large photo display screens free sample
You might not think that photos count as sensitive information, compared to a bank account statement or your Social Security number. But it can be devastating to find photos of loved ones used for nefarious or unsavory purposes.
This is why we prefer frames from reputable companies like Aura and Nixplay over cheaper ones with less clearly defined privacy and security practices. Nixplay offers reasonable security measures, like encrypting your photos during transmission, and Aura offers the option to delete metadata, like the location where a photo was captured. However, both say they may disclose personal information if court-ordered or subpoenaed, and neither provides safety guarantees against hacking.
Some digital frames can connect to voice assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. By doing so, you give these companies more access to search through your entire photo album. For example, you can connect an Aura frame to Google Assistant and ask it to find a photo from a specific event; the Aura app will search your camera roll for what you’ve specified.
If you"re concerned about security, you can avoid connecting to third-party services, but your most secure option is to just download several photos on a tablet and disable all internet connectivity.
It"s a great time of year for deals on all kinds of tech, including digital photo frames. We"re on the cusp of some big shopping events coming up, and many of the frames in this list are contenders for price drops.
Put your best memories on display with the best digital photo frame. Using an LED display, digital photo frames showcase digital versions of your snaps in a slideshow format, so not only are you displaying several photos in one frame, but you"re also saving money on prints. Plus, you can change the images on the display as often as you"d like.
Sharp, chic and easy to use, the leading models put your personal snaps front and centre. And, they"re a terrific (and economical) way to show off your family photos, vacation pics, and photography masterpieces.
What’s the best digital photo frame for most people? We highly recommend the Aura Mason Luxe, which boasts a neat look, slick interface, and detailed display. Alternatively, if you want an option which also supports for video calls, Facebook’s Portal is worth considering. But, if you’re looking for a great value alternative on a tight budget, the 8-inch Nixplay Nix ticks a lot of boxes for not a lot of money.
Whether you want a simple panel or a smart display, we have comprehensively tested the best options then gathered all the best ones here, covering models across a range of price brackets. We’ve also included some useful buying tips to keep in mind when deciding which frame is the best fit for your home.
From affordable frames to premium screens, here are the best digital photo frames available and ranked in the list below. Once you’ve found your favorite frame, you’ll find links beneath each entry that take you straight to the best deals available right now. Need some more in-depth advice? Also check out our guide on how to buy a digital photo frame.
The Aura Mason Luxe is a clear cut above most other photo frames. It’s stylish, has greater character to its design and, most important of all, the screen is excellent in most respects.
Its 4:3 aspect display is perfect for not just adding some color to your room with your photos, but to actually get an up-close look at them. Pixel density is so high they look sharp and detailed even when you get your face right up to the screen. We found that color is natural-looking and well-saturated too, so you can be sure you’re seeing a fair representation of the photos you fling its way.
Nixplay’s 2K Smart Digital Photo Frame features one of the sharpest screens on the market. With a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, the display offers detail for days – and it’s vibrant, too, with impressively deep blacks and more than enough brightness to beat the screen’s reflective coating.
At 9.7 inches, the display also strikes an excellent middle ground: with a flexible stand setup that can support the frame in portrait or landscape orientation, the Smart Digital Photo Frame will fit on almost any shelf, while also giving images enough real estate to really be seen and enjoyed. Handily, it can also be wall-mounted.
One of our favourite things about this frame is that loading up photos via the partner app is a straightforward process. Create, populate and organise multiple playlists using photos from your smartphone, or sync with Google Photos to display AI-generated smart albums. You can also connect with friends to easily receive snaps and assign them to your frame.
Classier than most competitors, the Aura Carver stands out with an embossed border and angular, free-standing design. Its 10.1-inch display isn’t as sharp as the slightly pricier Carver Luxe, but we found its 1280x800 panel fine in testing, with pleasant colors and good viewing angles. It helps that the screen can adjust automatically to ambient conditions and go impressively bright, helped by a semi-matte finish.
We think Aura frames have the slickest software out there, and the Carver is no exception. It doesn’t have a touchscreen, but the subtle touch panel on top makes it easy to flick between photos. Other settings are found in the similarly streamlined smartphone app, although customisation options are limited. Friends and family can contribute to your slideshow, but there’s no support for albums.
A cheap and cheerful photo frame, the Aeezo Portrait 01 is more flexible than its price tag suggests. Its no-frills, plastic build won’t win any design awards, but it’s neat enough, even if the simple stand has limited stability.
We were largely happy with its photo reproduction in our review. Color depth isn’t exceptional, but the 10-inch display strikes a good balance when it comes to detail: hard edges aren’t too soft or too sharp. It is less bright than other frames in the same price bracket, though.
The Netgear Meural isn’t quite like other digital photo frame. By the standards of this category, it’s a pretty high-end buy, but it"s actually the entry-level model in Netgear’s series of art displays. They scale all the way up to a 21.5 inches.
This is a 15.6-inch photo frame you can orient in portrait or landscape. It’s a large canvas for your photos, and the Meural app offers access to a huge library of paintings and other art works. They can inject some culture into your home. You have to pay for a subscription to get full access, but a good few handfuls are available without one.
With a generous border and glass facade, the Skylight Frame is one of the more attractive photo frames we’ve tested. It’s larger than most 10-inch models, but its white surround and classy design give it real presence on a shelf. In use, its responsive touchscreen feels quite a lot like a tablet: you can pinch to zoom and swipe to switch photos. It’s not sophisticated, but it works smoothly and makes it easy to find specific images.
Facebook is phasing out its Portal devices for consumers, but right now that makes this 10-inch display excellent value at its new low price. Meta will continue to provide support for existing customers and its core functionality will continue unaffected.
While it"s primarily device for calling friends and family, Meta"s social screen does a side-gig as a slick digital photo frame. Styled like a floating box frame with neat lines and a quality finish, it’s an attractive fit for contemporary shelves – provided there’s space for the supporting leg. The stand can prop the Portal in portrait or landscape, but it sticks out by 12cm – and the power cable exits from its end, so it can’t sit flush against your wall.
