Samsung Music Frame Review: Static Art Paired with Dynamic Audio

Smart Speakers gives you the kind of versatility you’d never expect: it’s an independent device that’s perfectly capable of handling all your music in your home, very well might I add. Samsung has ventured into the space by making their first ever Smart Speaker that takes your breath away with its beautiful looks. In this Samsung Music Frame Review, we will talk about how this is a good Smart Speaker, especially when you have a far more affordable option with stunning software support in the market.

Samsung Music Frame Review

What’s Good

Well-Designed Speaker Hiding in Plain Sight

Once you set up the speaker, you do get the option to either hang it on the wall or install it with the included stand to put it on a surface, I must say that the Samsung Music Frame is the most aesthetically pleasing speaker I have seen so far. Honestly, I didn’t expect anything less because this product is coming from the same brand that makes TVs that look like a piece of art. And you can see that the same design team may have had some input in making these. It’s pretty heavy I might add, so, make sure to hang it on a proper wall and not on a plaster wall – because the last thing you want is the speaker with the music frame breaking the wall.

No one would be able to suspect a thing because on the front of the Music Frame, you will notice it has an art piece which can be replaced for your own art print (8×10) which we did as we do have an art print by one of our favourite artist installed in the Music Frame. Now, if you want to take the entire custom photo frame up a notch, their partnership with MARPPLE allows you to make a custom Music Frame made out of Diasec – which of course comes at an additional cost, which we will get into in a bit.

But back to how it looks, the Samsung Music Frame is beautiful once you set it up and in our case, we set the speaker on our mini shelf in our office corner – giving this artsy look, especially with your comic art on the wall.

Wide range of Connectivity and Support for Spotify, Tidal and Roon

One of the biggest things most smart speaker manufacturers overlook: is the support for other streaming services which is why Sonos happens to be the reigning champion in that space. But lately, more and more speaker manufacturers are being inclusive of other streaming services. The Samsung Smart Speaker is capable of Spotify Connect and Tidal, which is a relief – as users like myself and others who take their music a little more seriously can now resort to other streaming services for the highest quality – as the speaker can handle higher bit rates with no issues.

Now, on top of that, Samsung recently announced that the Music Frame is “Roon Tested” – and for those who don’t know what’s Roon – it’s basically Plex for Music but for those who take audio seriously. We are talking about getting high-fidelity streaming via WiFi for that crisp and clear music experience. So, if you do have a server, you can make that work. Though it’s certified, we didn’t use it – and resorted to the usual Streaming options.

However, you can Cast audio to the speaker as it has the ability to Chromecast audio, Airplay if you are an Apple user or even use the built-in Bluetooth – although you will be limited to SBC and AAC codec.

The Drivers Driving Audio out of the Speaker

The Samsung Music Frame is a 2.0 channel speaker out of the box – and houses a total of 6 speakers: 4 hidden behind the photo frame and 2 drivers on the back of the frame. These six drivers help in pumping out some really loud and nice music experience out of the speaker. For those who like a nice rumbling bass when listening to some good music of choice, or perhaps need that oomph for that party-like listening experience – you are looking at that kind of speaker.

Personally, I liked listening to some R&B, Hip-Hop, Pop and other language music – and given how it has Spotify Connect, and you just need to bind your Spotify to the Samsung Account, you are pretty much ready to go and anyone can hop on to stream their music with no issues. As I mentioned earlier, when I say it can get loud, we are talking about “calling the cops for noise complaint” loud. Most of the time, I left the speaker on 15-18%, which is perfect.

I did pair the speaker via Bluetooth to my laptop to watch some shows, and more recently was obsessed with Dan Da Dan – so, to have a speaker that’s capable of delivering audio that can give that feel is a nice touch – something you need to keep yourself immersed.

Adapts to your Space and Customizable

Samsung has added features that allow the Music Frame to adapt to your environment – based on how your setup is. This is something we have seen with Devialet speakers, the way it works is similar here. Samsung called it the SpaceFit Sound, which uses the microphone to analyse and output the right sound with proper balance. The Active Voice Amplifier does exactly what it should, and you can hear the minor difference.

Under Advanced Sound Settings, you can toggle the Night Mode, especially when you don’t want to wake your neighbours up at night. The Voice Enhancement toggle amps up the treble which is not a pleasant listening experience. Finally, Virtual “emulates” a surround effect – which again is a hit-and-miss. You can tweak the speaker outcome which we will get into a bit.

