Families Belong Together Digital Photo Frame-for Your Photos
The research
- Why you should trust u.s.a.
- How nosotros picked
- How we tested
- Our choice: Aura Mason
- Flaws only non dealbreakers
- Upgrade pick: Aura Mason Luxe
- Budget pick: Aeezo Portrait 01
- Other good digital photo frames
- What nearly a smart brandish?
- (Potentially) free alternatives
- What to look forward to
- The contest
Why you should trust us
Nena Farrell has covered technology and continued home products since 2016, originally at Sunset Magazine (where she was an acquaintance dwelling house editor) and now as an updates writer on the audio, visual, and smart-home team at Wirecutter.
Brendan Nystedt contributed to an earlier version of this guide. He's been an enthusiast photographer and a writer covering consumer electronics and tech for the better office of a decade. Nystedt has worked for Wirecutter, Reviewed, and Wired, and he has written for numerous other outlets.
While preparing this guide, we consulted reviews both from owners and from trustworthy outlets, such as Wired and PCMag. Unfortunately for the layperson shopping for these devices, there are many SEO-driven clickbait blogs offer hands-off reviews. We ignored those websites.
How nosotros picked
Before I started the 2021 update to this guide, I did near five hours of inquiry on sites like Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo to see what new models were available. I went through owner reviews, looked for pinnacle sellers in the category, and more often than not tried to suss out which frames and manufacturers were worth a closer look.
Previous research indicated that Wirecutter readers were most interested in digital frames measuring 8 to 11 inches diagonal. This display size makes the most sense because it's significantly bigger than the average phone screen yet small enough for yous to constrict the frame away in a corner or to set up it atop a bookcase. Way is subjective, but information technology was too a cistron, albeit a minor i, in our decision-making process.
A display's aspect ratio is important to consider. For case, sixteen:9 frames are oftentimes besides narrow to testify about digital photos without pillarboxing the image (installing black confined on either side). A iv:3 ratio is the ideal ratio that nosotros looked for in frames. Additionally, nosotros looked at each screen'south resolution: When even most smartphone cameras tin shoot at least 10-megapixel images, it hardly makes sense for united states to test anything below a 1080p display (which equates to a measly ii megapixels). There are also a number of frames with 2K, or 2048p, displays, which we considered as well.
How we tested
We put each digital motion picture frame through a battery of tests. While examining everything from the setup process and display quality to the design, ease of employ, and even the quality of automatic brightness adjustment, I took notes on each frame's strengths and weaknesses. I then uploaded to each frame an identical fix of 74 photos from my library. These photos included professional ones from my wedding, as well equally older and newer smartphone and digital-camera photos.
In my ain home, I installed the frames in several locations to approximate clarity, brightness, and glare in different ambient lighting. I also made sure to view each frame straight-on, as well equally at increasingly oblique angles, to run across whether the contrast decreased or if whatever of the colors shifted. This process also helped me gauge the ease of installation and any possible snags related to the required power adapter. Subsequently narrowing the initial pool of contenders, I installed the top three at a family member's abode across town. I did this to test my remote control of the frames and to record their feel using the frames in dissimilarity with my own.
Our pick: Aura Mason
Our pick
The Aura Mason combines attractive hardware and elementary software to create a digital photo frame that is the easiest to set up and operate. We found the quality of its screen to be on a par with that of bigger, pricier frames, and the Mason was a clear improvement over many cheaper options. You get through the entire procedure on your Android or iOS device, no clunky remote required. And setup gives you the choice of inviting family members and friends to view and upload pictures. If yous're primarily a phone lensman, you should take your pictures up on this frame in a relatively short amount of time.
Aura's software helps you hands gear up up the Aura Mason equally a souvenir. Using the app, scan a QR code on the box to pair it with your account. That lets you invite family members to contribute photos before the recipient unpacks the frame and plugs information technology in. You can also accept the frame shipped from Aura directly and use the company'southward email-setup process to acquaintance it with your account while the frame is in transit. Though we didn't try the gift-setup method ourselves, we practise appreciate Aura'south focus on the gift bending. This is a feature other frames don't take (to replicate the experience, you have to ready the frame yourself manually and and then give information technology every bit a gift subsequently).
