Samsung Electronics’ stylish “Lifestyle TVs” have gone on sale, with some pretty enticing updates to both The Frame and The Serif.
What sets these TVs apart from Samsung’s other QLED displays is that they’re not only quite capable TVs in their own right, but they also carry a high degree of finesse that’s fit for any high-end living room.
The Frame for instance is probably the most famous of Samsung’s Lifestyle TVs, because it doubles as a high-tech art gallery when not in use. Owners can even choose from a selection of colourful bezels to get the look just right.
With this year’s models, Samsung has added a matte LCD display to both The Frame and The Serif, ensuring they look even better. Unlike the traditional glossy LCD screens, the new matte displays are designed to ensure that artworks displayed on them look even more realistic, with a significant reduction in glare.
What’s more, the TVs aren’t all that pricey compared to some of Samsung’s higher-end models, with The Frame starting at just £699 and The Serif, which is designed to look like the serif font, costing £1,200.
Whether or not the Lifestyle TVs are right for you is a matter of taste. The models are certainly not the most fully-featured in Samsung’s lineup, as they attempt to strike a balance between style and functionality.
Both of the TVs provide crisp 4K resolution visuals on a bright and colourful QLED display. They’re powered by Samsung’s Tizen operating system, which comes with a vast selection of apps. They’re also available in a choice of sizes, with The Serif offering a choice of 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch models, and The Frame adding 75-inch and 85-inch versions on top of that. There’s also a smaller 32-inch The Frame for those who lack the wall space, though that particular model is only Full HD, as opposed to 4K.
However, the focus on style means that some performance has been sacrificed with these TVs. Various reviewers on the web and YouTube have noted that while The Frame and The Serif deliver vivid, natural looking images, they don’t perform as well as some of Samsung’s higher-end TVs, such as the QN90B 4K QLED and S95B QD-OLED TVs. In addition, some have complained that The Frame isn’t so good when it comes to darker scenes, mainly because it uses an edge-lit panel as opposed to a direct backlight.
If you’re after a TV that provides the best possible experience in terms of picture quality, Samsung’s Lifestyle TVs might not be up to scratch. Even so, their performance should be good enough for those who value the stylish, artistic qualities of the displays.
