I saw Samsung’s new The Frame Pro mini LED TV, and it’s a brand new work of art
Samsung has just unveiled its new The Frame Pro TV, which finally adds the company’s Neo QLED mini-LED technology to the The Frame range that previously relied on edge-lit QLED screens.
Not only that, but The Frame Pro also adds a Wireless One Connect external junction box, meaning you can hang The Frame Pro on the wall with a power cable in it and nothing else – all your set-top boxes and so on can be plugged into the wireless external streaming box , which you can place anywhere within 30 feet of the TV (including in a cabinet), and the video will be sent to the TV in 4K 144 Hz. Samsung says there shouldn’t be any noticeable latency here – specifically, latency is said to be around 1.5 frames, and well under 20ms.
I saw The Frame Pro in action next to a regular 2024 The Frame TV, and the difference is huge. We’ve always had a somewhat cool relationship with The Frame TVs here at Ny Breaking, because they’re hugely popular and we understand why people like them, but it’s always been annoying that they used such mediocre picture technology.
For those familiar with Samsung’s range, The Frame has always been equivalent to the Q70 models, i.e. an edge-lit QLED panel with Samsung’s Dual-LED technology, but with a matte screen that boosts the background tones to a higher level and weakens the already mediocre contrast.
Now, The Frame Pro is still equivalent to Samsung’s Q70 range… only in 2025 we’re talking about a model called the QN70F, a new, cheaper mini-LED model. Moreover, Samsung has also added support for variable refresh rates up to 144Hz, making it a better gaming TV.
That’s the background, but the most important thing is that the new screen is a total game changer in practice.
Wow, real HDR!
The difference between the classic The Frame model and the Pro is night and day. Local dimming when watching films and TV means that in dark areas it produces something much closer to true blacks, while the bright light areas are several levels more vibrant and have a much more realistic glow. The extra brightness also means that colors are enormously richer and bolder.
It gives the feeling that the image you see is simply a lot sturdier; the shadows actually look shadowy and the highlights shine, as if it were real light hitting a real object.
The old model looks blurry and washed out in comparison, and with black tones being pulled towards gray and light tones also being pulled towards gray, it’s just fundamentally indistinct compared to the Pro.
It’s not just about the little highlights, though: full-screen clarity is vastly better, meaning things like TV and sport are much clearer and more rewarding to watch.
Careful with the art
You might worry that all this vibrancy might not fit well with the Art Mode that makes The Frame such a success. But I saw a direct comparison of that aspect to the old model, and they look incredibly similar.
Samsung says that when Art Mode is active, local dimming is disabled, giving you even light across the screen and no ‘HDR’ effect. I suspect that Samsung may also be limiting the backlight brightness so that it appears to be a light level closer to ambient light, but that’s just speculation on my part.
Either way, it looks basically the same as the old The Frame models, which is to say: a very nice piece of digital art reproduction.
What about wireless?
I don’t have much to say about the wireless box from the time I was staring at The Frame Pro, but that’s probably a good sign – the whole point is that you shouldn’t notice if it’s working properly!
But one thing to note is that it’s much smaller than the old wired One Connect box that previous The Frame models used – it looks like it should easily be half the size in terms of volume. It looks a bit like a small PlayStation 2, which I personally like.
I couldn’t do anything to break the wireless signal or test its limits, so we’ll have to try that when we get our hands on a set for a full review.
The big piece of information we’re missing about The Frame Pro is the price. I expect it to cost significantly more than the Samsung QN70F as it’s the equivalent of this screen in terms of picture quality, which will likely leave it out of our list of the best TVs – we value too much value for money.
But if Samsung can find a good balance here, we can certainly recommend The Frame Pro as a TV that is suitable for both the movement arts and the classical arts.
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