Pros & Cons
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- Very bright picture
- Wide, accurate color
- Built-in 5.1.2-channel spatial audio system
- Fire TV with hands-free Alexa+, Apple AirPlay
- ATSC 3.0 tuner
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- Expensive
- Chunky design
Panasonic 65-Inch Z95B OLED TV (TV-65Z95BP) Specs
| AMD FreeSync | FreeSync Premium Pro |
| HDMI Ports | 4 |
| HDR | Dolby Vision |
| HDR | HDR10 |
| Input Lag (1080p120) | 4.8 |
| Input Lag (4K60) | 12.6 |
| Nvidia G-Sync | G-Sync Compatible |
| Panel Type | OLED |
| Refresh Rate | 144 |
| Resolution | 3,840 by 2,160 |
| Screen Brightness | 1775 |
| Screen Size | 65 |
| Streaming Services | Yes |
| Video Inputs | HDMI |
| Video Inputs | RF |
| Video Inputs | USB |
| VRR |
Panasonic made an impressive return to the North American TV market in 2024 with the Z95A OLED TV, and its follow-up, the Z95B, is even better. This latest model rivals the Editors’ Choice-winning LG G5 as the brightest OLED TV I’ve tested, with even better color performance and a superior speaker system. At $3,399.99 for the 65-inch model I tested, it’s quite expensive, and it doesn’t have the svelte frame you’d expect from an OLED panel, but its performance is unrivaled, making it our newest Editors’ Choice winner for high-end TVs.
Design: Not the Slimmest OLED, But for Good Reason
For an OLED TV, the Z95B is surprisingly chunky. In fact, at 2.1 inches deep, it’s thicker than most high-end LED TVs, too. This is to accommodate the built-in spatial audio system, which makes its presence known with a wide, soundbar-like dark gray strip running along the bottom edge of the bezel-less panel. It indeed is a soundbar, concealing front-firing drivers behind the grille cloth. It’s a striking and unique look among TVs, and from the front, it's quite sleek, even with the speaker strip.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)Behind the screen, grille cloth runs along the sides and top of the TV, showing where the side- and upward-firing drivers are. Exposed rear-firing bass drivers sit on the back panel, near the middle of the top edge.
The back of the TV features an L-shaped recess near the left edge that holds most of the wired connections. Four HDMI ports (two 4K144, one of which is eARC) and two USB-A ports (one USB 2.0, the other USB 3.0) face left. A third USB (2.0) port faces down, as does an Ethernet port, an optical audio output, an antenna/cable RF connector, a 3.5mm infrared blaster port, and a 3.5mm combination headphones/subwoofer port. The power cable plugs into the right side of the back of the TV.
A circular dark gray metal table stand supports the 55- and 65-inch versions of Z95B (unless you mount it on the wall). It has a clever design that lets the screen pivot left and right, an uncommon feature on TV stands. The 77-inch version has a rectangular stand that doesn’t rotate.
(Credit: Will Greenwald)Because it runs on Amazon’s Fire TV smart TV platform, the Z95B's remote is identical to Amazon’s first-party Fire TV remotes. It’s a black wand with power and voice control buttons, plus a pinhole microphone at the top, followed by a glossy circular navigation pad. Menu and playback buttons sit below the navigation pad, with volume and channel rockers further down, and dedicated service buttons for Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Netflix near the bottom.
Features: Hands-Free Fire TV, With Bonus Apple AirPlay
(Credit: Will Greenwald)Panasonic uses Amazon’s Fire TV smart TV platform, an irritatingly ad-filled interface that nonetheless provides access to all major video streaming services, whether they’re Amazon-owned or not, including Apple TV, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Netflix, Sling TV, Twitch, and YouTube. The Z95B also adds Apple AirPlay to the system, a feature not usually included in Fire TV, for streaming video from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant is built in with hands-free support thanks to the TV’s far-field microphone array, and the more advanced Alexa+ is immediately available to all Amazon Prime subscribers. You can use both Alexa and Alexa+ to search for content, answer general questions, get weather reports and sports scores, and control both the TV itself and any compatible smart home devices on your network. Alexa+ understands natural language better and can keep up with more conversational interactions than Alexa. The two voice assistants can do basically the same things, but Alexa+ will be easier to talk to with less need for specific syntax.
Audio: 5.1.2 Channels of Spatial Sound
For sound, the Z95B has a 5.1.2-channel speaker system with front-, side-, and upward-firing drivers and a rear-firing woofer with two passive radiators. This beefy setup can produce a front-facing spatial audio field. It should offer much more power and precise imaging than most other TVs, which typically feature only down-firing or rear-firing stereo speakers.
