TechTvsPanasonic MZ1500 review: pitch perfect picture qualityThe Panasonic MZ1500 is the company’s one-from-top 2023 OLED TV - and its pictures are stunningWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictPanasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressedWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechTvsPanasonic MZ1500 review: pitch perfect picture qualityThe Panasonic MZ1500 is the company’s one-from-top 2023 OLED TV - and its pictures are stunningWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictPanasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressedWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
The Panasonic MZ1500 is the company’s one-from-top 2023 OLED TV - and its pictures are stunning
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future)T3 VerdictPanasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressed
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
T3 VerdictPanasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressed
T3 VerdictPanasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.
T3 Verdict
Panasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs, certainly not when the result is picture quality that’s as lifelike and confident as this. The MZ1500 is an easy contender for one of 2023’s best OLED TVs - and, for most people, an even more likely purchase than the top-tier and soundsystem-toting MZ2000.
Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressed
Reasons to buy+Poised, utterly convincing picture quality+An extensive specification+Improved gaming features…
Poised, utterly convincing picture quality
An extensive specification
Improved gaming features…
Reasons to avoid-…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets-Not without competition-Can sound stressed
…but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets
Not without competition
Can sound stressed
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Panasonic has always positioned itself as the grown-up option and the choice of professionals when it comes to televisions - and given the company’s ubiquity in pre- and post-production facilities in Hollywood and beyond, that seems fair enough. This rather high-minded attitude has sometimes made itsbest TVsseem less than compelling to consumers, though.
With the MZ1500 on review here, Panasonic isn’t soft-pedalling its pro credentials in the slightest - but it wants to entice gamers, as well as viewers, with the thoroughness of its specification. This kind of across-the-board appeal doesn’t come cheap, mind you. So does this new Panasonic make a case for itself away from Tinseltown as one ofthe best OLED TVsyour hard-earned money can buy?
Panasonic MZ1500: Price & Availability
The Panasonic TX-55MZ1500 on review here - that’s the 55-inch model, there’s also the 65-inch version (TX-65MZ1500) - is on sale from August 2023, and in the UK is priced at £2199. Panasonic has long since given up trying to sell televisions in North America - it’s too busy churning out batteries for EVs, so it says - but in Australia it’s likely to cost around AU$4099 at this size.
Despite its position in the Panasonic TV 2023 line-up as ‘flagship-but-one’, the MZ1500 is still a fairly pricey proposition. The corresponding models from LG, Philips,SamsungandSonyare all less expensive to a lesser or greater extent - but Panasonic is hoping the thoroughness of its specification (along with its performance, of course) will allow the MZ1500 to make a case for itself.
Panasonic MZ1500 review: Features & What’s New?
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Auto AI reckons it knows what’s best no matter the incoming signal or the ambient conditions, so you can hand over all responsibility for picture quality if you so desire.NetflixAdaptive Calibrated Mode should bring the best from that service’s content, while True Game Mode intends to do the same with content served from current-gen consoles.
And where gaming is concerned, Panasonic reckons its new ‘Game Mode Extreme’ halves input lag compared to its 2020 OLEDs - which means the MZ1500 should now be respectable in this respect, rather than leisurely. Only two of its four HDMI inputs are at 2.1 standard, though, and one of those is also theeARC socket- quite why any HDMI input on any pricey-ish TV should only be at 2.0 standard is anyone’s guess.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Panasonic MZ1500 review: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
‘Authenticity’ is a big picture-quality ambition where Panasonic is concerned - and if you give the MZ1500 some suitably good-looking content, and then let its fearsome combination of technologies do their thing, ‘authenticity’ is what you can expect.
At the opposite end of the scale, there’s proper punch and pop to white tones - Panasonic’s efforts to liberate superior brightness from the EX panel have worked a treat - as well as a similar amount of fine detail and variety. Contrasts, as a consequence, are wide and convincing - and the MZ1500 has no problems dealing accurately with dark scenes containing even small points of light.
Tight, complex patterns can’t faze the Panasonic, and neither can textures. This TV is more than capable of describing even vanishingly small disparities in the textures of clothing, of plant-life, or of building materials. Ordinarily, it doesn’t help to start throwing words like ‘accuracy’ and ‘precision’ around when discussing the pictures a television serves up, simply because they so seldom truly apply. In this instance, though, they’re entirely appropriate.