Up front, the 10-inch display is vibrant and responsive, with good detail and color reproduction. The panel is quite reflective, but there’s enough brightness to counter glare – though this dips when viewing from a 45-degree angle.
Setup is straightforward and the slick touchscreen interface is matched by the polished partner app. which particularly impressed us. Photos can be sourced from Facebook, Instagram or your smart device, then sorted into albums which can be individually enabled.
The Nixplay Touch 10 passes for a traditional photo frame at arm’s length. Its back is heavily sculpted, but this will usually be hidden away from view. While its slot-in stand didn’t feel especially sturdy in testing, the frame itself isn’t heavy enough to make this a problem.
Its plastic display surface softens reflections, and photos generally look good. We liked the color temperature during our time with the Nixplay, finding that it could produce rich tones, even if its LCD panel lacks the depth of OLED. We were less impressed by its sharpening, which caused edges to appear pixellated.
The Nest Hub Max is both a hub for smart devices and a portal for accessing Google Assistant at home, but it also does well as a digital photo frame. Styled like a 10-inch tablet attached to a fabric-skinned speaker, it forms a neat free-standing package with a small shelf footprint – even if the screen’s plastic shell and bezels don’t feel particularly premium.
The fixed stand setup means you can’t adjust the display angle from its default upward tilt. While this will be an issue if you want to place the frame on a higher shelf, the viewing angles are otherwise good, with decent saturation and plenty of brightness – provided you’re fine with a reflective panel.
At 1280x800, the resolution of the touchscreen could be higher, but we found that there’s still good detail with no noticeable pixellation – and it makes controlling the Nest Hub Max a cinch. Swipe between photos or tap the pop-up controls to hide, star or share particular images, or do the same thing with voice commands.
The Nest Hub Max can display art backgrounds, a full-screen clock or a selection of snaps from your Google Photos account. It supports Live Albums, features the option to show portrait pics in split-screen and offers time, weather and image data overlays – but you can’t manually change the slideshow order. And because it only works with Google Photos, the Nest Hub Max makes sense mainly for those already invested in the company’s cloud backup service.How to pick the best digital photo frame for youWhere will you place it?Most digital photo frames include some kind of stand, but not all can be wall-mounted. Similarly, some only work in one orientation, while others can switch from portrait to landscape. It pays to consider placement, including how a frame’s finish will fit with your decor.
What screen size do you need?Screen size can vary substantially, from 8 to 13 inches. Frames with smaller displays can be easier to place and are sometimes sharper. Larger options offer more space for your snaps but won’t always have a higher resolution. The sweet spot is usually somewhere around a 9-inch Full HD display.
How will you add images?Many of the latest digital photo frames rely on cloud storage to host your slideshow, letting you add photos directly from different devices. Others feature social media integration. But if your images live on hard storage, consider something with a memory card or USB input.
How much control do you want?Some digital photo frames offer seamless simplicity, while others allow you to adjust every setting – from brightness to sleep schedules. It’s worth checking what a given frame lets you tweak, especially if you’re particular about color balance or slideshow transitions.
How smart does it need to be?More than passive panels, several of the best digital photo frames in 2021 are actually fully fledged smart displays. That means voice control, media streaming and smart home integration. Whether you need this additional functionality will depend on the other devices already in your abode.What is the best size digital photo frame?Digital photo frames are available in a wide range of sizes. Which dimension is right for you will depend on your available space, as well as your own personal preference. Smaller digital photo frames are more compact and easier to place in your home, but offer less canvas space for your digital images. Larger photo frames give your treasured snaps room to shine, but require a larger footprint – and the biggest screens risk dominating a room.
While you can find digital photo frames with screens as small as 5 inches, we think the smallest you should realistically look at is 8 inches. A frame such as the Nixplay Nix Digital Photo Frame 8-inch benefits from a small footprint that’s easy to place almost anywhere, while still giving your images enough room on screen to be clearly visible. Any smaller and you risk having to squint to see your snaps.
The largest digital photo frames feature displays to rival your average laptop. The Nixplay Seed Wave, for example, ships with a 13-inch panel. This puts your pictures clearly front and centre, but it’s not exactly subtle. It risks looking like a small TV and blends less well into the background – although it certainly makes your shots unmissable.
We think the best size digital photo frame is between 9 inches and 10 inches. Models like the Google Nest Hub Max, Aura Carver and Facebook Portal all feature screens which measure in at around the 10-inch mark, while our favorite digital photo frame right now – the minimalist Aura Mason Luxe – has a 9.7-inch display. These hit the sweet spot for visibility and flexibility. A display at this size will also provide better pixel density than a much larger screen, improving clarity and sharpness (especially with Nixplay’s 2K frame, which features a high-resolution 9.7-inch screen).
Digital photo frames are unique devices with a range of specific factors to test. We put each frame through a range of scenarios to ensure each one is worthy of a recommendation.
We place each digital photo frame in a series of similar viewing scenarios to assess the sharpness and brightness of its display. This will usually include a dark environment, a daylit room and a bright spot in direct sunlight. Using an identical set of photos, we look at the accuracy of color reproduction, the clarity of each image and the viewing angles of the frame. We also take into account the proportions of the display and whether any cropping is likely to affect standard-sized digital images.
If you have never used one of these fantastic magnetic picture frames, this is a wonderful opportunity to see how great they really are for just the cost of delivery. If you would like to receive a free sample frame, we will be happy to send you one. Just send us a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return of one of our 4" x 6" Original Soft Pocket magnetic frames. The postage required is for two ounces, one first class stamp plus a single second-ounce stamp. You will need to send us an envelope a little larger than a standard letter size, at least 4¾" by 6¾", to fit the frame. A Christmas card or greeting card envelope works very well for this purpose. Put this return envelope in a second envelope and mail the envelope to us at:
We are happy to send you this free sample magnetic picture frame but these free samples are only available one time per household please. Try our frames and see the quality of our product. We will even include a special discount coupon to use when you place your first order. I thank you for your interest in Lytle® Magically Magnetic Photo Frames.
