▷Panasonic FZ950 review, a quality monster with an interface to review 🥇

Abandon Panasonic FZ950 it will be really difficult. The top of the range OLED of the Osaka giant has forcefully entered my house, bringing with it a lot of quality and revolutionizing my way of seeing TV. But be careful: this does not mean that it is free of defects. In fact, it is penalized by an interface that is decidedly neglected and not exactly in step with the times.

A design to improve

The glance is truly remarkable. Our 950 pollers on Panasonic FZ55 it really looks great once mounted and placed on the chosen piece of furniture. Minimal, extremely thin and at the top and enriched by a soundbar made in collaboration with Technics.

What is missing is the attention to detail. The back, for example, is made of plastic but has a particular texture that should be reminiscent of leather fabrics. The result, however, is certainly not what we wanted: the feeling is in fact that of a coarse solution, not very much in line with the rest of the TV and above all with the price of this OLED. On the front instead we find a compartment designed to hide the cables that connect the soundbar to the TV: it is a pity that its cover is not very stable and elegant.

My concerns also include the two remote controls present in the box. One is pocket-sized, with an all-too-sensitive touch surface and a microphone for voice commands. I know, said that it seems very evolved, but in reality it was inconvenient and not very useful in the long term. The second remote control is much better: here you have all the buttons you need - including a customizable button and the one dedicated to Netflix - and the always much appreciated backlight.

Finally, let's talk about connectivity. You have all the inputs you need at your disposal: 4HDMI, 3 USB, a LAN port, the SD Card slot, the component input, the optical output for audio and the 3,5mm input for headphones.

But be warned: only two HDMI ports can handle Ultra HD 12-bit and 60Hz HDR signals, so choose carefully what to connect and how. However, this will not be the only parameter to consider. Only two HDMI connections are angled and therefore remain flat. This means that you may have some problems with the wall installation and even with the application of the panel which should hide all the entrances.

A truly amazing viewing experience

The strong point of this Panasonic FZ950 is undoubtedly the image quality. The Japanese company has really put all of its experience to work to offer an excellent TV right out of the box. Yes, you have it available an avalanche of settings which allow you to really change any parameter, but you will hardly need it. Of course, experts can have fun changing some settings, but 90% of users can be satisfied with the result offered by 2 presets in particular: Professional 1 and Professional 2. Both offer a truly excellent yield without requiring further intervention.

Good brightness, color rendering and depth of black, as well as support for HDR10, HDR10 + and HLG, while the Dolby Vision one is absent which yes, it is not essential, but is now increasingly used by Netflix. Finally, the viewing angle is remarkable, which allows you to enjoy this Panasonic FZ950 even from the most remote corners of your sofa.

And the audio? That is entrusted to the aforementioned soundbar made in collaboration with Technics, brand of the Panasonic group. Installing it won't be easy, but it will be worth it. After arguing with the proprietary cable and the different screws, you will have a 4 x 20 watt stereo speaker at your disposal. Nothing exciting but it actually does a pretty good job. To get the best out of the soundbar, however, you will need to go to the Audio Settings and activate the Surround Cinema. Don't expect miracles and terrific basses, the latter have not really arrived, but on the other hand you can really enjoy the movies with a multichannel soundtrack.

An interface to review

The real drawback of this OLED TV is undoubtedly represented by the interface. The TV guide seems to come out of the 90s, the settings can certainly be improved and the screen dedicated to the “smart” part of the TV, the one that contains the various applications, is almost aseptic. There is neither modernity nor intuitiveness.

What weighs like a brick, however, is the lack of coherence. It almost seems like the software was made by different teams, with different styles, who met by chance at the end of the job. In short, Panasonic still has a lot of work to do here.

On the other hand, it is impossible to complain on the content front. In reality i found all the apps i needed: there is Netflix, there is Prime Video, there is Infinity, Chili, DAZN and Rai Play. All apps that work very well despite the system not being a speed champion.

Panasonic FZ950E: buy it or not?

It's not perfect, but I really liked the Panasonic FZ950E quite a lot. The quality of OLED in fact meets here the experience of the Japanese company giving life to a product that can give you a definitely amazing visual experience. And if you are passionate or experienced, you will appreciate it even more. Of course, it has some flaws but nothing insurmountable. The price? 2.499 euros for the 55-inch model we tested, while it rises to 3.799 for the 65-inch variant.