A longtime projector user says her experience replacing a Samsung Frame Pro with a Google TV projector changed how she thinks about buying displays—less wall clutter, easier setup, and less friction day to day, even with ambient-light and audio compromises.
For years. Rita El Khoury treated projectors like a flexible add-on—something you bring out for the balcony. the bedroom. or the deck. Her latest test flipped that mindset. After a Google TV projector replaced the Samsung Frame TV Pro she’d relied on until its display died. she says she may never go back to buying a traditional television.
The problem, for her, starts with what she calls the “permanent big black box” on a living room wall. In her new home, she tried to solve that with a Samsung Frame TV. She chose it after Samsung announced the Frame Pro. pitching a brighter Neo QLED panel. a wireless box connection. and a faster processor. She paid a hefty sum to disguise the TV on her wall—but then ran into another kind of headache.
El Khoury says Samsung’s software and settings never worked for her, so she ends up disabling the frame feature about 70% of the time. That means the wall ends up looking like she never paid extra in the first place.
A projector, in her view, is the opposite of that visual compromise. It doesn’t demand wall real estate. With an ultra-short-throw model, it can sit on a media console. With a regular laser projector, it can sit next to the couch. For projection, she can even mount a white screen on the ceiling that drops on demand. The appeal isn’t just aesthetics—it’s the freedom to keep the space around it usable.
Her day-to-day routine is part of why she’s so convinced. Many of her Google TV projectors are portable models with a built-in battery. and she says that means she can move her entire setup across her three-floor home—without juggling a streaming stick. a speaker. and separate power. She describes going from watching YouTube on her kitchen cabinets on the ground floor. to mirroring her Pixel 10 Pro screen on her office wall on the first floor. to streaming a movie on her bedroom’s slanted ceiling on the second floor. She doesn’t have to think about speakers or power supply because, she says, everything is contained in one unit.
She also draws a line between cheap(er) projectors and the “serious” ones. She’s currently using the XGIMI Vibe One. calling it ideal for intermittent use like guest rooms. bedrooms. offices. outdoor movie nights. and even for taking to friends’ places or Airbnbs. But after trying her first ultra-short-throw projector. she says she realized it could function like a real primary TV—one that’s much easier to move around than a 65-inch or larger panel.
Setup is where the friction she had with the Frame Pro reappears for her, but in the opposite direction. She describes not liking the eight large holes she had to drill to install the Samsung Frame Pro. and she also disliked that the power cord stayed visible for a year until someone figured out a way to pass it through the wall behind the TV. When the Frame Pro’s panel died. Samsung France required her to take the TV off the wall to start the repair request. She and her husband then had to figure out how to unmount it without breaking it or giving Samsung any reason to blame them for the dead panel.
Projectors largely avoid that. Even the heaviest ones she’s seen weigh around 10kg (22lbs). and she says they’re easy to move around. unplug. and service. She adds that the “installation” problem shifts away from permanent mounting and toward where you want the image: slanted walls and ceilings don’t matter. no wall space?. Use a white curtain or a rollable white screen. She also points to safety concerns—especially for renters who can’t hang TVs on walls—saying a projector avoids the hazard of a big screen sitting on a stand where a toddler could tumble.
When she thinks about size, her logic becomes even simpler. In her home, she chose a 65-inch Frame Pro because it was the largest logical size that fit the wall. She says a 75-inch TV would’ve been too big. but a projector would have allowed her to adjust the distance to reach a wall-to-wall 73-inch projection without adding anything else to her setup. She also notes that the same projector on a different wall or ceiling could go up to 100 inches or more.
That flexibility extends to moving with your life. If she relocates. she says a projector can adapt to a new wall. ceiling. or curtain size without requiring a new unit. If she can’t find enough empty wall or ceiling space, she can still use curtains or a rollable screen. For now. she’s using the walls in her bedroom for projection. but expects she’ll have to switch to the ceiling or a large white curtain once she installs closets or shelves.
There’s also the software side. With Google TV support shrinking on some TV manufacturers, she’s surprised to see Google TV remain common among projectors. She names brands including XGIMI, TCL, Dangbei, Epson, and others as having Google TV built in. Her claim is straightforward: you turn it on and the apps are already there. no separate Google TV Streamer or streaming stick needed.
She lists the services she uses—YouTube, the local Canal Plus app, Plex, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, and Spotify. She says Google TV works as a Chromecast target, so she can cast directly from her phone to the projector. She also says she can use the Google Home app to turn on the projector or navigate it with an on-screen remote. and that her Google Home setup is accessible from the smart home panel.
If she decided to make a projector her primary TV, she says she’d only need to keep an eye on updates. She contrasts that with her experience on Android TV, saying updates weren’t as timely there.
Of course, she isn’t pretending there are no compromises. She acknowledges ambient light as a problem, and she says you have to embrace darkness for the highest-quality image. She also points to downgrades in contrast and picture quality. “the worst speakers” unless you connect a soundbar. and the near-constant fan hum. Still. she argues that some of the best ultra-short-throw projectors have fixed most of these issues. and she expects newer models to keep improving.
She ends up framing the decision as a trade: projectors are expensive. but so are the best TVs—especially if you want the kind that can be disguised on your wall. like the Samsung Frame Pro. Her conclusion is personal and firm. When the time comes for another display. whether for her bedroom. a guest room. or anything in between. she says she won’t be looking at a regular TV. She’ll be looking at a projector. because to her it’s less headache overall—starting with where the screen sits. and ending with how much trouble it creates when something goes wrong.
Google TV projector XGIMI Vibe One Samsung Frame Pro Neo QLED ultra-short-throw projector smart home Chromecast
So the projector fixed the “black box” problem? Finally something that’s not just ads.
I don’t get why people buy the Frame TV thing just to hide it. Wouldn’t you just… not mount a giant screen? Projectors are cool but they always seem like they need perfect lighting or the picture looks rough.
Wait is this saying Samsung was harder than Google? Cuz I thought Frame TVs were supposed to be the “easy” option with no cables and all. Also “ambient-light compromise” sounds like it’s still gonna look bad in the daytime, so I’m confused how she’s “done” with TVs.
I’m not buying any of that “less clutter” talk. My projector hangs from the ceiling and then I gotta mess with the angle every time, so that’s not friction-free either. And if the audio sucks, doesn’t that mean you’re buying a whole soundbar setup anyway? Seems like she traded one problem for another, just with different marketing names.