Panasonic W95 Series (2024 Model) 55-inch Mini LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Fire TV, Local Dimming, 144Hz Refresh Rate - 55W95AP

After heavily debating spending significantly more to get the very best in image quality (OLED), I ended up "settling" on a mini-LED as long as it was from a reputable brand. Panasonic was always one of the highest-regarded TV brands, and based on professional reviews, it was clear they maintained that status even to today. Yes, there are some highly-rated Hisense and TCL TVs out there, but those weren't on my radar because I know from experience that they're not built to last. Panasonic, on the other hand, has a solid reputation for longevity.---PICTURE: 9/10Image quality is outstanding. It's technically not the brightest TV out there (by a long shot), but it's plenty bright enough for all but the very brightest rooms, and there's so much more to a TV than how bright a white screen can get.For one, the contrast is outstanding. While the blacks aren't OLED-perfect, it's incredible how close it gets. More importantly, you have to actively search for evidence of blooming/haloing. In ordinary non-scrutinizing viewing, you could be fooled into thinking it IS an OLED. The processing is where Panasonic shines. They've nailed everything from the calibration to motion and frame generation (which, on low and mid settings really cleans things up without inducing much of the "soap-opera effect"). The Panasonic exhibits an overall grace that most other brands (the exception being Sony and, to an extent, Vizio) seem to lack.The one caveat that I think is worth mentioning is that the screen is fairly reflective. Mine is being used in a small home theater which is almost always dark, so it's of virtually no consequence to me, but in a bright living room, it might be suboptimal. I've heard that its closest competitor (Sony Bravia 7) is pretty much just as reflective, however, so I can't say for sure how it compares to the industry average. Just something to note and research if it concerns you.SOUND: 8/10Sound quality is quite good... for a TV (at least on the 85" model). I'd say it rivals budget soundbars up to around $150. If you're not planning to spend more than that on a soundbar (or even better, dedicated amp + speakers), I'd say just use the TV speakers. They're totally adequate for casual use.OS: 7/10The elephant in the room is the FireTV OS. Personally, as someone who uses FireTVs, I thought it was a plus. I can absolutely understand why people who don't use FireTV don't want that. But I've used Android/Google TVs and I don't think they're any better or worse. All TV OSs are becoming more and more ad-heavy. It's the unfortunate reality, and no doubt why such fancy high-quality TVs can be so affordable.One important note to improve your experience: disaable automatic previews. I've heard it repeated (even by professionals) that ads on the homescreen automatically play with sound and that it can't be disabled. That is false. While the TV is set up by default to behave this way, it's easy to change this in the settings (it's under 'Featured Content' if I recall correctly). You'll still see the same banners, but they're much easier to ignore when they're not flashing and playing audio.SETTINGS & ADJUSTABILITY: 9/10I was impressed with the settings that you can adjust with this. While you can easily choose one of the presets and be happy with it, it also allows you to get surprisingly detailed with adjustments. It's comfortably above average in my experience.BUILD QUALITY: 9/10This feels like a robust TV that will last. As I've mentioned earlier, with the influx of Chinese TVs like Hisense and TCL undercutting competitors and said competitors lowering their quality to compete at lower price points, I fear the TV market will fall victim to disposable culture at some point like so many other industries already have. TVs used to be a once-a-decade purchase for anyone who didn't demand the very latest. From what I've seen and read, Hisense and TCL TVs can only be expected to last a few years before something either fails or wears out. I strongly encourage people to buy TVs from reputable companies with a track record of long-lasting products. Sony and Panasonic at the higher end and Vizio at the lower/midrange.Of course, since this is a new TV, I can't really say how long it'll last. Only time will tell. But I really like my odds.VALUE: 8.5/10Value is a bit hard to gauge because I've noticed the price has fluctuated quite a bit. I bought mine on a steep sale and consequently I'd say the value was an easy outstanding 10/10. At MSRP, however, I think it'd be more like 7/10.---In summation, while I was originally set on getting an OLED, I'm actually very happy that I 'settled' on a mini-LED, and I'm very happy with the Panasonic. It's a quality TV that I fully expect to last a good decade or more.

