Samsung UN55LS03NAFXZA 55" Class The Frame Premium 4K UHD Smart TV (2018)

I’ve been eyeing the Samsung Frame TV since I first saw it at my friend’s house last year. I had never seen anything like it before. On display were portraits of her children where the tv used to be. I was informed that it was one of Samsung’s newest line of HDR Frame TVs. The dual functionality, as a source of entertainment and a piece of artwork, really appealed to me. So I finally got the new 2018 4K UHD The Frame Smart TV and loving it so far. It’s so much thinner than I had expected. It comes with a no gap wall mount to hang the tv on the wall without having the bulky look on the back. Set up has never been easier, the tv is connected to the One Connect Box by an “invisible wire” that’s barely noticeable. The cable box and dvd wires are also connected to the One Connect box and not directly to the tv. I have my unit on a stand, so the One Connect box isn’t used to its fullest benefit, as it is just hidden behind the tv. But if I were to hang it on the wall, there would be no more mess of visible wires dangling from the tv to deal with and the One Connect box can be tucked away to the side. The Frame TV comes with a very simple and sleekly designed Smart Remote that looks unlike any other tv remote I’ve seen. It’s very easy to use and surprisingly very multi-functional for such a simple design. Once I quickly set up all my streaming apps and to my cable service, I was finally able to see how amazing the picture quality is. It’s so crisp, clear, and very realistic. My husband is looking forward to watching football on this tv. The Art Mode option was what really brought me here. I don’t have to look at a large black screen in the middle of my living room, just taking up space. Now I have a beautiful “framed” artwork in its place. I chose one of the artworks that came with the tv and it looks amazing and fits so well with my home décor. The only complaint I have is the extra steps I had to take to upload photos onto the Art Mode: My Collection. I had to download the Samsung SmartThings app onto my mobile, connect to the tv via bluetooth, and then upload the photo. I don’t have any other Samsung appliances that this app could be used for, so basically not useful to me. Why couldn’t the photos be selected directly from the Gallery since the photos are on Samsung Cloud already? That would have been so much easier. This was definitely worth the purchase. As far as I know, there’s no other company besides Samsung that offers a product like the Frame TV, unless you have custom made frames built for the tv. It’s not quite the same and far more costly.

For years my wife and I thought "wouldn't it be cool if wall-mounted TV's could display art" - well, Samsung Frame TV did just that. No longer does our tv look like a big black rectangle when not in use. It now shows very cool artwork that truly adds to our home's look. I was initially concerned that displaying art for hours on end would use a lot of electricity, but the energy guide label says only $17 per year. So needless to say, when we aren't watching TV and in the room, we will be having it in "Art Mode" and enjoying being able to change out the artwork/photography with a click of a button. Very Cool. The system uses just one very thin cable (kind of a clear/white color) that connects the TV to the "One Connection" box. You hardly notice the cable as it lays against the wall. The One Connection box can be hidden away and is where the other connections (HDMI, Cable, power, etc) are made. It is a really slick looking system and the TV mounts really tight against the wall, so it really does look like an art frame. The only disappointment is that the TV comes with only the black frame as standard, and the other options (a couple different wood grain and a white frame) are purchased separately and aren't cheap. (around $200 - ouch!) We want to go all-white, so we will be ordering the frame, which apparently just snaps over the top of the existing black frame. The set up was really pretty simple. Pretty much plug and play. The smart tv set up was simple as well - once you turn it on, it walked you through step by step. The wall mounting was no more difficult than any other wall mount, and in fact the template, mount and instructions were better than most. Bottom line, there are countless 4K tv's on the market, but this one takes it from "just a tv" to something that isn't an eyesore when not in use. If your wife is anything like mine, she will love the art and photographs being displayed when the football game isn't on! It truly does add to the decor of your home.

