Compare: Samsung The Frame 2026 (LS03H) vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

Samsung The Frame 2026 is still a TV aimed at a fairly specific type of buyer. If your main priority is having a screen that looks good in your interior, hangs almost flush against the wall, and doesn’t simply turn into a large black rectangle when switched off, there are very few TVs on the market that execute this idea quite as well. The matte screen, interchangeable bezels, external One Connect box, and extensive Art Mode allow The Frame to genuinely become part of the room rather than just another TV sitting in the living room. And that’s exactly where we see its biggest appeal.

Importantly, though, that doesn’t mean design is all you’re getting. The Frame performs really well in bright rooms. Its matte coating is very effective at reducing reflections, brightness reaching around 650 nits is enough for comfortable daytime viewing, and the wide colour gamut means colourful content, animation, and brighter HDR scenes can look very impressive. On top of that, there’s 144Hz support at 4K and, for the first time, up to 240Hz at Full HD. VRR, ALLM, FreeSync, G-Sync, HGiG, low input lag, and an extensive Game Bar make The Frame a much more capable gaming TV than its “artistic” character might suggest.

The biggest compromises become apparent when you look at it as a TV primarily intended for home cinema. The Frame has no local dimming, so blacks become noticeably raised in dark scenes, and this is where the difference compared with good Mini LED and OLED TVs is most obvious. HDR therefore looks best with bright and colourful content, while evening movie sessions in a dark room are definitely not its strongest suit. There is also noticeable motion blur and only one full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 port on the One Connect box, which may be frustrating for some users, especially gamers.

The Frame 2026, then, isn’t a TV for someone looking for the absolute best picture quality in its price range. There are models that offer deeper blacks or a more impactful HDR experience. But if the TV is meant to become part of a well-designed living room, is often used during the day, displays artwork, and at the same time needs to perform well with a wide variety of content, The Frame still makes a lot of sense. Samsung has barely changed its formula here, but it’s easy to see why — the “picture on the wall” concept is still executed extremely well. Owners of the previous model have little reason to upgrade, but for new buyers looking for this particular combination of design and TV functionality, it remains one of the most interesting options on the market.

The idea behind The One series has remained practically unchanged for years, and with the Philips PQS9001 this is both an advantage and its biggest weakness. Once again, we get a versatile mid-range TV whose main distinguishing feature is Ambilight. The lighting that follows what is happening on the screen can completely change the atmosphere of an evening movie session, and for many people it will be the main reason to choose this TV. That is hardly surprising, because once you get used to the effect, it can be difficult to go back to watching without it. The picture quality itself is good, but we have already seen a very similar level from this series in previous years. The VA panel provides decent blacks, colours are nicely saturated, and the brightness is sufficient for comfortable viewing in a typical living room. It is a shame, however, that Philips did not take another step forward and introduce at least basic local dimming. In a dark room, blacks can look noticeably bluish, and HDR, while clearly visible, does not make as strong an impression as it could. After so many years of The One being on the market, we would have expected a little more progress here.

There has, however, been a noticeable improvement in Titan OS. Compared with last year, and especially with the version from two years ago, the system has become much more pleasant to use. There are more apps, many smaller functions have been improved, and a number of irritating bugs we previously complained about have been fixed. Overall, it works reasonably well, although we are once again frustrated by the remote control, which still requires you to point it directly at the TV. Philips continues to rely on infrared for regular navigation, even though voice control uses a wireless connection. That makes it even harder to understand why the same connection was not used for navigating the menus. The One also has quite a lot to offer gamers. Four HDMI 2.1 ports and a broad set of gaming features are one thing, but what impressed us most was the panel’s response time. Our unit showed practically no visible smearing, even on dark backgrounds, which is quite rare for an LCD TV with a VA panel. Philips deserves a lot of credit for that. The ability to play at 4K 144 Hz or Full HD 240 Hz also makes the TV an interesting option for PC users. Unfortunately, there is still one unfinished element: using Dolby Vision in games on Xbox results in very high input lag.

