Hands on: Panasonic Z86C (Z85C) review.
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It’s been an open secret in the TV and AV world that Panasonic has been quietly struggling to keep pace with the likes of Samsung, LG, Hisense and TCL; and honestly, that’s not surprising, and it’s not really the company’s fault.
Panasonic has always championed a quality AV experience rather than cutting corners to achieve lower price tags; that’s why its OLED TVs can be found in prestigious Hollywood studios and in the homes of cinephiles around the world.
We’ve championed Panasonic’s best OLEDs for a long time, but that wasn’t enough to prevent the company from making a deal to offload its TV business to China’s AV giant Skyworth Shenzen due to mediocre sales figures and challenging market conditions.
That partnership was announced at Panasonic Experience 2026 in Munich, and we were in the audience to hear the news first-hand, and to see the company’s surprisingly rare OLED TV lineup for 2026.
It includes the existing (and excellent) Z95B and Z90B, as well as this new entry-level model we’re here to discuss today.
The Z85C, or Z86C as it’s known in the UK, is currently the only new OLED TV Panasonic will launch in 2026, and while we didn’t get a chance to test it properly at the company’s Munich campus, we do have a first impression to share.
Price
We’re yet to find out pricing details for the Z85C/Z86C, although Panasonic seems to be suggesting that it will be priced competitively, which makes sense given that it now has solid support in the space.
We think the main competitors for this OLED set will include the upcoming LG B6 and Samsung S85H, and we can see it taking on the three-star Toshiba XF9F in this arena as well.
There’s also the five-star Philips OLED760 to contend with, which could prove a thorn in Panasonic’s side here in Europe.
Build it
The cheapest option in Panasonic’s OLED lineup has an understandably basic design compared to the eye-catching Z90B and Z95B models.
It feels more plasticky than premium, cloth-clad flagship models, which is to be expected given that it’s under Panasonic’s new OLED lineup.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t look good from an aesthetic point of view. The thin bezels around the display look more sleek than the aforementioned TVs, as there’s no built-in soundbar to add bulk to the chin of this set.
However, the circular staircase stands out, and it looks quite simple on the 55-inch model we saw. The bonus here, though, is that it supports the rotation function if you need to point your screen at an off-center couch.
If we talk about screen sizes, the TV will only be available in 55 and 65 inches. That’s rare in the budget OLED market, but a smaller 48-inch or larger 77-inch screen option would have been a nice touch.
Features
We’ll start this section with the most interesting feature of this TV: the panel. Panasonic has confirmed (in a very roundabout way) that this TV uses LG Display’s new OLED SE panel, which removes the polariser and aims for a lower peak brightness compared to OLED EX to keep costs down.
When we caught up with LG Display at CES 2026, it confirmed that the new panel technology will be coming to entry-level OLEDs this year, and this is the first production model we’ve seen featuring it. It also said that while the panel technology won’t be as bright as some high-end ones, it will be brighter than the older OLED panels found in current models.
Panasonic keeps things simple by simply referring to the Z86C as having a “new OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate”. In terms of gaming features, the Z86C features two HDMI 2.1 sockets, which support signals up to 4K/120Hz with VRR and ALLM.
Sound-wise, this TV sports a built-in 2.1 channel speaker system, with a few details about its capabilities announced at the Panasonic Experience.
However, we do know that this TV will feature the Fire TV operating system in the UK, while the international version of the Z86C will play Google TV.
A photo
Viewing conditions for the Z86C were less than ideal, as we were in a brightly lit event space with a looping reel of standard sci-fi demo content on the screen. That being said, we can see a few promising signs from the Z86C.
The benefits of the OLED SE proved tangible to our eyes, as it managed to hold its own in the spotlight, despite harsh local lighting conditions.
The trade-off was that the display was more noticeable compared to the Z90B, which was also displayed closely.
Images of planets, galaxies and other space objects look great on this budget panel, with the deep inky depth of space contrasting well with the rich colors.
The stars didn’t pop out against the depths of black space like they did on the Z90B, which was manually synced to show the same content for comparison purposes, but that’s to be expected with a step-down model.
In general, the Z86C looked powerful, sharp and bright by budget OLED standards during our brief time using the TV; although more testing is needed before we make a final decision.
The sound
As is often the case with these hands-on TV sessions, the sound is muted on the Z86C, which – as you might imagine – makes sound testing very difficult.
We’ll have to test the TV more fully to assess its sound capabilities, but we can hope it’s on par with the Z90B and Z95B (both of which scored four out of five for sound) for now.
Early decision
It’s too early to finalize our thoughts on the Z86C, but what we do know is that it marks a very interesting change for Panasonic.
Early signs point to it being a promising OLED TV level, which is good news, because it will have as many legs as Panasonic’s new 2026 OLED.
It probably won’t appeal to cinephiles in the same way that the Z95B and Z90B did, but in a world where cheap TVs are becoming drivers of larger units, the Z86C could be just what Panasonic needs right now.
MORE:
Read our full Panasonic Z90B review
And ours LG C5 review
And check out the excellent OLED TVs
