Panasonic Z90B (TV-48Z90В)

The Z9OB is Panasonic's latest step-down OLED, making it a key rival to two of LG and Samsung's best

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The Panasonic Z90B 48in is a smaller OLED with some serious competition, rivalling as it does the five-star 48in versions of the LG C5 and Samsung S90F.

To enter the fray with some confidence, it is armed to the teeth with many of the benefits that have made past Panasonic sets fan favourites. Chief among those is an ongoing focus on delivering "as the director intended" home cinema experiences.

The Z90B doesn't deviate from the company's past OLED designs, for good and bad. It's a slender TV that is easy to wall mount, while its stand is a large, rectangular pedestal that feels well made and sturdy, with one of our testers describing it as nicely toddler- and pet-proof.

But the speaker bar at the set's bottom returns. This is effectively a bolted-on soundbar that, Panasonic claims, removes the need to invest in a separate sound system. Putting aside the fact that we have yet to find a TV where we can agree with such claims, its inclusion is an annoyance if you already have a soundbar.

The Z90B is well featured for a small OLED TV. It uses a regular WOLED panel rather than the new Primary RGB Tandem OLED tech found on Panasonic's Z95B flagship. However, the Z90B does come with one advantage over its competitors: a heatsink. The smaller dimensions and more tightly packed pixels on OLEDs this size mean the sets can heat up more than their larger siblings, which risks causing performance issues - and, in some instances, damage. This is why, traditionally, companies are much more conservative with how hard they push smaller OLED sets. Hence the lower brightness and performance differences we usually experience on smaller OLEDs. The heatsink in the Z90B, though, should let Panasonic push the panel harder for better performance, all while reducing the risk of burn-in and panel degradation.