What is the best digital photo frame for videos & audio?
The Pix-Star is arguably the best digital photo frame for videos and audio files. Video playback & support is a feature that’s seldom found outside of the premium digital photo frame range. It’s usually limited to the best digital frame brands. Even then, many top digital photo frames charge extra recurring fees & hidden costs to unlock features like video support or the use of the mobile app (for sending videos).
Frames like Skylight and Nixplay charge an optional annual subscription fee to unlock or extend the limits on video playback, increase or unlock cloud storage, etc. By contrast, Pix-Star’s digital photo frame is free to use and there are no extra after-sale costs. You get all of the frame’s features unlocked and ready to go. When you consider that Pix-Star’s base price is lower than many other premium digital photo frames (and that there are no extra fees), they offer excellent value for money.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames let you play videos with a maximum length of 2-minute. While this might not seem like much in practice, it’s more than almost all other digital photo frames on the market. Many common video formats are supported and the 4:3 display is perfect for videos sent from smartphones. Videos are automatically backed up to the cloud when they’re received by your Pix-Star frames, or when they’re copied to the frame’s internal storage.
Videos can be sent to your Pix-Star frames via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app. It’s compatible with both iOS & Android and doesn’t require any account creation. You can simply add receiving frames by their unique email address – and they only need to be added once. Thereafter, you simply need to select them from the list of available receiving digital photo frames. Videos can be sent to several Pix-Star digital photo frames at the same time and they don’t take long to appear on the frame.
Perhaps a more unique feature of Pix-Star’s digital photo frames is that videos can be included in slideshows. You can set videos to play muted when included in slideshows or to play with their original sound. This sound is played through the frame’s inbuilt speakers and offers an immersive and personalized way to connect & share special memories & messages with your loved ones.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames can also play audio files and radio stations over slideshows. You can manually add the audio files you want to play over slideshows by USB/SD card. There’s also an option to send audio messages to your loved one via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames offer versatile video playback and extensive audio support – especially when you consider what competing frames offer. The robust feature set combines well with audio & video playback to bring you a frame that can easily fit into your home & family life. Pix-Star’s digital photo frames quickly become an important and enabling part of how you connect & share with your loved ones.
Can all digital photo frames play videos?
Not every digital photo frame plays videos or audio. It’s usually a feature that’s found closer towards the premium end of the market. While you might find some cheap or mid-range digital photo frames that can play videos, it’s very seldom executed well. In many cases, a small display size, poor aspect ratio choice, or low-resolution display leads to videos appearing unsharp and lackluster.
Despite that, it’s worth noting that digital photo frames are not designed to play videos. These devices are made to replace (to some extent) traditional framed photos, not to replace your TV or laptop. Video & audio support are simply added benefits.
Digital photo frames like the Pix-Star offer these features as part of their versatile & robust feature set – though it’s by no means a guaranteed offering – even in the premium range. Some digital photo frames like the Nixplay or Skylight frames lock video playback (or support for 1-minute videos in Nixplay’s case) behind an annual subscription paywall.
How to load videos to a digital photo frame?
With Pix-Star’s digital photo frame, videos can be sent to the frame in 2 ways. The first and arguably easier method is via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app. Mobile apps are great as we almost always have our phones with us. We can capture footage on the go and send a quick update to our loved ones without much effort.
The Pix-Star Snap mobile app lets you send videos to several Pix-Star frames at the same time. These videos can be a maximum of 2-minutes long and can be captured directly through the app’s access to your phone’s camera – or through selecting previously captured videos from your phone’s gallery.
Alternatively, you can load videos to your Pix-Star digital photo frame by USB/SD card. Make sure the videos are in a supported format and use a compatible USB/SD card. Unlike many other digital photo frames, Pix-Star doesn’t place any maximum size limits on supported USB/SD cards.
Can I play long videos on a digital photo frame?
The most common limit placed by digital photo frames on videos is on their maximum length. In most cases, digital photo frames only support videos that are less than 1-minute long – with most of these being less than 30-seconds. Some of the best digital photo frames like the Pix-Star let you play 2-minute video clips – which doesn’t seem like much (though it’s more than almost all other premium frames). These limits still apply even when the videos are loaded to a digital photo frame by USB/SD card (not just via the mobile app or web dashboard).
How many videos can a digital photo frame store?
This depends on both the size of the videos and the available internal storage space. Some video formats store more information than others, meaning that the same video can have vastly different sizes in different formats. Digital photo frames like the Pix-Star have 8GB of internal storage space, letting you store around 30,000 photos. This number is reduced when mixed with videos, but given that the frame supports a max video length of 2-minutes, you’re never likely to run out of space.
