Samsung vs Hisense vs TCL: Which Frame TV Is Best?

Choosing the right television for your home often involves balancing aesthetics with performance, especially when considering the unique category of “art TVs.” These displays, designed to mimic framed artwork when not in use, present a compelling alternative to traditional televisions that dominate a room with a large black screen. While they may not deliver the same level of picture quality as standard models, their ability to blend into your decor makes them a popular choice for style-conscious consumers. This comparison examines the leading options: Samsung’s The Frame, The Frame Pro, Hisense CanvasTV, and TCL Nxtvision.

People don’t purchase art-focused televisions for their superior picture quality. In fact, these models typically offer lower brightness, mediocre black levels, and less accurate colors compared to similarly priced conventional TVs. The real appeal lies in their ability to transform a blank screen into an elegant piece of art. A large television switched off can feel like a void in your living space, but when it displays a beautiful painting or photograph, it becomes a sophisticated focal point. While many standard TVs and streaming devices offer art slideshows, their glossy screens and obvious bezels never quite sell the illusion. Art TVs, with their matte finishes and customizable frames, come much closer to resembling actual artwork.

Samsung pioneered this niche with The Frame in 2017, but now faces competition. For this evaluation, we looked at a 65-inch Samsung The Frame, a 75-inch The Frame Pro, a 55-inch Hisense CanvasTV, and a 55-inch TCL Nxtvision. All are edge-lit LCD TVs with matte screens, built specifically to spend most of their time displaying art. The goal was to determine which model excels as a piece of decor, which performs best as a television, and whether you can find satisfaction without paying Samsung’s premium price.

How Art TVs Differ from Standard Televisions

The core technology sets these TVs apart. Instead of a full-array backlight, they use edge-lighting, with LEDs positioned around the screen’s perimeter. This design allows for an exceptionally slim profile that mounts nearly flush to the wall, resembling a picture frame more than a television. This approach also generally improves energy efficiency due to the reduced number of LEDs.

The matte screen finish is another critical differentiator. Glossy screens on regular TVs create distracting reflections from lamps or windows. The matte coating on art TVs diffuses this light, making reflections far less intrusive and helping to create the illusion of a textured canvas rather than a glass screen.

Installation and Cable Management

All these televisions are intended for flush wall mounting, with cables ideally routed through the wall for a clean look. They include similar mounting systems using brackets and hinges, held securely by strong magnets. While the included templates help with stud placement, installation in older homes with irregular stud spacing can be challenging.

The power cable presents a significant hurdle for the desired aesthetic. A visible cord dangling from the TV immediately breaks the artistic illusion. The Hisense and TCL models require you to hide standard power and HDMI cables. The standard Samsung Frame uses an external One Connect Box linked by a thin, translucent cable that carries both signal and power. While smaller than a standard power cord, it still needs concealment.

The Frame Pro attempts a wireless solution with its Connect Box, but this introduces a complication. Without a cable supplying power, the TV itself requires a standard, thicker power cord, which is actually more difficult to hide than the One Connect cable. The wireless box must be placed within 10 meters of the TV and away from metal furniture to maintain a stable connection. Some users have reported intermittent connectivity issues.

Gamers should approach The Frame Pro carefully. Its wireless setup introduces heavy input lag, which limits it to very casual play. The Micro HDMI port on the TV reduces this lag, but using it defeats the point of a product promoted for its cable-free look.

Installation Winner: Samsung The Frame
Magnetic bezels designed to mimic picture frames are offered across all models. Hisense and TCL include a bezel in the box, while Samsung sells its versions separately. Installation is simple on all three, though the TCL bezels needed extra tweaking to align the corners properly. They help complete the “art” presentation, but a close look shows that none of these TVs truly pass as framed canvas. For buyers wanting more options, third-party makers like Deco TV Frames and many Etsy sellers supply a wide range of add-ons. Still, it feels odd that a TV built to look like wall art doesn’t come with at least one bezel included.

