As a technology matures, you often see more features built around it to enhance overall experience. In the case of mini LED TVs, the Samsung The Frame Pro shows how far the display technology has come in recent years by packing in an attractive design and add-ons like a wireless breakout box.
As their name implies, mini LED TVs make use of smaller LEDs in a TV so that there is better control of the image on screen to deliver better colour accuracy and contrast, for example.
Some of the latest mini LED TVs, like the Samsung The Frame Pro I’ve been using for a couple of weeks now, come close to what people have come to expect from class-leading OLED TVs.
Well, okay, not exactly as good – the deep, deep blacks that OLED TVs deliver are still exclusive to them. However, mini LED TVs now sport other features such as smooth motion and great contrast, which come across really well in movies.
Coming back to Samsung’s The Frame Pro, it is the latest in the Korean electronics giant’s TV series that can be hung on a wall to look like an impressive painting.
Like its predecessors, The Frame Pro comes with a matte screen, can be mounted flush to a wall and offers dozens of digital paintings and images that are automatically displayed when the TV is on standby (more on a subscription service). Oh, it has with a removable frame as well, to complete the look.
In 2025, the Pro in The Frame Pro means this TV is packed with additional features. Most obvious is the wireless One Connect breakout box that links up seamlessly to the TV from around a room.
This means you only need a power cable to your TV to be hung on a soft-panel wall to keep things neat. Your additional devices, such as a game console, can be set up separately next to the wireless One Connect box.
This brings up new design possibilities if you’re buying the TV to be included in a new or renovated home. If you have lots of add-on devices, you don’t have to worry about them needing to be set up close to the TV.
How does the wireless link perform? At the maximum 4K resolution and 144Hz fast refresh rate, the latency is a reportedly low 1.5 frames or under 20ms.
Certainly, from my viewing, there doesn’t seem to be any lag I can detect. There are no issues with lip syncing as well, though the first few frames of a streaming Max or YouTube video do sometimes seem low-resolution before things get sharper.
The other big thing – and perhaps most important feature – is the mini LED panel that The Frame Pro uses. It’s a clear upgrade over the regular The Frame TV, which has a wired breakout box and uses a more regular Quantum Dot LED (QLED in Samsung-speak) panel.
In terms of image quality, this brings the new The Frame Pro up the Samsung hierarchy of TV screens. In Samsung marketing lingo, it uses a Neo QLED panel, which means it features mini LEDs that improve image quality markedly.
If you like your movies to look more cinema-like, this is certainly the ticket to a better home theatre experience. What you get, for starters, is better contrast and deeper blacks.
Watch the good, old Interstellar movie, for example, and the vast emptiness of space is portrayed superbly with deep blacks that are close to what you might get on an OLED TV. In a scene in the middle of the movie, you could make out the edges of a planet that just about are visible.
Other fast-moving pictures are displayed well too. For example, the big explosions turn up dramatically in the otherwise dreary rain in The Batman’s car chase scene when the Dark Knight closes in on The Penguin.
I watched several movies mostly in the Movie or Filmmaker modes, which are dimmer and have more realistic, subdued saturation than the Standard and Dynamic modes that the TV’s main menu and content like YouTube videos are automatically shown in.
The film modes are best enjoyed in a dark room – at night or with curtains drawn, for the best cinematic effect. In my sofa, I could really feel like I was in a cinema watching the action on the 65-inch review unit.
What I also appreciate is an “AI mode” that Samsung has included. When set to automatically optimise a picture, it manages to make things brighter when needed, say, on a bright day in Singapore.
And this is done without any of the unrealistic smooth motion that an overly enhanced or sharp image settings does. In other words, a good amount of detail and brightness to match the room, without making things too artificial.
Of course, when you want to catch all the action in pin-sharp quality, say, when playing an Xbox game or watching a football match, you can switch things up in the Dynamic mode to amp things up.
What I also like from some of Samsung’s latest TV this year, including The Frame Pro, is a matte coating that cuts down reflection. In sunny Singapore, where many TVs are placed near windows, this is a great feature to have.
Cutting down glare means you focus on the image in front. Otherwise, you can spend thousands on a great screen then have to draw up the curtains each time to enjoy the best images in the day.
What about The Frame Pro’s audio? I’d say it’s is decent but I suspect you’d be buying a soundbar if you are serious about movies. The 40-watt speakers in the slim TV sound clear enough for dialogue but are thin when it comes to special effects, like the huge waves in Interstellar.
As with earlier models, Samsung’s The Frame Pro is a design-focused TV for folks who want a great looking screen that can double up as a painting in the living room. The wireless breakout box adds to the flexibility of mounting it on a wall.
Crucially, for the first time, this new Frame TV also displays great images for movies, thanks to the introduction of mini LEDs. This makes it an excellent display that goes beyond design.
Yes, there is a premium for any TV in the Samsung Frame series so it’s not surprising to see The Frame Pro come with a hefty S$3,600 sticker price for the popular 65-inch size in Singapore.
For about the same price, you can also buy a Samsung OLED TV, which will offer superior image quality for the discerning home cinema buff. If you’re one, then OLED TVs are probably the better bet.
However, if you’re after a great looking TV that offers new home decor possibilities and still delivers great image quality that comes close to the best out there, then The Frame Pro is worth checking out. Make sure to bargain hard at the store or buy during promotional periods on the Samsung site.
