Samsung’s Music Frame might look like a simple photo frame, but it’s a real-deal wireless speaker too.
Wireless speakers aren’t exactly an interior designer’s idea of good home decor. Companies know this, which is why we’ve seen a variety of attempts at making these objects less objectionable. Some speakers, like the Apple HomePod and Google Nest families, use gentle fabric wraps and rounded shapes to soften their appearance. Others, like Marshall’s line of guitar amp-inspired models or JBL’s Authentics, go the other direction, with a retro vibe that aims to be a focal point, perhaps even a conversation starter.
And then there are the chameleons: speakers that disguise themselves as other room elements, like the Sonos-powered Ikea Symfonisk family of table lamps, bookshelves, and artwork. It’s in this category that Samsung has placed its new $400 Music Frame speaker.
I recently got a chance to spend a few hours playing around with it (along with a Frame TV and Samsung’s HW-Q990D soundbar) at a Samsung facility in New Jersey, and I think the Music Frame might just be the most successful attempt yet at creating high-quality, yet invisible audio.
Digital audio, not art
First things first: The Music Frame is not a digital photo frame. Why not? Well, for one thing, it would have increased the price. But more likely is that Samsung wanted the Music Frame to truly blend with its environment. Digital frames may be fun and versatile, but they have a way of calling attention to themselves.
Instead, the Music Frame gives you two options for displaying your preferred images. The included mounting panel — which attaches to the front of the speaker like a traditional speaker grille with a set of four ball-and-socket posts — lets you insert any 8×8-inch or 8×10-inch printed photo.
The other option, for which Samsung has yet to provide details, is to replace that photo-holder panel with a custom-printed one. When Samsung debuted the Music Frame at CES 2024, it had several of these glossy versions on-hand — each with artwork that extended all the way to the edge of the panel.
We don’t yet know how much these will cost, which companies will print and ship them, or how long they take to be made once ordered. What we do know is that you’ll be able to buy a white bezel from Samsung later this year that can cover the existing black frame seen in these photos.
Admittedly, the Music Frame is a good bit chunkier than your average 8×10 picture frame. At 13.8×13.8 inches and a hair over 2 inches thick, it may not fit on smaller surfaces like shallow fireplace mantels. And at a surprisingly heavy 9.
