Panasonic came back for TV glory at CES 2025

Panasonic returned to the US TV marketplace past year, and only a matter of months later, I’ve convinced myself that its latest flagship OLED is the champion TV of CES 2025. It’s an awesome resurgence for a marque that galore location theatre enthusiasts retrieve for producing superb plasma sets backmost erstwhile those represented the crème de la crème of show exertion for the surviving room. After a agelong hiatus, Panasonic is backmost successful the crippled and squaring disconnected pinch Sony, LG, and Samsung successful the very premium (and very pricey) TV category.

The company’s caller OLED, the Z95B, will travel successful 3 sizes: 55 inches, 65 inches, and 77 inches. It uses the latest and top OLED sheet from LG Display, which is simply a caller four-layer tandem building that thumps retired the brightness of past year’s LG G4 moreover without the micro-lens array technology that squeezed arsenic overmuch brightness arsenic imaginable retired of that TV. Last year’s Z95A from Panasonic besides utilized MLA, but the caller attack gets amended results and is cheaper to produce.

So the sheet is apical tier and should beryllium a formidable replacement to the QD-OLED show utilized successful Samsung’s respective 2025 flagship, the S95F. OLED TVs conscionable support getting brighter, much vivid, and dazzling — and consumers really can’t spell incorrect pinch immoderate of them. The Panasonic stopped maine successful my tracks connected the show level and looked phenomenal. I couldn’t thief but look astatine it for respective minutes. The Z95B besides offers support for gaming astatine up to 144Hz, truthful it’s a beardown contender location arsenic well, though some LG and Samsung stepped it up to 165Hz this year.

Another point that sets the Panasonic isolated is its built-in Dolby Atmos speaker array. The drivers and sound capacity person been tuned by Technics, pinch a badge that advertises arsenic much. I really excavation the cloth sides of this TV; it’s a prestigious measurement of concealing the side-firing and upward-firing speakers.

Yes, that audio hardware results successful this being a heavy group by 2025 standards — particularly for an OLED. Panasonic didn’t clasp backmost successful making the Z95B a hulking beast of a TV. But the bully news is that galore group won’t request to fuss pinch a abstracted soundbar since this strategy will (likely) sound truthful good. As noted by the fantabulous Caleb Denison astatine Digital Trends, the institution has besides reworked the TV’s cooling strategy pinch a caller power dissipation method that should thief support that four-layer OLED sheet successful tip-top style complete the agelong term.

But location is 1 glaring dilemma pinch Panasonic TVs: they tally Amazon’s Fire TV OS. That’s alternatively unfortunate. It’s my slightest favourite TV level among the pack, and I’d reason Amazon has crossed the statement erstwhile it comes to pushing ads connected customers — moreover if the astir egregious examples tin beryllium abnormal successful settings. Fire TV has some bully ideas present and there; the ambient mode widgets are thing Google has taken statement of. But I really dream that Panos Panay and the Fire TV squad return a sledgehammer to this package and travel backmost pinch thing overmuch sleeker, much intuitive, and worthy of a TV that’s definite to beryllium very costly if the Z95A is thing to spell by.

Even so, I cognize plentifulness of group who mostly disregard their TV’s default package and usage an Apple TV, Nvidia Shield, aliases immoderate different streaming subordinate arsenic their preferred intermezo interface. With Samsung and LG some being very fierce pinch the AI gimmicks this year, I expect seeing moreover much of that. The LG G5 will characteristic an LLM-powered chatbot, has an AI fastener connected its remote, and moreover ships pinch Microsoft Copilot built in. It’s getting to beryllium a small much, no?

To me, the “best TV” of CES comes down to what benignant of location theatre acquisition it will provide. And Panasonic is already doing an awesome occupation keeping gait pinch Sony erstwhile it comes to delivering a surviving room centerpiece that nails some image and sound. I wish the Z95B (and the company’s 2025 Mini LED TVs) ran, well, any other TV operating system. But I don’t deliberation Fire TV OS is bad capable to descend this high-end set. If you disagree, astatine slightest it’s comparatively easy to conscionable usage thing other astir of the time.

I can’t hold to walk much clip pinch the Z95B erstwhile it starts shipping later this year. More title benefits everyone who’s connected the lookout for a caller TV. Companies for illustration TCL and Hisense person done a awesome occupation mounting caller expectations of what you tin get for nether $1,500. And now Panasonic’s return is showing america what’s imaginable for those pinch the intends to splurge connected their adjacent large upgrade.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge