Which is the best digital frame between Pix-Star vs Aura frames?
The Pix-Star vs Aura frames debate is not novel. These frames have been going head-to-head for as long as they’ve existed. Over time, they’ve moved into their niches and have different areas of focus. Pix-Star’s frames are excellent for families and elderly users. They’re some of the most versatile and feature-rich frames on the market, offering great value for money and a robust & immersive user experience.
Aura frames are some of the most expensive frames in their size category. They offer high-resolution displays (which is sadly let down by their awkward 16:9 aspect ratio. These frames aren’t as versatile or feature-rich as Pix-Star’s frames, and they don’t cater quite so effectively to families and non-tech-savvy users. Set up is a bit tedious and the mobile app isn’t the most intuitive. There are limited remote control features (compared to Pix-Star’s comprehensive remote-control functionality).
In terms of real-world performance, immersive viewing experience, value for money, and versatility, Pix-Star’s frames are arguably the best choice on the market. They’re available as 10-inch digital frames and a larger 15-inch model. They can be wall-mounted and support both landscape & portrait orientations. Their 4:3 aspect ratio and robust feature set make them the perfect choice for families and an excellent gift idea for the coming Christmas holidays!
Pix-Star vs Aura Frames: Can they work offline?
Offline functionality is important as some homes and users don’t always have a constant Wi-Fi connection. Frames that offer offline features usually let you play slideshows using photos saved to internal storage, connect and view media from a USB/SD card, manage local storage, and adjust the frame’s settings.
This is the case with Pix-Star’s digital frames. You get 8GB of internal storage, automatically saving photos (when they’re received to the frame), and versatile offline slideshows. You can easily control which files, folders, and photos are included in slideshows, how often they show, and the order in which they show.
How do Pix-Star and Aura frames perform for families?
The Pix-Star frame is one of the most versatile frames for families. With extensive Wi-Fi and cloud capabilities, these frames make sharing photos, video, and audio messages effortless – no matter where you are in the world. While their displays aren’t quite as high as Aura frames, this isn’t the most noticeable difference in practice.
Pix-Star’s frames let you create multi-frame control groups whereby you can manage & control up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames. Here you can start slideshows, adjust their settings, update their firmware, and much more – from anywhere in the world. Both the mobile app and web interface are intuitive and easy to access.
Finally, Pix-Star’s web album feature lets you import photos from social media, photo-sharing, and online storage platforms directly to your Pix-Star frames. These linked albums can be set to automatically update when new photos are added to their linked album. You can import and link photos to several Pix-Star frames, and link one frame to several albums (on the same or different platforms).
Pix-Star vs Aura frames: Which offers the best value for money?
Value for money is extremely important in the digital frame market. It’s a price-sensitive market with a lot of competition at specific price points. Aura frames are widely known to be one of the most expensive premium digital frames on the market. Much of this elevated cost is due to their choice to use high-resolution displays – which is a key feature for some.
Unfortunately, there’s so much more that goes into making a digital frame a value-for-money offer than just the display. While we’re used to the retina and pixel-perfect displays on our smartphones, you’re seldom going to be using a digital frame that up-close-and-personal. To keep the frame competitively priced, other features and functions often need to be sacrificed to make room for the cost of high-resolution touch panels.
This is the case with Aura frames. Their displays use an awkward aspect ratio that leaves almost all photos surrounded by black pillar bars. They don’t support video & audio playback, cloud storage & the related features aren’t very robust, and the frame needs to be connected to Wi-Fi at all times to work. These are important features that cheaper frames like the Pix-Star and Dragon Touch (except for a great aspect ratio) effortlessly deliver.
Pix-Star’s frames offer free-for-life cloud storage, access to a web interface & mobile app, extensive offline functionality, video & audio playback, more versatile slideshows, and a superior 4:3 aspect ratio for the display. Most of our smartphones shoot in 4:3 (and most cameras in 3:2), meaning that 4:3 displays are far better than narrow & wide displays like 16:9 and 16:10.
Do Pix-Star and Aura frames play videos and audio files?
Video playback is a key area for comparison in the Pix-Star vs Aura frame debate. Video support and playback is great feature for adding a touch more personality and specialness to how you use your digital frame – and stay in touch with your loved ones. Pix-Star’s digital photo frames can play both video and audio files; whereas Aura’s frames cannot.
Pix-Star’s digital frames let you play video clips with a maximum length of up to 2-minutes. This is more than almost all other premium frames (Skylight offers 15-seconds, Dragon Touch offers 30-seconds). Videos can be sent to your frames via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app, or by USB/SD card. Pix-Star’s frames also let you include videos in slideshows and play them either muted – or with their accompanying sound.
Additionally, Pix-Star’s frames can play audio files through the frame’s inbuilt speakers. This audio can include web music & radio, audio files, voice notes, and more. Audio files, radio, and songs can be played over slideshows and can be sent to the frame via a USB/SD card. Voice notes can be sent to the frame via the mobile app. Pix-Star’s frames can connect to external speakers, headphones, or earphones via the USB port, or through the 3.5mm audio input.
On the other hand, Aura frames can only display photos. These frames were designed to display static images. Unfortunately, their wide & narrow aspect ratio makes them better suited to video playback. Sadly, you’d expect a digital frame at this price point to offer video & audio playback, but this is part of the price you have to pay for higher resolution displays.
