W95 Series 65-inch Mini LED 4K Ultra HD Smart Fire TV, Sport Stadium Mode, ATSC3.0, Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+ Adaptive, Press and Ask Alexa, 144Hz, Wall-mountable - 65W95AP

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: 9/10 Image 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: 8/10 Sound 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: 7/10 The 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: 9/10 I 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: 9/10 This 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: 8.5/10 Value 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 took two tries to get a working TV. First arrived with a damaged screen. Second was damage free. I wasn't going to try again if damaged twice. The packaging is not the best for surviving rough handling in shipping and Panasonic should think about upgrading it. That said this TV is probably the best bang for buck going at current prices for a mini led. It isn't the best in contrast or brightness but makes up for it with good image processing and color accuracy. It's not the best choice for hard core gamers either with VRR limitations with local dimming. I don't game much so not an issue for me. It won't get you OLED blacks but they aren't too far off. In a dark room you will notice it more. I find it best to have accent lighting to help with perceived blackness. HDR impact isn't too shabby being not the brightest. It still provides a good viewing experience. Just enough to make your eyes react without being too intense. Reflection handling is also a bit weak on this set If you have any light sources in view you will see them and it will distract you. Best to have control of lighting and have a room on the darker side as even walls and ceilings will reflect if on the lighter side color wise. It's only on darker scenes anyway as otherwise the TV is bright enough to overcome them. As far as build quality goes it is mid tier but feels pretty solid overall. I just hope it lasts as long as the Viera line of TVs did. My old 19 incher refused to die. So overall it is good enough. Just know it has some limitations that if you can manage will make it a good choice especially at the current pricing. I give it 5 stars at current pricing for the value but a lower rating for prices closer to MSRP.

As someone who proudly identifies as an OLED snob, I’ve long dismissed LED TVs. Especially older edge-lit models, for their blooming issues, grayish “black” levels, and overall washed-out look in dark rooms. MiniLED has definitely stepped up the LED game, but honestly, I never saw myself owning one. I’ve just seen too many bad examples firsthand. That said, my parents were still using my old Samsung HU8550. It was TV they adored, but as a home theater enthusiast, I knew it was on its last legs. The edge-lit problems were obvious to me, even if they couldn’t see them. Movie nights at their place were starting to make me wince inside. When I heard Panasonic was returning to the US TV market, I was hyped. Back in the day, Panasonic was a heavy hitter, right up there with Sony and Pioneer in terms of display quality, especially in the plasma era. But let’s be honest, they had a downfall. When Panasonic went Best Buy exclusive in the US, their quality noticeably dipped, and the brand’s reputation started to crumble. Eventually, they pulled out of the US TV market entirely around 2016, leaving a big hole in the home theater community. I already own the fantastic Panasonic UB820 4K Blu-ray player, so I knew they were still capable of delivering excellent picture processing. I just didn’t know if their first US MiniLED effort would live up to the old Panasonic glory days. But when I saw the W95A’s RTINGS review, I was shocked: they rated it poorly, even suggesting some mid-tier Hisense and TCL sets were better. Really? Panasonic’s return to the US was a bust? So I initially passed, waiting for something that met my high standards without breaking the bank (especially since I hoped my siblings would help split the cost). Then Amazon dropped a deal I couldn’t ignore: $599 for the 65” W95A, which originally retailed for $1,799. I figured, even if it’s just okay, it would definitely be better than what my parents were using. So, I pulled the trigger. After setting it up and carefully tuning the picture settings, I was blown away. The black levels? Surprisingly excellent for a MiniLED. The colors? Bright, vibrant, and punchy. The motion handling and picture processing? Not quite on the level of my Sony A95K (to be fair, that’s a $4,000 QD-OLED), but seriously impressive especially for the price. And here’s the kicker: I couldn’t notice any blooming issues. That’s right, the thing that’s always bugged me the most about LED TVs just wasn’t a problem here. The local dimming zones handled highlights and dark scenes beautifully. No distracting halos, no washed-out contrast. Just clean, controlled black levels and crisp image detail that left me genuinely impressed. My parents? They absolutely love the TV. And honestly, I think RTINGS’ review didn’t do this set justice. It really makes me question whether they’re as unbiased as they claim, or if certain brands just get an automatic pass or fail. If you’re in the market for a 4K TV, I highly recommend checking out the Panasonic W95A. It’s a total steal when on sale, and it’s made me super curious about how Panasonic’s upcoming OLEDs will stack up. My trusty old Sony A80G might just be staring down retirement soon… LOL.