Magically Magnetic Inc. sells LYTLE Magnetic Photo and Art Frames exclusively, the smart, easy, fun, modern way to protect and display your favorite photos. They"re the Original and they"re the best. Most LYTLE products are protected by US patent and copyright laws.
String lights make everything a little better. So try using them to display the people and places that add a little light to your life. If you get a little creative with how you string them up, you"ll have multiple ways to display photos from just this one idea. (Pro tip: If you want diagonal prints like the example, rotate your images 45 degrees on your phone editor before printing.)
You don’t need a frame to hang it on the wall in an elevated way. A print hanger gives you all the sophistication of a frame plus unique minimalist appeal that can make the space. Just pick a large photo print that you love and slip it into the hanger.
Add a bit of string and tape to turn that fallen branch you found on your hike into unique decor. It’s the perfect way to bring in a natural element amongst your other photo display ideas. (Note: You can also use a hole puncher to string through holes in your prints... your call!)
Need new ways to display photos on a table or desk? Easel does it. A small easel can be the perfect alternative to a tabletop frame and makes it simple to swap photos. Just place a stack of your favorite prints on the ledge and change the feature print periodically.
Have a lot of prints to display? The more photos, the better the grid! We recommend using a ruler to space out your prints to keep your grid clean and consistent. Not to say you can’t also experiment with angles and spacing a bit to produce a more creative photo display. Just make sure you use poster tape so that you don’t damage your wall or prints.
Fencing makes the perfect blank canvas for a unique photo display. Plus, with a little bit of spray paint, you can customize to create an upscale look. A little gold goes a long way! (Pro tip: We used simple fencing from the hardware store to create the display in the photo.)
A Wooden Photo Ledge is a sturdy solution for unique photo display, and still simple to secure to a wall. Don"t want to hang it up? Placing it on the mantle works just as well. Either way, mixing and matching different print sizes can keep things from becoming too uniform. (Hint: Use multiple ledges like the photo above to make the most of your wall.)
Don’t throw out that old wooden ladder sitting in the garage — it’s your ticket to a multi-tier photo display. Tying a string across each rung will give you a line to hang photos. Or, you can choose to punch holes in your prints and tie each photo to the rung. For a little variation, alternate between photos and other items on different rungs.
Have a small space on a mantel or shelf that’s perfect for a print? Use a photo block stand to make it happen with minimal effort. It’s subtle, sleek, lets you easily switch out photos, and gives more stability than standing prints up against other items. Plus, you can put it just about anywhere. (Bonus: Ours is made from reclaimed Colorado black walnut.)
Change things up a bit with a welcome twist on the classic tabletop frame. This display box lets you stand your photos up on any surface and store additional prints for easy rotation. Keep a stack of your favorite prints inside the back slot and swap the feature photo out as often as you’d like. (Pro tip: It also makes the perfect bookend.)
Take a page out of the old-school dark room with a clothespin display. Your line can go above a door frame, run between hooks, under a mantel — let your imagination run wild.
These creative ways to display photos without frames are just a start. We"d love to see how you use any of them in your space. Don"t forget to tag us on instagram (@artifactuprising) with your own spin.
The Aura Carver combines attractive hardware and simple software to create a digital photo frame that is the easiest to set up and operate, and at a great price. We found the quality of its screen to be on a par with that of pricier frames. You go through the setup process on your Android or iOS device, no clunky remote required. If you’re primarily a phone photographer, you should be able to have your pictures up on this frame in a relatively short amount of time.
The setup was the simplest of the frames we tested. Once you download the Aura app, pair your phone to the frame, and connect it to your Wi-Fi network settings using your phone, you’re all set. (I did have to wait for the frame to power up and download a recent update, but it hasn’t needed any other software updates since, and I was still able to get the frame up and running in about five minutes.) One of the few steps between turning on the device and adding photos is the option to send invitations to family members and friends via text so they can upload their own pictures (you can also set up the Carver as a gift for someone else; more on that below). In addition, you won’t have to do anything on the frame itself with a remote control because there isn’t one. Aura frames have touch bars on top of the device that let you control basic functions, while setup and other controls are found in Aura’s smartphone app. And the Carver frame’s slim top makes it easier to find the touch bar compared with the Aura Mason.
The Carver’s resolution is a little lower than the Mason’s—1280×800 versus 1600×1200, respectively—but I didn’t see an obvious drop in image quality. It still looks sharp, has excellent contrast, and displays colors well. From older digital-camera pictures to professional wedding photos, the images looked as great as we’ve ever seen them on a digital screen, without the typical blue undertone that you’ll find on a tablet or other digital frames we’ve tried. The Carver has a 16:10 aspect ratio, but I found that the wider ratio meant the entirety of my wedding photos always fit on the screen, so no guests were cut out. It also meant that when two vertical photos were displayed, they had a 4:5 aspect ratio. The automatic light sensor worked well in our trial runs, cranking up the screen’s brightness to combat sunlight. It also tended to pick up light from a different room better than the Mason’s sensor; when these frames were in my dining room, for example, the Carver stayed on with light spilling in from the kitchen, but the Mason did not.
Compared with a lot of other products in this category, with their plastic frames and borders that often look closer to a tablet than a decorative photo frame, the Carver has an aesthetic that combines form and function quite well. The frame has nifty features, such as touch-sensitive strips that let you mark favorite photos and go forward and backward with a swipe. (The strips take a little patience to work—we recommend moving slowly when using them.) Yet the grooved, textured plastic makes the Carver look like a nice frame you might buy for a print photo. Instead of relying on a flimsy stand to prop itself up, its thicker base makes it more stable, and there’s nothing to assemble beyond plugging in the power cord.
Once the Carver is up and running, you have many display options to choose from. Working with its default settings, you get behavior that’s more suggestive of a real picture frame than a digital one—the only giveaway is when it switches to side-by-side mode. You’ll find no cheesy animations between photos like on other frames we’ve dismissed, only simple fades and swipes. The Carver does a remarkably better job than competitors at automatically cropping photos to fit on the screen, ensuring the subjects are nicely centered. It’s also easy to re-crop an image within the app if it doesn’t automatically focus on your favorite part (but based on my experience, you will need to do this very rarely). Its “Photo Match” mode—which places two portrait-orientation photos next to each other to fill the landscape-oriented screen—did a fairly good job at pairing together photos of my infant son or from my wedding. Other times the pairing was a little more random, but I didn’t find that too bothersome.
