Latest news with #PanasonicZ95A
Digital Trends
4 days ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
This deal changes things — our second favorite TV is $1,200 off
For a brand that's been losing recognition for quite some time, there's been a lot going on in the land of Panasonic lately. First, after careful review, we've selected the Panasonic Z95A as the runner-up in our best TVs right now, beating out brands like LG and Samsung, and only bested by a Sony TV. Then, there's the deals. We just saw 66% off their mini-LED TV and then, earlier this month, we saw the 65-inch Z95A at $2,500 (a $700 discount). And now we get to the present, where we see that the 65-inch Z95A has dropped even lower. While this deal lasts, through either of the buttons below, you can get this TV for just $2,000. That's $1,200 off its normal price of $3,200. Is that enough to make it best the Sony A95L QD-OLED? Bargain hunters will certainly think so, so be sure to pick the TV up at this price before it rises or, worse, stock runs out. Why you should buy the Panasonic Z95A When our review team made its Panasonic Z95A review in December of last year, we called it 'one of the top 5 TVs ever made.' We then talked at length about the one thing that might scare you away from this TV — it's an Amazon Fire TV — and gave step-by-step (and simple!) instructions for disabling Amazon's annoying ads. And then the rest is magic, featuring things you don't expect in a TV review. For example, there's a not-for-laughs 'Superior sound' section that doesn't end with a note telling you to buy one of the best soundbars anyhow, because it already has a built-in one that's going to beat all but the most premium gear. Yet, this isn't why we declares it a top five all time TV, instead that's 'from a strict evaluation of picture accuracy.' In other words, this is a TV with a lot going for it. The Panasonic Z95A is clearly in a fight for supremacy in TV sales, and this updated deal making the 65-inch Z95A just $2,000 goes to show you how far they are willing to go to take the crown. It's a $1,200 discount off of a $3,200 TV, and a discount that is $500 greater than what we saw at just the beginning of this month. If you want to take advantage of it, all you need to do is tap one of the buttons below. There are other TV deals going on at the moment, but few as exciting as this one.
Digital Trends
09-05-2025
- Digital Trends
Panasonic's flagship 65-inch OLED has a $700 discount today
It's been a minute since Panasonic TVs were available stateside, so you can imagine our excitement when the Panasonic Z95A Series 4K OLED hit shelves several months ago. We were able to test this North American comeback model, and our editorial team said, 'Stunning picture and shockingly good sound help make the Panasonic Z95A one of the top 5 TVs we've ever reviewed.' This week, when you purchase the Panasonic 65-inch Z95A, you'll pay a discounted price of $2,500 plus tax. That's a $700 markdown from the TV's original price! Why you should buy the Panasonic Z95A Series The Panasonic Z95A is one of those glorious flagship sets that endures every single test-bench procedure near-flawlessly. This 4K OLED has a wide color gamut, especially when watching movies in HDR. Expect rich, lifelike colors and the kind of inky black levels Panasonic plasma TVs used to be known for! The Z95 has great glare and reflection handling, too, and can get bright enough when watching SDR content to go up against ambient light sources in your living room or home theater. It also has a native 144Hz refresh rate and a boatload of gaming optimizations, including a dedicated True Game picture mode for improved response time and reduced input lag. You may have noticed the giant speaker system built into this TV. It's actually a full-on Panasonic 5.1 soundbar with an integrated woofer that punches well above its weight class. Apps, screen mirroring, and smart home controls are available once the TV is connected to the Internet, with Amazon's Fire TV OS running the show. The ads are a bit annoying, but other than that, it's a rock-solid smart hub! Save $700 on the Panasonic 65-inch Z95A Series 4K OLED when you purchase today. We also recommend taking a look at our lists of the best OLED TV deals, best TV deals, and best Amazon deals for even more discounts on top-rated TVs.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Yahoo
Best TVs of 2025: Tested by CNET Experts
Most people looking for a new TV are focused on picture quality for the money, in a size that's right for their room. Here at CNET I test TVs head-to-head in our dedicated lab and I want to help you choose the best television for your needs. Whether you care most about gaming, sports or streaming TV shows and movies, in a living room or bedroom, there's a model here for you. Although new televisions are coming out in spring 2025, some of the recommendations below debuted last year. That's because TVs are a pretty stable technology and year-to-year improvements are usually minor. Here are the best TV you can buy now, from high-end QLED and OLED to midrange mini-LED to cheap 4K smart TVs. In terms of the best bang-for-buck, one of the most impressive models has been the Samsung DU7200 -- it's a TV that delivers a really good picture for an affordable price. The black levels and shadow detail are excellent for the money and while my test unit looked a little desaturated out of