Likelihood is that you just’ve come throughout a Samsung The Body TV up to now yr, whether or not you realized it or not.
This image body TV has grow to be wildly well-liked for its distinctive potential to disguise itself as a murals while you’re not watching your favourite exhibits. What you thought was a print of Monet’s “Water Lilies” hanging in your good friend’s wall may even have been a premium sensible TV hiding behind a modern façade.
With the press of some buttons, it may possibly go straight from displaying wall artwork to streaming Netflix. However with all of the oohs and aahs it incites with its intelligent design comes a fairly excessive price ticket. We put it to the take a look at to see if it was price it.
Extra From Good Housekeeping
On the Good Housekeeping Institute Media and Tech Lab, we’ve got been testing house leisure gear for years, from one of the best television manufacturers to soundbars and finances projectors. I’ve had the chance to check The Body TV in my own residence over the previous few months to share particulars about my expertise, from how straightforward it’s to put in to what makes image body TVs so well-liked.
Right here’s the whole lot you should learn about The Body TV from Samsung and whether or not the funding is smart to your house.
What’s an image body TV?
An image body TV is a TV that may show all of your favourite exhibits, films and video games, however in contrast to different TVs, it transforms into a bit of artwork when not in use. Basically, it’s a TV that’s not simply a TV. With an image body TV, householders could make use of what would in any other case be clean, black area and intensify a room’s décor with images and art work. Due to an excellent skinny, gapless design and a border that is designed to appear like an image body, when mounted, image body TVs can simply be mistaken for true art work hanging on a wall in your house.
What is the hype concerning the Samsung The Body TV?
The preferred image body TV is Samsung’s The Body TV, a QLED TV that not solely options high-quality 4K decision however can be one of the convincing image body TVs in the marketplace. When mounted, there’s nearly no hole between this pristine TV and the wall, and the bezel is skinny and customizable so it may be mistaken for a real body.
Additionally distinctive is that The Body requires just one discreet cable, which connects to a field that you just’ll conceal within the neighborhood of the TV. (Say goodbye to the a whole bunch of clunky cables ruining your room’s vibe.) And to make it much more disguisable as an image body that includes a stupendous {photograph} from your loved ones trip to Alaska, this TV comes outfitted with a matte show so that you gained’t see any glares.
How a lot does the Samsung The Body TV value?
Most customers can anticipate to pay between $1,000 to $2,000 for a standard-sized 55” to 65” Body Sensible TV (2022). Growing in dimension to 85″ will convey you nearer to $3,000, making this TV an costly funding. However in case you’re set on an image body TV that successfully shows art work and has nice image high quality, that is the best choice on the market.
Simply remember that despite the fact that a black bezel is included with the Body, you may anticipate to pay between $100-$250 further if you wish to swap it for a customizable Samsung bezel in one other shade. (Samsung plans so as to add extra steel bezel choices to its lineup this yr.) One other add-on to contemplate is the Auto-Rotate Wall Mount, which helps you to trip between horizontal and vertical positioning – a pleasant contact if you wish to show portraits or vertical media.
How straightforward is it to put in the Samsung The Body TV?
Putting in The Body is a reasonably painless course of, however in case you’re something like me you’ll agree that drilling holes right into a wall is at all times an undesirable trouble. I opted to take the simpler highway in my rental NYC house and depart my Body on the included height-adjustable stand. However if you’d like the true phantasm of art work on the wall, you may have to interrupt out the drill.
Happily, a slim-fit wall mount comes included, together with clear directions. The whole lot is tremendous effectively labeled to make the method so simple as doable, however in case you’re fearful you may at all times rent knowledgeable straight via Samsung for an additional $120.
As soon as you’ve got mounted your TV with the included mount or set it up on a stand, you may have to attach a cable to the One Join Field Mini. Some Body house owners prefer to weave this cable behind their drywall to really conceal all of the cables, however that does imply drilling extra holes. Whereas that is probably the most flawless setup of The Body, if you do not know the very first thing about coping with drywall (I actually do not), the cable can merely grasp down from the TV. As a result of it is clear and skinny it’s going to nonetheless look nice, and you’ll at all times conceal it behind a plant or ornamental vase.