The PQS9000 therefore leaves us with mixed feelings. It can surprise with excellent motion handling and shows that Philips has clearly worked on its operating system, but we do not see a similar step forward in picture quality. This is a TV we can recommend primarily to fans of Ambilight. If that lighting system is the main reason you are considering a Philips, then buying The One makes a lot of sense. It is still worth checking, however, whether you can find a Mini LED model with good local dimming at a similar price. Such a TV may offer deeper blacks and more impressive HDR performance. In the end, the choice comes down to what matters more to you: the atmosphere created by Ambilight or better picture quality itself.

Samsung The Frame 2026 uses a VA panel but doesn't have local dimming. That means the TV can't dim selected parts of the screen. The backlight therefore works fairly evenly across the whole panel. The VA panel itself gives some advantage over IPS or ADS screens. Blacks are noticeably better, and the picture doesn't look as washed out when watching in the evening. That doesn't change the fact that, in terms of contrast, The Frame performs fairly averagely. You can see this most clearly in dark scenes. If a bright object appears on a black background, the TV can't dim the area around it. The black then takes on a more navy tone and the image loses depth. It's similar with films that have black bars. With the lights off it's quite easy to notice that the bars aren't truly black. In simpler, brighter scenes the issue is much less noticeable. So during regular TV, sport or daytime viewing, contrast is unlikely to be a major problem. It looks worse for evening viewing sessions, especially if you've previously been using an OLED or a good Mini-LED. The difference in black levels to The Frame's disadvantage is then very noticeable.

Black levels and contrast on the Philips PQS9000 are decent for an LCD TV without local dimming. That's mainly down to the VA panel — in our movie scenes contrast often exceeded 5000:1, and at weaker points fell to around 4000:1. That delivers an image with quite good depth and a clear advantage over typical IPS panels, where blacks much more easily look grey. Unfortunately, that's about as far as the panel's capabilities go. The TV has no local dimming, so it can't dim a dark background separately while keeping strong highlights in another part of the screen. All it has is global dimming, which brightens or dims the whole backlight at once. In a completely dark room those limitations become visible: blacks take on a dark navy tint, and shadowy scenes lack the depth of a good screen with zoned local dimming. Thankfully Ambilight helps here. The light on the wall makes on-screen blacks appear deeper and helps mask the panel's glow a little. It doesn't change the TV's actual contrast, but it affects how our eyes perceive it. In this case Ambilight is therefore not just decorative, because it can also make evening viewing more pleasant.

The Frame 2026 is a genuinely bright TV. Its peak brightness reaches around 650 nits and, importantly, it maintains similar levels regardless of the type of scene being displayed. It doesn’t really matter whether we’re watching a very bright full-screen image or just a small highlight occupying part of the screen. The backlight remains powerful, allowing bright parts of the image to stand out clearly.

This gives The Frame a solid foundation for HDR. Bright highlights can look impactful, and the picture doesn’t appear flat or overly dim. Unfortunately, there is a compromise. Without local dimming, the TV cannot darken the black areas surrounding very bright objects.

This is clearly visible in scenes 2 and 4 of our test procedure. Bright elements look impressive, but at the same time, the blacks around them become noticeably raised. As a result, the image loses some of its depth, especially when watching in a dark room. This is why The Frame performs best with HDR in bright and moderately bright scenes, where its high brightness works to its advantage. In darker scenes, the situation is quite the opposite.

Colours

The Frame also performs well when it comes to colour reproduction. As a QLED TV, it can display a wide colour gamut and produce rich, saturated colours. DCI-P3 coverage reaches around 94%, while BT.2020 comes in at around 72%. These are good results, and you can see the difference in actual content.

Colours look vivid without appearing washed out, particularly in bright and colourful scenes. Animations and other content with plenty of saturated colours can look really good on The Frame. With this type of material, the TV shows one of its stronger sides.

The Philips PQS9000 is a moderately bright TV — in our HDR scenes it reached roughly 450 to just over 500 nits. That’s enough to notice a difference compared with SDR. Sun reflections, lamps or flares have a bit more punch than on basic TVs, whose brightness often tops out around 300 nits. It’s not, however, a level where bright elements look especially striking. The biggest limitation remains contrast. Without local dimming, brightening a bright object also lifts the black level around it. So there’s no clear separation between strong highlights and a dark background, and it’s that kind of pairing that really shows what HDR can do. The PQS9000 offers more than the cheapest models, but despite decent brightness the effect remains fairly basic.