Once you download the Aura app, pair your phone to the frame, and connect it to your Wi-Fi network settings through your phone, you're all prepare. Based on our experience with the Aura platform, you won't have to wait for updates to install (whatsoever updates occur overnight or when the screen is off for an extended flow). In addition, you won't take to do annihilation on the frame itself with a remote control because there isn't 1 (something that competing frames tend to require).
The Bricklayer'southward 1600×1200–resolution, 8.57-inch screen (which Aura sometimes rounds up to nine inches in spec sheets) looks precipitous, has fantabulous dissimilarity, and displays colors well. Its automatic light sensor worked surprisingly well in our trial runs, cranking upward the screen'southward effulgence to gainsay sunlight. Using Aura'southward "presence sensor," the Mason also reliably turned the display off at night and when no one was around—a job that other frames struggled to manage.
Compared with a lot of other frames in this category, the Mason has an aesthetic that combines class and function quite well. The frame has nifty features, such as affect-sensitive strips that allow you marking favorite photos and go forwards and astern with a swipe. Yet the grooved, textured plastic makes the Stonemason wait like a nice frame you might buy for a print photo. Instead of relying on a flimsy stand to prop itself up, the Stonemason has weights on two sides that allow you to position the frame in either portrait or mural style.
One time the Mason is up and running, in that location are many display options to cull from. Working with its default settings, yous get behavior that'south more suggestive of a existent picture frame than a digital one. You lot'll find no cheesy animations between photos, only elementary fades and swipes. The Mason does a remarkably better job than competitors at automatically cropping photos that are in the wrong orientation for the frame. And if information technology gets things wrong in that regard, a link in the app displays the photos it cropped automatically. Then you lot tin can re-crop them if you want (but, based on my experience, you will need to exercise this very rarely).
A squeamish surprise I discovered while testing: Dissimilar every other brand of frame nosotros tested, the Mason and other frames in the Aureola family are compatible with Apple's Live Photo feature. And so you lot'll see such images come up to life for an instant when they first appear on the brandish.
Flaws just not dealbreakers
The list of web-based services that Aura's platform connects to is awfully brusk, express to Google Photos. You can hook up a Dropbox folder in an officially sanctioned fashion using IFTTT. Merely that can feel like a scrap of a hack and tin make it difficult to get photos onto the frame from other sources. For example, to upload photos from my Flickr account, I had to download them from the Flickr app into my phone'south photograph library, and from at that place I uploaded them into Aureola'southward library.
Upgrade choice: Aura Mason Luxe
Upgrade pick
The Aura Mason Luxe has everything we like about the Stonemason, just with a higher-quality display that's slightly larger (9.5 inches versus viii.75 inches) and an ability to play videos. The Mason Luxe has a smaller border, to conform the larger screen size, and a iv:3 screen ratio, which is ideal for nearly photos.
The 2K (2048×1536 resolution) screen is a clear improvement when you lot identify the two models side by side. Smaller photograph details showed upwards much more clearly on the Mason Luxe's 2K screen, and different colors and editing styles were easier to encounter too. Viewing wedding photos and other high-quality snaps on the Luxe frame was especially nice.
Simply fifty-fifty though the upgrade was appreciated, information technology doesn't seem necessary, and not everyone wants to meet every little detail. One of my family members who helped test the frames said they sometimes wished for less particular on photos of themself, and they plant the resolution of the original Mason more flattering. By comparing, a dissimilar family fellow member immediately recognized the Luxe as being a better screen, and they preferred that screen overall for its college quality.
