How do Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames work?
Technically speaking, Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames are not digital frames. They are more hubs for smart homes than sync with devices like speakers, Alexa, and other Amazon smart products. While this might sound like a great addition to your home – and it might be – these devices don’t make for good digital frames.
Through a little diving into the settings and tech wizardry (not really), you can turn Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames into a makeshift digital frame. It’s worth noting that you’re not going to benefit from much – or any – of the features & performance that top digital frames like the Pix-Star offer.
The only way to play slideshows on the Amazon Echo Show 8 is to play the photos as background images and screensavers. You need to be an Amazon Photos user before using this method. Load the photos to your account, create a single album, and load all the desired photos into that album. This account needs to be linked to your Amazon Echo Show for the device to have access to its photos. You can then set the device to use this synced folder as the source from which to display background images.
Sadly, the very small display (and awkward aspect ratio) mean that photos are usually going to be zoomed, cropped, or boxed into the center of the display. You also need to make sure that the loaded photos match the device’s display resolution for the optimal viewing experience. It’s also worth noting that you don’t have any control over the play order of the photos in the synced album. Additionally, you can’t remove the clock and information display that overlays the photos when they’re being displayed as screensavers.
It’s the combination of these issues that we don’t recommend getting the Amazon Echo Show digital picture frame as your daily digital picture frame. They simply don’t offer the features & functions to be a plausible replacement for a premium digital frame – especially considering how similar their base prices are.
Are Pix-Star frames better choices than Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames?
Pix-Star’s digital picture frames are 100% focused on being a digital display for your most precious moments & memories. This isn’t a feature that’s thrown into the mix to add a little functionality to the frame’s very different design goal. As such, Pix-Star’s digital frames are packed with features that specifically cater to the needs of families, elderly users, and the normal individual through versatile slideshows, a mobile app & web dashboard, fluid ease of use, and both Wi-Fi & cloud connectivity.
Pix-Star’s mobile app (called the Pix-Star Snap), lets you send photos, videos, and audio files directly to your Pix-Star frames from anywhere in the world. You can connect & control up to 25 Pix-Star frames from one account. Each of these frames can be remotely controlled and have its settings adjusted, slideshows started, storage managed, and much more. This is done via the web interface – where you can also import photo albums from social media & photo-sharing sites like Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos & Drive, Dropbox, and many more.
Pix-Star’s frames offer versatile slideshows that give you plenty of control over the play order & frequency of the photos. You can play slideshows with all the frame’s photos. Alternatively, you can create custom slideshows from the frame’s media library. Here you can select the files & folders that you want to include in the slideshows.
Slideshows also offer multiple personalized settings to help you get the perfect slideshow for the room, vibe, or occasion. You can control transition types & speeds, play music and radio stations over slideshows, and even include videos (with or without sound) in your slideshows for an extra touch of personalization.
Can Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames play videos?
Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames cannot play videos on the display – at least not in the way that other digital frames play them. You can’t load videos to the frame via Amazon Photos (the only way to send media to the frame) – meaning there’s no way to get your videos onto the frame in the first place.
By contrast, Pix-Star’s digital picture frames let you play videos, web radio & music, audio files, and voice messages on their frames. These media files can be loaded to the frame via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app or through a connected USB/SD card. It’s worth noting that most digital picture frames outside of the premium range can’t play videos and audio files. This isn’t a hard and fast rule though. It is a bit surprising that a device priced where the Amazon Echo Show is doesn’t offer video support & playback.
Do Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames offer slideshow functions?
Amazon Echo Show digital photo frames don’t offer much control over slideshows. This is because the photos are being played as background images and screensavers. There is no dedicated slideshow function that lets you choose which photos to play, the order to play them in, the frequency at which they’re shown, etc.
A slideshow function is a very commonly offered feature on most digital frames in the mid-range and up (which are almost always cheaper than these Amazon Echo Show devices). It’s one of the main reasons that we don’t recommend using these devices like digital picture frames. They are missing loads of essential features that are offered on even the most basic digital picture frames.
Can Amazon Echo Show digital picture frames be remotely controlled?
The Amazon Echo Show digital picture frame can be remotely controlled by voice commands – but this isn’t possible with the “digital picture frame” feature of these devices. You have no control over when photos change (remotely), which photos are shown, and the appearance of the background images.
Remote control functionality is a feature more commonly found among some of the top digital picture frames. For example, Pix-Star’s digital picture frame offers a robust and easy-to-use remote control feature that lets you adjust almost any setting and control slideshows & storage from anywhere in the world via the web dashboard for the frame.
