Samsung announces The Frame Pro: could this be the perfect TV?

Samsung’s The Frame has been enormously fashionable ever since its release. There’s no shortage of imitators astatine this point, with different manufacturers trying their manus astatine creating a TV that seamlessly blends successful with location decor and tin besides convincingly look similar partition creation erstwhile idle. But nary person captured lightning successful a vessel rather similar Samsung.

And successful 2025, Samsung is looking to fend disconnected copycats by introducing The Frame Pro. With the artwork broadside of things good handled, present the institution is aiming to marque The Frame Pro a bully TV for everything else. The Frame has nailed the aesthetics and benignant from the start. People bargain it for the vibe much than thing else. But arsenic a TV, it’s ever conscionable been, well... fine. There wasn’t overmuch wow origin successful presumption of brightness oregon the wide representation prime that came with the bully design. That mightiness beryllium changing now.

There are 2 main upgrades that enactment the “pro” successful The Frame Pro. First, Samsung is moving to Mini LED, which the institution says volition springiness The Frame Pro a boost successful contrast, brightness, and achromatic levels. The regular Frame, which isn’t going anywhere, has ne'er offered immoderate section dimming to talk of.

But there’s an important caveat: this isn’t Mini LED successful the regular sense. Normally, Mini LED TVs incorporate a ton of tiny dimming zones down the screen. This lets them beryllium mode much precise successful lighting up lone the sections of the show that request it portion preserving achromatic levels and shadiness item elsewhere. The Frame Pro doesn’t bash that.

Instead, Samsung is placing Mini LEDs on the bottommost of the screen, portion claiming that this attack inactive produces immoderate level of section dimming. To me, it each inactive precise overmuch sounds similar an edge-lit TV. But I’ll springiness this “Mini LED” tech a just accidental whenever I get 1 successful for review.

Samsung is besides boosting The Frame Pro’s maximum refresh complaint from 120Hz to 144Hz, truthful PC gamers tin get adjacent smoother visuals than before. But if you were hoping “pro” mightiness yet mean Dolby Vision support, that’s inactive a no.

The Frame has ever been thing of a compromise; possibly you’ve got a important different who refuses to let a dull achromatic rectangle into the surviving room. So you, being the bully and considerate idiosyncratic you are, yet hold to “settle” connected The Frame. After archetypal proceeding astir The Frame Pro, I was hopeful that it would beryllium overmuch little of a compromise.

But this asterisk astir Mini LED has maine a small little excited. Like caller models, The Frame Pro’s show has a matte finish to springiness your preferred creation a much authentic quality and disguise the world that you’re looking astatine a screen. But matte screens tin sometimes lessen a display’s punch, truthful genuine Mini LED backlighting could’ve helped rather a spot successful that regard.

The 2nd large betterment is that The Frame Pro nary longer has a bladed ligament moving betwixt it and Samsung’s breakout container that houses each the HDMI inputs and the TV’s different brains: that transportation has gone afloat wireless. This volition effect successful an adjacent cleaner look with little cablegram clutter. And the Wireless One Connect Box, which supports up to Wi-Fi 7, eliminates yet different telltale motion that The Frame Pro is simply a television. Now, each you’ve got to interest astir concealing is the display’s powerfulness cord. Samsung says the wireless transportation betwixt the container and TV works astatine distances of up to 10 meters, “even with obstacles successful its path.”

The Frame Pro is besides getting the aforesaid litany of AI-powered features arsenic Samsung’s different 2025 TVs. AI is specified a absorption this twelvemonth that there’s a dedicated fastener connected the distant for activating Click to Search, which tin amusement you “who the actors are successful a fixed scene, wherever that scene is taking place, oregon adjacent the covering the characters are wearing,” according to Samsung’s property release.

A caller Samsung Food diagnostic tin admit dishes onscreen and supply you with the recipes to marque them — oregon thing successful the aforesaid ballpark, astatine least. Beyond that, the institution is dialing up its AI-enhanced representation and dependable optimizations, and AI is besides reaching into accessibility features similar Live Translate, which tin “instantly construe closed captions connected unrecorded broadcasts successful up to 7 languages.” That’s precise neat.

The captious question is 1 I can’t reply yet: however overmuch volition this happening cost? How overmuch much costly volition The Frame Pro beryllium compared to the regular model? Samsung won’t beryllium sharing pricing details until person to the outpouring erstwhile it ships. If the institution gets cocky and goes excessively high, that could ruin a batch of the entreaty here. But if you already cognize that immoderate mentation of The Frame is successful your future, you’re astir apt precise blessed that The Frame Pro present exists.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge