Panasonic TX-55MX650B: 55-inch 4K Ultra HD LED Smart TV Panasonic - Review 🏆

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B is a 55 inch 4K Ultra HD LED smart TV that was released in 2022. Part of Panasonic's mid-range MX series, this TV aims to deliver premium picture and sound quality along with smart features at an affordable price point.

Some of the highlights of the TX-55MX650B include its 4K resolution and HDR support, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, voice assistant integration, and smart TV platform powered by Panasonic's My Home Screen operating system. With sleek, minimalist styling, this LED LCD TV looks great in any living room.

In this review, we will take an in-depth look at the Panasonic TX-55MX650B's design, display quality, sound, smart features, connectivity, ease of use, pros and cons to help you determine if it's the right 4K TV for your needs and budget.

Design

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B has an attractive design with slim bezels around the display for a more immersive viewing experience. The TV has a minimalist style with a thin black frame around the screen.

The stand has a unique arched design with a matte black plastic finish. It provides sturdy support for the TV while complementing the slim bezels. The stand's curved shape adds a touch of style. There's no cable management system on the stand itself, but the back panel has clips to neatly guide cables down to the ports.

Overall, the TX-55MX650B has a premium, understated aesthetic. The thin bezels and unique stand design give it a sleek, modern look that should fit well in most living rooms. While not the flashiest TV, its subtle style remains appealing.

Similarly, the Panasonic TX-55MX800B: 55-inch 4K Ultra HD LED Smart TV boasts a stunning design, featuring a larger screen size and ultra-slim profile that enhances any room's aesthetics. With 4K Ultra HD resolution, it offers remarkable picture clarity. The sleek stand echoes the TX-55MX650B's modern style while providing stability. This TV integrates smart features that allow easy access to various streaming services, making it a stylish and functional addition to your entertainment setup.

Display & Picture Quality

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B features a 55-inch 4K LED display with 3840 x 2160 resolution. The TV utilizes Panasonic's latest-generation LED panel, which delivers vibrant colors, deep blacks and excellent contrast.

The 4K resolution provides an ultra-sharp picture with fine details. You'll be able to appreciate the difference when viewing native 4K content. Even upscaled HD content looks great thanks to Panasonic's 4K processing engine.

The TV supports High Dynamic Range (HDR) including HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision formats. This results in a wider range of brightness levels and more accurate, lifelike colors. HDR content truly shines on this TV with enhanced contrast and expanded color gamut.

Viewing angles are also very good thanks to the IPS panel. Color and brightness remain consistent even when viewing the TV at extreme side angles. The whole family can enjoy a great picture quality no matter where they are sitting.

Overall, the picture performance of the Panasonic TX-55MX650B is excellent. The 4K resolution provides crisp details, HDR support delivers an expanded color spectrum, and the TV handles upscaling lower resolution content remarkably well. Whether you're watching movies, sports or playing games, this TV provides an immersive viewing experience.

Additionally, for those who prefer a smaller option, the Panasonic TX-32JS350B: 32-inch Smart HD Ready TV is an excellent choice. This compact 32-inch Smart TV offers HD Ready resolution, providing great clarity for everyday viewing. Its sleek design fits well in smaller spaces, and with smart functionality, users can easily access streaming services and apps. Perfect for bedrooms or kitchens, the TX-32JS350B delivers quality entertainment without compromising on space.

Sound Quality

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B has excellent sound quality, thanks to its Dolby Atmos audio system. Dolby Atmos provides immersive, multi-dimensional sound by adding height channels, allowing audio to come from all directions for a cinematic experience.

The TV has a 2.1 channel speaker system with two 10W stereo speakers and a 20W woofer. The two stereo speakers handle the mids and highs, while the woofer provides impactful bass. Together, they produce a powerful 40W output.

Dolby Atmos really shines when watching movies, as sound effects seem to come from all around you. Explosions and action sequences have serious punch, while atmospheric effects like rain or wind envelop you. Dialogue is clear and focused, so you won't miss any important lines.

While a dedicated surround sound system is preferable for the full Dolby Atmos effect, the built-in speakers still provide an immersive audio experience on their own. The speaker system can fill a room with sound and make movies really come alive.

Overall, the Dolby Atmos support and capable speaker system provide an impressive cinematic audio experience on the Panasonic TX-55MX650B. It's great for movies and also handles music well.

Smart TV Features

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B comes with Panasonic's intuitive WebOS smart platform that provides quick access to popular streaming apps and services. It has built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa voice assistants so you can control your TV and smart home devices hands-free.

Some of the key smart features include:

• WebOS: The WebOS platform provides a simple and customizable home screen to access apps quickly. It's smooth and responsive for easy navigation.

• Voice Assistants: With built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, you can change channels, adjust volume, search for content, and control smart home devices completely hands-free. The far-field mics work well to pick up voice commands from across the room.

• App Selection: Popular streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, and more are available. WebOS provides quick access to them from the home screen. The app library covers most major streaming services.

• Web Browser: It has a web browser app so you can surf the internet directly on the TV. This is convenient for quick online searches and browsing.

