Ember Artline vs Samsung Frame: Comparing the arty TVs

Although Amazon first revealed its Samsung Frame competitor TV back at CES, it’s now finally available to pre-order.

Coined Ember Artline, how does Amazon’s new lifestyle TV compare to the Samsung Frame? Ahead of our review, we’ve compared the initial specs of the Ember Artline to the four-star Samsung Frame and noted the key differences between the two below.

Once you’re done here, make sure you visit our round-up of the best TVs, best cheap TVs and best 4K TVs too, to find your next investment.

Price and Availability

At the time of writing, Amazon’s Ember Artline is available for pre-order and will launch officially on April 22nd in the US and Canada, and May 7th in the UK. Germany is slated to see the TV later in May, although an exact date hasn’t been announced just yet.

The Ember Artline has a starting RRP of $899.99/£949.99 for the 55-inch model.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208400

In comparison, the Samsung Frame is available to buy now and has a starting price of £799/$899 for the smallest 43-inch model. While the Ember Artline is only available in two sizes (55- and 65-inches), the Samsung Frame comes as a 43-, 50-, 55- or 65-inch screen.

SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208402

Ember Artline supports Alexa+

Naturally as it’s an Amazon TV, the Ember Artline is fitted with Alexa – specifically the recently launched Alexa+. However, we should disclaim that Alexa+ is only free for Prime members, no non-Prime subscribers will have to spend £19.99 to access the voice assistant. 

Alexa+ is essentially a smarter, more conversational and personalised upgrade over the original Alexa. While we’re yet to provide our full review on the voice assistant, our Home Technology Editor Dave Ludlow has given his early thoughts on Alexa+ and noted where it excels and still struggles.

Otherwise, Alexa+ provides hands-free control on the TV, and allows you to search for shows, receive personalised recommendations and have natural conversations too.

Fire TV vs Tizen

One of the key differences between the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame is with their respective operating systems. While the Ember Artline runs on Amazon’s Fire TV, the Samsung Frame is powered by, unsurprisingly, Samsung’s Tizen OS instead.

Both are smart TV systems that offer access to streaming apps such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Disney Plus and more, and have their respective pros and cons. For example, while Tizen isn’t the easiest to navigate, it does offer recommendations and there’s now the option to create multiple profiles for your household. In comparison, although Fire TV is intuitive, we found that it has a tendency to promote Amazon Prime content – which is somewhat understandable. 

Ember Artline includes artwork at no additional cost

The key selling point of the two TVs here is that they can display artwork on their screens when not in use. The Samsung Frame has a dedicated Art Mode that presents a gallery of artwork and even your own photos on screen. Plus, with Pantone-validated colour and the promise of no screen burn, images don’t only look vibrant and authentic but you can keep the screen on without worry.

However, although the Samsung Frame does offer a selection of complimentary pieces to display, you will need to pay in order to access the complete library of over 3500 works of art.

In comparison, at least at the time of writing, the Ember Artline offers its collection of 2000 art pieces without any additional cost. Much like the Samsung Frame, you can also choose to display your own photos on the Ember Artline, via the Amazon Photos app.

Samsung Frame has more ports

You can never have too many ports, and the Samsung Frame offers a pretty generous selection overall. Alongside its four HDMIs, there’s three USBs (two A and one C), an Ethernet port and an optical port too.

In comparison, the Ember Artline has slightly less, with three HDMI 2.0s, one HDMI with eARC, one USB type-3 and an optical audio port.

However, the Ember Artline does benefit from Wi-Fi 6 support whereas the Samsung Frame sports the older Wi-Fi 5.

Both are 4K QLED displays

Both the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame are 4K, QLED displays, and are packed with plenty of premium screen technologies too, including HDR. In addition, both displays have an anti-glare finish that reduces reflections. In our review of the 2022 Samsung Frame, we found the screen did an excellent job at keeping reflections at bay, so we expect the latest model to do the same.

Otherwise, both the Ember Artline and Samsung Frame have a motion sensor that can either wake or turn off the screen accordingly. 

Finally, it’s worth noting that both TVs here also have customisable frames, or bezels, which are sold separately.

Early Verdict

Both the Amazon Ember Artline and Samsung Frame are impressive lifestyle TVs. As we’re yet to review the Ember Artline, we’ll hold off from giving a conclusive review for now. However, if you already own some of the best Amazon Echo devices, enjoy using Alexa for hands-free controls and don’t want to pay extra for artwork, then the Ember Artline seems like a great choice.

On the other hand, if you require more ports, don’t mind TizenOS and want a wider choice of screen sizes, then the Samsung Frame will likely suit you better.

We’ll update this versus once we review the Ember Artline.