It's so exciting to have Panasonic TVs back in the U.S., but I'm worried some buyers will pass these new Panasonic TVs up on the basis of them having Fire TV instead of Google TV or some other "preferred" OS on them. Now, if you're not a Prime subscriber, then Fire TV will probably be somewhat lost on you, but I think Fire TV is THE way to go if you're a Prime subscriber and also happen to prefer a more "traditional" TV-viewing experience.I'll eventually get around to "calibrating" this TV, but I don't expect it to need much in the way of adjustment, as everything just looks fantastic on it right out of the box (assuming you chose Home mode instead of Store mode during setup, obviously).I'm no expert when it comes to measuring brightness and color accuracy, but I'll also say that this TV seems to respect the intended brightness of scenes, as well as their color balance, though it can sometimes feel a smidge dim if you're relying on the ambient light sensor. After turning the ambient light sensor off, however, I find that the TV has been at least bright enough to overcome most reflections in my living room, which is great when you consider how glossy the screen is.This TV also gets very loud. My previous TV was regularly at 50% volume, but 50% volume on this one is honestly a bit too loud for me at times. It's also worth noting that there's a setting to ensure spoken dialog stands out well, so you shouldn't find yourself having to turn this TV up too loud specifically to hear what people are saying.Getting back to the Fire TV discussion, I absolutely love the live TV guide. I realize that Google TV has a built-in guide, but the live TV guide in Google TV absolutely hates it when you have ad-block set up on your router, while Fire TV's live TV guide seems to have no such issues. Furthermore, the live TV guide in Fire TV aggregates so much more from so many more apps compared to Google TV.Basically, if an app integrates into the Fire TV live TV guide, then all the setup it requires is for you to launch that app once and (if applicable) sign in. You'll have a massive live TV guide in no time after setting this stuff up once. It really is a thing of beauty.App installations sometimes work a bit differently in Fire TV compared to Google TV, as Amazon allows you to subscribe to "channels" directly through the Amazon store and on the TV. As such, when you're downloading apps for services you already subscribe to or plan to subscribe to through a service other than Amazon, make sure you choose to just download the app, rather than choosing the first option that also starts a free trial for the service through Amazon.Note that subscribing through Amazon will give you access to only some of a specific service's catalog through Prime, but signing into that same service's app could grant you far more. Likewise, while Google TV has a tendency to recommend content from apps of your choosing and doesn't tend to organize them by app/provider, I believe much of the Fire TV interface is recommending content available through Prime and its channels but can and will display additional rows for content recommendations from apps you've installed.In practice, Fire TV and Google TV don't look too different from one another when you consider how they present content recommendations in rows, but understand that Fire TV is presenting you with rows of Prime channels content and separate rows for your apps that are intended to draw you into those apps to access the respective fuller catalogs when applicable. If you preferred Android TV to Google TV for how its rows acted as "channels" prior to the switch to Google TV, then you'll probably actually prefer Fire TV as long as you don't miss the level of control you had in displaying those "channel" rows.In short, I'd say Fire TV excels at the Prime and live TV experiences, while Google TV is probably the way to go if you want to go app-hopping. Google TV offers more apps overall, but Fire TV has been known to have the odd occasional exclusive.Anyway, this is a great TV for the price, and I really hope Panasonic's choice of Fire TV as the OS doesn't limit the appeal of these new Panasonic TVs. Fire TV is a really underrated OS when it comes to pre-installed TV OSes, and you can still set it up as a "dumb TV" if you really just want to attach some other streaming device to it. Definitely don't overlook these TVs, though, as they're quite good for the price you're paying.

Received the 65" as a Xmas present (wow!) - it did not disappoint. I had been looking at the reviews since Panasonic had returned to the US and was certain this would become my next television. Having my last Samsung for fifteen years it was time. The picture quality on this tv rivals if not beats my two year old Sony OLED. I do prefer it over the OLED. You may initially think it's picture simply realistic (in a good way, VERY natural looking) BUT - fed the right signal from the right source it will amaze you. I marvel at its brilliance at producing incredible sharpness/brightness/blacks and EYE-POPPING COLOR. Play with ALL of its settings. It will give you picture adjustments for each input; over-air, Apple TV, 4k bluray, etc. Initially it steered a little too red and a little too yellow/sepia cast for my tastes. Once I tinkered in its plethora of adjustments it quickly came into line and blew me away. Note; even adjustments for how the tv processes the HDMI signal of each input changes the image. Play around with it and you'll be amazed. The SOUND is far more impressive than expected. My brother bought himself one along with a sound bar and returned the sound bar as the TV itself sounds so incredible. Again, play with the sound settings there are plenty including bass boost, dialogue enhancements etc. Once I placed mine upon the wall the sound improved even more with the bass using the wall hollow to amply its presence. I got mine for less than half its original manufacture suggested price which made it a no-brainer but I'd easily say it's worth whatever you pay for it. Enjoy.

NO VOLUME FROM TV SPEAKERS!!! Volume didn't work out of the box, and the video quality is not impressive. A much cheaper TV would give the same picture quality. I'm very disappointed!