Some other new feature of the Mason Luxe is its built-in speaker and ability to play videos. At the time of writing, nosotros were able to exam only a demo unit of measurement that had pre-loaded videos (instead of our own). The demo unit showed that videos slide onto the screen (similar to photos); the Luxe then activates and plays the video and so turns information technology into a still. I wasn't able to adjust the sound or whatsoever features, but information technology was a pretty seamless experience, and the videos sounded adept. (We program to re-test with our own photos and videos very presently.)
With all of the video-capable frames I tested, a frequent downside was that if you lot left the audio on, the frame would occasionally flare-up into sound and video—when you were least expecting information technology. My hubby is an earlier riser than I am. And 1 morning he woke me up to say that ane of my frames had been playing sounds randomly all morning. I had to determine which frame it was and mute it. So while this is a fun feature, you can decide whether y'all want to utilize it. If yous aren't interested in playing videos on your frame, you can besides cull to only upload photos.
Budget selection: Aeezo Portrait 01
Budget choice
The Aeezo Portrait 01 is about half the price of the Aureola Mason, and it was at least $30 cheaper than any other frame we tested. Even with that price point, the Portrait 01 has a iv:three ratio, and the frame looks like a real frame (something nosotros didn't find with many other affordable frames). The Aeezo too has a unique feature that lets you accommodate the positioning of a photo on the frame with merely a few taps. But for those who aren't tech-savvy, the uploader is difficult to use (and it's even a chip frustrating for those who are).
The Aeezo Portrait 01's frame is a simple, matte black, and though it doesn't look like a designer slice, it likewise doesn't look cheap. Rather, it looks more than like a true simple photo frame you would buy at your local home-goods store. Several competitors (including Aeezo'due south own Dream Plus frame) often had shinier frames that looked like a tablet was sitting on the tabletop, versus a matte photo frame. The Portrait 01 was quick and like shooting fish in a barrel to put together, with a small stick for a stand (which was stable and piece of cake to rotate from landscape to portrait). This frame has no clunky remote; instead information technology has a touchscreen, and in our tests we didn't find that the screen was easily marked with fingerprints.
The Aeezo Portrait 01 has a 4:iii ratio, an ideal ratio for most photos. We also found that pillarboxing rarely happened with this frame considering it zooms in and crops photos that don't fit properly in the screen. The frame does this by focusing on the "important role" of the photo (which it asks yous to identify when you upload pictures). It's also easy to adapt the photo'due south arrangement: You tap on the frame and choose "Adjust" on the pop-up menu, so drag the photo around with your fingertips. Although this frame cropped some photos a footling also much, overall I found the lack of pillarboxing preferable to seeing every edge of every photo. This frame's 1280×800 resolution is of solid quality, then y'all can savour photos in a diverseness of styles. But the quality certainly wasn't every bit well-baked as that of models like the Aura Mason.
The Portrait 01 likewise has a congenital-in speaker and the power to play videos (dissimilar the Aura Stonemason), and the sound came through pretty clearly on the small frame. There's a sound icon on the screen that pops upwardly and allows yous to control the book, and it saves your last-used audio preference (if you turned up the sound for a video, information technology will stay turned up for all future videos until you manually turn it dorsum down). Video also appeared to be of a slightly lower quality than photos on the frame's screen.
The uploader, however, is the biggest downside of the Portrait 01 frame. It functions nigh identically to Instagram'due south. Y'all click a petty button on the screen (it looks clumsily like to Instagram's Carousel button for uploading more than one photograph) after selecting a photo to toggle on, uploading more than than i photograph at a fourth dimension. And information technology allows only 10 photos to exist uploaded per batch. The social-media-like feel is an firsthand hurdle for anyone who'south not tech-savvy or familiar with the interface. A family fellow member who besides tested this frame told me (in reference to the uploader): "I would not have known what to exercise if you lot didn't testify me." In that location aren't instructions in the box, either; the app obviously expects you to just figure it out for yourself. The interface is very similar to uploading an in-feed post to Instagram, and then frequent Instagram users volition likely get the hang of information technology quickly. The frame'southward uploader then asks you to choose the important parts of a photo and then add a caption to the overall upload.
