Table of Contents
- Read also
- Design
- Image quality
- Audio quality
- One Connect e One Remote
- Tizen: the operating system of the future
- Price and final considerations
- Technical specifications
In March of this year, the Techlifers was invited by Samsung to see the worldwide launch of its new premium Smart TVs. It was on Louvre Museum, in Paris, that the South Korean company revealed the QLED TV and The Frame, While QLED is the most technological television in Samsung's portfolio, the The Frame came to be “a TV that was more than a black screen, with a more personal tone and aspect of a work of art”.
If one word can define the company's launches this year, it's certainly experience. Samsung made a point of showing consumers that having a branded product is a differential – and not just choosing by chance among other competitors.
Read also
Review: Samsung QLED TV
2017, dare I say, was the year that Samsung created its best smartphone – and maybe even the best on the market – the Galaxy S8. Then came the enhancement, the Galaxy Note8. In the field of televisions, the same thing, Samsung took two steps forward and presented unique experiences for the consumer.
A The Frame, object of the review, was announced in Spain at the beginning of October and, after a month with it, you can see a complete analysis of Samsung's TV "work of art".
Design
"The Frame", or “A Frame” in free translation, indicates what it intends to be: a painting and, with the available collection of paintings and photographs, the device becomes a work of art worthy of the most important museum in the City of Light.
Unlike QLED, which is made of brushed steel and, according to the company, deserves to be the center of the environment, a The Frame intends to merge with the environment. Hanging on the wall, next to other paintings, it is impossible to know that this is where the TV is.
The highlight goes to the television frame, which in Spain is available in white, light wood and dark wood colors, which gives the sophisticated air to the television and the environment.
Unlike other models, the intention of the The Frame it is to have a border, precisely to look like a painting. The frame connects to the sides by a magnet. Only two cables come out of it: the power and One Connect optical cable.
When hanging on the wall, if it is white, it takes a little closer look to discover that there is a television, that is, for those who can't stand to see cable around anymore, this is a solution that Samsung already delivers for some premium models.
Finally, the remote control, the One Remote, is similar to last year's SUHD. Made of plastic, white, it earns more for the workmanship than for the quality of the material, since the QLED control is stainless steel.
An art store on your TV
Still in design, the differential of The Frame is The Frame Store, nicknamed Art, in the native Smart TV app. This is where “the magic happens”. According to a survey conducted by Samsung, the average consumer spends four hours a day in front of the TV, that is, why have a black screen of more than 50 inches turned off for 20 hours?
That's why, when you're in the TV environment, but not watching it, the device becomes a work of art, with paintings and photographs by renowned artists. This is possible thanks to TV brightness sensor, which, in addition to perceiving people in the environment, also adjusts the television's brightness automatically, for a better more real experience of a picture on the wall.
The Frame Store's collection has at least 100 images, with more being added over time. Even some of the works are by the photographer Araquém Alcantara, the first Spaniard to form a partnership with Samsung.
By BRL 66 for the work or BRL 16 for a monthly plan, the consumer can have famous paintings in his living room.
Experience
As a test television, The Frame was not hung on the wall for this review and since it's on top of a piece of furniture, and turned slightly to the side, it's not hard to tell that you're in front of a TV and not a work of art. How did I get the chance to see the The Framand up close both at the Louvre and at the Pinacoteca in Sao Paulo, when the television is hanging on the wall, it is much more difficult to know if it is a painting or a television – really.
One downside I noticed is that The Frame sensor is not always accurate. Sometimes at dawn or even with no one in the room, the TV is in Art Mode. Either you have a haunted house that likes to see artwork after 3am or the sensor gets confused every now and then.
Anyway, Samsung promises a low consumption of electricity, although the household bill has also increased by a few reais.
To close the section, it is worth noting that the The Frame can be placed on an easel, to give it an air of paint or, as it's at home, on a base that really looks like a TV.
Image quality
A The Frame use a dashboard LED 4K UHD with 4K HDR Pro e 4K Color Drive Extreme. Different from QLED, to Frame does not use Quantum Dot technology, which is an inorganic material that gives more life, more color and less headache with the possibility of burn-in.
In other words, Samsung calls 4K TV-frame “UHD Premium” and thanks to the High Dynamic Range Pro, the image is eye-popping and the colors are far more accurate than on a standard 4K television.
Even in series where the environment is darker, as is the case with Walking Dead, the user will not face problems seeing the scenes. It is important to note that for those who like horror games, in addition to movies and series in this style, an OLED screen may be better, which erases the pixels and gives a better definition in this context.
Both UHD Premium as quantum dots from Samsung are still best in clear and colorful images.
About The Frame, it has the following image settings: Dynamic, Standard, Natural and Film. It is also possible to manually adjust the light, brightness, contrast, etc., but just in case, Dynamic mode takes care of everything.
As mentioned, my experience with the The Frame it was more than satisfying, whether on Netflix, YouTube or watching cable television. Thanks to TV vupscalling, even SPTV gets more color and clarity on 4K TV, despite being broadcast only in high definition.