the box that was easily fixed by adjusting the Color control. The TV has onboard streaming and the sound quality isn't too bad either. If you're looking for a bedroom unit or a smaller gaming TV then the Samsung DU7200 is the model I would choose. Don't buy it if you're a stickler for image quality but for the price it's pretty great. See at Amazon LG C3: When David Katzmaier reviewed the C3 in 2023 it was one of his favorite TVs and this impression continued into the following year. It's still a great TV but with the pricing on this and the C4 similar right now it makes sense to go for the newer TV. Read CNET's full review of the LG C3. Panasonic Z95A: The Panasonic Z95A is an excellent TV and it has one advantage over most at the price because of its dedicated speaker system, giving it decent sound quality. The inclusion of Amazon Fire TV is also unusual for the price but I still prefer Google TV. Read CNET's hands-on of the Panasonic Z95A. Samsung S90D: The S90D performed well in our measurement tests but it suffered some contrast loss compared to the C4. Any differences between the C4 and S90D were subtle. Read CNET's full review of the Samsung S90D. In every CNET TV review, I compare three or more similar TVs side by side in a dedicated, light-controlled test lab. With each review I employ a rigorous, unbiased evaluation process that has been honed in more than two decades of TV reviews. I test TVs with a combination of scientific measurements and real-world evaluations of TV, movies and gaming content. To ensure I can evaluate the picture quality of every TV I employ the use of an AVPro Connect 8x8 4K HDR splitter so each one receives the same signal. I test the TVs using various lighting conditions playing different media, including 4K HDR movies and console games, across a variety of test categories, from color to video processing to gaming to HDR. In order to measure each TV, I use specialized equipment to grade according to light output and color. My hardware includes a Konica Minolta CS-2000 spectroradiometer and a Murideo Six-G 4K HDR signal generator. I use Portrait Displays CalMan Ultimate software to evaluate every TV I review according to their brightness, black levels and color. My reviews also account for such things as features, design, smart TV performance, connectivity including HDMI inputs and gaming compatibility. Check out How CNET Tests TVs for more details. With all of the TVs available today, and all of the technical terms and jargon associated with television technology, it can be tough to figure out what's important. Here's a quick guide to help cut through the confusion. Picture quality: Broadly speaking, the type of display technology helps dictate how good a TV's picture quality is, but OLED is typically the best display technology, and this is followed by LCD (including QLED, and Mini LED). OLED tends to have the best picture quality because it doesn't need a backlight and every pixel can be either on or off, leading to great black levels. In comparison, each LED in a backlight looks after multiple pixels at a time so it isn't as precise -- it's not yet 1:1. Among midrange models, look for a feature including full-array local dimming, mini-LED and 120Hz refresh rate, which (unlike some other extras) do help improve the picture in my experience. Additionally, If a TV uses Quantum Dots it often leads to better color performance, whether it's an OLED or an LCD. Screen size: Bigger is better in my book. I recommend a size of at least 43 inches for a bedroom TV and at least 55 inches for a living room or main TV -- and 65 inches or larger is best. More so than any "feature," stepping up in TV screen size is the best use of your money. One of the most common post-TV-purchase complaints I've heard is from people who didn't go big enough. And I rarely hear people complain that their TV is too large. It's worth adding that while TVs can get really big indeed, 4K resolution is sufficient for even the biggest models, and CNET doesn't recommend any 8K TVs as they represent a poor comparative value. Price: TVs range in price from $100 to more than $2,000. Smaller screens are cheaper, well-known brands are more expensive and spending more money can also get you better image quality. Most entry-level TVs have a good enough picture for most people, but TVs last a long time, so it might be worth spending more to get a better picture. It's also best to shop for a TV in the fall when prices are lower. Sound quality: Every TV has some sort of built-in speaker, but in my twenty years of reviewing AV equipment the sound of modern TVs has been routinely terrible. While I do test the audio on each model, if you are serious about sound quality then buying a separate soundbar (from $100) or home theater system will instantly improve vital aspects such as speech and bass reproduction. Smart TV: Among entry-level TVs the most important feature is what kind of smart TV system the TV uses, and while some are proprietary to each brand (Samsung and LG) some models do offer Roku and Google TV. For more TV buying advice check out How to Buy a TV. One important aspect of image quality I test is overall brightness using the CS-2000 spectroradiometer. Here's how brightness compares in nits across select TVs listed above. Prices vary widely by size and features, from less than $100 for basic 24-inch TVs to more than $2,000 for big OLED models. TVs last a long time, so we think it's worthwhile to spend a little extra beyond the bare minimum to get a bigger screen, better picture quality or better features. With that in mind, here are some ballpark prices that will get you a very good TV in 2025. 