Edge-definition is equally impressive, as is depth of field. And when it comes to motion-control, there’s apparently no on-screen movement that can force the MZ1500 into revealing how hard it’s working. Fast and unpredictable motion, achingly slow pans, movement that’s opposed to the direction the camera’s moving in… none of it causes any problems. The Panasonic simply locks onto it and keeps it stable.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Stepping down in resolution - not too far, mind - allows the HCX Pro AI processor to show off its upscaling talents. And it’s fair to say they’re considerable: a 1080p broadcast might be giving away the last shred of fine detail, and might allow the tiniest hint of softening where edges in a complex scene are concerned, but broadly speaking there’s nothing to take issue with here. Properly vintage stuff from the mid-80s can look a bit of a mess, it’s true, but if that’s the sort of stuff you like to watch then there’s really no need to be spending all this money on an MZ1500.
The story is similarly gratifying when the switch to console gaming is made. The Panasonic’s remarkable facility with contrasts means lighting effects are outstanding, and its ability to peer into even the murkiest scenes and return with worthwhile information takes a lot of the uncertainty out of those RPGs that rely on shadows for their jump-scares. The grippy motion-control makes racing games look a stable, confident treat, and access to the Game Control Board makes the whole gaming experience a lot less fraught than it otherwise would be. Especially if you pin the GCB to the ‘My App’ button on the remote control, giving you the shortest of short-cuts to all that info.
The MZ1500 even sounds pretty decent, too - or, at least, it does if you stay within its reasonably compact comfort zone. At lower volumes, the sound is actually quite robust and full-scale - it’s direct rather than directional, and there’s more than enough clarity to the midrange to make dialogue simple to follow even if the sonic action is kicking off all around. This very listenable performance might tempt you to wind the volume up a bit - but no good can come of it. At bigger levels the Panasonic can sound quite stressed, delivering an increase in volume that’s less apparent than the increase in top-end edginess and the lack of low-end discipline. If you’re not interested in properly cinematic volume levels, the MZ1500 sounds fine - but if you are, budget for one ofthe best soundbarsinstead.
Panasonic MZ1500 review: Design & Usability
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
There’s sometimes elegance in simplicity, and the Panasonic MZ1500 is certainly a simple television where design is concerned. When viewed from dead ahead its bezels are narrow to the point of invisibility, and the mesh-covered ‘soundbar’-style speaker enclosure that carries the TV’s only branding is flawlessly integrated. The almost-but-not-quite circular pedestal stand is 390mm wide and 350mm deep (so the MZ1500 doesn’t need a big surface to stand on) and allows the screen to swivel through almost 30 degrees (so getting the optimal viewing angle is no trouble at all).
The screen and stand weigh a manageable 21kg for the 55-inch model, and if you prefer to wall-mount said new Panasonic TV then it’s 16kg without its stand and VESA-compatible. Bear in mind that the MZ1500 is a full 69mm deep in the places it’s not OLED-slim, though, and the integrated cable-management is rudimentary at best - so it’s perhaps not the most wall-hangable television this sort of money will buy.
Build quality and the standard of finish is not to be argued with, mind you. Admittedly you have to shop deep in the entry level to find a new TV that’s not especially well made, but from its pedestal stand to the quality of the plastics that make up the rear of the panel, the MZ1500 looks and feels ready to last for the long haul.
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
There’s the option of the Panasonic ‘TV Remote 3’ control app - it’s basic but none the worse for it - or you may prefer the sound of your own voice when it comes to getting your bidding done. If that’s the case, the Panasonic hasAmazon Alexabuilt in and also works withGoogleAssistant.
Panasonic MZ1500 review: Verdict
(Image credit: Panasonic)
(Image credit: Panasonic)
The Panasonic MZ1500’s specification-to-price ratio might look slightly lop-sided on first acquaintance - but you don’t have to spend long in the company of this TV to discover it’s all business.
If picture fidelity - which is, let’s not forget, distinct from ‘vibrancy’, ‘pop’ or all those other words that can describe an initially very exciting picture - is what you truly value, then Panasonic has you covered.
Panasonic once again demonstrates there’s nothing boring about being grown up when it comes to TVs. The MZ1500 is an easy contender as one of 2023’s best OLED TVs.
Also consider
It’s difficult to look beyond theLG C3when casting around for obvious rivals to the MZ1500. It’s usefully cheaper than the Panasonic for a 55-inch model, it’s got the best combination of gaming features out there, and while it lacks the out-and-out faithfulness of the Panasonic’s images, there’s really not much wrong with the pictures it delivers. Or if you value a point of difference (or two), then you need to see thePhilips OLED+907- it has Ambilight, it has Bowers & Wilkins sound, it has tremendous picture-making abilities, and it has the oddest remote control around.
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