Samsung celebrates the launch of Music Frame in South Africa

Samsung Electronics South Africa, in partnership with Decorex Africa, recently celebrated the launch of its innovative Music Frame Smart Speaker in Cape Town, captivating an audience of tech, design and décor enthusiasts. The event featured a curated music experience that allowed guests to witness the smart speaker’s impressive capabilities first-hand. Positioned atop the venue’s giant speakers, the Music Frame filled the venue with sound as attendees arrived, only to be amazed when they learned that the music was actually emanating from the Music Frame itself, redefining their expectations of audio technology in a stylish format.

Designing the Experiences of Tomorrow

Samsung is home to forward-looking departments seeking untapped opportunities. True to its name, the Visual Display Business’ Future Experience Design group actively develops concepts for user experiences that are missing in the market before turning those ideas into innovative products.

Launching a new product is no easy feat, however. There is a long journey ahead after proposing an initial concept, from designing for mass production and collaborating with other departments to enhancing marketability and perfecting the product’s technical aspects. Brought to fruition through unceasing passion and innovation, this is Music Frame and its design story.

Bringing Style to Spaces

Inspired by Your Lifestyle

Consumers are now opting to purchase products that seamlessly blend into their living spaces instead of ones that only offer functionality. To that end, Samsung has introduced a series of lifestyle TVs including The Serif, The Frame and The Sero. Since TVs are not in use most of the time, these products transition to Ambient or Art Mode to offer a tasteful design experience — rather than displaying a black screen.

Delivering audio in the form of a picture frame, Music Frame is an extension of this approach. Setting itself apart from conventional speakers designed mainly to amplify sound, Music Frame and its concept of lifestyle audio prioritise the user’s lifestyle and living space. Picture frames are a familiar furnishing that can be placed anywhere, reflecting each individual’s taste and personality based on the kind of art being displayed. Music Frame draws inspiration from ordinary picture frames, allowing users to listen to music as they appreciate their favourite pictures.

Breathing Life into an Innovation

In collaboration with the development and CX teams, Samsung designers built and tested a working prototype that demonstrated high-quality sound. They received positive responses from users after extensive testing, which solidified their confidence in the product’s acoustic performance and overall concept. As a result, the initial design remained intact and went into mass production.

Bridging the Gap Between Decor and Audio

Sculpting Unseen Sound

Music Frame embodies audio, so Samsung couldn’t lose sight of how people enjoy listening to high-quality music. Given the product’s unique form factor compared to traditional, elongated soundbars, the designers worked closely with the sound development team to perfect acoustics from the get-go.

Speakers commonly have fabric, grilles or other materials on the front to easily emit sound. Together with the sound development team, the designers found a way for Music Frame to amplify sound through a gap between the frame and panel — creating a design rarely seen in audio products. The result? A frame-shaped speaker that is not restricted by the material that covers the front side.

Due to the frame’s shape, the gap between the bezel and the panel was important since this portion produces high- and medium-pitched sounds. After countless tests to find the optimal sized gap, both in terms of design and sound quality, the team settled on a width of 9mm. The designers worked with developers to make sure the vibrations from the rear woofer speaker — responsible for the bass — would not create noise when the product is hung on a wall like a picture frame.

A Piece to Personalise Your Space

Just like a real frame, Music Frame allows users to swap the images inside for personal photos or works of art. Listening to music while looking at a framed photo of a precious memory or a piece of art adds new levels of depth to users’ experiences.

Samsung designers also considered users who might place the Music Frame on a table instead of hanging it on a wall. Meticulous refinements were made to the frame stand’s shape and angle to ensure it doesn’t look too prominent or cause reflections on the panel. Since the rear of the product is visible if placed on a table, the back was designed in a neat and minimal fashion.

Music Frame in Your Everyday

Your Life, in the Frame

If there’s a particular image users want to cherish, they can create their own art panel by uploading an image to a third-party website and placing an order. Music Frame comes in a default black bezel, but users can purchase an additional white bezel to match their decor. They can fill their frames with stunning images to create a stylish space that is perfect for listening to music.

Fill Your Room with Rhythm

For more captivating TV viewing, users can utilise Q-Symphony for richer stereo sound by placing two Music Frames on either side of their TVs. For surround sound, users can place a soundbar in front of their TV and a Music Frame on the opposite wall to act as a rear speaker. With the SmartThings app, users can set the equaliser settings to their preferences. By fine-tuning the audio, users can enjoy more vibrant sound and immersive content.

Looking forward to a future of new possibilities, Samsung designers will continue to develop products and designs that naturally blend into users’ lifestyles and living spaces. For more information about Samsung Electronics’ design, please visit the Samsung Design website.