Samsung Frame Pro TV hands-on: the TV statement piece upgrade I've been waiting for
Samsung's most stylish television gets a major upgrade with Mini LED, 144Hz refresh rate, Wireless OneConnect Box and new AI interface
📺 Samsung’s chich Frame TV got a Pro upgrade with Mini LEDs at CES
🖼️ The Frame Pro has art-as-a-TV rivals from TCL, Hisense and Roku
🏃♂️ 144Hz VRR will please gamers look for higher refresh rates
📶 A smaller, new Wireless OneConnect Box comes with the Frame Pro
🧠 Samsung’s Click to Search AI understands on-screen context
The new Samsung Fame Pro TV is the television-as-a-statement-piece upgrade that I’ve been waiting for, and I finally got to see it in person at CES 2025. Of course, I have questions about the Frame Pro, including price, release date and performance.
But why the hype? Well, for a few years, I’ve recommended other Samsung TVs to friends who were initially interested in buying a Frame TV. I’ve successfully steered them to the Samsung QN90D QLED and Samsung S95D OLED TVs, for example, because they have better specs for their dollar. If you skip the “TV that’s also a picture frame” marketing of a standard Frame TV, Samsung offers better options.
The Samsung Frame Pro TV gives the “Work of Art” television idea a fresh shot in the arm – and it’s coming at the perfect time. Samsung has new competition from 4KTVs that double as artwork displays – namely, the TCL NXTFrame TV, the Hisense CanvasTV, and the Roku Pro Series TV have Art Mode-like gallery functionality, too.
Here’s what I saw and liked about the Frame Pro at CES 2025.
Samsung brings Mini LED to The Frame Pro
The Frame Pro TV is going from getting a proper Neo QLED upgrade with Mini LED, according to Samsung, and it offers a brighter screen, more contrast and better black levels. That’s exactly what art snobs who double as display geeks have wanted.
One no-so-mini caveat about the Frame Pro’s Mini LEDs: during our CES 2025 demo, Samsung casually mentioned that the Mini LEDs are all along the bottom and that the Frame Pro is technically edge-lit. Because the TV is backlit through channels along the back side of the TV, we’re unsure how well it handles local dimming zones.
Samsung smartly placed The Frame 2025 next to The Frame Pro 2025 at CES, and I could see a difference in brightness. So, while the Frame Pro is a Mini LED with an asterisk, Samsung’s chic-and-slim TV is a stunner no matter how the Mini LEDs shine. Look for a full Frame Pro TV review from The Shortcut in the future.
Wireless OneConnect box for hanging art
Tell me if I’m wrong, but the latest time you went to an art gallery, the paintings didn’t have a bunch of wires hanging from the frame, right? Good news: The Frame Pro uses Samsung’s Wireless OneConnect Box to minimize the cables to a single power cable.
The Frame Pro TV uses an upgraded Wireless OneConnect Box 62% smaller than its predecessor, supports omnidirectional technology via WiFi 7, and can be placed up to 10 meters away, even in a different room. This is similar to LG’s Zero Connect Box technology, which won our top CES Award two years ago.
Most people I know with a Frame TV go to great lengths to hide their messy nest of A/V cables inside of a wall. This upgrade will reduce the need to drill and snake cables around the home, and the box supports up to 8K 120Hz.
144Hz for gaming
Seeing Pantone Validated art on The Frame 2024 was last year’s upgrade that excited art geeks. This year, the Frame Pro meets the demands of a different type of geek – video game geeks – who desire faster refresh rates from PS5 Pro and Xbox games.
Samsung’s Frame Pro is a TV we can recommend to gamers. Its 144Hz VRR support is a major step up from the 120Hz refresh rate on the standard Frame TV. Combined with Samsung’s new NQ4 Gen3 AI Processor, we should see the Frame TV Pro offer peak performance among Samsung’s lifestyle TVs.
Click to Search via Vision AI
CES 2025 was the first year that Samsung touted “Click to Search,” part of its Vision AI platform (different from Apple’s visionOS in the Apple Vision Pro headset). Here, we saw how a 2025 Samsung television can understand things on the screen with a click of the Frame Pro remote.
Click to Search reminds me of a combination of Google’s Circle to Search, first seen in our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review, and Amazon’s X-Ray on Prime Video. Vision AI should be able to pick up on everything on-screen, from actors to food dishes.
Samsung Frame Pro TV price, release date
Samsung hasn’t revealed the exact pricing of its Frame Pro TV 2025, but we can get a sense of how much it’ll cost by looking at the launch prices of last year’s televisions. The 65-inch Frame TV cost $1,999 at launch one year ago, and I’d imagine the “Pro” specs upgrade will attach a premium on top of that MSRP.
Keep in mind that the new Frame Pro also comes with a Wireless OneConnect Box, but extras, like a custom bezel, do cost more, ranging from $199 to $299. The exact release date will be revealed after CES, according to Samsung. Usually, we see review units go out in March or April, so stay tuned for a full Frame Pro TV review from us, as we’re excited to put this Mini LED upgrade to the test.