Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsMount Problems, Remote Issues (don't buy if you have other Samsung devices), and more
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 21, 2022
This review is of the 32-in model.
My partner and I really went through the ringer this year. After moving into our new home and ordering quite a lot of things to set up various rooms, everything had to be suddenly packed away for emergency construction when we learned a portion of the house was literally collapsing. Fun times.
Now that we're through most of that, we're finally starting to un-pack and open much of what we bought last year (this TV was bought late November 2021, so not quite 7 months ago). And we've had an awful lot of disappointment in things well past their return windows. If we could still return this TV, we would in a heartbeat. It's the most expensive hunk of junk we've ever purchased.
This is beyond disappointing, because I was so excited about this Frame. It was meant to go in my temporary art studio, somewhere to watch other artists paint live, watch tutorials to learn new techniques, etc. It should have been a perfect fit. Instead, it's a nightmare. I've been a loyal Samsung user for years - numerous mobiles, another TV, and their smart monitor in my home office (which will come into play later)...
While the problems are many, the two biggest are the wall mount and the remote. And they make this TV pretty much unusable.
WALL MOUNT
Here's the thing. A proper wall mount for any expensive piece of equipment is going to be designed to accommodate standard stud spacing. Apparently Samsung's engineers missed the memo.
Most TVs use a single mount. But Samsung set this up to use two small ones. And they don't align properly with standard studs.
This means you have to use drywall anchors on one or both sides depending on where you want to install the TV (installing in the center of our wall would have required anchors on both sides).
Thing is... the type of anchors included are NOT appropriate for this. They're the style that can screw too far through the drywall when you put the screws in.
A better option?
When this happens, you would generally install a separate board to your studs, then secure the TV or whatever you're hanging to that board.
Another problem though...
When you dig into Samsung's documentation for The Frame, you find that they dismiss all accountability unless you install the TV exactly how they intend you to, using only the provided pieces. So that becomes a riskier option if there are problems. And you won't get the wall-flush framed picture look you paid big bucks for.
But wait. It gets better...
That same documentation also dismisses all Samsung accountability if you don't install the Frame at least 4 inches from your wall, cabinet sides, etc.
You see the problem there, right?
The TV was literally *designed* to sit flush against the wall. NOT 4 inches from it.
Follow their instructions, and you're in violation. Install the TV in a safer manner, and you're still in violation. Hope there are no problems later, or good luck getting them to honor any warranty.
REMOTE & APP PROBLEMS
When we realized the issues with the wall mount were significant, we decided to set it up on a table temporarily until we can decide what to do with this TV we can't return.
I picked up the remote and turned it on.
All good.
I get to the setup screen that tells me to install their app.
I do.
The app finds the TV. But it refuses to connect, saying it's not supporting in my region. I'm in the northeast US. I bought it in the northeast US. Less than a year ago. And the app is already not acknowledging the device.
Awesome.
So I choose the next option, to set up my connection manually. It gets to the screen where I can choose my wi-fi network.
And... it freezes.
The remote suddenly stops responding. At all.
I hear voices and figure my husband is talking to a neighbor or delivery driver or something. I go out to update him on the nightmare setup of this TV.
Only he's not there.
I follow the voices to my home office.
They're coming from my Samsung smart monitor (an M7, which I love!). It's switched itself from my PC input to Netflix. Must be haunted, right?
Nope!
When The Frame in my studio space froze, I hit a variety of buttons on the remote hoping to wake it up. Including the Netflix button.
And while it didn't do a darn thing to the TV it's supposed to be linked to, it *did* switch the input on my smart monitor in the other room.
But, oh, it didn't end there.
Given the Frame's remote wouldn't work at all with, you know, *the Frame,* I had to get the smart monitor's remote. Guess what. That worked! So now we're at a point where my monitor remote controls the Frame, and the Frame's remote controls my monitor.
No biggie. They're similar enough, I figured. I'd just switch them.
The Frame then gets going finally after setup, and I see the list of apps to choose from.
Cool.
So I pick up the monitor remote that's been controlling the Frame all this while. And I try to choose our TV streaming app. But...
Nothing happens.
Now that remote isn't working either.
So I try the Frame's own remote again.
It works!
I'm able to choose my app.
Then, when I'm in that app, it stops responding again. And it will only accept input from the monitor's remote.
Yes. I literally needed a specific remote to choose an app. But that same remote won't control anything else. Even though it's the Frame's default remote.
This was the most mind-bogglingly stupid TV setup we've ever seen.
And the problems didn't even stop there.
- The documentation is atrocious. There are over a half-dozen various bits of paper, all poorly-designed/written, and it's just a general mess.
- If you're hoping this will actually look like artwork, think again. If you use it for photos that are normally displayed behind glass, that's great. This might work for you. But paintings hanging on your wall - especially the kinds of classic paintings you'll see advertised with this - generally wouldn't be displayed in a high-gloss, highly-reflected way. If you have real art rather than glass-covered prints or photos around this, it will stick out like a sore thumb.
- I mentioned it briefly before, but it's worth repeating -- the app the TV tells you to install, does. not. support. this. TV. This is a particularly big deal if, like me, you bought this planning to upload your own photos or artwork. I'd hoped to use it to store and showcase digital versions of my own paintings for guests. But with the app not supporting this model at all despite what the TV itself claims, I don't see any way to even use the art feature as-intended, and that basically limits us to paying for their subscription (which we won't do) for artwork we didn't even want.
For something I wanted so much to love... from a company whose products I usually do... this insane lack of quality control in the entire engineering and documentation process has really soured me on Samsung. I'm just glad we didn't go with them for the 70-in TV we recently purchased, because goodness only knows what the various remotes would be doing in that case. Heck. I was planning to get a second Samsung smart monitor down the line for my office, but now that I know I can't trust them to handle multiple smart TVs/monitors in the same house, that's off the table too.
We've dealt with a lot of disappointments since our move, from the emergency reno disaster to a few big problem products we're now finding out about past their return windows. In that latter group, this is by far the worst.
