I’m not an expert on technology, but I do fancy myself a bit of a gadget person. From our garage door opener and security cameras to tiny handheld video cameras and televisions that look like art, I appreciate tech that’s well-designed, simple enough for me to figure out, and actually improves everyday life. Most tech reviews are technical, breaking down all the things I know nothing about. I’m here to talk about Samsung’s The The Frame TV, and how it looks and feels in my space. This isn’t a deep dive into specs, because I couldn’t tell you about those. It’s a real-life review from someone who cares deeply about how a home feels and how technology fits into it.

Samsung Frame TV Review

This is not a sponsored post. It’s just what it looks like when something works. I didn’t want our family room to feel like a media room, because it’s not a media room. I wanted it to feel like a cozy space that also happened to have a TV, and that’s exactly what we got with the Frame TV. The anti-glare, matte display looks great, it comes in a variety of sizes, and mounts unbelievably close to the wall, the way art would. After buying our first Samsung Frame TV for our family room, we ended up buying a second one for our bedroom. I’m sharing what it’s like to live with the Frame TV day to day, how it functions in a busy family home, and whether it actually delivers on the promise of blending into a well-designed space.

Why We Chose the Frame TV

Our family room is one of the most used spaces in our home. It’s where we gather, play games, watch movies, play Mario Party, build trains and Magna-Tiles, and open gifts on Christmas morning. Since I work from home, I often end up working in our family room. It’s also a room I care about aesthetically. Sure, there are train tracks and car tracks, but I put a lot of thought into home decor. I thought a lot about the layout, furniture, lighting, and the way this room feels. I really wanted the room to feel layered, and not dominated by a screen. This meant the TV needed to work with the space and not overpower it.

And then there was the TV. A big black rectangle you can’t really escape, that always seems to take away from the room. I wanted to be able to sit on our sofa without staring at the TV. And I realize that sometimes, a TV above the fireplace is the only option, but I wanted something different. Over the years, I’ve tried to hide TVs in gallery walls, mounting TVs next to a real art piece. They didn’t hide the TV, but they helped keep it from being the center of the room. I’ve mounted them on pull-out arms, next to fireplaces, and have done what I can to not make the television not be the focal point of a room. The Frame felt like the first option that didn’t require disguising the TV or building the room around it.

First Impressions 

The installation would be too much for me to do on my own, but it felt fine since we hired someone to install our Frame TV for us.  The Frame mounts flush to the wall—no bulky brackets, no awkward gaps. It genuinely looks like a framed piece of art hanging on the wall, not a TV pretending to be one. 

The Frame comes with Samsung’s slim fit wall mount pulls the TV nearly flush to the wall. It hangs more like a piece of art than a television. Calling it art feels like a stretch because it’s definitely a TV, but there’s an option to display artwork on the matte screen when the TV is off, which looks nicer than a big, black screen. You’re not tricking anyone into thinking your television is a painting, but The Frame smart TV looks a lot nicer than a regular TV. If aesthetics are very important to you, this is something you might care about. 

Living With It Day to Day

I don’t have a whole lot to say about this because I can’t imagine that this TV is that different functionally. The picture quality looks great to me, but I can’t tell you why. We use the TV a lot, and the interface is easy to use, but I can’t imagine that it’s any easier than other TVs. The kids watch movies and we watch shows at night. We use our TV a lot, and haven’t had any issues in the last (almost) 3 years. The anti-glare display works really well in a bright room which matters to me because our living room gets a lot of natural light. The image quality and sound are great, as I’d imagine most flatscreen TVs would be in 2026.   

Art Mode

The best part of this picture frame TV doesn’t have to do with watching actual television. Art Mode makes the TV feel like part of the room by showing art or your photos when the TV is off, blending into your decor. I change the art images seasonally or when I’m in the mood for something different. You can also adjust screen brightness, which is another nice feature to help the TV blend in with your decor. Sometimes it’s a quiet landscape, and something it’s something fun and festive. Anything is better than a big black box on my family room wall. 

Art Mode Samsung Vision AI offers AI Picture & Sound for clarity and AI Optimization to adapt settings (like brightness/color in Art Mode) to your room’s lighting and content. 🤯

Samsung

The Frame TV

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Aesthetics

This Samsung TV isn’t the first thing you notice when you walk into our family room. The way our family room is laid out, you walk right into a side-view of our Frame TV, and the slim wall mount allows the TV to hang close to the wall, just like artwork. The side wall view is reason enough to buy this TV.

You might be wondering how it mounts almost flush against the wall? All the cables run to a separate box. The power and HDMI cables all plug into the box, which you can run through the wall to a cabinet, or you can actually build out a “hole” into the wall behind the TV that the box lives in, which is what we did. Since there’s no bundle of cords behind the TV, it can sit flat.

There are customizable frame options, but we kept the standard thin, black frame around our TV. 

This isn’t a TV room. It’s a cozy family room that happens to have a TV. It allows the furniture and decor to exist without competing with a giant black rectangle.

For me, that matters even more than performance. But it works well! We’ve had zero issues. 

Why We Bought a Second One for Our Bedroom

This seems fairly obvious, but we wanted a TV in our bedroom, and the layout would require that you walk into a side-view of the our TV. I had to do something that wouldn’t take away from the rest of the room. Our bedroom is meant to be restful. It’s not a space where I want visual clutter or a big black box on a wall. We don’t watch TV all day in there, and we actually don’t watch TV in their most evenings, so I appreciate that this TV blends in more than a standard flatscreen would. 

When it’s off, it looks like art, and softly blends into our bedroom. It’s one of those upgrades that feels luxurious but not flashy. 

Things To Note

First, you do have to put some time and work into choosing the right artwork. You can purchase art online through sites like Etsy, upload your own personal photos (basically turning your TV into a digital picture frame), or even create your own artwork. The Samsung Art Store offers over 3000 works of art for your Frame TV. It comes at a price though, because an art store subscription for $4.99/month or $49.90 per year. The default options are fine, but I like having full access to art pieces on our TV. 

Second, The Frame is an investment. It isn’t the cheapest TV you can buy, and it’s not meant to be. For us, the cost was justified because as I mentioned, aesthetics are important to me. I wanted something sleek. That said, they go on sale throughout the year. We got the best deal on our second Frame TV during Prime Day. 

Who I Think the Frame Is For

I would honestly only recommend this TV if you want a TV that’s sleek, and can be something other than a big, black rectangle on your wall. As someone who appreciates thoughtful design, I really like The Frame. If you prefer that technology blends in with your home, this is the TV for you. And if you care about choosing a frame style, this is definitely the TV for you. 

Would I Buy It Again?

Yes. But if you don’t care about how flat your TV sits on the wall, and don’t mind looking at a giant black rectangle when your TV is off, you’re probably fine with an average TV. We loved it enough to buy a second one which should tell you enough. It’s rare that a piece of technology feels like it truly belongs in a home designed for real life, but this one does. If you’ve been on the fence, wondering if it’s just hype or if it actually lives up to the promise, I’d say that it does. 

At the end of the day, I don’t want technology to dictate the way my home feels. I want it to support the way we live, and blend in as much as possible. I love that The Frame works when we need it, and steps back when we don’t. 

This post is not sponsored by or written in partnership with Samsung. It does contains affiliate links. If you purchase something using my links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.