All Aura frames, including the Carver, can play videos, and you can upload them the same way you add photos (you can’t, however, use auto upload from a Google Photos folder; you can only add videos manually). The Carver puts vertical videos into Photo Match mode, placing them side by side with another video or a portrait-orientation photo. I noticed the frame often paired two vertical videos from my wedding, or a video of my son next to a portrait-oriented image of him. The Carver includes a built-in speaker to allow you to hear sound from your videos (if you choose to turn sound on), and the speaker was solid enough in our tests that we could hear both voices and background sound or music. You turn on sound manually for each video by tapping on the touch-sensitive strip, versus there being an on or off sound setting overall. If you don’t intervene, the video will play once silently and then freeze for the rest of its time on screen, unless you tap the touch-sensitive strip to replay it with sound on. All replays will include sound, but the next video the Carver shows will return to the muted auto-play setting. Aura will remember the volume level you selected, though volume can also be controlled on screen or from the app when a video plays.
A nice surprise about Aura’s frames: Unlike every other brand of frame we tested, the Carver and other frames in the Aura family are compatible with Apple’s Live Photo feature. So you’ll see such images come to life for an instant when they first appear on the display, similar to the video experience.
Aura’s software helps you easily set up the Aura Carver as a gift. 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 it in. You can also have the frame shipped directly from Aura and use the company’s email-setup process to associate it with your account while the frame is in transit. Though we didn’t try the gift-setup method ourselves, we do appreciate Aura’s focus on the gift angle. This is a feature other frames don’t have (to replicate the experience, you have to prepare the frame yourself manually and then give it as a gift afterward).
The Carver also comes in a Mat version (it costs $30 more), which has two frame layers that look like a mat picture frame instead of the textured frame most other Aura frames have. It’s up to you if you think the aesthetics are worth the slightly larger investment; in our tests the only difference we noticed between the two is that the Carver Mat’s ambient-light sensor occasionally picked up light better than the standard Carver. Besides that, they’re identical in quality and experience.
Unlike the Aura Mason, the Carver’s aspect ratio isn’t our preferred 4:3, but we found that both landscape and portrait photos still fit nicely on screen.
If you don’t want to see photos placed side by side, you can turn off the Carver’s Photo Match mode in the app. But without it, there’s large pillarboxing on either side of portrait photos. We also found that turning off this setting wasn’t instantaneous—it took several minutes for the frame to recognize the change.
Now you can add picture frames online with Fotor! It offers a bevy of digital photo frame styles and allows you to personalize your images in any style with photo frames.
Using a range of amazing designs and styles, Fotor’s picture frames and borders can add the perfect touch to your images. Use them with different features and effects to create something truly awesome.Add a Photo Frame NowVintage
Adding a digital frame to your photo is the fast way to dress up your images. So, try the online photo frame maker now. Open the free photo frame editor and click "Edit a Photo". You will see a "Frame" button on the dashboard on the left side. Then, import your image and look around at different frames and find the best one.
If you want to customize the frame, price is based on the material and frame size you want to use. Generally, it would be in the range from $5 per foot to $100 per foot. The online photo frame is practically free. It is your best choice to enhance the texture of your image if you do not have much of a budget.
Fotor’s free online picture frame editor can offer you massive photo frames encompassing different styles and fashions - allowing you to further optimize your images! Border frames can allow you to boldly contrast between image subject and frame. Shadow frames can create a 3D effect for your image. Vintage frame will give your picture a retro effect transforming your image into old time. Start adding photo frames online with Fotor today!Add a Photo Frame Now
Share 10,000+ photos & videos worry-free with no storage limit. Easily invite family and friends with the Aura app. No memory cards, no subscription fees.
Meticulously calibrated for color and brightness, our state of the art displays eliminate screen fatigue and ensure your photos look like the real deal.
Beautifully packaged in a giftable box, this frame is perfect for couples and wedding parties alike. Preload with photos, videos, and even a personalized message.
Unlike a traditional photo frame that requires you to have a paper-based print made of your favorite image before you can display it, a digital photo frame allows you to transfer images directly from your smartphone, digital camera or computer and then display them—either one at a time or as part of an animated slideshow. The best digital picture frames come in a wide range of sizes, but best of all, most now come with their own email address and connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network for easy sharing.
This makes it possible to send images to the frame—from anywhere in the world—via email. As a result, these frames make a great gift for non-tech-savvy people who are not active on social media, but still want to see photos of family and friends. Using one of these 12 best digital photo frame options in 2022 offers you an easy way to showcase your favorite photos at an affordable price.
One of the most versatile and full-featured photo frames you can buy, the Pix-Star, offers just about every imaginable way to share photos and connect with friends and family.
For example, using Wi-Fi, it connects to online photo sources, including Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, OneDrive, Flickr, Google Drive, and Google Photos. However, it also has 8GB of internal memory, along with slots for USB flash drives and SD memory cards, so you can load it up with a photo collection for offline viewing.
Another great feature is that you can easily email photos directly to the frame, which means family members can send photos that within a minute or so simply appear on the frame with no extra steps.
The operation of this 10-inch digital photo frame could not be easier. Simply plug it into any electrical outlet and link it with your home’s Wi-Fi. Then, using the frame’s own unique email address, start sending it photos to display as an animated slideshow from your own computers and mobile devices.
The great thing about this frame is that you can share its email address within specific friends and family, so they can send pictures to the frame as well. So, if you have an elderly parent or grandparent who is not tech-savvy and who is not active on social media, you can set up the Skylight frame in their home and then send photos to it from anywhere in the world via email. All the person who owns the frame needs to do is look at it to see the new images that are shared by others.
The Skylight also has its own proprietary mobile app that allows you to customize how the frame displays images and manage the images stored within the frame’s internal 8GB of storage.