55-inch: $700 65-inch: $1,000 75-inch: $1,300 You could pay (much) more or less. The fact is just about any TV will produce a picture decent enough to satisfy most viewers. Most complaints you read in user reviews aren't about picture quality. Instead, they're about ease of use, smart TV menus or sound (or a broken TV). In our opinion bigger is better, and your money is best spent on large screen sizes rather than a slight upgrade in image quality. The answer also depends on room size and seating distance: If you have a big room and sit farther away, you'll want a bigger TV. In our reviews, OLED TVs, which use organic light-emitting diode technology, have always had better picture quality than LED TVs, which are essentially LCD TVs that use LED backlights. The main reason is that OLED TVs can produce a perfectly dark shade of black with no stray illumination of blooming, which leads to better contrast and pop. LED TVs can get brighter, and usually cost less than OLED TVs. At CNET our favorite is Roku for its simplicity, but different systems like Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung and LG have different strengths, in particular for voice commands. In any case, we don't consider the built-in smart TV system that important because you can always connect a streaming device to any TV. Most TVs sound terrible because their thin cabinets don't have room for decent-sized speakers or a bass. If you want to get good sound you should buy an external audio system. Even an inexpensive soundbar will deliver much better audio quality than a TV's built-in speakers.
Telegraph
24-02-2025
- Telegraph
Panasonic Z95A review: A sublime OLED TV with best-in-class sound
This article contains affiliate links. The products or services listed have been selected independently by journalists after hands-on testing or sourcing expert opinions. We may earn a commission when you click a link, buy a product or subscribe to a service. Price: £2,799 for 65-inch at Panasonic Alternative seller: £2,799 for 65-inch at John Lewis Also available in: 55-inch, £1,999 Our rating: 10/10 We like: Stunning picture quality Impressive sound Swivel stand We don't like: Built-in soundbar may limit appeal Bulky design Fire TV adverts What is the Panasonic Z95A? The Z95A is a flagship-tier television from Panasonic, their top dog TV for 2024. It follows a line of high-quality OLED TVs from the company, marking itself out from its rivals by including a Technics-tuned soundbar and looking to be a high-end one-box solution for all your home entertainment needs. The Panasonic Z95A uses the same OLED technology as the LG G4. As such, it has a Micro Lens Array (MLA) panel which helps boost the brightness of the pixels to deliver more dramatic high-dynamic range (HDR) visuals and better visibility in brighter rooms. The Z95A runs on the Fire TV platform – which sits on some of the best TVs under £500 – so it's Alexa-compatible, offering hands-free voice control, while also supporting Freely, the TV service that streams terrestrial programming over your home Wi-Fi. As such, it's a highly connected television, offering a full range of technologies and it carries a flagship price to match. Before we get started on this Panasonic OLED TV review, it's worth noting that this is also the TV that Panasonic used to lead the charge back into the US market, after leaving abruptly in 2016. Having been watching this TV for the past couple of weeks, it's easy to understand why, because it's undeniably one of the best OLED TVs around. How we test televisions Every TV is tested at home for a minimum of two weeks. We play a variety of content in standard, high and ultra-high definition, from movies to nature programmes, sport and daytime viewing. We evaluate the picture and sound and see how easy the TV is to set up and operate, while checking how well it performs with gaming consoles and other peripherals. We're looking for everyday usability as well as the wow factor. Visit our Who We Are page to learn more about Telegraph Recommended reviews. Design and technology: 8/10 The Panasonic Z95A is rare in that it has a built-in sound system. While all high-end TVs will talk about supporting Dolby Atmos, promising immersive audio, few have the speakers to produce it. Sony opts for its Acoustic Surface tech in the Bravia 8 which puts speakers behind the screen, while this Panasonic has a built-in soundbar and subwoofer. I mention all of this in the design section because that decision dominates the design: this TV is bulkier than its rivals with much of the formwork on the rear of the TV being plastic and housing the speakers. That the panel itself is only 5mm thick – like the LG C4 I recently reviewed – doesn't really matter, because most of the TV is 60mm thick. The additional thickness also houses the cooling system that Panasonic has for the display, to ensure better long-term performance at high brightness, so there is a benefit to this thicker design as well. From the front and the side, then, the Panasonic Z95A looks the part, but from the rear, it's not quite as pretty. Sure, most people will set this TV against a wall rather than in the middle of the