Samsung’s The Frame TV has been a longtime favorite among Underscored editors and readers alike for years, thanks to its novel ability to turn into a sleek digital art canvas when you’re not binging TV. A smaller, photo frame version that can double as a wireless speaker should be an obvious hit, right? Well, despite its branding, the Music Frame isn’t exactly what you might think it is.
Samsung’s Music Frame takes the “frame” concept a bit more literally than its TV counterpart, opting to display physical photos rather than serve up an endless number of art pieces via a digital screen. That seems a bit basic for a speaker that costs a hefty $400, even if it does sound pretty good and offers lots of neat integrations for those in the Samsung audio world.
So, is the Music Frame a splurge-worthy statement piece or just an overpriced picture frame? Here’s what I think after getting some extended hands-on time with Samsung’s new speaker — which I got to test alongside the new 2024 Frame TV, as well as the company’s latest Q Symphony home theater products.
The Samsung Music Frame is an attractive photo frame that doubles as a smart, capable wireless speaker, though it seems a bit pricey for what it does.
The fan-favorite Frame TV gets improved color accuracy and reduced energy consumption for 2024.
The Music Frame goes analog
I’ll give Samsung this: The Music Frame is a nice-looking (if unassuming) piece of tech. The 13-by-13-inch device looks like an honest-to-goodness photo frame, cleverly disguising the fact that there are six speakers hiding beneath to pump out big, crisp sound. It looked right at home standing on a bookshelf in the living-room-like setup I tested it in, though you’ll also be able to mount it to your wall for a more seamless look.
However, my main issue with the Music Frame became apparent as soon as I got a good look at it. This analog photo frame’s actual display area is a pretty meager 8 by 8 inches with a thick white border taking up the rest of the space, mimicking the mat board that accompanies framed art. This makes the Music Frame feel pretty limited as an actual photo frame unless you spring for a customizable bezel that lets you fill the entire 13-by-13-inch design with your own photo. The pet and wedding photos I saw displayed on the Music Frame looked perfectly nice; I just wish there were more bezel options out of the box, especially for something that costs $400.
Fortunately, the Music Frame seems to excel at the whole “music” thing. During my limited testing time, everything from pop to orchestral music sounded satisfyingly loud and clear, even coming from just a single Music Frame (the speaker’s Dolby Atmos support likely played a role in that). However, the whole setup really came to life when listening to two Music Frames set up as a stereo pair, and even moreso once we brought a Samsung HW-Q990D soundbar and its included rear speakers into the mix via Samsung’s Q-Symphony surround sound platform.
This is both one of my favorite and least favorite things about what Samsung’s boxy new speaker has to offer. On one hand, I love how the entire Samsung audio ecosystem sings together — the SmartThings app makes it easy to not only enable and disable any speakers in your setup at will but adjust the individual volume of each one to get things just right (Apple’s AirPlay technology offers similar functionality). If your home isn’t loaded up with Samsung tech, you can still use the Music Frame as a good ol’ Bluetooth speaker, and it supports all the major voice assistants (Alexa, Google Assistant and yes, Bixby) for hands-free playback.
On the other hand, even just getting two Music Frames for a picturesque stereo experience will run you a whopping $800. For that money, you can pick up our best soundbar selection, the Vizio M-Series Elevate — which includes a subwoofer and rear speaker — and still have upward of $300 to spare. And if you’d rather have an interactive screen that can play music (and display just about any photo you’d like on it), smart displays like the Amazon Echo Show 8 and Google Nest Hub will do the job for the fraction of the price of a single Music Frame. However, those smart devices don’t offer Dolby Atmos sound and can only sync up with Amazon and Google speakers, respectively, for multiroom audio.
That leaves the Music Frame as an expensive, niche purchase that only seems worth considering if you’ve already got a Samsung home theater and are willing to splurge on a photo frame that plays music. Still, there is something attractive about the Music Frame’s style and simplicity, especially when digital displays like the aforementioned Echo Show 8 have a tendency to spam your screen with ads. We’re eager to see if Samsung’s square speaker can win us over in the long run, so stay tuned for our full review.
2024’s The Frame TV is more of a good thing
Whereas the Music Frame is a bit of an experimental swing, the 2024 model of The Frame TV simply improves on what’s long been one of our favorite TVs. The new model we saw at Samsung’s facility was the same one that impressed us at CES 2024, and would be easy to mistake for the previous generation frame at first glance. The various digital paintings we viewed on Samsung’s latest Frame looked as gorgeous and canvas-like as we remember, and it’s got the same snappy Smart Hub interface that we’ve grown accustomed to on all the company’s current sets. That said, there are a few key changes under the hood worth keeping in mind for 2024.
A 4K TV that you leave on to display art all day can be a real energy hog, which is why we were pleased to learn back at CES that this year’s model can reduce “energy costs by up to 10%” by lowering the refresh rate. Samsung is also continuing to work with the color experts at Pantone to improve the Frame’s color accuracy and better match what you’d see in a real-life gallery. We’d have to see the new and old models side by side to properly judge any improvements, but everything from lush autumn trees to purple and pink flowers popped nicely on the 2024 Frame.
At a quick glance, there doesn’t seem to be much reason for existing Frame owners to drop their current set and go for the upgrade. But if you’ve been curious about that TV-meets-art-display that seemingly everyone you know is talking about, this year’s model looks like the best jumping on point yet.
The takeaway
Samsung’s 2024 Frame lineup is a tale of two very different devices. The latest The Frame TV is more of a good thing, making marginal improvements to what’s long been one of our favorite televisions for the past few years. If you’re buying a Frame this year, you’ll be getting Samsung’s best one yet.