Thanks to its low price, nice appearance and ease of use, the Skylight is one of the best deals when it comes to photo frames that are suitable for any home or office.
The Google Nest Hub is designed to be a versatile smart home assistant with a seven-inch touchscreen display and built-in Google Assistant. You can verbally ask the Nest Hub questions, control smart devices within your home, have the hub display steaming video content, stream music on-demand, plus handle a wide range of other tasks.
As its screensaver (when it’s not being used for other tasks), the Nest Hub can also access your favorite photos that are stored online within a Google Photos folder, and display them as a customized animated slideshow.
At just $100, it makes sense to set up these hubs in multiple rooms within your home. However, if you want to see your images displayed on a larger, 10-inch display, consider the Nest Hub Max ($229).forbes.comBest Buy Coupons | 10% Off In March 2022 | Forbes
Amazon continues to be a pioneer in voice-controlled digital assistants with its smart speakers, home hubs and smart devices that support Alexa. The Amazon Echo Show 15 is designed to be a versatile smart home hub with a stunning 15.6-inch touchscreen display that gets hung on a wall.
When the screen is not being used for other tasks, it’s able to display your favorite collection of digital photos as an animated slideshow. The Amazon Echo Show will pull images from your Amazon Photos albums or Facebook, for example.
What sets the Echo Show 15 apart from other Amazon hubs is the size of its display. The Echo Show 5 (with a 5.5 inch display), Echo Show 8 (with an eight inch display), and Echo Show 10 (with a 10.1 inch display) are also available from Amazon, and all can serve as a digital photo frame.
Nixplay’s family of digital photo frames stands out for a number of reasons, not the least of which is its sharp screen. The 9.7-inch Nixplay has a 2K resolution (2048x1536 pixel) display. Unlike many other frames, it’s wall-mountable, so you don’t have to display it on a shelf, desk or nightstand. It also has a remote control that cleverly snaps to the back of the frame with a magnet. A motion sensor tells the screen to go dark when nobody is around, preserving the display and saving power.
The frame comes with 8GB of on-board storage, but using Wi-Fi, the frame can easily pull images from cloud services. You can also send photos to the frame via email, plus control the frame with voice commands via the built in Alexa digital assistant.
Netgear’s Meural line of photo frames has a fun feature you don’t see in a lot of other frames—hands-free gesture control. Most digital photo frames run their slideshows at a fixed speed, but with this Meural frame, you can pass your hand in front of its sensor to scroll forward and backwards faster. This is handy—and much better than a touchscreen—because you don’t wind up getting fingerprints all over the photo display.
The 15.6-inch display is full HD resolution and it comes with a kickstand, although the frame itself can also be wall-mounted. It has 8GB of internal storage, and you can send photos to the frame from its proprietary mobile app from your phone or via cloud-based photo sharing services. The app is especially versatile in that you can curate photo playlists and schedule them to play at specific times of day or on special occasions.
Aura Carver is a simple photo frame that, while it doesn’t offer a lot of capabilities, is a budget-priced option that might make a good gift for someone who doesn’t need a lot from a digital photo frame.Unlike most other frames, its 10.1-inch full HD display is limited to a landscape orientation, so you can’t stand it vertically. It does, however, connect to cloud services, like Google Photos via Wi-Fi, so you can send photos to the frame using a mobile app. Unfortunately, the frame offers no on-board storage or memory card slots. You’ll need a reliable and always-on Wi-Fi connection for it to work.
The Meural Canvas II is unlike most any other digital photo frame; while you certainly can use it to display your personal photo collection, that’s not its main purpose. The Canvas II is designed to display digital art. It works best with a subscription to Meural’s art membership service, which gives you access to more than 30,000 pieces of fine art that you can turn into slideshows to display within your home, making your living room feel like an art gallery. In fact, when you’re standing a few feet from the display, you won"t be able to tell that you’re looking at digital reproductions of famous paintings or illustrations, for example.
Of course, if you have a favorite piece of artwork, you can display it continuously, or select different pieces to display at specific times during the day or evening. One awesome feature of the frame is that with a single finger, it can rotate on the wall, so you can switch between a portrait and landscape perspective and have the selected image take up the entire display.
Between its larger size display and high resolution, the Meural is rather pricey. You’ll pay around $600 for the frame plus about $70 per year for the art subscription. But few other devices give you quite the same access to so much fine art in your home so easily. You also get up to 20GB of personal cloud storage to add and then display your own digital photos (or digital versions of your child’s artwork), and you’re able to invite friends and family to add images to your frame as well.
The Canvas II frame is available in two sizes—16 by 24 inches and 19 by 29 inches. Both are full HD, color-accurate displays which you can control from a mobile app or using motion gestures in front of the screen. The display is designed to be hung on a wall and replicate a framed piece of artwork.
The reason why The Frame made it onto this list, however, is that the thin TV display is surrounded by your choice of picture frame options, so it can match the decor within your home.
When you subscribe to Samsung’s digital artwork service, The Frame can be set up to display any of more than 1,400 famous works of art whenever the TV is not being used. However, you can also load in your own digital images and have them displayed on the screen as a customizable animated slideshow.
Thanks to its 4K resolution display that offers a wide viewing angle, your digital images will appear vivid, clear, and showcase extreme detail when they’re presented on your wall within The Frame. Oh, and your favorite TV shows and movies will look amazing too.
This digital photo frame from Monster is very similar to the Skylight frame in that they both feature a 10 inch touchscreen display with a 1280 by 800 pixel resolution. Both frames also come with their own email address, so images can be sent directly to the frame from any Internet connected smartphone, tablet or computer.
These features make this frame the ideal gift for someone who is not at all tech savvy—perhaps an older parent, in-law or grandparent—who is not active on social media. Once this frame is set up and connected to a home’s Wi-Fi, anyone with the frame’s unique email address can send photos to the frame from anywhere. The person viewing the frame can just sit back and enjoy the photos.
When setting up the frame (which can be placed on a desk using its built in kickstand or hung on a wall) the speed and transition style used to display the photos is customizable. The frame can also be set up so only specific people can share images with it.
