Is the Insignia digital picture frame worth the money?
The Insignia digital picture frame is a mid-range frame that comes in three sizes. Both the 7-inch and 8-inch frames feel more like budget digital frames; whereas the 10-inch model has a slightly higher-end feel to it.
That being said, Insignia digital picture frames don’t compete with premium, high-end frames like the Pix-Star, Aura, Nixplay, Skylight, and Dragon Touch frames.
Insignia digital frames don’t offer Wi-Fi connectivity or cloud storage. They work solely through a combination of USB/SD card support and limited internal storage space.
Their small storage space isn’t much of an issue as you don’t need to hold photos directly on it. With only 2GB of internal storage, you wouldn’t be able to hold many photos anyway.
Instead, Insignia’s frame relies on a USB/SD card plug & play feature. Here you connect a USB/SD card to the frame and play slideshows directly off it.
Surprisingly, this is a feature that many premium frames like Skylight, Nixplay, and Aura fail to offer. On the other hand, Pix-Star’s frames offer a much more versatile USB/SD card feature when compared with Insignia – and almost every other digital picture frame on the market.
Insignia’s frames have a low-resolution display and awkward 16:9 aspect ratio. Most photos are boxed in by black pillar bars, cropped, or stretched.
Due to the lack of smart slideshow features, you don’t have much control over their play order and frequency. You can’t play videos or audio files, can’t control the Insignia frame remotely, can’t connect to or import from social media, and much more.
When you consider that top frames like the Pix-Star offer all of these features far more comprehensively, it’s hard to justify buying the Insignia digital picture frame. Insignia doesn’t offer the versatility, features, or value for money that you get with the best digital picture frames on the market like the Pix-Star.
Learn more about the top digital frames on the market in 2022, what to look for, and where to find them with our simple guide and comparison!
How to send pictures to the Insignia digital picture frame?
The only way to send pictures to the Insignia digital picture frame is by USB/SD card. Load the photos you want to view on the frame to a supported USB or SD card (no bigger than 32GB), making sure the photos are in a supported format and match the frame’s 800×400 display resolution.
When you insert the USB/SD card into the Insignia frame, it will show up in a slideshow. Now, it’s worth noting that you don’t have control over the play order or frequency of photos in these slideshows.
Photos will display in the order in which they were loaded to the USB or SD card. Alternatively, you can play a fully randomized slideshow containing all the photos saved to the USB or SD card.
You can copy these photos to the Insignia frame’s internal storage. Note that you only have 2GB of internal storage space – some of which is taken up by the software and operating system.
In summary, Insignia digital picture frames are very limited when it comes to sending and receiving photos. Much of this is due to Insignia not supporting Wi-Fi or cloud connectivity.
Offering only USB/SD card support, Insignia falls far behind top digital frames like the Pix-Star – which offer extensive Wi-Fi and cloud photo-sharing features and functionality. Learn how to send pictures to the Pix-Star digital picture frame here!
Can the Insignia picture frame play videos?
The Insignia digital picture frame cannot play videos or audio files. These digital frames only support photo playback within slideshows from either a connected USB/SD card or the frame’s internal storage.
Note that there is no file explorer or media library – meaning you can’t choose which photos or playlists to include in slideshows. It’s a commonly offered feature among the best digital picture frames like the Pix-Star.
What slideshow settings does the Insignia digital picture frame offer?
There are very few slideshow settings offered on the Insignia digital picture frame. When you play slideshows from an inserted USB/SD card, the slideshows start automatically.
You can control which pictures are included, and you can’t adjust their play order or frequency. The only two options are “fully randomized” and the order in which they were loaded to the USB/SD card.
A key point worth noting is that Insignia digital picture frames are not designed to run 24/7. It’s one of the biggest complaints against these frames and their slideshows. Insignia frames frequently shut down and cannot be set to play continuously like most premium digital frames.
One final slideshow-related feature is the auto-rotate function. If you switch the frame between landscape and portrait (or vice versa), the slideshow will rotate to match. It can take a couple of seconds. This often comes with photos being boxed in by black bars or cropped/zoomed.
If you want immersive slideshows, look to higher-end digital frames like the Pix-Star. You’ll get a host of customizable features and settings, easily adjust the play order and frequency, and start/manage slideshows remotely from anywhere in the world.
Pix-Star’s frames let you play slideshows from USB/SD cards too, import photos from social media, play videos in slideshows alongside photos, and much more. There’s also a file explorer that lets you select which files and folders to play slideshows from – giving you near-total control of Pix-Star’s immersive viewing experience!
Does the Insignia digital picture frame work offline?
The Insignia digital picture frame is offline-only. Unlike most premium digital picture frames, Insignia does not offer Wi-Fi or cloud connectivity.
This means that there’s no way to load photos to the frame wirelessly. Instead, you can only play slideshows from a USB or SD card. Alternatively, you can copy some of these photos to the frame’s 2GB of internal storage.
While offline functionality is a great feature to have, it’s not the best when not accompanied by Wi-Fi and cloud-enabled features.
For example, Pix-Star’s digital picture frames work offline thanks to 8GB of internal storage, a native file explorer, and more extensive USB and SD card support.
Additionally, you get arguably the most robust and comprehensive Wi-Fi and cloud-enabled feature set on the market – including access to Pix-Star’s web interface, mobile app, remote configuration feature, and web album support.
We recommend getting a Wi-Fi-capable digital picture frame, especially for families and modern homes. They’re a little more expensive than offline options like the Insignia digital picture frame – but pay back their value many times over!
