Netgear's Meural Canvas is a $1,199 piece of customisable smart art

By Alex Choros

Last updated 03 April 2019

If you've ever been in the situation where you can't decide which piece of art to throw on your wall, Netgear has an extremely first world solution to your extremely first world problem: the Meural Canvas.

Acquired by Netgear in August last year, Meural's Canvas is essentially a Wi-Fi connected smart photo frame you can hang on your wall. It comes preloaded with 100 pieces of art, but also includes a three-year subscription to an art service encompassing over 30,000 images (approximately $70 per year thereafter). And if you somehow don't find anything you love in that range, you can upload your own images through a smartphone app. Or memes.

While most displays are glossy these days, the Canvas has a distinctly matte finish with anti-glare technology to make it look like a genuine piece of art. It doesn't have the same kind of depth or texture you'll find on an actual painted canvas, but from a brief hands-on, it's a surprisingly convincing effect. The Canvas also has an ambient light sensor, which automatically adjusts screen brightness to the light in your room so the image is ever too bright or too dark.

You can change which art work is displayed on your Canvas using gesture controls, a web portal, the smartphone companion app, or through an Alexa integration (Google Home support is coming soon). Art can be grouped into playlists, and scheduled based on the time of day - show off one piece in the morning, and automatically swap over to another at night. The Canvas itself can be hung in portrait or landscape, and there's even an optional swivel mount for those who want it both ways.

It's worth noting that Canvas isn't battery powered: it needs to be plugged into a wall at all times. If you're hoping to mount it on a wall in the same way you'd hang an actual art work, you're going to need to put in a bit of work to hide the hefty cable and power supply. Netgear suggests using an art stand as solution for simpler cable management. In terms of power usage, Netgear says Canvas uses less energy than a standard light bulb.

The Meural Canvas will be available in Australia in early May. You'll pay $1,199 for a black or white frame, or $1,299 for a walnut frame. Retailers have yet to be confirmed.