The GOOD: - Wonderful that it has just one thin cable for data and power to the TV - Included mounting kit works great and TV is extremely flush - Picture quality is great and crisp - Sound quality is surprisingly good for such a flat TV - Can load custom pictures and auto-change them every 10 mins - The TV can in-theory get software updates to fix issues... (see BAD and UGLY sections). The BAD: - The software on the TV is so-so, and has forced home-screen ads that you can't remove without disconnecting it from the net or doing custom filtering on your router. - Using a Google Pixel with the latest version of Android I was not able to ever get Samsung's SmartView App to connect to the TV, so I could not cast my screen or load custom art. - Custom art has to be put on a USB thumb drive to be loaded if the software doesn't work for you (as it didn't for me). - Custom art basically has to be in 16x9 landscape to look good -- the TV is not capable of cropping your pictures currently. - The voice search functionality is BIXBY. No Amazon Alexa or Google Home searching, microphone button on remote is never going to be used as a result by me. The UGLY: - The TV had a piece of clear film (pictured) stuck between the screen and the non-removable frame (defect / poor QC from the factory). I had to use tweezers and compressed air to dig it out. - This TV (and apparently other Samsung TVs) do not work correctly with the Nintendo Switch! You must force the Switch to output 720p for it to not look terrible and glitchy. Switch works great on every other TV I've ever used it on, something about Samsung and Nintendo is not happy at all at 1080p. This is a problem many have, I found the 720p fix from others discussing the issue on Samsung support forums. Over all still happy with the TV as it's the only game in town for being a picture frame and TV, but if Sony ever made something like this that would be a way better choice with Android TV on Sony rather than this TV's painfully Samsung software package.

UPDATE: We've owned the Frame TV for just under two years (normal use) and a few weeks ago it started powercycling off and on over and over about every 30 seconds. We are out of warranty and Samsung found no technicians in our area (Northern UT, near SLC, not out in the boonies at all). After speaking with a Samsung tech, our local TV repairman said that it would cost about $1,000 to fix it (the Samsung tech recommended a new motherboard and connect one box, and he wasn't even 100% sure that would fix it). So, we either pay almost as much as buying it new or we are out $1,400 TV after less than two years. Incredibly disappointed in Samsung and the product. The artwork feature is great, but for $1,400 it the TV should last more than two years and that Samsung should stand behind the product. We originally purchased the 43-inch from a third-party seller as an open-box item. It worked fine but we ended up upgrading to the larger 55-inch screen. KEEP IN MIND that you're getting a much smaller frame that with a traditional TV and so when it says 43 inch, the screen takes up most of those 43 inches. That's good because it means more picture and less chunky black frame like you find on a regular TV, but it looked smaller than we thought when it was mounted. So measure carefully before deciding on a size. AS FAR AS FUNCTION goes, we love the TV! The price was a bit much to swallow, but if you figure that were you to switch out beautiful, quality pieces of art periodically, you'd be spending a lot of money anyway, so to get that plus a high-def smart tv may be worth the price to you...it was to us! If you look at it as just a TV, the price is too high...if you look at it as a piece of artwork that is a main piece of decor that is also a nice TV, the price may be right. ALTHOUGH, the artwork that is free is limited, there weren't as many choices as I was hoping for, and for the price of the TV I do feel that you should receive more options. You can buy artwork for about $20 each, or subscribe to the gallery for unlimited access for $5/month. It comes with the one connect box, which is a great feature. You plug the TV into it and then hide it out of sight...you can then plug all of your other devices (apple TV, dvd player, Xbox etc) into the one connect box and not need to have them near or plugged into the TV (this is how you are able to mount it flat onto the wall). Mounting was easy, just four screws to attach the bracket to the TV and then a few screws to attach the mounting plate to the wall. I also love the motion sensor--you can set the artwork to go to sleep automatically after a period of time and then it will turn back on automatically when someone re-enters the room. Overall, I'm happy with the TV, it looks beautiful and is a great centerpiece to our living room.

We just got the Samsung 4K Smart TV 55" and it is a much needed upgrade from our 9 yr old tv! One of the first things I noticed was that you don't have to attach all the cables directly to the tv. There's a box (One Connect Box) that you can hide and it's easy to access if you have to change out different cables. We don't have it mounted on the wall yet, but I can already tell that it'll look so clean without all the wires hanging from it. It's also flat on the back, so it'll be flush with the wall. The smart remote was easy to set up and it connects with other devices. I also like how the remote gets you to Netflix, Hulu, or YouTube really quickly without a lag. One other feature that is cool is the art mode. The tv doubles as an art/photo frame when you're not using it. You can upload your own pictures or use the free art on the tv. It looks so much nicer than a big, blank screen in my living room. One problem I had was when I first connected fios to the tv, I wasn't getting HD. I thought it was my cable box but I finally figured out that I had to change the settings to HDMI in the external device manager on the tv. (Hope that helps someone with the same problem) All in all, the tv is great. It's easy to set up and the picture quality is so clear. We haven't figured out all the features yet, but we really like it so far.