Works very well with Samsung and non-Samsung Devices

One big point happens to be this. Samsung tends to gatekeep a lot of things within their ecosystem, under the name SmartThings – which is the case here as well. However, you can download the app from the App Store and Play Store, set up the speaker and get access to all the features a Samsung Device has access to. Though you do miss out on a thing or two, like the Tap Sound, where you can just tap to connect which requires a Samsung Phone but that’s a feature I am okay not having on my non-Samsung phone.

A Potential Sonos and Ikea Synfonisk Contender

The Samsung Music Frame is a good alternative or a contender to the IKEA Symfonisk Photo Frame Speaker which is available through every store. And for those who want a more aesthetically pleasing speaker, you are looking at the Music Frame instead.

What’s Not Great

It’s not all rainbows and sunshine with the Samsung Music Frame because there are things we didn’t enjoy. Let’s address some of those.

The Abysmal Touch Buttons

The Buttons on the Music Frame are touch buttons and it makes things rather hard to use or control because the slightest graze could either make the volume go up or down, switch modes or mute the microphone. I wish they used proper physical buttons or perhaps moved the touch buttons to a much more easily accessible spot and spread apart from one another to be able to tell the difference.

Not the Best in Audio Customization and lacks that Nuance

The Smartthings app is great, sure, but the speaker lacks customization from an EQ standpoint. Under the Sound Mode, you are limited to three options: Standard, Music and Adaptive Sound. As for the equalizer, there’s only one option to control the Bass and Treble. Even with the lower Bass, this speaker is still a bass-heavy speaker.

Now, I did mention that this speaker offers good loudness with a nice listening experience – which it does. But don’t expect to pick up nuances, subtle cues, clarity and most importantly, good audio separation in the lows, mids and highs. This is expected for a 2.0 channel speaker and it does perform like one. Even with the Tidal high-fidelity streaming, I couldn’t pick any details and ended up just listening the way it was. It’s an okay speaker, just isn’t on the same level as Sonos for instance.

But here’s a fun fact: removing the art of the speaker, gives you more clear audio than having one on. If you can try this in stores, I’d suggest you do that.

You need to be Heavily Invested in Samsung Products

The consumers that will reap the most out of these speakers, you guessed it – are Samsung users – because if you use their TVs or their Soundbars, this speaker adds onto that setup (This feature is called Q-Symphony) and now gives you a wider sound presence. Not only that, you do get an upgraded channel setup and potentially have a Dolby Atmos setup. The synergy is great but not if you are a non-Samsung user. But as a standalone piece, it’s quite alright.

A bit of a Disappointment from a Frame Standpoint

Honestly, I kind of wanted more out of the Frame aspect of the Music Frame – it would have been awesome to see a Colour e-ink display where we can upload our photos or even a nice AMOLED display with just photo viewing ability – because the price they are asking for this speaker is a price of an affordable Samsung TV – and I am sure they could do with this.

Instead, getting the MARPPLE Samsung Music Frame Art Panel is the only way you can customize it and that sets you back a whopping USD$86 (approximately RM 400, as of 25^th November 2024). And Malaysia does not get the frame customization, which they did showcase during the preview session we had months ago but there’s no news about its availability locally. But even if it is available, it will set you back a pretty penny as it costs USD$59.99 in America.

Another important thing to note is that Samsung Malaysia does not sell the SmartThings: Hub and USB Dongle locally – another feature we will miss out on.

Conclusion

At the time of launch, the Samsung Music Frame was priced at RM 1,999 which is a hefty price to pay, especially when the speaker they are competing with costs RM 899. Yep, that’s right, the IKEA Symfonisk Photo Frame Speaker costs less than a grand.

Now sure, you do get slightly better drivers with the Music Frame, Bluetooth Connectivity and potentially the support for Auracast through an update. But even then, it’s a steep price to pay. Not to forget, with that price, they are entering the Sonos territory which may not have a photo frame but it does have better audio quality.

Right now, Samsung is offering a significant discount – you can get the Music Frame for RM 1499. Is this discount worth it? To me, at least the price is slightly more palatable.

If this Samsung Smart Frame is really what you want, by all means, go for it. If you plan to get this speaker as a way to expand your existing Samsung ecosystem, sure. Or suppose you live in a SoHo where your space is precious and you need just that one speaker that does it all. In that case, it’s worth the consideration – especially with Bluetooth and WiFi Speaker capabilities whereas with IKEA Symfonisk you are limited to just WiFi Streaming.

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