epics to cars thundering across a race track and heated conversations behind closed doors, every scene we threw at this set looked wonderfully authentic and weighty. If you want a 48-inch OLED TV and value cinematic authenticity, the Panasonic Z90B is currently the one to get.”
Hence why it’s now our recommended small Panasonic TV. But be warned, while its picture is great, the audio from its inbuilt speakers is distinctly average. During every test scene we threw at it the audio lacked low-end heft and any sense of directionality. You will want to budget for a soundbar to go with it as a result. We’d suggest the Sonos Beam (Gen 2).
MORE:
These are the best OLED TVs we have reviewed
We rate the best soundbars
Our picks of the best 40-inch TVs
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