Panasonic Z95A review: one of the top 5 TVs ever made

There is something about the Panasonic Z95A I just can’t put my finger on. It’s been eating at me for a couple of weeks now. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? Should you buy this TV — and why or why not? I’ll cut the suspense and tell you now that the “thing” I’ve had such trouble putting my finger on — the thing that eludes me — is a very good thing.

There’s plenty to love about this TV — and a couple of things I hate — but mostly it’s all love. What eludes me, though, is why I like it so much. This TV just has something that deeply resonates with me. However, it’s not this TV’s outstanding sound system.

First, let’s get the only thing I really dislike out of the way.

Amazon Fire TV? I am not a fan. As a TV reviewer, if I could catapult Amazon Fire TV OS out into space, destined for a black hole to be sucked up and never seen again in this dimension, I’d do it right now. It’s also a double-edged sword because I’m increasingly convinced that Panasonic’s partnership with Amazon is what has enabled Panasonic to resume TV sales in the U.S. So, it could be argued that what I dislike most about the Panasonic Z95A is the reason it is here at all.

The good news is that what I dislike most about Amazon Fire TV itself — the fact that it starts playing ads the second you turn it on — is an annoyance you can disable. Here’s how:

Grab your remote. Resist the urge to click the Settings cog button on the remote and instead navigate over to the Settings cog icon on the home screen on the far right. Select Preferences > Featured Content. Set Allow Video Autoplay OFF > Allow Audio AutoPlay OFF. (Digital Trends video producer Chris Hagan covers this in his Panasonic TV settings video, along with some other key settings you will want to know about, so be sure to check that out if you buy this TV.) This will help make sure that this “featured” area doesn’t start blasting stuff at you as soon as you turn on your TV.

One of the best things about Smart TVs was supposed to be getting to watch what we want to watch, when we want to watch it. I get that Amazon wants to make money, but this is not acceptable. Because I dislike Amazon Fire TV so much, I want to share how to work around it.

Buy an Apple TV, a Google Streaming Box, or a Roku device — my preferred platforms, in order of preference — and connect it to one of the HDMI ports. Then, go into Settings by clicking the Settings icon. Select Display and Sounds, then select Power Controls. Under Power On, you’ll see that it is set to Home. Change this to Last Input.

Now, when you turn on your TV, it will tune to the last used input. If the last used input happens to be, say, HDMI 1, where you have your Apple TV connected, then every time you turn on your TV, you’ll see Apple TV or your cable box (or whatever) instead of the Fire TV home screen. Of course, if you switch to a different input and forget to go back before you turn off the TV, just remember that the TV will turn on to that input. But for folks who mostly use just one source, this will make it feel like that source is the only one on the TV.

Now, just about everything else I have to say about this TV is going to be overwhelmingly positive. It starts with sound quality.

Panasonic Z95A specs

Superior sound

This TV sounds awesome. Yes, the integrated soundbar strip does change the TV’s size and shape, but it’s worth it. The onboard sound on this TV is so good that you might be able to skip getting a soundbar.

In fact, only get a soundbar if you are up to buying a premium system with a wireless subwoofer and discrete surround speakers, or an advanced all-in-one soundbar like a Sonos Arc, Sonos Arc Ultra, or Bose Smart Ultra. Other soundbars are not likely to be significantly better than what’s built into the TV, and not worth spending the money on.

Not only does this TV have full, rich sound with great fidelity, but the dialogue clarity at all volumes — including when the TV is turned down low — is excellent, and that’s without any of the TV’s dialogue enhancement features turned on.

The onboard sound system is likely going to be a deciding factor for many people considering this TV. It’s great. (I even caught myself thinking that there was sound coming from the back of the room while I was laying down on the couch with my head down. Virtual surround should be mostly ineffective like this and yet, somehow, this TV had me thinking there was sound coming from back there.)

Now on to picture quality — and I have tons more good news on that front.

Numbers for Nit Nerds

The TV measures amazingly well. If you’re a purist, you’ll be thrilled with how Panasonic has tuned its Filmmaker Mode. In Filmmaker Mode, SDR peak brightness is right at 200 nits (you can brighten this TV way up, but Filmmaker Mode is meant to be accurate, so 200 nits is perfect).

Peak white comes in at just under a delta E of 2, which is excellent, and at 30% stimulus, the delta E is under 1.

