Panasonic’s new top-tier OLED TVs come with Fire TV baked in

When it comes to picture quality Panasonic has regularly had some of the best 4K TVs in the business, but its smart TV offerings weren’t quite as slick as the ones you’d find on rival sets. The firm has teamed up with Amazon to change that for 2024: the Panasonic Z95A and Z93A will ship with Fire TV on board, no dongle required. An all-new image processing chipset and a brighter OLED panel should also give them a major picture quality boost over the previous generation.

The Z95A is coming in 55in and 65in screen sizes, while the Z93A is a mammoth 77in.

With Fire TV now the default smart TV OS, there’s no need to plug in one of Amazon’s streaming sticks to stream, control your Alexa-enabled smart home kit, or sit back with Ambient Experience. This turns your TV into a colossal smart display stuffed full of widgets, and doubles as a digital art gallery.

A far-field mic built into the Panasonic Z95A and Z93A can pick up your voice from across the room, no remote control required, for Alexa voice controls. There’s also Apple Home support, with Siri voice commands and AirPlay streaming direct from an iPhone, Mac or iPad.

Panasonic hasn’t entirely handed the software reigns over to Amazon. The firm’s Penta Tuner, for satellite, cable, antenna and IPTV reception can handle just about any way of watching traditional television, makes a return. You still use a Panasonic branded remote, not a Fire TV one, with customisable MyApp button for diving straight into a specific app or channel.

Picture quality remains top of Panasonic’s priorities list. Both the Z95A and Z93A get a new HCX Pro AI Processor MK II, which combines AI and algorithms to remaster 4K content on the fly with greater noise reduction and sharper images. Gradation banding has been reduced compared to last year, too.

The combo of Micro Lens Array panel and multi-layer heatsink helps each screen deliver a higher peak brightness than the outgoing model (though Panasonic hasn’t said by exactly how much), and both sets support Dolby Vision IQ Precision detail. This new picture preset uses an ambient light sensor built into the TV to adjust the light levels in each area of the screen to squeeze out the maximum amount of detail, based on how bright your room is, while avoiding a washed-out appearance.

Gamers will appreciate the new Game Mode Extreme preset, which supports variable refresh rates and Dolby Vision gaming at up to 144Hz for the first time. A new HDR picture adjustment setting can also disable tone mapping on the TV itself, letting you tweak settings from the source instead – all but eliminating overblown highlights.

Audio expert (and Panasonic sub-brand) Technics has had a hand in tuning the built-in multidirectional speakers, which play nicely with Dolby Atmos and the firm’s 360 Soundscape Pro upmixing for immersive audio.

There’s no word on pricing just yet, or when the new models will start shipping. I’d expect them to land towards the summer, and that you’ll need a sizeable overdraft in order to get one in your living room.

• Related: What is Filmmaker Mode? The Ultra HD picture mode explained