Jalen Sigh Tech

Verdict

Rather ingenious in conception and offering an enjoyable sound, the Samsung Music Frame is a device for those who want a speaker that blends into their home.

Introduction

Lifestyle has become the trendy new term in the AV world, of which you can add the Samsung Music Frame to a growing list.

What is a lifestyle product? It’s probably easier to describe what it’s not. AV and hi-fi products are often viewed as hard to understand, a product pitched to the lifestyle side softens that view, making it easier for an audience that prefers simplicity over complexity.

Which is what (hopefully) Samsung is looking to harness with its Music Frame – tap into a market that wants quality audio but presented in a way that makes it accessible.

Design

• Heavier than you’d expect
• Touch controls
• Detachable pictures

The Music Frame could be classed as one-of-a-kind if it weren’t for that pesky Sonos IKEA Symfonisk Picture Frame’s existence. It’s the same concept, a wireless speaker in the form of a picture frame.

There is only one size and at 353 x 363mm (WH) it’s square shaped; and with its depth of 143mm it’s actually fairly thick. It comes with a stand that’s easy enough to slide in and out, and which tilts the speaker at an angle. You can pass cables down and through the stand if you want to bring a sense of tidiness to the area.

At 5.9kg it’s hefty too. The stand is small enough that it could be perched on a shelf, or you can wall mount it with the included screws and brackets. Connections are located in a recessed around the back but it can be fiddly plugging things in. Around the front and below the frame are a set of LEDs that are just about visible and continue Samsung’s reliance on baffling blinking lights for its displays.

There are touch sensitive controls that cover input switching, volume, microphone on/off but they’re placed in an inconvenient position. If you want to adjust the speaker’s placement, the best way is to grab it by the bottoms as the placement of the controls meant I ended up accidentally switching the input or turning the mic off.

The ‘lifestyle’ aspect of this ‘speaker’ is that you can change the picture within the frame. You can add your own pictorial memories within the border or a custom art panel that can be purchased from a third party seller (for the sum of £50). Lift the frame and then pull, and you’re on your way to customising the look so it matches your décor.

Features

• Samsung-specific features
• Dolby Atmos support
• SmartThings app

In terms of connectivity there’s an optical input to connect it to a (preferably small) TV or hi-fi separate that supports that type of connection.

Wirelessly there’s Wi-Fi: AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Bluetooth 5.2, though it’s worth noting that Google Cast is limited to 16-bit/44.1kHz (annoying if you have a Qobuz subscription).

If you’re an owner of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone you can tap to connect to the Music Frame and send songs via that method. It’s also Roon Tested, making it compatible with Roon systems.

There’s Google Home support or you can choose to swim in the waters of Samsung’s SmartThings and connect to other IoT devices in the home. Alexa is built-in but there’s no Bixby support.

There is wireless Dolby Atmos support even though it’s a 2.0 stereo speaker. The Music Frame also supports Dolby 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus and LPCM tracks.

Samsung related features come in the form of Q-Symphony, which syncs the Music Frame’s speakers with a Samsung TV’s speakers for a bigger sound. The SpaceFit Sound automatically optimises the speaker’s sound in relation to the space it’s in, which should mean you get the best sound wherever its placed. Active Voice Amplifier beefs up dialogue/vocals over any spikes in noise in a room.

Back to SmartThings and the app allows for EQ customisation (presets or bass/treble adjustments) and advanced sound settings such as Voice Enhancement, Night Node, and Virtual. There’s playback control and you can switch sources too, though for whatever reason the playback feature in the app was buggy, showing the same album always despite not playing it.

It was also laggy with Google Cast on my smartphone but much better over Spotify/Tidal Connect, AirPlay and Bluetooth.

Sound Quality

• Clear audio quality
• Solid levels of detail
• Not the most dynamic sound

So how does the Samsung Music Frame sound? Reasonably good as long as you’re not expecting the highest fidelity.

Both the midrange and treble performance are clear, and bass is good, though lacks a bit of welly out of the box. Adjusting the bass EQ does provide more warmth and depth, though it can impinge on the midrange, squashing the amount of space available for vocals.

There’s a decent sense of energy and rhythm to the Music Frame with Chromeo’s Don’t Turn The Lights On and Lake Street Drive’s Hypotheticals, but its sense of dynamism is minor rather than major. Every song exists at the same volume, what ought to be crests and falls are more mild bumps, if that – its excitement with a small ‘e’.

It’s not the widest performance with stereo tracks – music rarely breaches beyond the width of the speaker itself – but despite that, the Music Frame puts in a spacious performance thanks to its six speakers.

The sound takes on more of a vertical shape, vocals in the middle with instrumentation roaming around the sides and below. It does mean there isn’t much depth to the sound, vocals and harmonies with En Vogue’s Don’t Let Go all exist on the same plane but the Music Frame has a good sense of detail and separation to avoid it all mushing together – there’s decent crispness to cymbal crashes and decent punch to the kick drum while the electric guitar isn’t completely obscured.

Every track I fling to the Music Frame places a priority on vocals. Singers voices always come through with clarity, and there’s a convincing sense of naturalism to them – they’re not necessarily warm-sounding or crisp, but tonally singers sound more or less how they should even if some extra lashing sharpness and dynamism would not go amiss.

Treble is clear and decently detailed but not particularly bright with GoGo Penguin’s Erased by Sunlight. There’s little to no variation in the high frequency notes the Music Frame relays, and once the bass and instruments come into play with that track, treble struggles to stand out and feels weak. The top end performance plays it a little safe when it could have done with more bite and shine. Raising the treble EQ unexpectedly raised the levels of noise in the song.

As I mentioned before, the bass is fine but the speaker comes a cropper with tracks that require depth and power like Bodyrox Yeah Yeah. More gratuitous power and slam would be nice, and while EQ adjustments bring that power and depth it does affect the midrange.

The speaker’s Bluetooth performance is warmer, not as detailed or clear but still a solid attempt. Compared to Wi-Fi, it isn’t as loud nor as energetic, so listening via Wi-Fi is the better method.

The Music Frame can play Atmos Music tracks, offering a slightly more spacious soundfield than stereo playback but it’s not as defined – there’s a vague sense of where instruments are beyond the frame but I can’t pinpoint the exact location. There’s more depth present but the caveat is that songs lack weight, and sound thinner than they ought to.

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