Can the digital picture frame by Skylight play video & audio?
The digital picture frame by Skylight supports both video and audio playback, but it’s a feature that’s locked behind the Skylight Plus subscription paywall. Even when active, Skylight Plus only lets you play 1-minute video clips on the frame.
For comparison, Pix-Star’s digital frames don’t charge any extra fees, yet they let you play 2-minute video clips, include videos in slideshows, set them to play muted, and more. Pix-Star also offers great audio support as you can play music (from a connected USB/SD card) and radio over slideshows. You can even connect the frame to external speakers/headphones via either the USB port or the 3.5mm audio jack.
While Skylight digital picture frames let you play video and audio, it’s not functional enough to be a practical choice for the modern home & family. We suggest going for a non-subscription digital picture frame like the Pix-Star. You’ll get better value for money, a more robust feature set, and reliable and easy-to-use real-world performance.
Does the digital picture frame by Skylight have a 4:3 aspect ratio?
The digital picture frame by Skylight uses a 16:9 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio is not ideal for a digital picture frame as it doesn’t naturally match the aspect ratio that our smartphones and cameras capture photos in. While it might be the better choice for video playback, it’s not a focus feature for digital frames.
The issue with 16:9 displays is that almost every photo needs to be manually edited. If left unedited, you will have to deal with photos being surrounded by black pillar bars to fill the space around the picture. Alternatively, some frames automatically crop the photos (which rarely works well) or stretch them to fit the display.
The best aspect ratio for a digital picture frame is 4:3. This matches most modern smartphones and does a far better job at matching the 3:2 aspect ratio of most cameras (note that 3:2 digital frames are very uncommon). You’ll enjoy more immersive slideshows with fewer compatibility and display errors.
How does the digital picture frame by Skylight compare with Pix-Star’s frame?
The main difference between the digital picture frames by Skylight and Pix-Star’s frame is the optional Skylight Plus subscription plan. Without this plan being active, Skylight’s frame becomes no better than most cheap or mid-range frames. You can’t remotely send photos, there’s no video or audio support, no cloud storage, no online access or remote-control functionality, and no ability to create custom albums and folders.
Pix-Star’s frames offer all of these features – and extra – without charging a cent extra. You get free-for-life cloud storage, robust remote-control access, web album support, video & audio support, USB/SD card support (with plug & play), extensive offline functionality, access to both a mobile app & web interface, and much more.
Pix-Star’s frames offer much better value for money and versatility – especially when you consider the overall cost over the frame’s life (including Skylight’s subscription fee). Pix-Star’s frames are one of the few premium frames that cater specifically to both elderly users and families. Their 4:3 aspect ratio is far better suited to displaying photos taken on smartphones and cameras than Skylight’s 16:9 display (which often leaves photos boxed in by black bars or cropped/distorted).
Can the Skylight digital picture frame be remotely controlled?
Only some of the Skylight digital picture frame’s features can be managed online (without needing to affect the changes on the frame in person). It’s not the most robust feature as you can only share, view, and download photos online. It’s a feature that’s managed via the mobile app.
Unfortunately, this online access is locked behind the Skylight Plus premium subscription plan. Without purchasing this plan, you don’t have access to the Skylight mobile app, and you can’t access your frame’s content online.
By contrast, Pix-Star’s frames offer a robust remote-control feature without charging any extra hidden or recurring fees. You can manage and control up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames from a single user account. This can be done from anywhere in the world via your frame’s web dashboard (or via your multi-frame control account).
You can adjust your Pix-Star frame(s) general and slideshow settings, start slideshows and change their sources, update firmware, remotely manage local & cloud storage, import photos from social media & photo-sharing platforms, and much more.
Does the digital picture frame by Skylight charge a subscription fee?
The digital picture frame by Skylight is one of the handful of premium frames that charge an additional (optional) subscription fee. We rarely recommend choosing these subscription-based frames as several competing frames offer the same “premium” features without charging a cent extra.
The Skylight Plus subscription fee – while optional – is required if you want to send photos to the frame by email or through the mobile app. It’s also required if you want to enable and access cloud storage and the ability to access your photos, storage, and some other features online. Both video playback and the ability to send videos are also locked behind this subscription paywall.
For comparison, Pix-Star’s digital picture frames are cheaper than the Skylight frame and they don’t charge any extra or recurring fees. Pix-Star offer free-for-life cloud storage, automatic backups, USB/SD card support (with the plug-and-play feature), web albums (importing photos directly from social media to your frame’s internal storage), access to both the Pix-Star Snap mobile app and the Pix-Star web interface, Pix-Star’s remote-control feature, and both video & audio playback support (videos can also be included in slideshows).
Other popular digital picture frames like Nixplay also charge these additional recurring premium subscription fees. When you consider the total overall cost of these subscription-based digital picture frames – over their entire lifespan – they’re significantly more expensive than other premium frames. Even Aura’s frames (some of the most expensive non-subscription digital frames on the market) are cheap by comparison.
With several top digital picture frames like the Pix-Star, Dragon Touch, and others, offering great feature sets and solid real-world performance, there aren’t many reasons to choose subscription-based digital frames over them. You’ll get better value for money, great versatility, and a digital picture frame that effectively caters to the needs of the modern home & family!
