- (sigh) Hello friends.
It's been about a month since I first took you on a tour
of all the tech that's helping me through quarantine.
I'm a little shaggier, a little fluffier,
and I don't mind telling you, I feel a lot older
than I did when this whole thing started.
Maybe some of you can relate.
But I'm not here to complain, I'm here
to show you some more of the tech
that's helping us through this.
In this episode of MrMobile Stays Home,
the centerpiece of most living rooms is the television.
But when you're not watching it,
this one turns into art.
It's Samsung's The Frame, and it's the first TV
I've ever bought.
(upbeat music)
This television has been in nearly every video I've shot
since shelter in place began, but maybe you missed it,
and really, that's the whole idea.
Samsung calls it The Frame for a reason.
Sure it's a 65 inch QLED TV when it's turned on,
but kill the power, and suddenly it's a framed painting.
Notice that the color tone and brightness
have changed as well.
The TV isn't just showing you a screen saver
like a computer monitor would, it's using every trick
it's got to try to sell the illusion
that it's a genuine printed image.
And that includes giving you the option
to vary the color and size of the mat around the artwork.
It's really awesome.
Now those tricks aren't just digital,
there's a physical bezel that comes in several colors
and sticks to the TV magnetically
to complete the illusion.
Also the reason The Frame has such a low profile
on the wall is that all the HTMI and USB ports
and power stuff, it all lives in this box
that you can hide away in an entertainment center.
Keep that in mind if you're shopping
this kind of TV.
The upside is you basically have no cable management
to worry about, just a single tiny wire
running to the TV itself, which I covered up
with this cheap conduit I got at Amazon.
Now keep in mind, I knew nothing about TVs
when I bought this, so I didn't even know
wall mounted TVs had speakers.
Give me a break, I'm a mobile tech guy.
Turns out The Frame does have integrated speakers,
pro tip, most TVs still do, and they're clear
and loud enough unless my damn washer dryer is running
while I'm trying to watch Longmire.
Of course there are times I wish I had
more audio oomph, so I hooked up this sound bar
that TaoTronics sent me to try,
and you know for an 80 dollar speaker
this thing kicks out some good sound,
I'm glad it's here even though I don't use it that often.
So how is The Frame as a TV?
Well, I've been pleasantly surprised.
See I had low expectations because a Samsung TV
isn't what I wanted to buy at the store that day.
Ever since my friend Chris bought an LG TV
I've wanted one of those for its OLED panel
and webOS software.
Yeah, the same webOS that LG bought from HP
after it killed Palm.
Weird, I know.
So when The Frame won me over on aesthetics,
I expected to hate the interface
and only tolerate the QLED, but it turns out
the picture is absolutely gorgeous.
It gets bright enough to overcome sunlight,
even when all the shades are open,
and the QLED technology is apparently much more resistant
to image burn, which, you know,
when you're leaving a painting on the screen
for hours at a time, you care about.
In five months I haven't seen any sign
of image retention, and Samsung offers a 10 year warranty
specifically concerning burn in for this model.
The only image quarrel I have is the TV's tendency
to oversaturate greens.
- It is green.
- As for the interface, I had it figured out
in an afternoon.
This is based on the same Tizen software
that powers Samsung smart watches.
Everything from streaming services to settings
lives in a ribbon down below.
You navigate it with a remote
that's about as idiot-proof as I've seen.
I love a volume rocker that's also a mute key
depending on how you press it.
And also, did you know that some smart TVs
give you free TV?
Because I didn't.
This is Samsung TV Plus, a bunch of channels,
some news, some movies, some sports.
Of course you've got to deal with the commercials
but it's free!
Apparently Visio, Roku, and some others
do something similar, I had no idea!
What a great surprise!
Let's talk downsides, and let's start
with that nickel and diming.
To begin with, I could have bought a comparable
65 inch TV for hundreds less if I wasn't so hung up
on the art mode, pun totally intended.
Framing it up with new bezels?
Well that'll run you 180 bucks for a new color
and apparently they're not even real wood anymore.
The art itself?
You've gotta pay 5 dollars a month for a broader catalog
than the handful that come out of the box,
and any catalog that doesn't include
Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte, I just don't know about.
There's also the occasional software bug.
Sometimes it takes more than one press on a button
to get the TV to respond, particularly in art mode,
and also this Network Cable Disconnected error message
sometimes pops up for no reason,
which after some forum reading I take to be an issue
with several Samsung TVs.
Now if I broke out some sound testing gear
and a color meter, I could find other things
to complain about with The Frame, yes,
but one, a bunch of other reviews have already done that,
and better than I could, two,
I read all of those reviews before I bought the thing,
and three, they didn't change my mind, obviously.
Yeah, I'd buy The Frame all over again.
Ultimately The Frame is a beautiful, unique blend
of technology and home decor and I'd recommend it
to anyone trying to bridge the gap
between those worlds.
Besides, it costs less than a Galaxy Fold.
It's all about perspective, isn't it.
On the next episode of MrMobile Stays Home,
your phone is disgusting, so should you clean it
with an ultraviolet bath, and how do those actually work?
Subscribe to TheMrMobile on YouTube
so you don't miss it, and here's a disclosure
for those of you who stick around to the end,
the subject of this review was a 2019 Samsung The Frame,
65 inch TV purchased by me.
Samsung was not given copy approval
or an early preview of this video,
they're seeing it for the first time
right alongside you.
And finally, special thanks to Phil Nickinson
at cordcutters.com who helped me understand
some TV tech terminology for this one.
Until next time, please stay safe,
stay home, and in spirit anyway,
stay mobile my friends.