For added convenience, this digital frame has a memory card slot built in and is compatible with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It conjunction with your images, it’s able to display a digital clock and has an alarm function. The 16GB of internal storage is enough to hold about 4,000 images. Using the cloud, transfering up to 100 images at a time to the frame is simple.
As you can see, the newest digital photo frames come in a wide variety of styles, with varying prices. When it comes to choosing which option is best for you (or for the person you’ll be gifting it to) first consider the size of the display and whether it’ll fit on a desk, nightstand, dresser or wherever you intend to place it. Next, consider the frame’s resolution. This will determine how much detail you’ll see within each image, plus impact the clarity and vibrancy of the photo’s colors.
You also want to figure out what additional functionality, if any, the digital photo frame offers. For example, does it also serve as a smart speaker with a built-in digital voice assistant? It’s also important to determine if the frame itself has internal storage for your favorite digital images, and if so, how much? Keep in mind, 8GB of internal storage is enough to hold thousands of digital images or hundreds of short video clips.
If the frame does not have its own internal storage, does it have a memory card slot that allows you to transfer your favorite images to a memory card and then insert it into the frame, or does the frame connect to your home’s Wi-Fi and stream images from Apple iCloud, Google Photos, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox or another cloud-based service?
Other nice features to look for include whether or not the frame measures the ambient light in the room and then auto-adjusts its brightness, and whether the frame continuously stays on and allows you to customize the frequency and format used to display your favorite images.
Next, consider the frame’s appearance and determine if it’ll look good within your home or office. Finally, consider the price. The pricing for digital photo frames continues to drop as the technology improves, so for between $100 and $200, you can be confident that you’ll be able to purchase a really good quality digital photo frame that will make your favorite photos look great.
The biggest advantage to using a digital picture frame is that one frame can hold thousands of images. It can then be set up to continuously display just one of your favorite images, or create and display an animated slideshow to showcase many of your favorite images.
When you load up a digital picture frame with images of your loved ones, pets, friends and memorable moments in your life, throughout your day, looking at the frame will put a smile on your face as you reminisce about who is featured in the photos, as well as when and where each image was taken. Thus, these digital frames are ideal for a living room, TV room, bedroom or home office, for example.
Using a digital picture frame to showcase a collection of images is much more convenient than creating and then having to flip through the pages of traditional photo albums, photo books or scrapbooks, for example.
The Facebook Mini Portal 8" frame is a sleek-looking smart display that works as a digital picture frame when other functions are not in use. The display can show pictures uploaded to the frame or from Facebook and Instagram. Photos taken on your smartphone look great on 8", with a 1280 X 800 touchscreen that offers 189 pixels per inch. In addition to being a great frame, its connectivity to other apps and a browser enhances its functionality. You can also connect to some music and video services. As a kitchen assistant, we enjoyed showcasing various recipes in larger print and an easy-to-navigate presentation; this makes trying new recipes easier, and you can avoid taking out your phone with messy hands. It also has decent speakers that emphasize bass and provide acceptable mid-range sound quality. The Portal assistant can also play your favorites from some music services. It features Alexa, which can do most standard Alexa tasks, like track Amazon shipments or play Amazon Music. The Portal is great for video chats, thanks to its smart camera that can automatically zoom and pan as you move around the room. You can only contact people through Messenger.
Facebook has had security breaches in the past decade. Fortunately, there"s a toggle switch that can cover the camera and shut off the microphone if you are uneasy about the thought of putting a camera in your home. However, that doesn"t put all worries to rest, as every "Hey Portal" command is recorded and analyzed by Facebook to enhance speech recognition technology. This practice is now standard in the tech industry for almost any voice recognition service. A device of this nature holds a great deal of power and has its permissions to go with it. The total setup time took 17 minutes, in large part due to the number of conditions to accept and accounts to link. The Facebook Portal Mini 8" is a great picture frame that easily fits in tight spaces and has additional capabilities, like video calling and music streaming.
The Nixplay Smart 10.1" Frame is a feature-rich option that offers a sleep schedule, motion sensor, and app-based uploading. It can also be paired with an Amazon Alexa device, which allows you to control the frame via your voice. Like the LUX, this frame uses a flexible braided cable that offers plenty of stability as the frame stand. The viewing angle and orientation of the frame can be adjusted to best fit your home. The Nixplay was easy to hang on our wall; simply slide the removable casing of the back to reveal wall mounting walls. It comes with all hardware necessary to securely mount to your wall. Wherever you choose to place your frame, you"ll enjoy crisp and clean photos from this 149 PPI display. Both professional and cell phone photos had impressive clarity from the middle of the road PPI. It"s very easy to upload photos to the frame; the app has a clean interface that allows you to add, modify, and play specific playlists. You can add one or thirty photos in a matter of seconds.
The NIX Lux 8" frame breaks the traditional black border and techy aesthetic found on many digital picture frames. The Lux is an appealing frame that is available in a wood or aluminum frame. Nix utilizes a flexible braided cable that doubles as the power port and a stand. The cable is malleable and supportive, which provides an adjustable viewing angle in landscape and portrait modes. The accelerometer is quick to flip the screen back and forth. We appreciated the settings layout, as it is easy to customize the display options. The 1024 x 768 XGA screen offers a PPI of 160 to provide surprisingly sharp imagery.
Instead of using WiFi, this frame requires a USB or SD card to show photos. Overall, it is easy to add a large assortment of photos from your computer (to a USB) for display. We find it takes noticeably more time to transfer photos from your phone to the computer — versus the USB. Moreover, this process can discourage some from making micro-adjustments to the slideshow type or adding a small number of photos to a pre-existing slideshow. This frame has a motion sensor, which can save energy by turning the screen off when the room is empty. In our distance testing, we had to be within three feet of the frame for it to wake up. All things considered, the NIX Lux 8" is perfect for those who want the flexibility of a digital frame with the aesthetics of a traditional model — at a reasonable cost.
