Skylight vs Pix-Star: Which is the best value for money option?
In terms of value for money, the Skylight vs Pix-Star frames debacle isn’t quite as close as you’d expect. Despite these frames being priced similarly (with Pix-Star’s frames having a slightly lower base price), Skylight’s frames are a lot more expensive in the long run. This is due to the need for the Skylight Plus annual subscription package to be active.
Without this subscription plan is active, you don’t get access to the mobile app, the ability to play videos longer than 15-seconds, cloud storage is restricted, and you can’t create custom playlists. Pix-Star offers all of these features (and goes above and beyond what Skylight offers) without charging a cent extra. You can play 2-minute video clips, get free-for-life cloud storage, have access to both the mobile app & web dashboard, and can easily create personalized slideshows through the frame’s media gallery.
Which is better between Skylight and Pix-Star frames for elderly users?
If you’ve ever spent the better part of a morning trying to explain to your grandparents how to use their new tablet, you’ll know the importance of ease of use. This ties in closely with remote control functionality that lets you take control of the elderly-users frame from anywhere in the world, and perform essential functions.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames are one of the few premium frames that specifically cater to elderly users. This is seen in their interface, menu layout, intuitive design, responsive and simple remote control, and elderly-focused feature set. Pix-Star’s remote-control function makes controlling an elderly-users digital frame quick and easy. You can start slideshows, adjust settings, change slideshow sources, manage cloud storage, update the firmware, and much more.
On the other hand, access to Skylight’s mobile app and web interface requires a premium Skylight Plus subscription package to be active. Even then, you can only control up to 10 Skylight frames and the remote-control feature isn’t quite as robust as Pix-Star’s.
With Pix-Star’s simple layout, shallow menus, versatile slideshows, the ability to change slideshows without leaving the slideshow, Pix-Star’s web albums feature, and comprehensive remote-control functionality, grandparents & elderly users are well taken care of. You don’t need to worry about frustrating calls, lost time, and devices being thrown out the window. Jokes aside, if you want to buy a digital frame as a gift for your grandparents – or anyone that’s not very tech-savvy – Pix-Star’s frames are some of the best value for money options on the market.
Skylight vs Pix-Star frames: Which one has a better display?
Both Skylight and Pix-Star frames have great premium displays. While they’re not quite as high-resolution as the retina displays and 2K/4K displays we’re used to on our smartphones, laptops, and smart TVs, they’re perfect for digital photo frames. Photos appear sharp, color-accurate, and easy to see from across the room.
The biggest difference between the displays of Skylight & Pix-Star frames is their aspect ratio – and it’s a very important difference. Pix-Star’s frames use a 4:3 aspect ratio; whereas Skylight frames use a 16:9 aspect ratio. Since most modern smartphones capture photos in 4:3, Pix-Star’s frames can display them naturally – using the full screen. On the other hand, the Skylight 16:9 display usually results in black bars surrounding the photos or having it zoomed, distorted, or cropped.
The result is that the viewing experience on Pix-Star’s frames is far more immersive. You can manually adjust the color & brightness settings without having to leave the slideshow – giving you more control over how images and videos appear on the display.
Pix-Star’s matte finish is another great addition to the frame and helps you view the screen easily at angles and from across the room. This is particularly important in well-lit rooms with lots of windows like living rooms & dining rooms.
Are top frames like Skylight and Pix-Star frames worth the money?
Even amidst the Skylight vs Pix-Star frames argument, you might be asking if it’s even worth buying a premium digital photo frame – especially when there are so many tempting cheap or mid-range frames available. This is a common difficulty, though there are some important things to know before making up your mind.
Almost all cheap digital photo frames have very poor build qualities. These frames – for the most part – will only last a couple of months. They have small displays, limited feature sets, no Wi-Fi or cloud storage, and often feel very outdated. As the mantra goes, “You get what you pay for” – which is certainly the case here. While these cheap frames may look great on paper, they rarely live up to expectations in the real world.
Should I buy Skylight or Pix-Star frames as gifts?
Skylight vs Pix-Star frames has been a long ongoing debate as they’re two of the most established digital frame brands on the market today. When you’re buying a digital frame as a gift, some features are more important than others, such as recurring costs, interconnectedness, ease of use, remote control functionality, etc. These features go a long way to improve the quality of the user experience of the digital frame gift and make it one to remember.
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames can be remotely controlled via the web interface, whereby you can create slideshows, adjust the frame’s settings, manage local & cloud storage, change slideshow sources, and much more. You have almost the same level of control as you would using the frame in person. On the other hand, Skylight frames offer some remote-control functionality, but it’s locked behind a paywall and can only be done via the mobile app (which doesn’t have the most intuitive interface).
When it comes to features and slideshows, Pix-Star is the clear winner. You can include videos in slideshows, easily create unique & personalized playlists and customized slideshows, receive photos via the mobile app, email, USB/SD card, web dashboard, and web albums. Pix-Star’s web album feature lets you import photos from platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, Google Drive, Google Photos, Dropbox, and more. They’re saved to the frame’s internal storage and are accessible offline.
Together, all of these features make the Pix-Star frame one of the best Christmas gift ideas on the market. With Christmas coming up soon, getting a digital frame might just be the perfect gift idea for your home & loved ones to help you share more effortlessly, and feel more connected than ever before!
