Framed, frameless or LED: how to pick the right mirror type

Same arch, three different edges

Stand them next to each other and the outline doesn't change. Each one takes the same 1800 mm of wall height and the same 850 mm of width, so the spot you have in mind works for all three. The difference starts at the edge, and the first part of it is glass. The framed Sienna sits inside a metal frame that runs 10 mm around the mirror, so the 1800 x 850 frame holds 1780 x 830 of glass. The frameless and the LED have no frame to give up, so the glass is the full 1800 x 850.

Ten millimetres each side is less than most people expect, and it's not really what you're choosing between. The frame barely costs you any reflection. What it changes is what the edge says about the mirror, and that's a decision about the room, not about the glass. If you haven't settled the size yet, our sizing guide does that part first.

Framed vs frameless vs LED, side by side

Read down the columns and the three separate quickly. The framed one is the one you notice. The frameless one is the one you don't. The LED one is the only one with a job to do when the sun isn't up.

The frame is the styling decision

A frame gives the mirror a line of its own, and that line is what ties it to the rest of the room: the tapware, the handles, a lamp base, the legs of the chair next to it. Ours come in Matte Black, Brushed Gold, Antique Copper and White Satin, and the product page shows what's on the shelf today, so the choice is really which metal your room's already wearing.

The framed Sienna arch is 1800 mm high and 850 mm wide, and it's 28 mm deep, the deepest of the three. Behind the frame is 4 mm glass, double coated aluminium with a vinyl safety backing. It weighs 18.3 kg. It ships with heavy duty mounting brackets and the safety top bracket, which is bonded to the back and gives you a slot to anchor it when it leans.

Sienna Framed Arch 1800 mm high x 850 mm wide x 28 mm deep View

Frameless gives you the whole 1800 x 850

Take the frame away and the glass is the whole object. The edge is polished smooth, the reflection runs to the outside of the shape, and the wall behind keeps whatever it already had going on. On a papered wall, next to art, or opposite a window worth looking at twice, it's the one that stays quiet.

The frameless Sienna arch is the same 1800 x 850 in 5 mm glass, 25 mm deep, 21.5 kg. It hangs on slim aluminium brackets and carries the same safety top bracket as the framed one, so leaning it is the same job. Thicker glass, no frame, three millimetres less depth: that's the trade in full.

Sienna Frameless Arch 1800 mm high x 850 mm wide x 25 mm deep View

The LED is the one with light in it

The LED Sienna arch is the same shape again, 1800 x 850 in 5 mm glass at 25 mm deep, with a backlight sitting behind the glass. Tap it on. Tap again to move between 3000K, 4500K and 6500K, warm through to cool. Hold to dim. The demister's on a touch of its own, and the colour rendering index is above 80.

It plugs into a standard power point with an Australian plug already fitted, so there's nothing to book in and nothing to open up. If you'd rather it was wired into the wall instead, that's the optional way to do it, and it's the one part of the job for a licensed electrician. In a bathroom it goes on a wall outside the shower screen, and not over a bath. Our LED guide covers the light and the demister in more detail, and the small bathroom guide works through sizes against a vanity.

It's 24 kg on heavy duty mounting brackets, and it's the only mirror in our range with removable standing legs.

Sienna LED Arch 1800 mm high x 850 mm wide x 25 mm deep, backlit View

What 28 mm and 25 mm look like from the side

Three millimetres reads like nothing written down, and on the wall it more or less is. What you'll see from the side is the border: the framed one shows a metal return around the face, the frameless one shows a clean edge of glass, and the LED shows that same edge with light coming out behind it. The depth matters most when the mirror sits near a door swing or a walkway. Everywhere else, there's nothing in it.

Which one goes where

A bedroom takes all three, so that one's genuinely down to taste and to what else is on the wall. A living room or an entry is where the frame earns its place, because those rooms already have metal in them and the mirror can answer it. A bathroom is the one room where the answer is the LED, for the light and the demister rather than the look. You'll find the rest of the range in the arch collection, and every backlit model in LED mirrors.

What's on the back, and what it weighs

Every product page carries the drawing of its own back, and these three are worth two minutes before you choose a wall. The framed and the frameless both carry the safety top bracket, the small slot at the crown you anchor to. The LED doesn't have one. It has two heavy duty mounting brackets and a lead that leaves the bottom right corner, which is the thing to think about when you're picking which side the power point is on. Its removable standing legs ship in the box and have a drawing of their own on the product page.

Weights, for whoever's doing the lifting: 18.3 kg framed, 21.5 kg frameless, 24 kg for the LED. Every mirror in the range ships with its mounting kit and the guide in the box.

All three, in millimetres

• Sienna Framed Arch, 18.3 kg1800 H x 850 W x 28 D
• Framed, glass inside the frame1780 H x 830 W x 4 thick
• Sienna Frameless Arch, 21.5 kg1800 H x 850 W x 25 D
• Frameless, glass1800 H x 850 W x 5 thick
• Sienna LED Arch, 24 kg1800 H x 850 W x 25 D
• LED, glass1800 H x 850 W x 5 thick