Staying connected with our friends and family has become more important than ever. The Pix-Star 10" frame makes it easy to share pictures with the most important people in your life. This frame is associated with a specific user email; any photos sent to the assigned Pixstar email go directly to the frame to await the owner"s approval. This is great for parents, grandparents, and college students who want to share photos that they can proudly show on the frame. Photos are easily uploaded from your computer or smartphone with a simple email address. It also uses a slick phone app that works similarly to other smart frame apps, and it can upload thirty photos at a time. You can easily deny or delete pictures you do not want to display. We appreciate that this frame has eight GB of onboard memory, which should be plenty of storage to host many smartphone or DSLR photos.
The Pix-Star 10" frame has many features found on other WiFi-based frames and increases its price tag. Fortunately, it does them all quite well. As one of the higher-priced frames in our review, we would expect a higher resolution and PPI. Particularly during video playback, the videos lack color saturation and sharpness. The video quality is acceptable to quickly show off home videos but far from the best available. This is a great option if you"re looking for a frame that can help keep your family connected through easy photo sharing.
The Echo Show 8 sound and display quality are some of the best in its class. This smart display has a well-rounded sound profile with a solid bass presence and plenty of mid-range performance; this complements the video and music capabilities provided by Amazon Music and Prime Video. The smart display works like a picture frame when not used for other activities that require the screen, such as recipe instructions. It offers a 1280 x 800 screen with 189 PPI to display clear and beautiful photos. You can choose to stream photos from your Amazon Photos, stunning stock landscape photos, or upload the favorites from your smartphone via the Alexa app. For those already immersed in the budding amazon ecosystem, this device is a notable addition for use as a picture frame, with bonuses like its Alexa capabilities.
The Echo Show 8 is a stand-out device that functions as a digital picture frame. However, its robust woofer and speaker system are too bulky for a nightstand or small, sometimes crowded spaces — whereas other frames are perfect for this application. Given its added abilities, it can take noticeably more time than a standard frame before photos are up and running. Additionally, you need to accept a 12 terms and conditions agreement before fully setting up. Bringing any device from a large company with a camera into your home is bound to draw pause as antitrust issues surface. Fortunately, you can physically slide a shutter over the camera and turn off the microphone to increase privacy. We feel this device is perfect for individuals looking for something more than a traditional smart frame, and it"s even better if you"re already involved with the budding Amazon Ecosystem.
The Aeezo WiFi Frame is a WiFi compatible touchscreen frame offered at an approachable price. The WiFi capabilities allow for easy photo uploads and content management. The frame utilizes an app called Frameo to connect your photo"s media library to the frame. The app is easy to use due to its simple three-tab design and targeted functionality. Friends and family can also send photos to this frame with the app and the frame"s unique pairing code. This model stood out for its ability to play videos and maintain decent volume. Many budget frames offer video features but may be disappointing; the AEEZO raises the bar here. It provided smooth video playback, with very negligible amounts of image blurring with action sports video. It also had one of the loudest volume settings for video playback, which we appreciated for home videos. It also has a reactive accelerometer for displaying photos in landscape or portrait mode.
The AEEZO Wifi Frame is a solid value for numerous reasons. In our testing, it performed well but left us wanting more in certain categories. This frame has a generally reduced feature set compared to some other WiFi digital picture frames. It lacks a motion sensor and the ability to control the frame settings via app. While it has a USB 2.0 port, it can only be used to onboard photos to the built-in memory and cannot be used for photo slideshows. However, the consumer will likely upload and display photos using the app, which manages this limitation. Lastly, the plastic bezel is made of lower-density plastics that offer more of a budget tech look than other models in our fleet. Overall, these drawbacks are minor. We recommend this product to anyone who wants to save some bucks while enjoying easy photo uploads.
The Dragon Touch 10" frame is an aesthetic and pleasant addition to your home, and it looks and feels like a regular photo frame. The frame-like bezel and white borders make this a piece worthy of displaying whether the screen is on or off. The white borders also give each picture a framed and mounted look. This WiFi-enabled frame is easy to add photos through Dragon"s streamlined app, and the dashboard is simple and intuitive to navigate. Users can add up to nine photos, videos, or gifs at a time through the app when the phone and frame are connected to the same network.
The main downsides are the display quality and the frequent cleaning of the fingerprints left on the touchscreen. Based on its solid display specs of 1280 X 800 and PPI of 149, we had high hopes for image quality. Unfortunately, we were generally let down by pixilated images and stratified blues in the sky. If you elect to use the touchscreen often, expect the occasional finger smudge. All in all, the Dragon Touch 10" frame is great for those looking for the versatility associated with digital frames but that desire traditional framing and mounting aesthetics.
The MRQ 14" HD digital picture frame offers excellent photo and video quality, displaying pictures at 1280 x 800 and videos in full HD 1920 x 1080. The display provided vibrant colors and a crisp presentation of our test photos and was one of our top-ranking frames for image quality. Its higher video resolution and quality of playback were above average. The thin black bezel minimizes the footprint to increase its overall versatility. It also increases the viewable screen size in a smaller footprint, which our review team appreciated.
The included remote is intuitive but offers a narrow range of responsive functionality. The remote must be pointed within the 11 to 1 o"clock direction toward the frame to register. Occasionally, we found ourselves pressing the same button multiple times before getting a response. The frame offers numerous ports for an SD card, 3.5mm audio jack, and USB drive. The USB and SD card slots can support products with up to 32 gigabytes of memory. While this is plenty to store images from cell phones, it may fill up quickly if you are loading many professional images, which can be hundreds of megabytes each. This option is ideal for those that want a larger frame that offers great image quality and stands out in spacious areas.
The Aluratek 7" LCD is one of the more affordable digital picture frames in our review. Its simplistic approach helps keep the price low and maintain a user-friendly experience. It doesn"t come with a remote, speakers, or video playback. Simply plug in the power adaptor and a USB drive, and the photos will automatically start in a slideshow mode.
Naturally, its lower price comes with a reduced resolution that struggled to present white backgrounds and bright colors without blowing out the image. This was the lowest ranking frame in our image quality metric. The images were generally pixelated, and the color accuracy and quality were marginal. Despite this, it is a solid frame for budget-minded individuals who want the ease of having their pictures displayed in their home — without the hassle of printing and framing individual images.
