It’s no secret that most TVs don’t have very good built-in sound, even pricey models with an exceptional picture. Quite often, a TV’s speakers will sound tinny and flat, with weak bass, making a soundbar a necessary add-on.
Not every TV has bad built-in sound, however. Panasonic and Sony produce some of the best TVs for picture quality, as well as some 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 becomes an option rather than a necessity. But, how do built-in speaker systems on Panasonic and Sony TVs compare?
The Panasonic Z95B and Sony Bravia 8 II, the 2025 flagship OLED TVs for both brands, were participants in TechRadar’s recent OLED four-way showdown test with a casual viewing panel. And since those TVs were in the same room, I had the opportunity to also put the built-in speakers of both TVs to the test.
To make this a fair test, I used the Standard sound preset at the default settings on both TVs throughout. And, before conducting tests, I used a pink noise video on YouTube and a SPL meter app to level-match them both to 70dB volume. This meant the louder of the two couldn’t influence the results. I then chose three movie scenes I frequently use in my testing, focusing on one element for each: speech, bass and surround 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 as the Samsung HW-Q990F, the sound on some TVs can extend beyond the screen to provide a more immersive experience. For this test, I used two different scenes: first, the Darkstar flight test from the start of Top Gun: Maverick, and a time-bending musical sequence from Sinners.
With Top Gun: Maverick, the Z95B delivered a wide soundstage, with the sound extending beyond the borders of the screen. As the Darkstar took off over Admiral Cain’s head, the Z95B’s vivid height effects made me feel like the jet flew overhead. Wind, noises within the cockpit, and the creaking of panels were clear and precise, providing a you-are-there experience.
The Bravia 8 II didn’t have the same wide soundstage as the Z95B, but it did deliver sound effects with real clarity, control, and a tighter overall balance than the Panasonic. It also did a great job with height effects, including the same sequence of the Darkstar flying overhead. Still, the Bravia 8 II couldn’t quite match the Z95B’s room-filling, immersive power.
I also used the time-bending musical performance in the barn from the movie Sinners for my comparison. During my testing of this 4K Blu-ray for TechRadar’s Blu-ray Bounty feature, I found that this scene had excellent sound positioning, with our reference Samsung HW-Q990C soundbar rendering the placement of instruments with pinpoint precision. I wanted to see how accurately the TVs could replicate this.
Both the Z95B and Bravia 8 II delivered accurate mapping of sound in the scene, but the Z95B was more precise, and it had the same wide soundstage I’d heard earlier. Neither could recreate the same 3D effect as the HW-Q990C soundbar, but the Z95B was the closer of the two.
During my testing, I found that the Bravia II had Dynamic Range settings in its menu. The Compressed setting, which was on by default with the Standard sound preset selected, made the overall sound much louder and more powerful. The Standard Dynamic Range setting felt more accurate and delivered a wider soundstage, but was much quieter. For this scene in Sinners, Standard Dynamic Range proved to be the better option. Also, setting the Sound Processing from Sony to Dolby added a slightly wider dynamic range.
Overall, however, the Z95B still delivered the more accurate surround sound in both the Top 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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james.davidson@futurenet.com (James Davidson)
