Here we learn what engraved digital picture frames are, what you should look for, and if they’re worth the money. With many digital picture frames looking so similar, do engraved frames stand out? Do they have the performance to match their unique aesthetic design? Let’s take a look!
Are engraved digital picture frames any good?
Engraved digital picture frames are not common in today’s digital frame market. There is a very limited supply and most of the offerings are personalized laser-designed frames. While this is a cool add-on, it should never come at the cost of performance, functionality, and overall quality – which is exactly what happens in these cases.
As a standalone digital frame, the vast majority of these engraved digital frames perform like cheap digital frames. Their only strong or unique selling point is the customizable engravings on the body of the frame (usually at the front). They almost always don’t have Wi-Fi or cloud capabilities and work through a combination of USB/SD card support and very limited internal storage.
If you’re going to buy a digital picture frame in 2021, it needs to have basic connectivity through Wi-Fi or at least Bluetooth. The era of completely offline frames is coming to an end. Any frame that doesn’t let you send photos through either a phone, by email, or a web interface is being quickly outpaced and outdone by more modern frames.
Take the Pix-Star frames as a prime example. Which there is no dedicated or customizable engraving, it’s a sleek and attractive frame. The neutral color and high screen-to-body ratio enhance the viewing experience and draw attention to the display. You can control almost every single aspect of slideshows, including the play order and frequency of photos (showing photos added recently more often or exclusively), transition speed, style, and type, and much more.
Pix-Star’s digital picture frames make full use of Wi-Fi by letting you send photos over email, the Pix-Star Snap mobile app, the web interface, and USB/SD card. The 8GB of internal is more than you get with engraved digital picture frames. It’s then further enhanced by Pix-Star’s unlimited free-for-life cloud storage and no subscription/recurring fees.
You can remotely control your Pix-Star frame from anywhere in the world using just the web interface and Wi-Fi. It’s a great choice for families as you can link connected frames into a multi-frame control group. Here you can manage all of the cloud storage, link new photos from social media and photo-sharing sites, and much more.
When you consider the impressive value that frames like the Pix-Star offer, you’ll find them alluring choices. This is especially true as the price of personalized engraved digital photo frames isn’t far off what you’d pay for a far more capable premium digital photo frame like the Pix-Star. The difference is like night and day.
Does Pix-Star sell an engraved digital picture frame?
Pix-Star doesn’t sell personalized or engraved digital picture frames. This is for good reason. The whole point of digital picture frames is to display photos and other precious memories of your loved ones, their trips, and their lives. This display needs to be at the center of attention – which is why Pix-Star opts for a sleek and minimalistic design that promotes immersion and enhanced your viewing experience.
Any bright, shiny, or noticeable engraving would take away from this alluring and aesthetic appeal. It’s also worth noting that for an engraving to be possible, the frame has to have enough of a bezel between its edge and the display to fit the engraving. This leads to your frame looking outdated and clunky – especially as we’re already so used to the high screen-to-body ratios and thin bezels of modern smartphones & laptops.
All of this comes together to make this a straightforward choice. It’s quite simply not worth the higher cost and space requirements of engravings. It’s far superior to deliver a digital photo frame that caters to the whole family, letting you focus on sharing special moments with your loved ones and connecting in meaningful ways – and that’s exactly what Pix-Star achieves!
Can I make an engraved digital picture frame DIY?
If your digital picture frame doesn’t come with engravings, there are still some options available. You could make an outer shell that houses the frame. This would work well with a wall-mountable digital frame as you can mount the housing shell on the wall and simply “slip” your frame into it.
This can get quite technical and would require the “know-how” and materials on your part. 3D printing could be an option as it would let you engrave something personalized onto the frame’s body. Alternatively, you could outsource this service, but note that it can get quite pricey.
If you’re artistic, you could create a design or unique painting/pattern to put on the free space around your frame. While this isn’t technically an engraved digital picture frame, the appearance and aesthetic would be more or less the same.
Are there any premium engraved digital picture frames?
Almost all of the personalized engraved digital picture frames are found in the budget-mid range performance-wise. Prices are quite high compared with these frames’ below-average performance and functionality, so it’s not worth it most of the time.
You can find some more premium digital frames with engravings – but they aren’t personalized. These frames perform more like mid-range digital frames and have limited Wi-Fi capabilities in some cases. Unfortunately, it’ll cost you more than you’d pay for a premium top-of-the-line digital picture frame like the Pix-Star – so there’s a big trade-off at play.
Can engraved digital picture frames be wall-mounted?
Wall-mountable engraved digital frames are very hard to find. Since most engraved digital frames are in the cheap-mid-range, they rarely have standard VESA mounts or any hanging holes built into the frame’s back. If you want to mount one of these frames on the wall, you’d need to manually build a housing shell or make a cut out in your wall.
The problem is that both of these processes will likely cost a lot more than the frame itself and can be time-consuming if you choose to do it DIY. Your money would likely be better spent getting a premium digital picture frame like the Pix-Star that has support for a standard VESA mount, hanging holes, and an attachable stand. The big display and remote-control functionality make it an excellent choice for a wall-mountable digital photo frame!
