Panasonic W70B review: A low price is not always a great value

Digital Trends

3 days ago

Panasonic W70B
MSRP
$299.99
Score Details 'If you want a Fire TV and a large screen for cheap, then this will do the job. It's great for a dorm, office, or spare bedroom.'
Pros Great sound for the price
Crisp picture quality
Very affordable
Cons Full-panel backlight
Poor HDR image
Buy for $277 at Amazon
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The Panasonic W70B is a pretty bare-bones 4K LED TV built for value, and runs on Amazon's Fire TV OS. It's modestly priced, sports a 60Hz panel, and supports HDR10+. MSRP starts at $299.99 for 43 inches and scales up through 85 inches, so there's likely a size that fits your use case.
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Its full-panel backlight means no local dimming, as well as some dark edges in certain scenes. Out of the box color is accurate enough and the TV's crisp 4K image is one of its strongest qualities. Peak brightness is modest, though contrast is lacking.
Fire TV OS lets you install all the big apps and Alexa comes built-in, though via remote only. Alexa being push-to-talk only limits the 'hands-free' smart factor. This hardware can feel slow on cold boots and during updates compared to pricier models. If you care about speed, an external streamer like a Roku Ultra will feel snappier.
The audio was the one thing that impressed me the most, as I was expecting less from a budget TV. Dialogue stays clear, it gets louder than you'd think, and there's a surprisingly wide soundstage for the price. The built-in speakers are good enough that buying a soundbar isn't worth it with this set.
If you want Fire TV and a large screen for cheap, then this will do the job. This may not be one of the best TV's on the market, but it offers a good value. If you are looking for the best picture quality in this price range, especially for HDR, there are stronger options.
Panasonic W70B specs
Sizes 43, 50, 55, 65, 70, 75, 85 inches Pricing (MSRP) 43″: $299.99 | 50″: $349.99 | 55″: $399.99 | 65″: $549.99 | 70″: $629.99 | 75″: $799.99 | 85″: $1,099.99 Panel type LED, Full-Panel Backlight Operating system Amazon Fire TV Screen resolution 4K Ultra HD (3,840 × 2,160) HDR support HDR10, HDR10+, HLG (no Dolby Vision) Native refresh rate 60Hz Connectivity 4× HDMI (1× eARC), 2× USB-A, Ethernet (LAN), Optical S/PDIF, RF (antenna/cable), 3.5mm composite in, 3.5mm headphone out
Panasonic W70B design: light, simple, and easy
Quick take: This TV doesn't feel fragile, and it's easy to set up
The W70B is held up by two feet that each attach with two Phillips screws. Bezels are thin on the top and sides, so you mostly see picture. The overall look is perfectly decent, and while the chassis is definitely budget-friendly plastic, that's part of what makes the TV lighter.
This light weight also makes setup a breeze. It takes literally seconds to set up, and the 50-inch model I tested was so light I carried it around my apartment easily on my own. The W70B is a little over 3 inches at its thickest point. Wall mounting is still feasible thanks to the VESA standard bracket.
The remote is a pretty basic and made from plastic. It features an Alexa button right at the top and four streaming shortcut buttons at the bottom. The layout is clear and the buttons press easily.
Design score: 6/10
Panasonic W70B interface: all the apps you need
Quick take: Amazon's Fire TV operating system offers the smart TV features you'd expect, but start-up can be sluggish
The Amazon Fire TV OS covers every major service you could possibly want to install, and the search function is solid, but cold boots and system updates can feel slow on this budget hardware.
Day to day, it works fine, but on this hardware app loads feel slower than on higher-end TVs or a dedicated streamer like my Roku Ultra.
Notably, Amazon's voice assistant Alexa is only push-to-talk on the remote, and not hands-free, which removes much of the value in using it.
In order to use Alexa I have to already be holding the remote, at which point I might as well just navigate through menus myself. But maybe that's just me.
Interface score: 6/10
Panasonic W70B SDR picture: accurate enough
Quick take: Decent, if limited, out-of-the-box color, and not very bright.
The Panasonic W70B is a budget TV, so expectations have to be measured. That being said I was actually surprised with its color accuracy out of the box. I tested the display in standard mode at 100 nits brightness and the results were a double-edged sword.
The W70B is pretty limited on the colors it can reproduce, covering just 90.5% of sRGB and a measly 69.8% of DCI-P3. However, what colors it can handle in SDR it does so fairly accurately. I measured a Delta E average of 0.14 with a max of 1.40, and an average Delta E across the grayscale of 0.51.
Image uniformity isn't perfect, and I noticed mild edge darkening quite often. It's subtle in everyday viewing, but you'll catch it on solid backgrounds. I measured peak brightness in SDR at around 275 nits. Reflections were better on the W70B than on the TCL QM8K which runs almost triple the cost. The W70B works decently around lamps and windows, though some reflections should still be expected.
The quality of the picture itself is pretty good. For SDR, I recommend switching to Standard or Movie, setting Color Temperature to Warm, turning off all motion processing, and leaving Sharpness very low or off.
With these settings the W70B produces quite a crisp 4K image. I also performed a basic white-point balance to tighten the color accuracy, but that's beyond what most users will do at home.
SDR picture score: 7/10
Panasonic W70B HDR picture: limited appeal
Quick take: No Dolby Vision, limited color accuracy and volume, not very bright.
I'll just be honest here, the HDR (High Dynamic Range) is one of the weaker points of the W70B. I found myself eventually just turning off HDR on my Roku to force an SDR signal which yielded a brighter and more accurate image.
With limited gamut coverage, a full-panel backlight, and peak brightness of about 320 nits, HDR just was not it. With no local dimming the contrast was really lacking, and the highlights just looked muted.
Dolby Vision would help with tone-mapping but the real limiting factor here is the underlying panel and backlight.
HDR picture score: 5/10
Panasonic W70B audio: better than expected
Quick take: Exceeded my expectations.
I was prepared for a lot worse considering the budget nature of this model. But I'm happy to say the W70B was able to get quite loud without distortion, dialogue stayed very clear, and it even had a surprisingly wide soundstage.
It did not sound like sound in a tin can, but actually had some bass. It won't rival a premium set, but for a budget TV the built-in sound legitimately impressed me.
I wouldn't pair this TV with a pricey soundbar, because keeping the total cost down is largely the point of budget models like the W70B. The built-in speakers more than get the job done.
Audio score: 7/10
Should you buy the Panasonic W70B?
The Panasonic W70B is a great go-to for anyone shopping on a tight budget. If you already run much of your gadgets on the Amazon ecosystem with Alexa, or enjoy the Fire TV OS then this TV could work for you.
But from a pure performance perspective there are better TVs with a very similar price tag, like the TCL QM6K. If picture quality or HDR is your priority, you'll need to spend a bit more.
Why not try
TCL QM6K: Mini-LED brightness and local dimming with Dolby Vision HDR at a still-reasonable price. This TV is a lot brighter, with superior HDR performance for not a lot more money.
Roku Pro Series: Roku OS with solid picture quality and an easy, polished experience. This is Roku's in-house smart TV, and it offers tremendous value.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED: Keeps the Fire TV OS but adds that Mini-LED punch, with stronger contrast, and actually hands-free Alexa. This is a step up from the W70B, but it executes better.
How we tested
I lived with the W70B for well over a month as my daily television. In that time I watched movies, TV shows, streamed a lot of YouTube. I tested the TV with both cinematic content, as well as sports and cable television.
I used both the native OS and at times my Roku Ultra. Testing was performed using a Calibrite Display Pro HL and DisplayCal software on Windows 11, as well as my own observations from looking at many, many different TVs.