Hands on: Panasonic Z86C (Z85C) review

It’s been an open secret in the world of TV and AV that Panasonic has been quietly struggling to keep up with the likes of Samsung, LG, Hisense and TCL; and honestly, that’s not surprising, nor is it necessarily the company’s fault.

Panasonic has always upheld a quality AV experience rather than cutting corners to achieve lower price tags; hence the reason its OLED TVs can be found in prestigious Hollywood editing bays and the homes of cinephiles around the world.

However, in the current economic climate, many consumers are looking for value above all else, which is likely where Panasonic has fallen behind the aforementioned rivals, which have the capacity to pump TVs out at a much more rapid rate and charge lower prices.

We’ve championed Panasonic’s excellent OLEDs for quite some time, but that hasn’t been enough to prevent the company from striking a deal to offload its TV business to Chinese AV giant Skyworth Shenzen due to presumably middling sales figures and challenging market conditions.

That partnership was announced at Panasonic Experience 2026 in Munich, and we were in the audience to hear the news first, as well as see the company’s surprisingly scarce OLED TV lineup for 2026.

It includes the existing (and very good) Z95B and Z90B, as well as this new entry-level model that we’re here to discuss today.

The Z85C, or Z86C as it’s known in the UK, is currently the only new OLED TV that Panasonic will be launching in 2026, and while we didn’t get a chance to test it properly at the company’s Munich campus, we do have some first impressions to share.

Price

We’re yet to receive pricing information for the Z85C/Z86C, though Panasonic seems to suggest that it will be priced competitively, which makes sense considering it now has the backing to be more assertive in this space.

We presume the key rivals to this OLED set will include the upcoming LG B6 and Samsung S85H, and we could even see it take on the three-star Toshiba XF9F in this arena as well.

There’s also the five-star Philips OLED760 to contend with, which could prove a thorn in Panasonic’s side here in Europe.

Build

The cheapest option in Panasonic’s OLED lineup has an understandably more basic build compared to the eye-catching Z90B and Z95B models.

It feels more plasticky than the premium, fabric-clad flagship models, which is to be expected given that it's on the bottom rung of Panasonic's new OLED ladder.

That’s not to say it doesn’t look good from an aesthetic standpoint. The slender bezels around the display arguably look sleeker than the TVs mentioned above, as there is no built-in soundbar to add bulk to the chin of this set.

However, the circular pedestal stand does jut out quite prominently, and it looked a little unwieldy on the 55-inch model we saw. The bonus here, however, is that it does support a rotation function if you need to angle your screen towards an off-centre sofa.

Speaking of screen sizes, the TV will only be available in 55- and 65-inches. That’s not uncommon in the budget OLED market, but a smaller 48-inch or larger 77-inch screen option would have been a nice touch.

Features

We’ll kick this section off with the most intriguing aspect of this TV: the panel. Panasonic confirmed (in a very roundabout way) that this TV uses LG Display’s new OLED SE panel, which removes the polariser and targets a lower peak brightness compared to OLED EX in order to keep costs down.

During our catch-up with LG Display at CES 2026, it confirmed that the new panel tech would be rolling out in entry-level OLEDs this year, and this is the first production model we’ve seen it featured in. It also said that while the panel tech won’t be as bright as the higher-end alternatives, it will be brighter than the older OLED panels found in current entry-level models.

Panasonic is simplifying things by just referring to the Z86C as having a “new OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate”. On the subject of gaming features, the Z86C features two HDMI 2.1 sockets, which support up to 4K/120Hz signals with VRR and ALLM.

Sound-wise, this TV sports a 2.1 channel built-in speaker system, with little in the way of specific details regarding its capabilities announced at the Panasonic Experience.

We do, however, know that this TV will feature the Fire TV operating system in the UK, whereas the international Z86C version will sport Google TV.

Picture

Conditions for viewing the Z86C were less than ideal, as we were in a brightly-lit event space with a looping reel of generic sci-fi demo content on screen. That being said, we can see a couple of promising signs coming from the Z86C.

The benefits of OLED SE appeared to be tangible to our eyes, as it managed to hold its own where brightness was concerned, despite the fairly harsh lighting conditions of the venue.

The trade-off was that reflections were more noticeable compared to the Z90B, which was also on display nearby.

Shots of planets, galaxies and other celestial entities looked good on this budget panel, with the deep inky depths of space contrasting nicely with rich colours.

Stars didn’t pop against the black depths of space quite as much as they did on the Z90B, which was handily synchronised to show the same content for comparison purposes, but that’s to be expected with a step-down model.

Generally speaking, the Z86C looked punchy, sharp and bright by budget OLED standards during our brief hands-on time with the TV; though much more testing is needed before we can pass a final verdict.

Sound

As is often the case with these TV hands-on sessions, the sound was muted on the Z86C, which – as you can probably imagine – makes sound testing quite difficult.

We’ll need to test the TV fully to assess its sound capabilities, but we can hope that it’s similar to the Z90B and Z95B (both of which scored four out of five for sound) in the meantime.

Early verdict

It’s too early to conclude our thoughts on the Z86C, but what we do know is that it signifies a very interesting shift for Panasonic.

Early signs point towards it being a promising entry-level OLED TV, which is good news, because it’s going to be putting in a lot of legwork as Panasonic’s only new OLED for 2026.

It probably won’t appeal to cinephiles in the same way that the Z95B and Z90B do, but in a world where cheaper TVs are becoming the biggest unit drivers, the Z86C could be exactly what Panasonic needs right now.

MORE:

Read our full Panasonic Z90B review

As well as our LG C5 review

And check out the best OLED TVs