I was keen to see the results when Panasonic announced its plans to replace its aging smart TV system with the more flexible Amazon Fire TV.
First, Panasonic TVs are well known for their excellent picture quality, and the Panasonic Z95A proves this once again. With a 4K Ultra HD panel (3840 x 2160 pixels) and OLED technology, the colours come alive on your screen. The black, essential for a good high-resolution experience, is deep.
With HDR10+ and Dolby Vision IQ support, the Panasonic Z95A offers beautiful content. There are 14 picture modes in total, including modes dedicated to sports and gaming content, which usually have fast-moving scenes, multiple modes for different levels of Dolby Vision and a Netflix Adaptive Calibrated mode.
What I enjoyed most was changing its video settings to Filmmaker Mode and watching movies the way the director intended. In this mode, all post-processing effects and the much-disliked motion smoothing are disabled, and brightness, contrast and colours are automatically adjusted to match the original content closely.
Assembling the TV requires two people, not because of its 20 Kg (25 Kg with the stand) but because a 55” TV measures about 1.3 m wide and care is needed to avoid scratching or breaking that large panel. It’s easy to assemble, and you only need to mount the panel on the heavy pedestal, tighten four screws, and you are set. Also, the Panasonic Z95A pedestal allows you to easily swivel it to place it on a corner stand.
The design is nothing new. It’s a good-looking TV but not a work of art. It’s beautiful in a minimalist way.
Once you turn it on and follow the instructions to connect to your Wi-Fi, it will check for updates and follow a setup workflow to help you install the most used apps, such as Netflix, Disney+, and TVNZ+.
If you have used the Amazon Fire TV sticks and a Panasonic TV before, you will notice the remote control is a hybrid of both. It even has buttons that take you directly to the most used apps: Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, and Amazon Music. You cannot reassign the buttons, though.
The remote has a blue voice button that you can use to control the TV using the remote as a microphone. However, the TV itself has built-in far-field microphones, and it answers to commands that start with “Alexa...” like all other Amazon Echo devices, even if it's off, with no need to use the blue button on the remote control. You can control the TV with voice commands, including opening apps or controlling playback.
If you have home automation devices linked to your Alexa account, you can issue commands like “Alexa, show my front door” to see a live-stream video from Ring doorbells and cameras or “Alexa, turn off lounge lights” for Philips Hue or other Wi-Fi-connected lights.
The user interface is the same as the Fire TV stick, and you must have your Amazon account handy to log in. It allows you to create multiple profiles to customise content suggestions to each person’s interests. These suggestions are based on your watch history and include things like “Continue watching” as well, so you know you won’t forget to watch the next episode in a series.
Having experienced previous smart TVs, I was worried about how responsive this TV would be. Experience shows that there is nothing to worry about, and I couldn’t see a difference between the Panasonic Z95A and my Fire TV 4K Max stick. Be warned that the Panasonic Z95A has less storage on-board than the Fire TV 4K Max stick.
If you can access Freeview (aerial or satellite) in your area, the TV will find the channels during its initial setup. It fully supports the local Freeview service, including the 7-day EPG. But if you don’t have Freeview broadcast in your area, you can use the Freeview app, exclusive to Panasonic TVs. It allows you to stream Freeview channels, so you never miss live broadcasts.
You can plug in other HDMI devices, such as a gaming console. There are four HDMI ports, two of which support HDMI 2.1 and ARC/eARC, so you can plug your soundbars. The TV supports up to 144 Hz refresh rates, Automatic Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). Gaming enthusiasts will appreciate this. I know because I plugged in my Xbox (120 HZ only), and it shows how good games can be on a good quality big screen.
There are also three USB ports, which can be used for storage devices if you plan on recording programs from broadcast Freeview TV or even for a keyboard (which I used during setup to enter usernames and passwords in all those apps you need to log in on a new TV).
And now we come to sound. I've mentioned that the TV has native support for soundbars, but I would even suggest you save money by not getting one. The sound system is branded as Technics, a well-known sound name, also a Panasonic-owned brand. This TV has speakers everywhere. There’s a 70W front array, two 15W side speakers, two 15W up-facing speakers and a 20W woofer.
The sound on this TV is fantastic and includes support for Dolby Atmos.
Overall, the Panasonic Z95 exceeded my expectations for a smart TV. I will miss it when it goes away, and I will return to my previous TV.