• Screen Mirroring: You can mirror your smartphone or tablet screen directly to the TV. This allows you to view content from your mobile device on the big screen easily.

Overall, the WebOS platform offers a smooth and intuitive smart TV experience with voice control options and easy access to top apps and services. It covers the essentials that most users need in a smart TV.

Connectivity

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B offers a robust set of connectivity options, making it easy to connect your various devices.

• HDMI - The TV has 3 HDMI ports, including 1 HDMI 2.1 port. The HDMI 2.1 port supports advanced gaming features like 4K 120Hz, Variable Refresh Rate, and Auto Low Latency Mode. This ensures you can connect your latest gaming consoles and get the smoothest experience.

• USB - There are 2 USB ports, allowing you to connect hard drives to play media files or record live TV directly onto a storage device. One of the ports is USB 3.0 for faster transfer speeds.

• Bluetooth - Built-in Bluetooth allows you to pair wireless devices like headphones and speakers directly with the TV. This gives you an easy cable-free listening option.

• WiFi - The TV has built-in WiFi supporting the latest WiFi 6 standard. This ensures fast and reliable wireless connectivity, especially useful if you want to stream content or mirror screens from mobile devices. WiFi 6 also provides more bandwidth and stability when multiple devices are connected simultaneously.

Overall, the ample HDMI ports, fast USB 3.0, Bluetooth, and WiFi 6 ensure seamless connectivity with all your media devices.

Ease of Use

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B is very easy and intuitive to use, thanks to its simple remote control, clear settings menu, and voice control capabilities.

The remote control is nicely laid out with frequently used buttons within easy reach. Volume and channel controls are clustered together which makes changing channels a breeze. The home button brings you right back to the main menu. The buttons have a nice tactile feedback and are easy to press without looking.

The settings menu is well organized into logical categories like Picture, Sound, Network, etc. You can quickly adjust settings like picture mode, aspect ratio, audio output and more. The descriptions are clear so you know what each setting does. There's also a Help button on the remote to explain the different options.

For hands-free control, the TV has voice control support. Just press the microphone button on the remote and speak your command. You can launch apps, search for content, change inputs, control playback and more. It worked well in my testing and recognized natural speech.

Overall, Panasonic has designed the TV to be very simple and intuitive to control. Both novice and expert users should feel right at home with the well thought out remote and menus. The addition of voice control makes operating the TV effortless.

Pros

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B has several standout pros that make it a compelling 4K LED TV option:

• Excellent picture quality: The 4K Ultra HD resolution and HDR support produce crisp, detailed images. Reviewers praise the accurate colors, deep blacks, and bright highlights. It handles fast motion scenes well without much blurring.

• Impressive sound: The TV has a powerful 40W speaker system and supports Dolby Atmos for an immersive audio experience. The sound is clear and can get very loud without distortion.

• Intuitive smart platform: Panasonic's My Home Screen OS is smooth and easy to navigate. It provides quick access to popular streaming apps like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, and more.

• Sleek design: The TV has thin bezels and an attractive minimalist design. It looks great whether wall mounted or on a TV stand. The stand provides sturdy support and has a small footprint.

Cons

While the Panasonic TX-55MX650B has many great features, there are a few potential downsides to consider:

• The stand is fixed and cannot swivel, which may limit placement options. Some users may prefer a stand that swivels for maximum flexibility.

• Only 2 HDMI ports. While likely sufficient for most users, those with multiple devices to connect may find the 2 HDMI ports limiting. An additional port or two would allow for more accessories.

• Mediocre built-in speakers. The built-in speakers are serviceable but lacking in bass and volume. Users looking for an immersive audio experience may need to connect external speakers.

• No support for HDR10+. While it supports basic HDR10 and Dolby Vision HDR formats, it lacks support for HDR10+ format. For those with HDR10+ content, this can result in not getting the full HDR benefits.

• Limited viewing angles. Like many LED TVs, the picture quality degrades at wider viewing angles. Those with large living rooms and wide seating may notice the colors washing out from off-center seats.

Overall the cons are relatively minor and the TX-55MX650B still provides excellent value. But these limitations are worth noting for those with specific needs.

Verdict

The Panasonic TX-55MX650B is an impressive 4K HDR TV that delivers a fantastic viewing experience. Its sleek and stylish design will look great in any living room. The large 55-inch screen shows off 4K content beautifully, with deep blacks, vibrant colors, and excellent contrast thanks to the HDR support.

Motion handling is also superb, resulting in smooth, blur-free images whether you're watching sports or action movies. Gaming on this TV is a delight thanks to the low input lag. The audio quality is surprisingly good for a slim TV, with Dolby Atmos providing an immersive soundstage.

The smart TV platform is easy to use with all the popular streaming apps available. Connectivity options are ample too. Overall, the Panasonic TX-55MX650B is an excellent mid-range 4K LED TV that offers premium features and performance at a reasonable price point. It's a great option for buyers looking for a future-proof TV that delivers beautiful 4K HDR visuals, great sound, and smart connectivity.