Update: changed my review from 3 stars to 1 star. This has been the most frustrating, convoluted “smart” tv experience I’ve ever had to deal with. Fire tv os is a nightmare. There is a new problem daily. The remote loses connection and functionality. One second you’re using voice search the next it doesn’t recognize the remote as a voice remote. There is no dedicated switch input button. If you assign that function to the one custom button on the remote, the remote forgets it anyway. Everything is hidden deep in a wall of menus. Trying to set your TV to your preferences is like wrestling a thousand pound greased hog while the world sits on you. If you try to run the “smart” through an external device, you lose all of the bells and whistles you bought the TV for in the first place. Alexa is terrible. I have such buyer’s remorse. Why oh why, Panasonic did you have to go with Fire Tv pOS? Your tv’s are amazing but no one will ever know. Great tv. The worst OS in existence. The good: the picture is great. Gaming mode is great. Super bright. Great color. Good wifi connection. There are some fantastic features packed into this. Vrr, expanded HDR modes, 144hz refresh is like a massage for your eyes and brain. The not so good: A crowded, badly designed remote and mid tier sound quality. Occasional ads before the ambient experience kicks in - which is super messed up Amazon. I wanted a tv not to be forced to watch ads instead of my ambient experience. Video play stops if you adjust sounds or video options while watching something. Makes it annoying to adjust your sound levels. Alexa never shuts up. You search for something and get a blog. No good.

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.

I work in IT, and I’ve unboxed so many cheap Roku TVs that feel like flimsy pieces of garbage with questionable longevity, but this unit feels like a tank—super solid build quality. The picture is where it gets crazy, and a lot of that is down to that signature Panasonic processing everyone talks about. Even though it 'only' has 192 dimming zones, their processing wizardry makes the blacks look ink-deep and the colors look incredibly natural—not that fake, neon-boosted look you get with other brands. It just feels cinematic and accurate right out of the box. I was expecting to need a soundbar immediately, but the built-in sound is actually punchy and loud enough on its own. For built-in TV sound, it is well above average. Fire OS definitely isn't my favorite platform, and I’ll admit the setup process was a little janky at first. But after running the updates, it smoothed out and works perfectly now. Honestly, call this the best kept secret in affordable Mini LED TVs. If you're on the fence, don't hesitate to purchase this. It's an incredible value.

Delivered with no issues. Great tv. Played with the settings a bit to dial in my preferred results, and the tv looks great. 2 gripes though. 1. The remote is so tiny and barebones. It's missing an input switch button which is annoying for me because I switch inputs often. It does have a customizable shortcut key that I tied to one of the HDMI but that fix is temporary because without internet the button doesn't work... for some reason it needs internet to remember the offline shortcut, which brings me to the next issue. 2. The tv will drop wifi connection when I turn it off and most of the time not automatically reconnect. I'd have to go to settings to reconnect. This isn't a huge issue as I don't use any of the smart TV stuff and just leave the set disconnected. So a few strange quirks but overall a great picture for the price I got it at. I am unbothered by the VRR / Local Area Dimming quirk.

METHODOLOGY I set this up as my primary daily driver in a living room that gets natural sunlight. I tested it extensively with 4K streaming content to evaluate the local dimming performance and navigated the Fire TV interface daily to check for lag. THE GOOD Picture Quality: The Mini LED backlight provides impressive brightness. The contrast is sharp, and the colors pop significantly more than standard LED panels I have used. System Performance: The Fire TV OS is noticeably responsive. Apps launch quickly, and navigating through menus feels snappy without the stutter found on budget sticks. Tuner Spec: The inclusion of ATSC 3.0 is a nice future-proofing feature for over-the-air broadcast users. THE BAD Glare Handling: The screen is highly reflective. If you have lamps or windows opposite the TV, the reflections are distracting and cut through dark scenes. Interface Clutter: While fast, the home screen is dense with sponsored content and ads that you cannot remove, which makes the experience feel less premium. VERDICT This is a high-performance display for those who prioritize brightness and quick smart features. However, due to the reflective coating, it is best suited for rooms where you can control the lighting conditions.