I held off last year when this came out because the power was not integrated into the one connect. Also figured that waiting a year would bring a few new features and a better price. Well, the price never really dropped and I was fortunate enough to buy one for $400 off, which Samsung offers on these TVs on a regular basis. I also ordered from another Prime seller instead of Amazon direct and saved another $70 in sales tax - something you should consider to maximize savings! The TV is a big upgrade from the 8 year old 46" TV. Big in size and capabilities as technology has just gotten that much better. But the main reason for this TV is the ability for it to display life like art when the TV is not in use. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate this capability at a 6. And probably only this high because no other TV does not offer this functionality. If there was more competition perhaps there would be better options. But in Art mode is does a pretty good job simulating real frame art, and it is a huge improvement over a large black box dominating the living room when the TV is not in use. So far we love our frame tv. It had trouble with our Tivo Bolt on one of the HDMI inputs and the picture and sound would cut out. No clear reason as to why this was happening, but I tried another HDMI port and now everything works fine. Great TV, high price but worth it if you want to dress up a room a bit. Here's hoping the art mode gets better in future releases! And too bad the 43" has been discontinued - was thinking about getting one of those for another room...

I have been looking at this TV for some time. We have a new house with an area above the family room fireplace that we felt would be perfect for the frame TV. We have a remote cable hook up which connects to a nearby closet. We waited for the price to come down on the 65 inch version and then happily bought it. The TV arrives extremely well packaged. They should win an award for efficient packaging. It was somewhat difficult hanging up on the wall. I ended up placing the One Connect box in a recessed fireproof box behind the TV (please note this is NOT recommended by Samsung but I saw no other way to have no visible components). The one connect box barely gets warm so I don't think overheating will be a big issue. Although adjusting the dry wall, electrical box and cable input was a huge pain, I am incredibly pleased with the look. The No Gap mount looks really clean with no visible wiring. I have not seen a TV on the market that can replicate the mounting set up. Our main motivation getting this TV was we felt it was kind of tacky having a giant black TV screen with wires/cable box dominating the family room even when not in use. Many people have no issue with this. If that's the case, you probably don't need this TV. The profile of this setup is very slim and again, it's hard to replicate the look of the No Gap mount with other TVs. The picture of the TV is great but nothing special. I am the kind of person who walks into Best Buy and all the screens look the same. It's perfectly fine for me. Definitely clearer than other TVs I've owned. Other more discerning viewers will note that the specs on this TV are good but there are nicer TV's out there from a picture perspective (e.g. OLED). I was fully aware of this going in and am really pleased with the picture. The Art mode is not quite as believable as I was expecting. It's particularly bad in low light settings. That being said, people who don't know it's a TV can be easily fooled. The included art collection is adequate but limited. If you want other art, it's $19 per picture (which seems ridiculous for a digital image, many of them (like Cezanne) should be off copyright). Despite this, it still serves my original purpose of having a clean look with some attractive art in place of a black screen. As an aside, we have not purchased extra bezel's for the frame yet but I think it would likely make it look much more believable as a piece of art. Again, paying $250 for four thin pieces of fake wood seems crazy. The remote control is awesome, probably the best TV remote I've ever owned. The interface is good and it's quite easy to access Netflix, Amazon Video and other things. One problem is you can't easily use the included remote to control Xfinity and the Xfinity remote doesn't control the TV features as well. So basically, you are kind of stuck with two remotes. In summary, it can be difficult to setup and is overpriced from a image quality perspective. However, it provides a certain clean, minimalist look that can't be replicated with other TVs. Even with the recent price drop, you are paying about $1000 extra for this type of setup compared to similar screen quality TVs. Although the art mode is not especially believable, I still find it attractive and unique. I would buy it again.

i have had this samsung frame TV for a couple of weeks now, and i love it. to be honest, i did have some challenges getting it set up with my cable box but was able to find more instructions online and now it's super easy to switch between cable, netflix and art mode with the smart remote. using the one connect box was way easy and more convenient than climbing behind the tv. and i love that the invisible connection will make it look professionally installed without cords everywhere as soon as i get the no gap wall mount set up. i have two words about art mode: worth it!! it's sooooo cool. initially i was just going to hang it on the wall like a regular tv, but instead i already got a subscription to the art store and am planning on hanging all of my other art around like a gallery. i've built up a collection of favorites that i can either set up as a slide show or just switch out everyday. it really makes me feel so fancy and modern and is legit super awesome. my next purchase will definitely be one of the customizable bezels to really complete the look. since it is still a tv, i can also comment on how great the picture is. it really is a better than average 4K UHD tv with HDR. and i'm impressed with the ultrawide viewing angle since it allows me to still see the picture when i'm off in the kitchen and at a bad angle. all in all, great tv! two thumbs up. thank you, samsung!