Colours

Philips deserves praise for the colours. Although the manufacturer markets this model as QLED, it actually uses a PFS phosphor instead of quantum dots. The solution itself doesn’t prevent good results. On test patterns and in measurements of film scenes we recorded about 94% DCI-P3 coverage and 75% BT.2020. For this class of TV that’s really good. In practice this means the vast majority of colours used in HDR films and series will have appropriate saturation. Lush greens or intense reds aren’t a problem and add appeal to the picture. Limitations are easier to notice in some games and rarer content that use the most saturated shades of the wide BT.2020 gamut. In those situations, displays with wider colour coverage, such as SQD or RGB LED, can show more. At its price point the PQS9000 has nothing to be ashamed of.

For assessing the factory colour setup we chose the Filmmaker Mode. If you’re encountering it for the first time, it’s a mode designed to reproduce films and TV shows as faithfully as possible. The TV then turns off most additional image enhancers, and the colours and luminance response are intended to be as close as possible to what the creators intended. And it must be said that The Frame 2026 performs quite well in this respect straight out of the box. The biggest deviation is seen in the white balance. As brightness increases, blue starts to fall short and there’s a slight increase in green. As a result, the image shifts towards warmer tones. So white isn’t perfectly neutral, and in some scenes you can notice a subtly warmer cast.

The luminance response, both gamma and EOTF, looks pretty good. Through most of the range they stay fairly close to the target, although larger deviations are visible in the darkest parts of the image. In practice, some shadow details emerging from black may therefore be a bit more pronounced. However, it’s not an error that jumps out during normal viewing. Overall, Filmmaker Mode is a good starting point here. However, the factory picture is a bit too warm and not all hues land exactly where they should.

The factory picture settings for Movie mode on the PQS9000 unfortunately need tweaking. In SDR the biggest problem is an excess of red in the white balance, which makes whites, greys and skin tones too warm, in places even slightly pink. Gamma runs below the reference across most of the range. The TV therefore brightens midtones and highlights, making the image look flatter than it should.

In HDR the white balance itself performs significantly better. Apart from minor deviations the components sit close together, so there isn’t the same obvious tint as in SDR. The EOTF curve, however, shows a slight brightening of parts of the image, and the biggest issue appears when measuring the wide colour gamut. Many shades deviate substantially from the target, with errors reaching ΔE 8–9. The good gamut coverage we praised earlier therefore doesn’t mean the TV hits specific colours accurately. It can display a wide range of colours, but out of the box it doesn’t use that range very precisely.

After calibration we mainly managed to remove that warmer tint and better even out the white balance. We also smoothed the brightness response a bit, which made the picture more neutral and predictable. There are, however, things calibration won't fix. It's mainly the black performance, which comes from the backlight design and the lack of local dimming. In some scenes the blacks will therefore still be slightly lifted, and you just have to accept that. It's more a characteristic of this model than something you can fix with the settings. HDR is also somewhat limited. Samsung doesn't give full freedom to work across the widest colour gamut here, so not all colours can be reproduced perfectly. In normal viewing it will probably be hard to notice, but it's worth being aware of.

Calibration brought a big improvement, especially with SDR content. We managed to even out the white balance and remove the earlier colour cast, and the Color Checker measurements now look very good. Colours are much closer to what they should be on screen, so with regular TV or SDR movies we can be happy with the result. Unfortunately HDR spoils that a bit. On the one hand it's limited by the panel itself, because calibration won't improve contrast or replace local dimming. On the other hand there are colour errors we couldn't correct because the CMS settings, i.e. colour management, were greyed out and inactive. That loses Philips points with us. The white balance can be fine-tuned, but without access to wide gamut controls you can't as effectively sort out colours in HDR. It's a shame, because the SDR results show the potential is there, but we weren't allowed to fully make use of it everywhere.

Gradation in The Frame 2026 performs well, though not perfectly. In bright tonal transitions you can notice slight issues and occasional mild banding. These aren't faults that seriously affect normal viewing, but they can be picked up on our test patterns and in more demanding scenes. We'd rate the bright-tone gradation at roughly 7.5-8 out of 10.

