Review: Samsung Music Frame (HW-LS60D)

Samsung has had great success with The Frame TV, which mimics a picture frame. So it’s no surprise that they’re now trying to replicate that same success in the audio world with the Music Frame. It was launched with great fanfare at CES in Las Vegas, and now we’ve finally got the chance to test it. But is it a thoroughbred speaker cleverly disguised as a picture frame, or just a picture frame with built-in sound? It’s time to find out!

Samsung Music Frame (HW-LS60D)

Samsung has packed plenty of sound into the medium-sized frame, which can accommodate an image of 33 x 33 centimetres. The Music Frame has a total of six built-in drivers (two woofers, two mids and two tweeters) and a built-in microphone for voice commands.
The speaker supports both stereo and surround sound with Dolby Atmos. It can also “listen” to the acoustics of the room and adjust the sound accordingly (Samsung calls it Spacefit Sound).

 

The design

The execution is impressive: the frame is mostly made of plastic on the outside, but the build quality is reassuring. Those who already have a Frame TV will feel at home here.

The frame itself is only available in black, but during the summer there will also be an optional white frame that can be attached to the outside. There are also rumours that Samsung is working with a local frame workshop in the Nordics to offer more exclusive frames in the future.

The actual image inside the frame is a cut-out with passe-partout, which is glued on top of an acrylic sheet. Samsung has included a stylish image of a record player, but you can of course also insert your own image into the frame. A template for this is included in the box.

During the summer there will also be more full-size designs on acrylic panels (Art Panel), sold separately by Samsung and other retailers. So there’s plenty of opportunity to get a Music Frame that’s customised to your personal style.

Connectivity options

Samsung has packed a lot of smart features into the compact speaker. As the Music Frame has a built-in microphone, it can be used with voice assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa. It can also act as a smart speaker in Samsung’s Smarthings ecosystem and control connected gadgets. But that requires you to buy a separate “Smart Hub” and connect it as well.

The Music Frame can be used with a Samsung TV, but this is not a mandatory requirement. It can connect to your home Wi-Fi network and play music directly from services like Airplay, Spotify Connect or Chromecast. Alternatively, you can connect it to different sources via Bluetooth and play the audio that way.

For many, however, using the Music Frame with a Samsung TV and/or soundbar will probably be a natural fit. As long as you have a compatible Samsung soundbar, Music Frame can play music in a group with it or act as a surround back speaker. We write rear speaker in the singular because it’s only possible to use one speaker for this purpose.

However, if you choose to mount the Music Frame on the front, you can set up two speakers in stereo if you wish. It can also be connected to a compatible Samsung TV via Q Symphony to amplify the TV sound. Then you can do without a soundbar. The audio signal is transmitted wirelessly via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, so there’s no need for an HDMI cable.

Note: To use Music Frame with a TV, you need a newer 2024 model Samsung TV, but there will be a software update for older TV models this autumn.

 

Impressively big sound!

Music Frame was developed at Samsung’s Audio Lab in California, where the company’s soundbars are also conceived. Here they have experience in getting big sound out of small packages.

In Music Frame’s case, the tweeters and midrange drivers are hidden on the inside, while the sound waves spread out through a thin slit (waveguide) along the edge of the frame. The two woofers are mounted on the back to maximise the benefit of room amplification when the speaker is placed against the wall.

You can really hear the result. Music Frame creates a massive soundstage that goes far beyond the frame of the speaker itself. In fact, we were a little surprised by the authority and size of the soundstage, which is much bigger and wider than expected. The tones of Niki & The Dove’s Play It on My Radio fill the room in a way that (almost) resembles a full-fledged stereo system.

With a singular sound source like this, the sound is often very directional and one-dimensional, but here it takes on a mesmerisingly believable size and realism. And it can play loud! Surprisingly loud for its size, in fact. Of course, if you want a real party atmosphere and also have a large room, we would consider adding an extra speaker.

The sound balance itself is relatively rich and warm with good midrange clarity. Voices come out well with excellent speech intelligibility. Music Frame also plays with a generous woofer, but it doesn’t go very deep. Drums and bass guitar sound firm and good, but the deepest synth bass tones lose some weight.

Up in the treble, the sound becomes a little more diffuse and loses a little focus. The bright tones from strings and wind instruments don’t always sound as clear as you’d like. Drumsticks and hi-hats also sound a little flat at the top.

In other words, it’s probably not the ultimate speaker for those who like to sit on the sofa and fine-tune the sound. But for varied music and background sound, Music Frame works great in our opinion.

Integration with TV

We also tested Music Frame as a TV speaker by connecting it to a Samsung TV (2024 model TQ65S90D OLED TV) via Wi-Fi and the Q Symphony feature. The latter is preferable as it provides the best and most stable sound reproduction. The speaker then acts as an extension of the TV’s speakers – amplifying the sound while maintaining a certain localisation to the screen.

Music Frame is also excellent for TV sound, but if you have “home cinema” ambitions, we would probably choose to combine it with an additional stereo speaker, or alternatively use it as a rear speaker in combination with a soundbar. For example, we found that a Samsung S710D soundbar with a separate subwoofer was a good combination with the surround speaker.

Competitors?

There are several alternatives to the Music Frame out there. One of the most obvious ones comes from Ikea, specifically the SYMFONISK picture frame developed in collaboration with Sonos. But it’s primarily a cheaper alternative that costs just over half as much. It doesn’t provide as big and detailed a sound, nor does it have as nice a framing or motifs in our opinion.

But if we think outside the frame, the Sonos Era 300 is a good alternative. It costs the same as the Music Frame and delivers a more precise tonal balance and a firmer, deeper bass. The Sonos speaker also has more built-in speaker channels, allowing for even greater surround effect when playing music in Atmos format. But of course, it can’t compare in terms of design.

Conclusion

If you’re among those who already like Samsung’s The Frame TV with its interior design-friendly qualities, you’ll probably also love the Music Frame. It acts as a full-fledged picture frame and can blend in almost unnoticeably with its surroundings while accommodating whatever motif you want.
The Music Frame is also capable of providing a great and entertaining music experience with a sound that is surprisingly clear and rich for its size. If you’re looking for hi-fi performance, there are certainly better options out there. But in the world of design, this is definitely one of the coolest speakers you can buy right now.