Which are the best wall-mountable digital photo frames?
When you’re looking for the best wall-mountable digital photo frames, there’s a lot that you need to pay attention to. Is Wi-Fi important? What about the display resolution? It can be hard to know where to start. Are there any costs that have to be paid after the initial sale? Is a premium digital frame better than a cheap frame?
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames tick a lot of the right boxes and has answers to a lot of these questions. You get big value-for-money features like free-for-life cloud storage and access to both a mobile app & web dashboard. The interface is well defined and easy to navigate, especially for elderly users. These digital photo frames are probably the most robustly feature digital frames on the market with weather forecasts, web album support, web music & radio, video & audio playback, and much more.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames use a 4:3 aspect ratio. Photos sent from most smartphones are going to be in 4:3 – meaning you don’t need to worry about mismatched aspect ratios, cropped & zoomed photos, distorted pics, or photos being boxed into the center of the display. Pix-Star’s frames offer manually adjustable color & brightness settings – which is quite rare even among the best digital frames.
The Pix-Star Snap mobile app is probably the most versatile mobile app on the market. You can send up to 250 photos directly to several Pix-Star frames at the same time. You don’t need to rely on cloud connections or have to send them to the company servers first. The mobile app also lets you send videos & audio messages directly to your Pix-Star frames in just a couple of moments. You can capture photos directly through the app (via your phone’s camera), or select them from your phone’s gallery.
Finally, Pix-Star’s web dashboard is extremely capable when compared to what else is available on the market. You can link & sync photo albums from social media, photo-sharing, and online storage platforms directly to up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames at the same time. Once an album has been linked, it can be set to automatically update any new photos that are subsequently added.
Another feature that’s made possible by the web dashboard is Pix-Star’s remote-control feature. Here you can remotely take control of any connected Pix-Star frame to change its settings, start & manage slideshows, make changes to both local & cloud storage, and even update the frame’s firmware. It’s a great way to automate sharing photos with everyone in the family – and makes it easy to get elderly users involved without them needing to lift a finger.
What to look for in wall-mountable digital photo frames?
Make sure your wall-mountable digital photo frame comes with a dedicated wall-mounting setup built into the frame’s body. This usually takes the form of either a standard VESA mount or dedicated hanging holes. With some digital photo frames like the Pix-Star, the hanging holes double as connection points for the attachable stand for resting the Pix-Star frame on flat surfaces.
While most digital photo frames aren’t going to come with a standard VESA mount, they’ll usually have a way to mount to the wall (note that most cheap digital photo frames don’t offer wall-mounting very often).
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames offer support for using a standard VESA mount and have hanging holes that support both landscape & portrait orientations. You can also set the frame to change between these orientations through the settings page. Note that individual photos can also be rotated while being viewed in a slideshow – without having to exit the slideshow.
Pix-Star’s frames also come with an attachable stand that lets you rest the frame on a flat surface. This stand is aesthetically pleasing and supports both landscape & portrait orientations. It also does a great job of hiding the power inlet cable so that you can achieve a minimalistic look without much effort. It’s also worth noting that not many other digital frames offer all 3 mounting methods. If you’re getting a cheap or mid-range digital photo frame, don’t assume that a wall mount system will be included.
How to set up wall-mountable digital photo frames?
When you’re setting up wall-mountable digital photo frames, make sure that the frame will be out of direct sunlight. This is essential if you want to preserve the lifespan of your frame and get the most value from your money. While a couple of minutes in the sun isn’t going to ruin your frame, several hours of direct sunlight can damage the frame – especially if this is repeated daily. You should also try to keep the digital frame out of overly hot or humid spots like bathrooms and parts of the kitchen. You don’t want moisture making its way into the frame and causing damage.
Make sure to set the digital photo frame up in a spot that makes the display clear to most of the room. While digital frames like the Pix-Star have a broad viewing angle, this isn’t a guaranteed feature. You may want to test how far away the remote control can work – and if the screen is bright enough for the intended room. Usually, displays with 250cd/m2 are enough for well-lit rooms.
Can wall-mountable digital photo frames display art and videos?
You can display any photos or artwork on a digital photo frame – as long as the file formats are supported by the frame. If the artwork you wish to display isn’t in a supported file format (like JPEG), there are several file format converters available online that will let you change the picture into almost any format.
Video playback is a feature that’s usually only offered by a handful of the best digital frames like the Pix-Star. Even then, there are almost always limits placed on how long the videos can be – and the file formats are supported. Read our guide to learn how digital photo frames play videos – and which ones do it the best.
Do wall-mountable digital photo frames need Wi-Fi?
Not all wall-mountable digital photo frames need Wi-Fi all the time. You usually need to reconnect to Wi-Fi to sync and download any pending photos, update web albums, update cloud storage & backups, etc. Aside from these Wi-Fi-enabled features, digital frames like the Pix-Star offer extensive offline functionality. You can start slideshows, manage local storage, adjust the frame settings, and more – without needing to be connected to Wi-Fi.
On the other hand, Aura digital photo frames (and others) require a constant internet connection as photos are read directly from the company servers to the frame and need to be updated daily for the frame to work.
