Samsung Frame Vs. Hisense Canvas Vs. TCL Nxtframe: Is Cheaper Better?

A lot of people want very large, high quality televisions. As technologies like 4K QLED displays become increasingly more affordable, more people want them in their home to play video games or watch movies and television shows. However, there is the subsection of people who want a very nice TV in their home but don't want people to see that they have a very nice TV in their home. There is something aesthetically unpleasing to certain folks about having a giant black rectangle perched on top of a cabinet or mounted to the wall. If you have designed the interior of your living room, bedroom, or any room a particular way, that black void could disrupt that consistency. That is why a number of television manufacturers have developed frame televisions, which aim to disguise a television as an art piece on the wall.

As Samsung makes up about one-third of the TV marketshare, the most famous of these is probably the Samsung Frame, which has made quite an excellent case for this device that could very easily be seen as a gimmick. However, other highly rated, major television companies have come out with their own competitors to the Frame as well. On the slightly more affordable side, you have the Hisense Canvas, and the TCL NXTFRAME, though the latter will soon be more expensive than the Samsung. Although they are built for the same purpose, there are plenty of differences amongst these three models that you need to consider before selecting one for yourself. We are going to dive into these three frame televisions and see whether or not the price differences between them are actually justified.

The Samsung Frame is a series of televisions that utilize the QLED technology that has come to dominate Samsung's entire line of televisions over the past number of years. However, they are not — as of yet — utilizing the newer Neo QLED technology that the company has introduced relatively recently. Even though they are QLED TVs, it is important to note that not every one is a 4K TV. Typically, these two things go together, and the majority of the Samsung Frames are 4K TVs. Samsung does make a 32-inch model though, which is just a regular 1080p HD television. The rest of the Frame series, ranging from 43 inches to 85 inches, all accommodate 4K and HDR playback.

The other major feature that comes standard across the line is an anti-glare matte finish to the screen. Instead of sunlight from a window bouncing off the screen to obscure your view, you will get a consistent image that is perfectly visible. As for the titular frame itself, you have a variety of different options, including different materials and colors, to customize to your room's decor.

The MSRP for the Samsung Frame TVs is quite high. A 55 inch model retails at $1,500, and the 85 inch one goes for $4,300. That being said, it is not unheard of to find them at lower prices. For example, Amazon currently sells the 65-inch model for $1,495, which is significantly lower than the typical $2,000 MSRP. You can also find older models for lower prices, which hold up quite well in terms of specs.

If you aren't lucky enough to find a time where the Samsung Frame is discounted, those may be out of your price range. For a less expensive alternative, you have the Hisense Canvas TV. Just like the Samsungs, these are 4K QLED TVs that are able to support Dolby Vision HDR playback. On the face of it, they seem like identical TVs with those kind of specs, but the further you look, the more they diverge. Some of it goes in the Hisense's favor. For instance, the Samsung Frame's smart TV system is the Tizen system, but the Hisense Canvas utilizes Google TV. If you are a Google Home user, this can be a massive benefit to link all of your devices together.

However, the Hisense Canvas has its limitations. As opposed to the wide ranging selection of sizes of the Frame, the Canvas is only available in a 55-inch and a 65-inch model, which sell for $1,000 and $1,300 respectively. If you want a truly massive TV to hang on your wall, Hisense can't deliver that with the Canvas. You also are locked into the one frame design that Hisense produces, which is a beige frame. What it can deliver on is refresh rate. Its 144 Hz rate outpaces the 120 Hz capabilities of the Frame. For gamers, this is great, but if you are a hardcore gamer, an art piece TV is probably not what you're getting. In terms of performance, the Canvas stacks up quite well against the Samsung Frame, but in terms of aesthetic optionality, you are quite limited.

Lastly, we have the NXTFRAME from TCL. In the introduction to this, it was mentioned that these are slightly more expensive the Samsung Frame. Well, that is not entirely true. In fact, if you are to get them as they are sold now, the NXTFRAME TVs are by far the cheapest of the three. A 55-inch model goes for about $700 and an 85-inch for $2,799 on Amazon, though TCL still lists their retail prices at $1,500 and $4,000 on its website respectively. The reason these prices are so low is because TCL is about to launch the next generation of the arty TV with the NXTFRAME Pro. That 55-inch model price goes up to $2,000 and the 85-inch to $5,000. These are quite a bit more than the current Samsung Frame.

As for the original, bargain-priced models, they are still quite comparable to the other two models listed here. They are 4K televisions that run on a QLED panel, are able to support HDR playback, features an anti-glare screen, and comes natively built with a Google TV system. The smallest option is that 55-inch model, but you have more size options than the Hisense. While it does have an anti-glare screen, it does not have the same matte finish as the Frame, so you are going to struggle a bit in rooms with a lot of sunlight. Adding to that, reviews comparing the two have shown that the brightness of the screen is much less than the Samsung, in both HDR and SDR settings. The NXTFRAME Pro models could change this, but we don't know that yet.

Samsung makes some of the highest quality televisions in the world, and with that high quality comes a high price. Now, there are ways to get around paying those top retail prices, depending on when you are buying and from what retailer, but unless you are truly keeping a watch on them all the time, you may end up paying that MSRP. This applies to the Samsung Frame, as well as all of its other televisions. However, Samsung does not have a monopoly on quality, and both Hisense and TCL have developed very worthy competitors to the Samsung Frame with the Canvas and NXTFRAME, respectively.

In terms of the specs of their processing capabilities, all three of them are fairly comparable with the quality of their 4K QLED displays. The Hisense and TCL models both utilize Google TV for their smart TV setups, and for a lot of people, this is a major benefit to go along with the price savings you would get with purchasing them. Of course, the Samsung does have its elements where the other two simply cannot stack up. You have the ultimate optionality with the Samsung Frame with all of the TV sizes to choose from to go along with customizing your frame to best suit your aesthetic desires. Although the performance of the three is similar, there is a brightness factor that does push the Samsung ahead of the competition. If you need the truly best possible picture available no matter what, then go with the Samsung Frame. However, the Hisense Canvas and the TCL NXTFRAME are hardly a big step down.