The One Join Field Mini can then be hidden anyplace inside 16 toes of the TV. This offers you the choice to prepare any exterior gadgets you utilize along with your TV, like gaming consoles, away out of your TV for much less litter.
Testing The Body TV: First impressions
The professionals on the Good Housekeeping Institute have been reviewing Samsung’s The Body TV since its first iteration. We have adopted the event of every mannequin because it’s improved, and that is what stood out in 2022’s model.
Image High quality
Streaming content material on The Body TV is actually an improve from my earlier five-year-old TV. Photographs are crystal clear and colours are vivid and vivid because of 4K decision. However what impresses me most is how sharp and outlined The Body’s image high quality appears to be like always, particularly given the unfavorable, vivid situations of my front room. For the primary time in my house, I can really watch exhibits that closely depend on deep blacks and darker shade palettes (suppose Stranger Issues) in the course of the day.
As a result of the Body is a QLED (quantum dot LED), it makes use of ultra-tiny dots within the show to create daring, vivid colours. Typically, “these QLED TVs have strong upscaling know-how, which is what allows lower-resolution content material to appear like native 4K photos,” says Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping Institute’s Chief Technologist.
The Body additionally options Quantum HDR, which permits for an expanded vary of colours and higher distinction. All in all, most individuals will not be disenchanted with The Body’s image high quality. However in case you’re on the lookout for much more distinctive efficiency at the same worth, there are different TVs to contemplate like LG’s OLED evo C2 Collection, certainly one of Good Housekeeping’s favourite TVs for a cinema-like really feel.
Sound High quality
The Body’s sound high quality is actually higher than what you may discover in older TV fashions. “General I am pleased with the sound high quality,” Nicole Papantoniou says, GH’s Kitchen Home equipment and Innovation Lab director who additionally makes use of The Body. “I by no means have hassle listening to or discover the sound boring.” The TV’s up-firing audio system assist Dolby Atmos know-how so you may expertise cinematic encompass sound, and it comes outfitted with Object Monitoring Sound so your audio will observe the motion in your display.
However, I went forward and paired my TV with a soundbar for a good richer, extra immersive sound expertise. I are likely to have a tough time selecting up dialogue, and pairing my Body with a high-quality soundbar helps alleviate that drawback.
Interface
Samsung’s operation system is powered by Tizen, and I discovered navigating amongst apps, artwork and different media extraordinarily intuitive. The whole lot is organized neatly and downloading new apps or trying to find content material by no means takes lengthy. “I like how the media interface appears to be like and discover it straightforward to navigate,” Papantoniou says. “Apps are straightforward to entry and so they set up shortly.”
Distant
I completely love Samsung’s One Distant, which I not solely use with The Body but in addition with my Samsung monitor. (That is proper, it may possibly flip each on and off.) It is tremendous slim and modern and simply feels nice while you use it. “It has an Apple-like really feel and is each tremendous responsive and straightforward to make use of,” Papantoniou says. My favourite characteristic might be the devoted Netflix button, which matches on to Netflix and eliminates the necessity to navigate via the interface.
It conveniently has a built-in mic so you should utilize Google Assistant, Alexa or Bixby that can assist you lookup a film. I additionally love that by simply flipping over the distant while you’re out at work, it’s going to cost through photo voltaic mild.
How do you make a Samsung The Body TV appear like artwork?
First however foremost, the Samsung The Body TV shows artwork so successfully because of its anti-reflection know-how. The display has a matte end so you will not get a pesky glare from lamps or vivid daylight streaming via the window. Samsung improved this know-how in its 2022 mannequin, and the matte look actually makes a distinction while you’re attempting to persuade visitors that your TV is definitely an image body. As somebody who lives in an especially vivid house with 18-foot floor-to-ceiling home windows, I can verify that I’ve by no means observed any mild reflections on my display.
Now onto the way you really show the artwork — The Body’s Artwork Mode. You may simply swap Artwork Mode on and off by urgent the Energy button in your distant. You too can navigate to Samsung’s Artwork Retailer the place you may select from round 1,600 items of artwork starting from images to traditional work.
