Samsung The Frame (2024) hands-on — is this lifestyle TV right for you?
For those who care greatly about an electronic's aesthetic, Samsung's The Frame lifestyle TV remains a popular choice. Now refreshed for 2024, the latest version of The Frame has a few upgrades that make it a better TV for enjoying digitized artwork on display than before.
The premise of the The Frame 4K QLED 2024 is the same — it's a TV with slightly matte finish and optional ornate bezels to look museum-worthy. But compared to the previous version, the updated model has the Pantone Validated Artful Color check. This basically means that the artwork, under normal lighting conditions, looks even closer to its museum counterparts.
Perhaps more interestingly, the The Frame 2024 takes also introduces a new energy-saving measure. When in Art Mode, the TV's dynamic refresh rate will drop down from 120Hz to the less power-demanding 60Hz.
That said, is this kind of TV the right choice for you? We went hands-on with the Frame 2024 and even conducted some preliminary tests using our benchmarking equipment. Here's what you need to know.
Samsung The Frame 2024: Price and availability
The Frame 2024 is available as of April 4 and starts at $999 for the 43-inch size. It comes in five sizes total, with bezels of different colors and materials coming at a premium. It's part of Samsung's 2024 TV lineup, but sits in the lifestyle category of TVs rather than amongst the traditional OLED or QLED home theater TVs.
Samsung The Frame 2024: Design
The Frame TV is meant to look like art hung on the wall when it's not in use. There are a few design changes Samsung makes compared to the brand's other 2024 TVs to support the effect. First, the TV is compatible with a selection of swappable bezels, though you'll need to pay extra for any one of them.
Though the TV can stand on a set of feet, you're meant to mount it to the wall with a special slim-fit wall mount that makes the TV sit flush to the wall. It also comes with Samsung's One Connect box that offloads all the inputs to a separate box that can be tucked into a cabinet or where it's more accesibile. The box pairs to the TV through the One Invisible Connection, which is basically just a light-colored cable that looks less distracting than a black one.
When mounted properly and fitted with a bezel, The Frame TV certainly looks like it belongs in a museum. The anti-reflective screen eliminates the sheen you normally see on TV screens, making the art displayed look more realistic.
Samsung The Frame 2024: Features
The most consequential new feature for The Frame 2024 is the new dynamic refresh. This eco-minded setting that will kick down the refresh rate of the TV when in it's in art mode (a.k.a. when you're not watching a show or movie). Normally, the anti-reflective 4K TV runs a 120Hz signal, but when in art mode, it'll jump down to 60Hz. If you were to upgrade from a 2021 or 2022 Frame with the 120Hz refresh rate to the new one, you'd possibly see those savings reflecting on your energy bill, too.
Speaking of saving money, now the Samsung Art Store will offer a monthly curation of artworks users can display for free. There are over 2,500 pieces available in the Art Store to purchase otherwise. No matter which art you choose, it should look accurate to how it would in a gallery according to the Pantone Validated Artful Color certification.
You can also display your own images and photo albums using the Samsung SmartThings app. If you want to take it a step further, you could get a Samsung Music Frame as well. The Music Frame acts as a picture frame, Bluetooth speaker and subwoofer for The Frame (or any Samsung TV).
Samsung The Frame 2024: Test results
Ahead of calling the TV in for a full rated review, we were able to pull some preliminary insights on The Frame 2024's performance using our X-Rite i1 Pro spectrophotometer and SpectraCal CalMAN Ultimate calibration software.
Samsung The Frame 2024: Outlook
Designed to artwork and TV content with equal fidelity, Samsung’s The Frame is a TV built for both art fans who prioritize aesthetics. While the test results are solid, they pale compared to some of the other screens Samsung has to offer. We'd say that this isn't the TV to get if picture quality is your highest concern, but if you're all about good looks, The Frame definitely delivers them.