The Portrait 01 does let you to upload when you lot're away from the frame, as long as yous have the "Friend Code." The Friend Code is a bit of a misnomer, since even the primary owner of the frame will need that lawmaking to first using it. Also, you tin merely upload photos via the Frameo app, which works with a number of digital frames sold primarily overseas. The app has minimal functionality and is solely focused on photo uploading, with a page for new uploads, a page for your by upload history, and then a folio to see all your continued frames. It doesn't have any further controls for the frame itself, beyond sending photos.
Other good digital photo frames
If you lot want a nicer-looking frame: The Nixplay 2K Smart Photograph Frame, our previous also-neat pick, is at present sold only with its big, silver mirrored frame. Its design is beautiful, and the screen is fantastic. And the NixPlay feel is easy to navigate, with app and email uploading options. But the thick frame leads to a worse motion sensor, so this model is off generally, and it uses a remote. The shiny argent frame also easily shows fingerprints. And this frame is expensive, though it's oft on sale for around $265.
If yous don't mind side-by-side photos: The Aura Carver has all the software features of our main pick. Merely instead of physically rotating to show both mural and portrait modes, it sits on landscape manner only. To balance this, the Carver places two portrait-fashion photos side by side when it shows them, or shows a landscape photograph full-screen. This frame has the same affect bar on the elevation every bit the Aura Stonemason, and the side-past-side photos looked nice on the large screen. The Carver retails for the same toll as the Mason only is oft on sale for effectually $180.
If you want a less-expensive 2K frame: The Aeezo Dream Plus is a 2K frame that currently retails for just $170—cheaper than anything else nosotros recommend, except for our budget pick (which is besides fabricated by Aeezo). Like the Portrait 01, the Dream Plus has an annoyingly Instagram-like uploader only as well an like shooting fish in a barrel-to-utilise frame, which can rotate and allows yous to customize a photo's arrangement on the screen. The Dream Plus has a clearly nicer frame, all the same it also has a shiny border, which looks a bit more like a tablet than the matte frames of our other picks and recommendations.
What about a smart brandish?
If y'all accept smart products in your home, you might own—or be interested in owning—a smart display powered by Amazon Alexa or Google Dwelling house. Smart displays like the Amazon Echo Show or Google Nest Hub let you to have photos equally the main screensaver, resulting in something similar to a photograph frame. Our smart display picks are nearly all cheaper than our digital photo frame picks, just the tradeoff is a smaller screen.
Besides, the experience isn't completely similar, and there are certain sacrifices when you swap a smart display for a digital photo frame. All of our photo frame picks have higher-quality screens than the smart displays. And (with the exception of existing Google Photos users who own a Google Assistant–powered smart display) you lot won't discover smart displays whatsoever easier to upload to and employ than a digital photo frame.
(Potentially) free alternatives
People take many screens in their lives. Some of them are large and some of them are pocket-size, but if you've recently upgraded to a newer tablet, you lot might consider using your sometime 1 every bit a digital photo frame. For this purpose, I'd recommend using an older Retina iPad, since Apple's displays offer good viewing angles and are vivid enough to fight glare. The iPad's built-in Photos app has integration with iCloud and will remain synced to your phone'south pictures, if you cull to utilise iCloud. Plus, the iPad has a overnice slideshow mode that shuffles, crops, and animates your pictures.
Yous might be tempted to use one of Amazon's cheap Fire tablets as a makeshift picture frame, but our advice is non to bother. Even though these tablets accept IPS screens and are certainly affordable (particularly around the holidays), their screens are as well dim and offer poor viewing angles. I currently accept a 7-inch Fire stuck to my refrigerator every bit a persistent weather display. When the sunday is out, I have to go really close in order to see what's on the screen.