Bezel Winners: Hisense CanvasTV, TCL Nxtvision

Performance as an Art Display
Samsung’s sets offer the most convincing artwork thanks to strong matte finishes that manage reflections well. The Frame Pro, however, suffers from one key issue: its brightness gives art an appealing look during daytime but becomes harsh at night. The ambient light sensor doesn’t dim the panel enough in low-light rooms, making the display look more like a television than a print. Dimmer screens on the other models avoid this problem. While all units can be scheduled to power down overnight, the illusion on The Frame Pro breaks during evening hours.

Brush stroke details are handled impressively on The Frame Pro, and the Hisense CanvasTV also performs well. Samsung includes a limited library of free art, but unlocking the full collection of more than 3,000 pieces requires a yearly $50 subscription to the Samsung Art Store. Loading your own images via USB is possible, though you lose access to museum-curated sets. Anyone choosing a Samsung Frame should plan for both the bezel and the subscription.

Hisense offers strong value here. It includes more than 1,000 free art pieces, among them works by van Gogh and Monet, with detail that holds up closely to Samsung’s output. TCL’s Nxtvision mode was less consistent, with some pieces looking sharp and others appearing slightly off or uneven due to issues from the original photography.

Art Mode Winners: Samsung The Frame, Hisense CanvasTV

Performance as a Television
All models trade TV performance for art-focused design. The edge-lit construction prevents accurate backlight control. The standard Frame, Hisense, and TCL models do not include local dimming, so bright elements wash out darker areas. The Frame Pro uses mini-LEDs but still runs into the limits of an edge-lit layout.

Backlight glow appears across all four TVs, especially visible as grayish bars during movies. Black uniformity is weak, noticeable in darker scenes from films like Gravity or Blade Runner 2049. Matte coatings raise black levels further by diffusing surrounding light. This is strongest on the Hisense, but none of the screens escape the issue. During bright sports, it’s less noticeable; in darker content, shadow detail is reduced.

The Frame Pro stands out with higher brightness and improved light control, making it the most enjoyable option for movie and TV viewing. It reaches more than 1,000 nits (around 800 nits in Filmmaker Mode). Still, it doesn’t achieve the intense highlights found on other TVs in its price bracket. And that same brightness contributes to its weakness in art mode.

The standard Frame peaks at 661 nits, Hisense at 527 nits, and TCL at 441 nits. These levels work in a dim room but don’t create a striking image, and the black-level limitations become more visible. Color accuracy aligns with this pattern: The Frame Pro in Filmmaker Mode offers the most natural colors. The regular Frame looks muted, while the Hisense and TCL struggle noticeably with blues, yellows, oranges, and browns. Switching out of default energy-saving modes is important across all sets to avoid overly blue, inaccurate output.

TV Performance Winner: Samsung The Frame Pro

Operating System and Usability
Hisense and TCL rely on Google TV, which is fast and simple to navigate. Samsung’s Tizen OS feels cluttered by comparison, with default settings, like “Autorun Samsung TV Plus”, that users may want to disable.

For gaming, Hisense and TCL offer strong support with VRR up to 144Hz and compatibility with FreeSync and G-Sync. The standard Frame supports 120Hz gaming on models 55 inches and larger and avoids the wireless-lag problem of the Frame Pro thanks to its wired One Connect Box.

OS & Usability Winners: Hisense CanvasTV, TCL Nxtvision

Final Recommendations
Art TVs lean toward decor first and television performance second. For most buyers, that’s acceptable; the priority is a screen that blends into the room and disappears when idle. If it can also handle sports or family movie nights, that’s a bonus.

The decision narrows to Samsung The Frame and the Hisense CanvasTV. TCL trails both in art quality and TV capability. The pricier Frame Pro is brighter and better for traditional TV viewing, but its wireless box complicates setup, introduces latency, and adds a thicker power cord, trade-offs that outweigh its advantages. The standard Frame remains the stronger pick within Samsung’s lineup.

For anyone avoiding Samsung’s higher prices and extra costs tied to bezels and the art subscription, the Hisense CanvasTV offers excellent results at a lower overall investment.

(Source: The Verge)