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Several other high-end TVs also have built-in spatial audio systems similar to the Z95B with side- and upward-firing drivers, including the Hisense U8QG mini-LED and the Samsung S95F OLED, something the LG C5 and the G5 lack. The Hisense has a 4.1.2-channel setup, while the Samsung has a 4.2.2 configuration. These setups can offer impressive sound that might outperform some separate soundbars. However, keep in mind that they generally can't accept rear satellites for all-around spatial audio or a subwoofer for thunderous, wall-shaking bass like higher-end soundbars offer. Samsung's Q-Symphony feature, available on the S95F, is an exception to that limitation, as it lets some Q-Series soundbars work in conjunction with compatible TVs' speakers instead of replacing them.
Picture: Bright, Colorful, and Accurate
The Z95B features 4K resolution, a 144Hz refresh rate, and VRR with AMD FreeSync Premium certification and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. It supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, and hybrid log gamma (HLG) HDR content, and has an ATSC 3.0 tuner for receiving 1080p and 4K over-the-air broadcasts when available.
According to my tests, the Z95B rivals the LG G5 as one of the brightest OLED TVs I’ve tested. Using a Klein K-10A colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software, I measured a full-screen peak brightness of 368 nits with an HDR10 signal in the True Cinema picture mode, jumping to 1,013 nits with an 18% white field and, oddly, a slightly lower 971 nits with a 10% white field. That’s with the default luminance settings for the mode, which seems to intentionally limit peak brightness to around 1,000 nits (a standard level for mastering HDR content). Manually pushing luminance to 100% changes that considerably: Full-screen peak brightness stays close to the same, but with an 18% white field it hits 1,775 nits, and with a 10% field it reaches 2,015 nits. That’s better than the LG G5 at 18% (1,608 nits), though lower with a 10% field (2,386 nits). Either way, that’s a ton of light for any OLED TV to put out, largely edging out the Samsung S95F (1,451 nits 18%, 2,138 nits 10%) and decisively beating both the LG C5 (994 nits 18%, 1,269 nits 10%) and Sony Bravia 8 II (991 nits 18%, 1,567 nits 10%). Whether you crank the luminance to full or not, make sure the ambient light sensor is disabled on the TV; it’s enabled by default in both Cinema and Filmmaker modes.
(Credit: PCMag)Colors on the Z95B are excellent overall, with one odd quirk. Typically, the Cinema or Movie mode on a TV sets the picture to the warmest available color temperature by default, for the most accurate hues without further calibration. That isn’t the case here, and the Cinema mode with both SDR and HDR signals is actually quite cool for its size. It isn’t the extreme blueish tinge that most TVs’ Standard and Vivid modes can do, but it’s still noticeable. Fortunately, the Filmmaker and True Cinema picture modes set the TV’s color balance much closer to ideal. Filmmaker, in particular, is the most accurate, so the above charts reflect performance in Filmmaker mode with SDR and HDR10 signals, and in Dolby Vision IQ with a Dolby Vision signal. In all three cases, white levels are spot-on, and colors are all very close to ideal.
SDR Filmmaker mode supports the Rec.709 broadcast color space, and Dolby Vision IQ covers the DCI-P3 digital cinema color space almost perfectly. HDR10 Filmmaker exceeds the DCI-P3 standard slightly while remaining nicely balanced. The only complaint I can really find is that magentas in HDR10 Filmmaker are just a tiny bit warm, and even then, it’s pretty negligible. This is some of the best color performance I’ve seen in a TV in terms of accuracy, beating out the LG G5's much warmer magentas, and comparing favorably with the excellent Samsung S95F on that front.
BBC’s Planet Earth II looks gorgeous on the Z95B. Colors are vibrant, with the blues of water and sky and the greens of plants in the “Island” episode appearing varied and natural. Flashes of sunlight peeking through trees or reflecting on water pop out brightly, while shaded and backlit animals look properly dark and retain plenty of fine fur detail. It’s a balanced, lifelike picture that really shows off how good OLEDs can look.
The party scenes in The Great Gatsby demonstrate the Z95B’s excellent contrast, with black suit jackets retaining fine details like cuts and contours while staying incredibly dark. Many different shades of white come through clearly, with cool balloons and much warmer shirts, neither of which skew or tint significantly. Skin tones also look natural and well-saturated.
Demonstration footage on the Spears & Munsil Ultra HD benchmark disc is reproduced very well on the Z95B. Both shadow details of dusky landscapes and highlight details in snowy skies are preserved, and the edges of dark trees, wispy clouds, and falling snow are all remaining visible. Shots of bright, colorful objects against completely black backgrounds are vibrant and, thanks to the OLED panel’s per-pixel control, don’t show a hint of the light bloom that can be seen on LED TVs. Like with Planet Earth II, shots of animals and plants consistently look lifelike.
As an OLED TV with a 144Hz native refresh rate and both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, the Z95B is ready for gaming. Using a Leo Bodnar 4K video signal lag tester, I measured an input lag of 12.6 milliseconds with a 4K60 signal and 4.8 milliseconds with a 1080p120 signal. In both cases, that’s a latency of less than 1 frame, which means the TVs are definitely responsive enough for gamers.