room, but if you do have some space around it, then the swivel stand is a real asset. Most TVs have a fixed stand but I love having the freedom to change the angle of the screen with a touch. Panasonic loves to talk about the hardware in its televisions. I believe this is to emphasise the company's own input and shift the focus away from the fact that it's using LG's OLED panel, and handing its supplier the credit. As such, we have the HCX Pro AI Processor MK II driving the Master OLED Ultimate panel, with a 4K Remaster Engine to handle the upscaling. That 'AI' mention in the processor name also makes it clear that Panasonic is using AI to boost the picture quality – and there's an Auto AI picture mode you can select to put this to work. Picture quality: 10/10 As Panasonic's flagship TV, it's no surprise that the Z95A offers outstanding picture quality and is one of the best 4K TVs on the market right now. The first thing that's apparent after completing setup is the boosted brightness it offers over TVs that don't have this sort of tech. It's brighter than the Panasonic Z85A that sits a peg lower in Panasonic's range and it's more impactful than the popular LG C4, thanks to that MLA layer I mentioned previously. High peak brightness means that the Panasonic Z95A copes with a bright room with ease. It utilises both a light sensor and a colour temperature sensor, which helps fuel systems like Dolby Vision IQ – an HDR standard which aims to adjust the picture to the room's lighting conditions. You might want to turn off the ambient light sensor, however, as I found this could sometimes lead to brightness changes on the TV when switching scenes. In a shot with two people talking with one in darkness and one in light, as the camera switched between them, this brightness change made it look like the screen was flashing. The other thing that's apparent from the Panasonic Z95A is how rich the colours are and how deep the black level is. This is an inherent property of OLED panels, so not unique here, but this is where OLED still has an advantage over LED technologies. The content on the Z95A looks sumptuous. I watched some of Netflix's new drama The Night Agent and found that dark scenes were expertly presented, with accurate skin tones dripping in detail. The TV offers the latest standards: there's a Netflix Calibrated Mode, as well as a Filmmaker mode, which is often deemed as the 'most accurate' picture on TVs like this. I find Filmmaker mode a little too yellow for my tastes – especially for daytime viewing – but it's easy to turn off. There's support for HDR10+, too, which is something you don't typically get from LG OLED TVs and this is a format that's now widely used on Prime Video. There's also support for HLG, which is how BBC iPlayer delivers its HDR content, including the occasional sports match. Panasonic offers quick access to picture modes, either through the Picture button on the remote or via the menu button, which will open up a simple menu to make settings changes on the fly. This is great if you're a tinkerer like me, and I like that you can select information to show you the format you're watching: if you're wondering if you're actually viewing 4K Dolby Vision footage at 24Hz, the TV will tell you. Watching Marvel's Black Widow, the impact of the snow scenes demonstrated the sheer level of brightness that this TV offers, with wonderfully immersive visuals. Flip to something lower quality, like Countdown, and the content is upscaled nicely, making it watchable even at 65 inches. A quick blast through the universe of Ready Player One cements my opinion that the Panasonic Z95A is a great TV if you want that big cinematic experience. The viewing angles on this screen are great, too, meaning that if you're not sat in the sweet spot, you still get the rich, vibrant colours when watching from an angle. Sound: 9/10 The Panasonic Z95A has a built-in soundbar, so it offers a little more out of the box than other televisions. This setup is more unique and the immediate criticism is that this arrangement might deter some users. If you're a home cinema fan looking for a great screen to connect to an existing sound system, then effectively you're wasting the Panasonic's audio skills and you might be better off shopping elsewhere, like the LG G4. However, if it's the best performance out of a single box then that's what the Panasonic Z95A offers. There's no messing around with cables or mounting a soundbar, you just plug in the TV and everything works. On first startup, there's a tuning process to adapt the sound output to the room, taking into account where you've placed the TV and focussing the sound properly. The sound system comprises 5.1.2 channels, with 160W output. This results in speakers firing towards you from the soundbar, side speakers and top speakers of the TV to give the sound stage more width and height, which is important to add immersion. This setup is designed to deliver Dolby Atmos and the results are good. Of course, it's not the same as a dedicated system with separate speakers, but there's no shortage of volume, respectable bass and better performance than most other TVs There are also sound modes you can select on the TV, including an Auto AI mode which can boost the sound quality from some lower quality sources, but when playing Dune from an Ultra HD Blu-ray in Dolby Atmos, there was no perceptible difference whether the AI