It’s no secret that almost all TVs don’t have excellent built-in sound, even dear fashions with an distinctive image. Very often, a TV’s audio system will sound tinny and flat, with weak bass, making a soundbar a crucial add-on.
Not each TV has unhealthy built-in sound, nevertheless. Panasonic and Sony produce a number of the best TVs for image high quality, in addition to a number of the best TVs for sound.
As both companies have audio running through their veins, they know good sound, and over the past few years, have released several TVs where adding one of the best soundbars turns into an choice moderately than a necessity. However, how do built-in speaker techniques on Panasonic and Sony TVs examine?
The Panasonic Z95B and Sony Bravia 8 II, the 2025 flagship OLED TVs for each manufacturers, have been contributors in TechRadar’s recent OLED four-way showdown check with an informal viewing panel. And since these TVs have been in the identical room, I had the chance to additionally put the built-in audio system of each TVs to the check.
To make this a good check, I used the Customary sound preset on the default settings on each TVs all through. And, earlier than conducting checks, I used a pink noise video on YouTube and a SPL meter app to level-match them each to 70dB quantity. This meant the louder of the 2 couldn’t affect the outcomes. I then selected three film scenes I often use in my testing, specializing in one aspect for every: speech, bass and encompass sound.
Speech
The first aspect I analyzed is arguably the most important one: speech. Dialogue is often the main victim of bad TV speakers, and I used a scene from Oppenheimer, where Strauss and Oppenheimer first meet at the university, to test dialogue clarity and naturalness on both TVs.
The Z95B benefited greatly from its ‘soundbar’ that sits under the screen, as it provided clear, strong speech throughout the scene. It even handled whispered conversations between Strauss and Oppenheimer well, delivering a clear projection of dialogue.
The Bravia 8 II was no slouch on this scene, either. Speech and voices had a fuller sound to them than on the Panasonic, with a more bassy tone that suited Oppenheimer’s dialogue well. I found dialogue was more natural on the Bravia 8 II, too, with voices sounding a bit higher-pitched on the Z95B.
But for sheer clarity of speech, the Z95B is the winner. Its front speaker array delivered cleaner-sounding speech that was easier to hear throughout Oppenheimer, and with its wider soundstage, voices carried and filled the room better than they did on the Sony TV.
Bass
As TVs are getting thinner in design, bass from TV speakers is becoming increasingly anemic. To test bass performance on these TVs, I used the Batmobile chase from The Batman, a scene I always use to test a TV’s sound quality.
The Z95B delivered seriously punchy bass with this scene, accurately delivering the roar and rumble of the Batmobile’s engine, especially during its startup sequence. The Z95B’s bass was not only room-filling, but I could feel it rumble through the floor. Crucially, its bass was also tightly controlled, allowing other elements within the soundtrack mix to breathe.
The Bravia 8 II’s bass wasn’t as impactful as the Z95B’s. Bass still had decent weight and good heft, though it also felt contained to the screen. The Bravia 8 II is a much slimmer TV than the Z95B, which likely affects bass levels, and although the bass was clean, it just didn’t have the same impact as on the Panasonic.
I did notice that when pushed to higher volumes, 80-plus out of 100, the Bravia 8 II’s bass levels became a lot more powerful. However, I felt some of the control was lost, and sustained viewing became difficult at this volume (I initially had it set to 61, where it remained for most of the testing). For bass, the Z95B’s powerful speaker array once again gave it the win.
Surround sound
The final parameter I tested was surround sound performance. While you’re never going to get the 3D sound you’d get from one of the best Dolby Atmos soundbars, such because the Samsung HW-Q990F, the sound on some TVs can prolong past the display to offer a extra immersive expertise. For this check, I used two totally different scenes: first, the Darkstar flight check from the beginning of High Gun: Maverick, and a time-bending musical sequence from Sinners.
With High Gun: Maverick, the Z95B delivered a large soundstage, with the sound extending past the borders of the display. Because the Darkstar took off over Admiral Cain’s head, the Z95B’s vivid peak results made me really feel just like the jet flew overhead. Wind, noises inside the cockpit, and the creaking of panels have been clear and exact, offering a you-are-there expertise.
The Bravia 8 II did not have the identical large soundstage because the Z95B, but it surely did ship sound results with actual readability, management, and a tighter general steadiness than the Panasonic. It additionally did a fantastic job with peak results, together with the identical sequence of the Darkstar flying overhead. Nonetheless, the Bravia 8 II couldn’t fairly match the Z95B’s room-filling, immersive energy.
I additionally used the time-bending musical efficiency within the barn from the film Sinners for my comparability. Throughout my testing of this 4K Blu-ray for TechRadar’s Blu-ray Bounty characteristic, I discovered that this scene had wonderful sound positioning, with our reference Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar rendering the location of devices with pinpoint precision. I wished to see how precisely the TVs might replicate this.
Each the Z95B and Bravia 8 II delivered correct mapping of sound within the scene, however the Z95B was extra exact, and it had the identical large soundstage I’d heard earlier. Neither might recreate the identical 3D impact because the HW-Q990C soundbar, however the Z95B was the nearer of the 2.
Throughout my testing, I discovered that the Bravia II had Dynamic Vary settings in its menu. The Compressed setting, which was on by default with the Customary sound preset chosen, made the general sound a lot louder and extra highly effective. The Customary Dynamic Vary setting felt extra correct and delivered a wider soundstage, however was a lot quieter. For this scene in Sinners, Customary Dynamic Vary proved to be the higher choice. Additionally, setting the Sound Processing from Sony to Dolby added a barely wider dynamic vary.
General, nevertheless, the Z95B nonetheless delivered the extra correct encompass sound in each the High Gun: Maverick and Sinners scenes.
Final thoughts
The Sony Bravia 8 II delivers brilliant sound that’s better than what you’ll find on most TVs, but, in these particular scenes, and with these settings, I found the Z95B delivered the best overall sound, with the clearest speech, punchiest bass and most immersive surround sound.
Neither of these TVs will beat top soundbars, but most people will be happy with both the Z95B and Bravia 8 II’s built-in sound.
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