The Samsung The Frame 2021 is the successor to the Samsung The Frame 2020, and it's a unique 4k TV with a VA panel and quantum dot technology. Its main selling feature is its unique design, as it's intended to be wall-mounted and can display artwork when you're not using it. Samsung even sells frames for it that make it look like a framed painting when wall-mounted. Its VA panel delivers deep, uniform blacks, making it a great choice for a dark room. It has great peak brightness in SDR and decent reflection handling, so it can handle a bright environment as long as there's no direct sunlight. It has a few great gaming features, including an HDMI 2.1 port for 4k @ 120Hz gaming and variable refresh rate support. Sadly, it has narrow viewing angles, and HDR doesn't add much, as it has no local dimming feature and just okay peak brightness in HDR.
Our Verdict
The Samsung The Frame TV is a good TV overall. It's well-suited for watching TV shows and sports due to its high peak brightness and decent reflection handling. It has a great response time, 120Hz refresh rate, low input lag, and VRR support, making it a good option for gaming and use as a PC monitor. It has a high contrast ratio to produce deep blacks, which is great for watching movies in the dark, but sadly, it lacks local dimming, and it doesn't get very bright in HDR, so highlights don't pop the way they should.
- Displays deep blacks.
- Great response time.
- Gets bright enough to fight glare.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
The Samsung The Frame TV is decent for watching movies. It has an outstanding contrast ratio that makes it a great choice for dark rooms. It upscales lower resolution content without any issues, and it removes judder from all sources. Unfortunately, it doesn't have local dimming, and low frame rate content like movies stutters a bit due to its quick response time.
- Displays deep blacks.
- Upscales lower resolution content without issues.
- Removes judder from all content.
- No local dimming.
- Stutters a bit in low frame rate content.
The Samsung The Frame TV is good for watching TV shows. It has decent reflection handling and gets pretty bright, so it can handle bright rooms well, as long as there's no direct sunlight. It upscales lower resolution content without any issue, and it has excellent smart features with plenty of apps available. Unfortunately, it has narrow viewing angles, which isn't ideal if you like walking around while watching.
- Gets bright enough to fight glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content without issues.
- Excellent interface with lots of apps.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
The Samsung The Frame TV is good for watching sports. It has a great response time to deliver a clear image in fast-moving scenes, and it has a black frame insertion feature to further improve motion clarity. It handles reflections decently well and gets bright enough to combat glare. However, it has narrow viewing angles that cause the image to appear washed out when viewed from the side, so it's not the best for watching with a big group of people.
- Great response time.
- Gets bright enough to fight glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content without issues.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
The Samsung The Frame TV is good for gaming. It has an HDMI 2.1 port, so it supports 4k @ 120Hz gaming from a PC and variable refresh rate technology. It has a great response time to deliver clear motion, and its low input lag makes gaming feel incredibly responsive. It has an outstanding contrast ratio to display deep blacks, making it great for dark rooms, but it doesn't have a local dimming feature to further improve black level. Sadly, 4k @ 120Hz gaming isn't currently working properly from the new consoles.
- Displays deep blacks.
- Great response time.
- Can display 4k @ 120Hz.
- VRR support.
- No local dimming.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
The Samsung The Frame TV is decent for watching movies in HDR. It has an outstanding contrast ratio and amazing black uniformity, resulting in deep blacks, one of the most important factors in a good HDR experience. Sadly, there's no local dimming feature, and it can't get bright enough for small highlights to stand out the way they should. While HDR does make a noticeable difference on this TV, it's not as good as it should be.
- Displays deep blacks.
- Removes judder from all content.
- No local dimming.
- Stutters a bit in low frame rate content.
- Not bright enough for a true HDR experience.
The Samsung The Frame TV is good for gaming in HDR, mainly due to its very good gaming performance. It has low input lag and a great response time, resulting in a responsive gaming experience with little blur, and it supports VRR for a nearly tear-free gaming experience. Sadly, HDR doesn't add much, as it can't get bright enough to deliver a true HDR experience, and it doesn't have a local dimming feature.
- Displays deep blacks.
- Great response time.
- Can display 4k @ 120Hz.
- VRR support.
- No local dimming.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
- Not bright enough for a true HDR experience.
The Samsung The Frame TV is great for use as a PC monitor. It has low input lag to provide a responsive desktop experience, and it supports most common resolutions as well as chroma 4:4:4. Visibility is good in well-lit rooms due to its decent reflection handling and high peak brightness. However, like most VA panel TVs, it has narrow viewing angles, so the image looks inaccurate at the sides if you sit up close.
- Great response time.
- Supports most common resolutions and chroma 4:4:4.
- Gets bright enough to fight glare.
- Narrow viewing angles.
- Doesn't handle direct reflections well.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 26, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Apr 17, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Feb 11, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55 inch Samsung The Frame 2021 (QN55LS03AAFXZA), and we expect the results to be valid for the 65 inch, 75 inch, and 85 inch models. The 43 inch and 50 inch models have a 60Hz refresh rate and don't support a variable refresh rate, but most of our results should still be valid for those sizes.
| Size | US Model | Short Model Code | Refresh Rate | Variable Refresh Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43" | QN43LS03AAFXZA | QN43LS03A | 60Hz | No |
| 50" | QN50LS03AAFXZA | QN50LS03A | 60Hz | No |
| 55" | QN55LS03AAFXZA | QN55LS03A | 120Hz | Yes |
| 65" | QN65LS03AAFXZA | QN65LS03A | 120Hz | Yes |
| 75" | QN75LS03AAFXZA | QN75LS03A | 120Hz | Yes |
| 85" | QN85LS03AAFXZA | QN85LS03A | 120Hz | Yes |
If you come across a different type of panel or your Samsung The Frame doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like gray uniformity, may vary between units.
Our unit was manufactured in February 2021; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Samsung The Frame is a good TV overall with a unique design. However, unless you need its Art Mode feature and customizable bezels, there are much better TVs in its price range, like the Samsung QN85A QLED.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best 4k TVs, the best QLED TVs, and the best 4k HDR TVs.
The Samsung The Frame 2022 is a newer version of the Samsung The Frame 2021. Both TVs are very similar overall, and the main difference is that the 2022 model has a different screen coating. The 2022 version has a matte finish, while the 2021 version has a semi-glossy finish. The matte finish reduces the intensity of mirror-like reflections and makes the screen look more like a realistic piece of art. The 2022 TV also has better out-of-the-box accuracy, but other than that, both TVs are very similar.
The Samsung The Frame 2021 is the successor to the Samsung The Frame 2020. They perform similarly for the most part; however, the 2020 model has a much higher contrast ratio and a better color gamut. The 2021 model has slightly better response times, and its backlight flickers at a much higher frequency, resulting in less image duplication in fast-moving content.
The Samsung The Frame 2021 and the Samsung Q60T are very similar overall. The main differences are that the Frame 2021 has a 120Hz refresh rate, much quicker response times, and VRR support, making it better for gaming. Also, its backlight flickers at a higher frequency, so there's less image duplication than on the Q60T. The Q60T has a higher contrast ratio to display deeper blacks, but it doesn't get as bright and has some frame dimming that isn't present on the Frame 2021, which means small objects in dark scenes tend to look dimmer.
The Samsung The Frame 2021 and the Samsung Q70A perform very similarly overall. The Q70A edges out the Frame slightly because it has a better contrast ratio and higher peak brightness. That said, the Frame might be a better choice if you want a clean setup because it has the One Connect Box, and it comes with a no-gap wall mount.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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