Interestingly, gradation looks much better in the dark parts of the image. Here the transitions are very smooth and it's hard to find clear signs of posterization. That's the opposite of many LCD TVs, where the near-black areas usually cause more problems. In photos of dark scenes you can, however, spot some image irregularities. They don't come from the gradation itself but from panel uniformity and the backlight. Unfortunately, in that respect our sample of The Frame wasn't perfect, so in very dark shots you could see brighter and darker patches from the backlight.

Philips PQS9000 handles tonal transitions very well. It looks especially good in dark scenes, where shades blend smoothly into one another without visible banding or clear boundaries between colours. As a result, even on large, uniform areas the image looks smooth. Minor imperfections only appear in the brighter tones, but you have to look closely to notice them. During normal viewing they are unlikely to distract from the film. In this category, Philips performs really well.

As with many of Samsung’s newer TVs, this one also uses the NQ4 AI processor, albeit the older, second-generation version. I must admit it handles digital image processing quite well. Lower-resolution material is sharpened effectively, and when upscaled to 4K it still looks natural. The TV can also tidy up weaker sources a bit, such as older recordings or lower-quality broadcasts. That doesn’t, of course, mean it will suddenly turn poor footage into true 4K, but at close viewing distances the difference compared with simpler models with weaker processors is easy to spot. Edges are clearer and fine details aren’t lost as much to signal compression.

Samsung also provides a few extra picture-enhancing features, but as usual it’s best to use them sparingly. At stronger settings, noise reduction can very effectively reduce posterisation, but it also noticeably interferes with the image. The picture then starts to look quite artificial, for example by heavily smoothing faces. So these features make most sense with really poor sources when all the noise is very distracting.

Digital image processing on the Philips PQS9000 performs well, although we have a few reservations. The "Distortion Reduction" function helps smooth tonal transitions in lower-quality sources, but it works rather unevenly. It can improve one part of the picture, only to, moments later and still within the same scene, lose its way and show banding between shades again. On the plus side, it doesn't strip away film grain or fine noise, so the image retains its texture. We found the "Medium" setting worked best and that's the one we recommend.

The upscaling to 4K itself is adequate, though the image is very soft. Edges are heavily smoothed, which may leave some viewers wanting more clarity. In that case, it's worth slightly increasing the sharpness in the TV menu, as this will help emphasise edges more. Don't overdo the sharpness slider, though, or you'll get artificial halos instead of an improvement.

Samsung again used a panel here with a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz. Refresh rates up to 120 Hz mainly offer greater flexibility with high-motion content. The TV can use additional motion smoothing systems that can improve smoothness in sports and other fast-paced content. However, a high refresh rate alone does not solve everything. The Frame still uses a VA panel, which has a fairly slow response time, resulting in quite pronounced motion blur. With fast-moving objects, especially against dark backgrounds, the trails are easy to notice. There's also a slight double-imaging of edges, which can be visible even after turning off additional motion enhancement systems. We already saw similar behaviour in last year's The Frame 2025, and it's a shame Samsung hasn't fixed this. The 144 Hz itself provides a good foundation, but the panel's response time still limits this TV.

In terms of motion handling the Philips PQS9000 performs exceptionally well for an LCD TV. It's not just about the 144 Hz refresh rate, but above all how quickly the panel itself responds. At 120 Hz you can hardly see the typical trailing smears behind moving objects. What's particularly pleasing is that this also applies to darker backgrounds, where many VA panels clearly struggle. Here motion remains clear, and in this respect Philips has pleasantly surprised us.

The "Motion Styles" feature is used to adjust how motion is displayed. It includes two sliders: "Smoothness" and "Blur Reduction", allowing you to tailor the effect to the material you're watching and your personal preferences. Our suggested settings are shown in the photo. Treat them as a starting point and see which level of smoothing suits you best.

When it comes to gaming features, The Frame is practically on par with Samsung’s flagship TVs. Once a console is connected, the TV automatically switches to Game Mode thanks to ALLM, so there’s no need to change the settings manually every time. There’s also VRR, which matches the screen’s refresh rate to the frame rate generated by the console or PC. When the frame rate drops, this helps prevent the characteristic screen tearing that can otherwise occur.