Skylight now offers a product called Skylight Digital, which as well offers to turn an existing screen into a digital photograph frame. Simply the compatibility is express—it'southward offered only for Philips, Sony, TCL and Fire TVs, or tablets (both Android and Apple).
What to expect frontwards to
Aura has also introduced a new version of the Carver frame, the Carver Luxe. Similar to the Mason Luxe, the Carver Luxe has a speaker and video capabilities, and information technology volition first shipping in mid-October for the aforementioned cost as the Carver. We program to test it as soon every bit it'south available and update this guide.
The contest
Nixplay's Smart Photo Frame 10.1 inch is a larger model of the Nixplay design. Unfortunately, we've found that the display is noticeably worse on this model and previous 10.1-inch Nixplay widescreen frames. Not only does the screen have a less-natural attribute ratio for traditional photos, but its lower resolution (1280×800) and less-punchy colors make it less compelling.
The Touch Frame is a touch-screen version of the Nixplay x.1-inch frame. Sadly, this model also has a noticeably worse brandish, and it has the same issue of an unnatural aspect ratio (16:10) for nigh photos, leading to a large amount of pillarboxing. This frame was also the least responsive to calorie-free, and it needed to be manually turned on and off each day.
The Pix-Star 10-Inch Digital Photo Frame has a ton of overwhelmingly positive reviews on Amazon, and its features are impressive: In add-on to photos, it displays weather and email, and it even plays internet radio. Just its ugly design, clunky software, distracting transitions, and low-res, 1024×768 screen negate annihilation skilful. It also has the most sensitive sensor of any frame we tested; that meant it usually turned dorsum on right after we turned it off (I had to place the remote in an area of the room where it would turn off the screen without beingness able to see me motility). Simply put, this frame's price just doesn't seem aligned with what you go.
Aura'southward Sawyer sports a larger, higher-res (9.7-inch, 2048×1536) screen, with a blueprint that's more subtle than that of our top pick, the Aura Mason. Nevertheless, along with the Sawyer'southward bigger size comes a significantly bigger price tag: The Sawyer frames start at effectually $100 more than than the Mason. We call back that makes the Bricklayer a far improve value for what essentially amounts to near the aforementioned overall experience. If the toll isn't a problem for you, this model is one to consider.
Fifty-fifty though the cheap Aluratek 7-Inch Digital Photograph Frame was labeled "Amazon's Selection" at the time we tested it, we strongly recommend that you steer clear of it. This frame is made of inexpensive plastic and has a dim, low-res (800×600) LCD with terrible viewing angles. Dissimilar some of the other frames nosotros tested, which have IPS screens, this Aluratek display uses TN engineering science, and it is about unviewable unless you put it right at eye level. Even at its usual impulse-buy price of less than $40, this frame is simply not worth information technology.
Aluratek'due south 8-Inch Digital Photograph Frame also isn't worth it, based on our testing. It has a iv:three ratio, and while virtually landscape photos fit nicely, there was a lot of pillarboxing on whatever photos that were not that orientation. Likewise, this model has clunky menus and a shiny frame, which made it look more like a propped-up tablet than annihilation else. We don't recommend buying it, despite the relatively moderate price tag.
The Skylight Frame, which is highly rated on Amazon, is a mixed bag. Information technology looks well designed from the forepart, and it has a touchscreen that makes setup a snap. And at that place's even an updated version that's still priced at an affordable $160 (at this writing). Even so, we prefer other frames to this one. This is a mural-oriented frame, and it doesn't place portrait photos side by side, then y'all see a large amount of pillarboxing on any not-landscape photo. It has a 10-inch screen just a huge corporeality of frame, which brings the overall size to xiv inches; this seemed unnecessarily large compared with the size of other frames. Plus, at well-nigh every step of using the Skylight, you'll find yourself getting prompted to upgrade to the Skylight Pro service—well-nigh $forty a year—for features similar uploading videos or organizing your photos into albums. Using the app is also included on the list of Pro-only features, merely we were able to use the app in our tests.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-digital-photo-frame/
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