Sadly, a month-to-month subscription is required if you’d like full entry to the shop ($4.99 per thirty days or $49.90 per yr) or you may obtain and buy particular person items at round $20 every. Whereas paying further charges and tacking on one more subscription is irritating, you do have the choice of importing private photos or images to your Body without spending a dime through the SmartThings app or USB. You too can buy cheaper artwork alternate options from web sites like Etsy.
As soon as you’ve got chosen your art work, The Body will show it when the TV is off. Whereas different TVs can be topic to display burn from extended use, in response to Samsung, the Body is designed to face up to shows of artwork and images so you do not have to fret about your TV’s lifespan. Although it would proceed to eat energy, Samsung estimates that it makes use of roughly 30% of what it might in TV mode. And to make sure that the TV is not at all times on (like while you’re not house or asleep), there is a built-in movement sensor and Night time Mode that may flip off the TV fully when nobody is house or the lights are out.
Although it could sound complicated, the whole course of is pretty seamless and I have not had to enter the settings to tinker with any of it. I am going to admit that I’ve woken as much as discover my Body TV displaying art work after I thought it was off, however you may simply repair this by turning off Night time Mode so the TV would not get up with the solar.
Final however not least, to make your Body look much more like actual artwork, contemplate buying an ornamental body like one from DECO TV Frames, an organization that makes frames particularly for the Samsung Body TV. “Displaying digital artwork on the wall via your Samsung Body mixed with a Deco Body makes an entire resolution that’s actually plausible as wall artwork,” Kevin Hancock says, proprietor of Body My TV (and DECO TV Frames). Although it’ll set you again an additional $500-$600 on common, in response to Hancock every body is tremendous straightforward to assemble and pop on the TV because of magnets and pins that maintain it collectively.
Whereas I haven’t examined assembling a DECO body but myself, I watched Hancock put one collectively for me on Zoom and may verify that the method appeared exceptionally straightforward. It additionally helps take your Body TV to the subsequent stage so it actually blends in along with your decor.
The underside line: Is the Samsung The Body TV price it?
The Body TV is not for everybody. In the event you’re not planning on utilizing it to show art work, then you definately’re higher off investing in one other TV with extra bang to your buck on the subject of efficiency. Whereas I used to be tremendous impressed with the image’s brightness and determination, I am undecided it is definitely worth the hefty price ticket in case you do not plan on profiting from Artwork Mode. That mentioned, most people who find themselves out there for an image body TV are shopping for it to look at TV and show art work, through which case you should not suppose twice about shopping for The Body TV.
In the event you’re somebody who likes to entertain visitors otherwise you simply hate how your TV wastes treasured area, The Body is a stupendous, minimalist resolution that provides a splash of decor to your house and presents glorious image high quality for film nights. It is also good getting access to artwork with out having to pay an enormous premium for it and with the ability to rotate that art work when the temper strikes is an unbeatable benefit.
General, Samsung’s The Body TV is unquestionably price it for anybody who needs an environment friendly, high-quality TV resolution to their house leisure setup that takes benefit of each inch of dwelling area. In spite of everything, who would not favor gazing at Van Gogh’s The Starry Night time as a substitute of a black display?
BUY THE SAMSUNG THE FRAME TV
Why belief Good Housekeeping?
Media & Tech Evaluations Analyst Olivia Lipski oversees product testing and covers shopper electronics, resembling house theater necessities, audio gear and extra. She continues to remain on prime of the business’s newest improvements and helps readers make higher shopping for selections by testing and reviewing one of the best devices to hit the market. She’s been testing the Samsung The Body TV in her house for the previous few months, utilizing it to show artwork by day and stream exhibits by evening.
Media & Tech Evaluations Analyst
Olivia (she/her) is a media and tech product critiques analyst on the Good Housekeeping Institute, masking tech, house, auto, well being and extra. She has greater than 5 years of expertise writing about tech developments and innovation and, previous to becoming a member of GH in 2021, was a author for Android Central, Lifewire and different media retailers. Olivia is a graduate of George Washington College, with a bachelor’s diploma in journalism, political science and French, and she or he holds a grasp’s diploma in communications from Sciences Po Paris.