The Frame naturally supports 4K at 120Hz, allowing you to take advantage of higher frame rates on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. HGiG also works correctly. Once HDR has been properly calibrated on the console, the TV doesn’t try to additionally brighten the image on its own, so bright highlights in games are displayed as they should be.

Samsung also includes its Game Bar. This quick-access menu can be opened without leaving the game and lets you check things like VRR operation or the current frame rate, while also giving you quick access to the most important gaming settings. PC users get even more flexibility, as the Full HD mode mentioned earlier allows the refresh rate to be increased all the way up to 240Hz.

There is really only one feature missing, and by now it’s something we’ve come to expect from Samsung TVs: Dolby Vision Gaming. Xbox owners will notice this the most, as Xbox consoles can actually use Dolby Vision in supported games.

There is one more limitation worth mentioning that applies specifically to this model. The One Connect box has only one HDMI 2.1 port, so this is the only input you can use for a console or PC if you want to play at 4K 120Hz. Fortunately, Samsung hasn’t combined this port with eARC. This means you can connect a soundbar separately to HDMI 3 and still keep the full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 port available for your console.

Features for gamers

In terms of gaming features the Philips PQS9000 has a lot to offer. Four HDMI 2.1 ports let you connect multiple devices without having to choose which one gets the full capabilities. Consoles can use 120 Hz at Full HD, 1440p and 4K, and a PC can also run 144 Hz at 4K or 240 Hz if you drop to Full HD. There's also VRR, which matches the refresh rate to the frame rate and prevents screen tearing. Its range runs from 48 to 240 Hz, with the upper limit applying to Full HD mode.

It also includes ALLM, so the TV switches itself into game mode, and a properly working HGiG, which is handy when setting HDR on the console. There's a Game Bar for quick access to settings and signal information. The list even includes Dolby Vision gaming, but it's hard to enjoy because of very high input lag. Apart from that caveat, the feature set is really solid.

Those who worried that the additional One Connect module might cause greater delay between our action on the controller and what happens on screen can rest easy. The input lag we measured is as low as in other Samsung TVs.

At a 60 Hz signal it's about 15 ms, and when switching to 120 Hz it drops to around 8 ms. Those are very good results, so the delay is hard to notice in practice, even in fast-paced games. The One Connect module itself doesn't introduce any noticeable issue.

Input lag is less impressive than the rest of the gaming hardware. At 60 Hz we measured 32 ms, both in SDR and HDR. That's enough for more relaxed games, but in fast shooters you can already feel a slight lag. At 120 Hz the delay drops to 16 ms and gaming is noticeably more pleasant, though rivals can respond even faster. The biggest problem appears when Dolby Vision is enabled. At 60 Hz the delay is as much as 213 ms, and at 120 Hz it reaches 106 ms. The response to controller input is then clearly delayed, which seriously disrupts gameplay. So with the PQS9000 it's definitely better to stick with HDR10. Dolby Vision is supported in games, but its practical usefulness remains limited.

In this category you could jokingly say the new The Frame gives with one hand and takes with the other. If we look purely at PC gaming, it performs really well. It offers 144 Hz at 4K or even 240 Hz in Full HD, plus support for G-Sync and FreeSync and very low input lag. The Frame can easily serve as a large gaming monitor and there’s little to complain about. On the other hand, we got the impression that font readability in the new model has slightly worsened. When you look at text up close you can notice extra fringing along the bottom edges of letters caused by the behaviour of individual subpixels. This gives a slight impression of softened text. Of course this is mainly an issue for people who would actually want to use The Frame as a desktop monitor, for example for working with text. At a typical viewing distance the problem is practically impossible to notice. And let’s be honest, it’s hard to imagine anyone putting a 55- or 65-inch The Frame on their desk.

The PQS9000 earns a high mark for PC use mainly thanks to its gaming capabilities. Its 144 Hz refresh rate at 4K and support for G-Sync Compatible and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro let you synchronise frames on compatible NVIDIA and AMD cards. Working with text also fares well. Regular fonts are sharp and legible, and with proper 4:4:4 chroma support coloured letters, icons and small desktop elements do not lose their clarity. The biggest caveat concerns very small, dark text: the horizontal strokes of letters are noticeably darker than the vertical ones, which makes some characters look uneven. You probably won't notice this from the couch, but if someone plans to put The One on their desk and work up close, that flaw may become annoying.