Our elaborate review process began with extended research into the market of digital frames. We then purchased 9 of the best products, putting them through a series of head-to-head tests. Our team evaluated each frame in the following metrics: image quality, photo upload, features, and ease of setup. We drew on our background of scientific research methods to design strategic tests to provide information for our recommendations.
Isaac Laredo has reviewed a great deal of home and outdoor products for the GearLab. He enjoys decorating his home with high-quality framed pictures taken by friends and family, some of whom are professional photographers. Like many, he tries to avoid the high prices associated with printing photos through professional printers. His attention to detail, experience in product testing, and knowledge of consumer needs allow us to provide you with reliable, needs-based recommendations to help you find the ideal digital picture frame.
It seems that every year, TVs, computers, phones, and digital picture frames are outfitted to higher resolutions and titled with new abbreviations. The market trend from HD (1980 x 1080) to 8K (7860 x 4320) highlights the growing demand for high-quality imagery. To assess image quality, we set each frame to display the same four images. Each photo was unique and strategically picked to include various color tones, subjects, and camera types. We lined up each frame side by side and placed the same photo on each screen. Then we had a panel of judges pour over each photo to rank the image quality on a 1-10 scale, from best to worst. We conducted this process for each of the four photos. Then we re-examined each model"s specs, such as display type, resolution, and screen size. We then used resolution and screen size to calculate pixels per square inch.
Pixels per inch describes the pixel density of an electronic device. A higher PPI value equates to more pixels within a certain space, providing higher quality imagery. A display with lower pixel density provides less detail in the display. For reference, the iPhone X has 462.63 PPI, and the Samsung Galaxy 10 has 550 PPI.
Our comparative image testing revealed the 1280 x 800 resolution and 189 PPI display of the Facebook Mini Portal 8" and Echo Show 8" reigned supreme. Both offered the sharpest image with impressive color accuracy and a wide viewing angle.
Another notable display is the Nixplay Smart 10.1" Frame, which offers the same 1280 x 800 resolution spread out across its larger display. This reduces its pixel per inch value to a noteworthy 149. This frame stood out with rich and clear landscape photos. The MRQ 14" HD frame maintains great image quality from all distances thanks to its wide display and is supported by its acceptable PPI value of 157.
As we have come to expect, specs do not tell the entire story. A few displays that offer high resolutions and PPI values ranked lower in our comparative testing.
Digital picture frames make it easy to show photos from recent vacations, adventures, and important life events. Some frames are easier to upload photos to than others. The best style for you depends on how frequently you expect to change your slideshows. Some frames utilize WiFi and an app that is perfect for those who want to make frequent and small adjustments.
In contrast, others use a USB drive or SD card to show the uploaded photos. This is great if you would like to set a slideshow and revisit it once and a while. We uploaded the same 125 photos to each picture frame to assess the upload process of each frame. We even made small adjustments to our slideshows to evaluate micro-adjustability.
We found WiFi-enabled frames were the quickest to upload our 125 photos. Granted, the speed of this process depends on the starting place of the photos you want to upload. In our case, we were uploading photos from our phones, which is likely a common scenario as more and more folks use their phones as their primary camera. Each app was able to access our camera roll and add photos directly to the frame. The process for each was similar, but the functionality and interfaces were quite distinct.
The Dragon Touch, Pix-Star, and Nixplay applications had minimalist and streamlined apps that were easy to navigate and stay on track. The Dragon Touch app (called OurPhoto) has one page filled with clearly labeled action-based menu options. From here, you can access your library or take on-the-spot photos and videos. Because the frame utilizes an email, you can upload photos from anywhere, and you don"t have to be connected to the same WiFi network to add photos. The main limitation of this app is you can only upload nine photos at a time.
The Nixplay app offers more connectivity (within the app) to your frames and the external world. You can connect with friends or purchase discounted prints. The app also allows you to change the frame setting and create custom-themed playlists if you want to switch it up for a particular occasion. The playlists provide nice organizational potential for those who like to have contextually consistent imagery. We enjoyed that you can add up to thirty photos per upload.
The Pix-Star 10" frame can accept new photos through in-app uploads or a user-decided email. The true .com address makes it easy for friends and family to send photos to your inbox directly from their email address. The inbox allows you to accept or deny photos, which avoids any unwanted images in your slideshow. A well-designed remote allows this process to take place on the frame with a little extra hassle. Individuals can send up to thirty pictures at a time.
The Alexa app for the Echo Show 8 offers five main tabs and is designed for all Alexa devices. If you have multiple Amazon devices, this app is a great management tool. Due to its lack of specificity, we found the app crowded, and the photo upload tool was buried in the settings. Fortunately, you can also add photos to Amazon Photo through the tool or Alexa app, and dictate "Alexa, display my Amazon Photos."
The Portal app on the Facebook Mini Portal 8" stands out for its user-friendly nature and upload options; it only has two tabs titled "Photos" and "Your Portal". The photo tab"s main function is to create Portal albums that can be displayed; you can also manage existing Facebook albums that you wish to be cast on the frame. The "Your Portal" tab can initiate video calls or cast photos to the smart display without loading the file onto the device"s built-in memory.
The Frameo app for the AEEZO Wifi Frame is streamlined and has a few key functions to help you upload photos. It has a simple three-tab design to add photos and manage basic in-app settings. You can upload 10 photos at a time, which is the standard for a WiFi-powered frame. The main limitation of this app is the inability to upload manage frame-type settings.
Apps are specific to WiFi-enabled (and generally higher cost) frames. The simple loading of files to a hard memory option is a classic way to display those fond memories. Each frame (that uses an external memory system) is similar to its counterpart for this metric. Each has a USB and SD port. The process can take a good bit of time if you primarily take pictures with your phone, as you have to transfer and download the file to your computer and then move it to the USB drive or SD card. We found this process has too much friction for most users and does not encourage making small additions to your slideshow. If you want to set your slideshow and only occasionally update it, this system is perfect for you. Simply plug the external memory in, and most frames will start automatically playing. Frames that use an external memory system are the MRQ 14" HD, NIX Lux