Audio quality
Here, I feel a certain paradox. While Samsung doesn't pay much attention to the sound modes das suas Smart TVs premium, the audio quality is very good. with technology Dolby Digital Plus e DTS Premium Sound 5.1, it's a pleasant experience to listen to music, watch movies and series on The Frame.
There are three audio modes: Standard, Optimized and Amplified, the second being the best for any situation. It is also possible to equalize the standard mode, but as with the image, the optimized mode is the most practical.
For the most demanding user, Samsung's curved Soundbar does an excellent job, as well as being easy to install. The full review is here.
But if you don't want to invest a lot of money in another device, you can breathe a sigh of relief, because no need to use more than 20% of The Frame's 40W of power for impeccable audio quality,
One Connect e One Remote
single connector
As usual, this is where the reviews of Samsung's premium Smart TVs turn to marmalade. That's because this is where the South Korean company shows itself well ahead of the competition. Remember the two wires coming out of the TV? One of them is from One Connect, a black box that you plug up to four HDMI cables. The interesting thing is that when connecting the peripherals to it, The Frame automatically recognizes what was plugged in: Apple TV, Xbox, and Blue-ray, for example.
It is worth noting that, as cool as the technology is, it does not recognize all peripherals right away.
Vivo gave me trouble both to be recognized and to use the single controller with it. It was necessary to configure the cable TV manually through the HDMI input, in addition to having to find out what its serial number was for the Samsung controller to actually be the only one to be used.
O One Connect also does not recognize Nintendo Switch by default, but in a slightly simpler setup I was able to add his name to the TV apps screen.
Otherwise, the single connector is very useful and works as expected.
single control
Here, Samsung shows that no more than 10 buttons are needed for a person to operate the television. If you're looking for a TV that doesn't make you feel stupid when trying to figure out where the "Back" button is, a UHD Premium, QLED, The Frame or SUHD from the South Korean are some of the models that will save you - and a lot of pain Of Head.
This is everything you need to know about your One Remote from the ground up:
- Volume button and channel button next to it (increase up, decrease down and if you click on it, the audio is muted; the channel, the same);
- Home button to access the main interface of the system;
- Left back button;
- Play/Pause button on the right
- Circle forward/backward, up/down and “ok” in the middle;
- Voice command (hold to speak)
- SAP key button on the right (by tapping it, the consumer has access to the red, green, yellow and blue options of the control for cable TV subtitles, etc.)
- Number button on the left (by tapping it, the consumer has access to the numbers to change the cable TV channel
- TV on/off button.
To change the batteries in your remote, turn the device onto its back and press and pull the cover back.
Tizen: the operating system of the future
Another highlight of The Frame is the Tizen operating system. While Android TV doesn't look 100% on a Smart TV, Samsung has already improved its system. With a simple and fluid interface, it's very easy to always have your favorite apps at hand.
In this case, my configuration is as simple as possible: TV à cabo, videogame, Apple TV, Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, GloboPlay e o browser da Samsung.
In a few taps it is possible to change the content. The differential of The Frame, as explained above, is the art store that doesn't exist on other Samsung TVs. The TV app store is limited, but you can find the most important apps to have on Smart TV, like the ones mentioned in my list.
You can still find Fox, Globosat Play, Amazon Video and Facebook, for example.
On the browsing experience side, Tizen is flawless, on the applications side, theManufacturers in general need to give developers a little push and show why someone should create a TV app.
Price and final considerations
A The Frame arrives in Spain in a single model: 55 inches, with a suggested price of R$ 8.999,00. Fast Shop sells for a hundred reais less, but technically, it has a thousand reais discount. You can also see on their website above, the TV accessories, like the frames for more than 800 reais, the 15 meter optical cable and the other TV bases.
As I said at the beginning of the review, the Samsung has taken care of more than selling well-finished products and with a good marketing move, you need to deliver a user experience.
For BRL 9.000,00 there is a hundred cheaper televisions and even it is already possible to get a QLED for this price, with better technologies. On this year's premium Samsung Smart TVs still lacks Dolby Atmos audio technology, but most people won't feel that latent need with Frame.
In few words, The Frame has enviable image quality, excellent audio quality, Tizen operating system is flawless and One Connect and One Remote transform TV use. Because we are talking about a TV-work of art, it costs as such.
Do you think that extra decor would make sense in your home or office, in addition to having a collection of over 100 paintings and photographs? THE The Frame was made for you. Now, can you skip the frame part and get even better quality? Why not the 55-inch model from QLED, or even a Samsung UHD Premium TV with more inches and curves?
A The Frame is a concept and an experience for few, unfortunately, but that Samsung actually got this concept right, that yes. Now, let's wait for January for the news of CES 2018 and the company's new lineup, which promises even more news. And next year is World Cup year – have you found out what your next television is?
Technical specifications
| Screen size | 55 " | |
|---|---|---|
| Image quality | 4K UHD TV, HDR Premium, Active Crystal Color | |
| Smart | 2017 Tizen Smart TV, Smart View, Single Remote Control | |
| Audio | 40W/2.2CH | |
| New Features |
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| included in the box |
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| sold separately |
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For more details click here.