Viewing angles are not a strong point of this model. Compared with LCD TVs with IPS panels, and even more so with OLEDs, the picture degrades fairly quickly when viewed at an angle.

Viewing angles are one of the weakest points of the Philips PQS9001. Just move to the side and the colours noticeably lose saturation, and the image looks washed out and loses contrast. When watching with several people, seats directly in front of the screen will therefore be by far the best.

Unfortunately, this is a typical trait of VA panels. Good contrast when viewed head-on comes at the expense of poorer off‑axis performance. Most TVs with that panel have a similar problem and The One is no exception. The rotating stand helps a little by letting you angle the screen toward the viewer, but with widely spaced seats it won't solve the issue.

The Frame is, by design, a TV that will often be used in a bright living room, and its matte finish suits that very well. The screen effectively diffuses reflections, so a window or a lit lamp doesn't turn into a clear mirror. In that respect it's really good and it's one of this model's stronger points. The matte finish does have a downside. Strong light falling directly on the screen scatters over a larger area and slightly raises the black level. During the day blacks therefore don't look as "deep" as at night, especially when the room is very bright. But we think that's a fair compromise. Working in The Frame's favour is its high brightness. The TV has enough brightness so the image doesn't wash out and remains clearly visible during the day. Overall, it's a good TV for a bright living room, especially if reflections bother you more.

Philips PQS9001 performs quite well for daytime viewing. The biggest advantage is a stable brightness of around 500 nits, regardless of how many bright elements appear on the screen. Even when watching winter sports or an all-white scene, the picture doesn't dim. In a typical living room that level is more than enough to comfortably watch TV without having to block out the windows.

The satin finish does a decent job of reducing reflections, though it doesn't remove them completely. A window opposite the screen will be visible and can be distracting, especially in darker scenes. Blacks hold up well in daylight, so the image doesn't become overly washed out. For everyday viewing it's therefore quite good, as long as the sun isn't shining directly on the screen.

Operating System: Tizen

Samsung The Frame 2026 runs on the familiar Tizen operating system, so when it comes to Smart TV features, you get pretty much everything you would expect from a modern TV. There is a wide selection of streaming apps, AirPlay, SmartThings, and the ability to cast content from a smartphone. The system itself is fast and responsive, while the menu layout is very similar to what you’ll find on other Samsung TVs.

When it comes to traditional TV features, things are a little more basic. The Frame doesn’t really stand out in this area, focusing primarily on its online features and lifestyle-oriented functionality.

Art Mode

The key feature, of course, remains Art Mode. It allows The Frame to display artwork or your own photos when you’re not watching TV, effectively turning the screen into part of your interior. The matte screen coating plays an important role here, as it helps the displayed artwork look less like an image shown on a glowing TV screen.

Another interesting addition is the motion sensor, something you won’t normally find on other TVs. It’s worth pointing out that this is not the same thing as the ambient light sensor. The latter adjusts the screen brightness to match the conditions in the room, while the motion sensor detects whether someone is nearby. If the room is empty, the TV can automatically turn Art Mode off and then switch it back on when you return. This means the screen doesn’t have to stay on all the time.

Another feature that works particularly well with this model is One Connect. In our opinion, it makes a lot of sense on a TV like The Frame, which is designed to sit as close to the wall as possible. All the main cables are connected to a separate box, while only a single cable runs to the screen itself. It’s simply a very convenient solution.

It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung includes a dedicated wall mount in the box. That might sound obvious, but it really isn’t. With the flagship S99H, for example, which also puts a strong emphasis on flush wall mounting and blending into the interior, the appropriate wall mount has to be purchased separately. With The Frame, it’s included, so you can save yourself a bit of extra money right from the start.