Color accuracy? It’s outstanding – among the best I’ve seen from factory tuning — and it scores better on luminance and saturation tests than most TVs. I think the LG G4 had similar out-of-the-box numbers and the Sony A95L and Bravia 9 were close, but the Z95A is in the top three most accurate out-of-the-box TVs I’ve tested.

In HDR, the Z95A manages just over 1,600 nits at all window sizes from 2% up to 10%, and then it predictably drops down to just over 200 nits at full screen. A reminder: This is an LG Display MLA WRGB OLED panel, and technically, these peak brightness numbers are about 200 nits higher than they are for LG’s own G4. However, in real-world viewing, the Z95A is not brighter than the LG G4, even though the measurements might have you thinking that would be the case.

It does follow the Electro-Optical Transfer Function (EOTF) curve religiously, though, and its gamma is spot-on. HDR color is also stellar.

Also, you can make this TV look just about any way you want it to. Panasonic has loaded the Z95A with so many incremental settings and tweaking opportunities that you can fine-tune it to your preference.

However, no TV is perfect. It does have a few tiny shortcomings.

Near-black chrominance overshoot is one of them. Panasonic could have pulled an LG and over-darkened the darkest part of images to suppress this effect, but — perhaps in an effort to preserve accuracy and shadow detail — it opted not to crush blacks. As a result, you get a little bit of flashing around the edges of dim objects in dark scenes. I feel like this should bother me more, but it doesn’t. That’s especially true considering, when in a head-to-head comparison with the Sony A95L, I noticed less color banding on 4K Blu-ray discs on the Z95A than I did on the Sony. All told, I preferred the Panasonic’s picture in many scenes.

In fact, at no point did this TV ever disappoint me — not once. Not even when watching low bit rate, low bit-depth, and low resolution content. Sure, the A95L and LG G4 might do a better job of cleanup and present a sharper, cleaner-looking picture with cable/satellite, free streaming TV, and some lower-quality YouTube videos, but the difference is marginal. From a very strict evaluation of picture accuracy, the Panasonic Z95A is in the top 5 TVs ever made — it’s one of the best choices you could make.

Top-tier TV

The brightness punch, contrast, color richness, color saturation, motion resolution, and upscaling are all top-tier. As a top 5 TV it stands right up there with the Samsung S95D, LG G4, Sony A95L and the Sony Bravia 9.

The Z95A is perhaps not the best at any one thing, but it’s proof positive that a TV is more than just the sum of its parts. With its audio system on board, I think it is the best choice for more buyers than most of those other TVs, save perhaps the Sony A95L, which also has a very good audio system.

The fact that the Z95A has Dolby Vision (the Samsung S95D does not) and an ATSC 3.0 tuner (the LG G4 does not) means that it could come down to a choice between the Z95A and the Sony A95L.

And considering that the 65-inch Z95A costs $700 less than the Sony A95L, that might just make the decision for you. Unfortunately, though, you can only get the Z95A in two sizes: 55 and 65 inches. So if you want a larger OLED TV, you’ll have to go to one of those other models.

The top-tier OLED performance with great sound at a relatively attractive price might just have you sold already. But if you need any more convincing, I’ll add this.

This TV is special

I think this TV is really something special. There is something so approachable and comfortable and effortless about its picture. That’s what I’ve been having a tough time putting my finger on. If you get this TV, you might start to understand yourself. It’s just got something I like — it’s Panasonic.

The sound quality-– especially at low volumes — carries a lot of weight with me, too.

If I had to choose a 65-inch TV to buy for myself right now, it would be between the LG G4, the Sony A95L, and the Panasonic Z95A. And, I’d lose sleep over the decision. (I don’t know if I could bring myself to spend $700 more for the A95L even though I love that TV so much — the way it does color is just super special.)

I think – and this is a hot take – that I’d take the Z95A over the LG G4 because it sounds better, although, by all accounts, the LG G4 is a superior TV. I know what I need, and I know what I like and the Z95A kind of does it for me in a special way.

I might have to flip a coin, honestly, but the fact that this TV is in my top three picks for a personal TV should tell you something. And the fact that right now it is winning in my head? That should tell you a lot, too.

Do not sleep on this TV. It’s one of the best TVs I’ve ever reviewed and you would be proud and thrilled to own it.