mode was on or off. Operating system and usability: 8/10 The Panasonic Z95A incorporates Fire OS, the same operating system used by Amazon's TVs, like the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED and the Fire TV Stick streaming devices. This gives access to a full range of streaming services, with great performance from each of those apps. The advantage of a system like this is that apps are kept up to date and it hooks into Amazon's Alexa ecosystem to make this TV smarter. This TV also offers hands-free Alexa voice control, in addition to the Alexa button on the remote. Alexa can be used for content searching or to access other services through Alexa and the performance is great. That also means you can use it to control smart home devices that you've set up with Alexa, such as heating and lighting. Fire OS divides opinion, however, as some don't like that Amazon's content gets a high billing, with both adverts and sponsored content on the home page. You can turn off the auto-play of adverts, which does help lessen their impact on your daily use, but you will occasionally run into an advert for toothpaste or a car. The remote is fairly large and littered with buttons which it seems to have rolled over from Panasonic's previous TV range. That means that some buttons might not function at times – the menu button, for example, doesn't open the menu in Fire OS, it just makes a clicking noise. I also wish that it had button backlighting to make it feel a little more premium. This TV also comes equipped with Freely. This is a recent service that offers access to the UK's broadcast TV channels without an aerial. This service is still in its infancy and means you can position the TV wherever you like, as long as there's Wi-Fi access to stream your TV content. Freely is slow, however, with navigation taking longer than you might expect. I tested this alongside the Amazon Fire TV Omni Mini-LED and found that the Panasonic was a couple of seconds slower to change channels, which is unusual for a premium TV. This may be fixed with a future software update. Gaming and peripherals: 9/10 The gaming experience on the Panasonic Z95A is great. I connected it to the Xbox Series X to play Forza Horizon and both the sound and Dolby Vision visuals added to a fun experience. There's 120Hz support for console gamers, as well as 144Hz for PC, along with VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode), AMD Freesync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync. To get the best out of your gaming session, there's a True Game mode to optimise various settings for your TV. This reduces input lag and focuses on delivering stutter-free gameplay. There's a useful Game Bar (which I assigned to the shortcut on the remote), which lets you glance at the main settings, allowing you to quickly tweak to optimise your experience. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports to support these advanced features, one of which also carries the eARC, should you consider connecting to another sound system. There are two further HDMI 2.0 ports, which is a bit of an oddity considering some TVs at this level are all HDMI 2.1. Technical specifications I've mentioned a couple of times that the Panasonic Z95A uses the same panel as the LG G4 and both are top-end OLED televisions. They're natural rivals, too (along with the Philips OLED909 or OLED959). So let's look at how the Panasonic Z95A compares to the LG G4 on the spec sheet. Telegraph verdict: 10/10 The Panasonic Z95A is an exceptional television, offering a premium viewing and sound experience, making it one of the best all-in-one solutions. The picture performance is especially impressive, providing a near-unbeatable level of immersion, with upscaling of lower-quality content so everything you watch looks great. The built-in sound system delivers performance that's a step above most rival televisions at this level and while it offers great quality audio, it might be a barrier for those who want to use this TV as part of an existing home cinema system. The Fire OS gives a smooth connected experience, but can occasionally serve adverts and gives Amazon a high billing, which might turn some buyers off. Overall, however, it's a terrific television. FAQs What are the main Panasonic Z95A features? The Panasonic Z95A features an advanced OLED display, offering 4K HDR and a built-in soundbar with Dolby Atmos. The TV uses the Fire TV platform, so is well-connected with apps and offers Alexa support. What sizes are available for the Panasonic Z95A OLED TV? The Z95A is only available in 55- and 65-inch sizes. There is a 77-inch model, but it's known as the Z93A. Does the Panasonic Z95A support Dolby Vision and HDR10+? The Panasonic Z95A supports all the latest formats for HDR, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It also supports HDR10 and HLG formats. Is the Panasonic Z95A OLED TV suitable for gaming? The Panasonic Z95A is a solid choice for gamers, with refresh rates up to 144Hz, a dedicated Game Mode, low input lag, VRR and ALLM, as well as Nvidia G-Sync and AMD Freesync Premium support. What is the audio quality of the Panasonic Z95A OLED? The Panasonic Z95A offers excellent sound quality thanks to the 5.1.2 sound system, which features a built-in soundbar, with height and width speakers built into the TV to make the audio more immersive. It also supports Dolby Atmos out of the box.