*The Art Mode photo was taken on The Frame Pro 2026. It looks identical on the standard The Frame — we have to admit that we simply forgot to take a photo of it during testing. 😉

Titan OS in this year’s The One shows that Philips has been working on its system. Compared with last year’s version, many little things and functions that didn’t work properly before have been fixed. Now we can easily use AirPlay, mirror a computer screen via Miracast, or do voice searches in Polish. The system itself runs decently, though it’s far from the fastest. The app library has also grown. It includes Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, CANAL+, Apple TV and YouTube. The selection is still smaller than on Google TV, but when using popular services Titan increasingly gives fewer reasons to complain.

Classic features also show an improvement in everyday convenience. You can connect Bluetooth headphones and listen through them at the same time as the TV speakers. There’s also a mode that turns off the screen and leaves only the audio. Recording to USB and picture-in-picture (PiP) are missing. What’s most disappointing is the remote. Despite backlit buttons, it still controls the TV via infrared, so you have to point it at the screen. The system has picked up a number of useful fixes, but that part of the user experience remains unchanged and can be irritating in everyday use.

When it comes to playing files from USB, The Frame performs adequately. The TV handles the main video, photo and audio formats with no trouble, so in everyday use there shouldn't be many surprises. However, we again ran into problems with the HEIC format, which is common on Apple devices. Photos saved in that format couldn't be opened correctly, which can be annoying if you often transfer photos directly from an iPhone. Apart from that, the media player operated without any major issues.

The built-in USB player runs quickly and smoothly and handles most of the files we tested without trouble. Music playback is solid, from common MP3s to FLAC files, including 96 kHz/24-bit. It's perfectly adequate for everyday media playback from a USB stick. However, our biggest complaint is again the handling of photos. The player is quite selective about resolution: it opened our 8, 16 and 32 Mpix files but failed with, among others, 4, 12 and 24 Mpix. It's hard to find any logic in that when a larger photo works but a smaller one doesn't. That can be annoying when browsing holiday photos.

Despite using a 40W 2.0.2 speaker system, which on paper is slightly better than what you’ll find in many standard TVs, the sound quality is fairly average. Our biggest issue is that it simply sounds flat. As with most very slim TVs, there isn’t much bass or depth.

Fortunately, the midrange and treble are reproduced well enough. Dialogue is clear, and at normal listening volumes there are no major distortions. For watching the news or regular TV, the built-in speakers are perfectly adequate. With movies, music, or games, however, you’ll quickly start to miss a fuller and more powerful sound.

For that reason, we would definitely recommend pairing The Frame with a soundbar or external speakers. Samsung also offers an increasing number of audio products designed specifically with lifestyle TVs in mind, including the slim S800 series, as well as Music Frame and Music Studio speakers, which visually complement The Frame particularly well.

The Philips PQS9001 has a 2.0 audio system with a total power of 40 W, that is, two 10 W speakers on each side. It sounds fairly good and definitely better than most budget TVs. There's plenty of volume, but the sound itself lacks depth. The biggest issue is the lack of low end, so explosions in films or heavier sections of music don't have the proper weight.

High frequencies aren't reproduced evenly either. Measurements show a noticeable dip around 2 kHz, then a boost at 6-7 kHz and a drop above about 8 kHz. That can emphasise sibilance and add a bit of harshness to the sound, despite the rolled-off top end. It's fine for everyday viewing, but for films and music it's worth considering additional audio. All the more so because the TV supports spatial audio formats, including Dolby Atmos and DTS. A compatible soundbar or AV receiver will make better use of those formats than the built-in speakers.

Samsung The Frame 2026 (LS03H) vs Philips PQS9011 / PQS9001 (The One 2026)

Advantages

Disadvantages

Our verdict

TV appearance

Where to buy

Contrast and black detail

HDR effect quality

Colours

Colours

Factory color reproduction

Color reproduction after calibration

Smoothness of tonal transitions

Image scaling and smoothness of tonal transitions

Blur and motion smoothness

Console compatibility and gaming features

Features for gamers

Input lag

Compatibility with PC

Viewing angles

Daytime performance

Panel details

TV features

Classic features:

Smart features:

Sound connection options

Supported audio formats (external HDMI eARC audio):

Senior accessibility

Operating System: Tizen

Art Mode

Apps

Playing files from USB

Sound

Sound Quality Test

Acoustic Measurements