Art and technology go hand in hand, this concept seems to fit perfectly with the newly launched TV by Samsung. Catering to its niche segment, Samsung has come up with a new television named, The Frame 4K UHD.
The Frame was launched at CES 2017 and is the very first concept Television being launched by Samsung. The perfect blend of art and technology, it is a must buy for users who appreciate a blend of both. Samsung Frame TV has easily succeeded in attracting users with its aesthetic design, however, it may not be counted as their best when it comes to technical perfections.
Let’s take a detailed look at what the Samsung Frame TV 4k is all about:
Design
Samsung’s Frame is the same as its name. It looks like a picture frame with thick matte borders. The default border is a thick black matte finish border. They, however, are customizable and come in four distinct colors white, beige, wood and walnut and can be bought separately. The frames fit comfortably over the default borders and hence are easy to change as per requirement.
All the borders have a matte finish to blend perfectly with the Art Mode.
The Samsung Frame TV comes with a no-gap wall mount so that, when placed on the wall, it gives the appearance of a frame which leaves no space between TV and wall. Samsung came up with this design to camouflage the device with paintings and artwork in houses.
Frame TV also comes with a basic stand if users want to set it on a table.
To give a more realistic artwork, Samsung also provides an invisible cable that is used to connect TV and OneConnect box.
To some, this setup may sound messy, but for people who are artistic, a TV with thick borders that looks just like real picture frames rather than television frames, is a dream come true. However, where in today’s world every device is emphasizing on minimizing their borders size, this may be a loophole with the Samsung’s The Frame TV 4K UHD.
Samsung The Frame TV comes in 3 screen classes i.e. 43’’, 55’’ and 65’’.
Design Specs:
- Customizable Frame (optional accessory)
- No Gap Wall-Mount
- Brightness Sensor
- Invisible Connection
The Art Mode
The Art Mode is all that this TV is made for. Have you ever used your Chromecast to put a screensaver on your TV? If yes, you can easily relate to the Art Mode in Samsung’s Frame TV. Samsung provides an entire range of high-resolution images that users can choose from. You can even subscribe to the Art Store by paying a subscription fee.
Not just these, users can also use their own pictures to be displayed on the TV. Using the Smart View app by Samsung, personal photographs can be easily downloaded on the phones and synced with the Television. However, both the TV and the phone need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
A point that needs attention here, is that the pictures should be shot at 8MP or above. This is required since the Frame TV cannot upscale the photos automatically, hence, only high-resolution images can be used.
When talking about the Art Mode, the motion sensor can’t be missed. This motion sensor is used to detect any kind of motion in the room where the TV is mounted. The TV frame automatically shifts to the Art Mode whenever the room is vacant for some time. This, however, can also be manually done by users as per the requirement.
The Frame TV is also adaptive to the light conditions. When in night mode it makes sure that you are not disturbed by the bright lights and converts itself to low light.
Picture Quality
Apart from the artistic design, Samsung’s Frame is still a full-featured television. When not in Art Mode, Frame delivers a high-end picture quality. With 4K High Definition Resolution users get the most out of this dual-purpose TV.
The picture quality is at power with Samsung’s QLED tv, however still lacks when compared with the LG OLED C7 or the Sony Bravia A1.
The Frame TV comes with a 10-year warranty against heating issues and does not contain QLED panel.
Specs:
- 4K HDR Pro
- 4K Color Drive Extreme
- Essential Black Pro
- MR 240
- 4K Ultra High Definition
- UHD Upscaling
- Décor Mode Picture Engine
Audio Quality
Frame TV comes with Dolby Digital Plus which delivers an ultimate audio experience. Users can enjoy watching their favorite TV shows and movies with an exceptionally good audio quality. Dolby Digital Plus delivers a noise-free enhanced audio.
It also delivers 5.1 surround sound.
Specs:
- Dolby Digital Plus
- DTS Premium Sound 5.1™ | 5.1TM Decoding
- 40 Watt 2.2 Channel
Remote and Ports:
Samsung’s Frame, comes with OneConnect that has three USB port and four HDMI ports.
It also comes with an easy to use little remote. The remote is well known as One Remote. The reason why it is given this name lies in its ability to control all the connected device with it.
Connections:
- Invisible Connection™
- 4 HDMI Connections
- 3 USB Connections
- 802.11 AC Built-In Wi-Fi
- Ethernet (LAN)
- Bluetooth LE
- Ex-Link (RS232)
Software:
Samsung has always been one amongst the top, when it comes to software for smart televisions. Samsung Frame uses Tizen Operating System which is smooth and works at an effectively fast pace. It comes with all the apps that are essential for a user, and users can easily download application such as Netflix.
It also recognizes devices when connected. An interesting point being that it displays the name of the device rather than displaying the HDMI number. Like for an Xbox if connected it will display Xbox and not the HDMI port number.
Final Verdict:
With a price tag of almost 2000$, The Frame TV is not a good choice for regular customers. It also is not the first choice for customers who want their television sets to be loaded with technical features.
But then comes an entirely different category of users who are artistic and want everything class apart. That’s who Samsung has targeted. Coming up with this artistic idea, Samsung has clearly shown that it thinks out of the box and can attract users from every corner of the globe.
Well, it still is a hard call, buying a TV that’s more artistic or buying a TV that’s technically more advanced? What will you choose?