How do Loop digital frames work and are they good for elderly users?
Loop digital frames are very new to the digital frame market. Many aspects of the frame are still under development, including the app and several features. This isn’t made clear on their website or Amazon seller page and is only discovered when reading through reviews and Q&As. Finding a solid place in today’s market is no small task as new frames like the Loop digital frame need to compete against other top frames like the Pix-Star that have been around for significantly longer.
Loop digital frames pedal the photo-text feature as one of their main features. It allows you to send photos directly to your frame from your phone via text. There will be the associated costs involved when sending MMS by text, but all in all, it’s not a bad feature. It is rather unique though quite hard to justify choosing over standard photo-mail or sending photos to your digital frame via mobile app.
Loop digital frames also come with a mobile app that lets you send several photos at the same time. While it’s not the most intuitive app, it does get the job done. It’s not nearly as refined or capable as top digital frames like the Pix-Star – but you wouldn’t expect that from a frame that’s new to the market.
Unfortunately, this is where one of the Loop digital frame’s biggest issues pops up. Both the photo-text feature and the mobile app are only supported on iOS. These features don’t work on Android yet. This is a massive issue as all competing digital frames at similar prices have apps that work well across the board. The Pix-Star Snap mobile app works on both iOS and Android effortlessly.
Since Loop digital photo frames rely on the mobile app to let you remotely control the frame (there is no handheld remote and the on-frame controls are poor), you don’t have much use for this frame as an Android user. Even for iOS users, these digital frames are new and are more pre-launch models. Your money would likely be better spent on a competing frame like the Pix-Star that is well established and more capable – but more on that down below.
How do Loop digital frames compare with the Pix-Star frames?
Pix-Star’s digital frames are one of the best-known digital frames on today’s market. They’ve got a proven track record and have delivered consistent quality over the years – making sure to keep up with the evolving needs of the modern home & family. Pix-Star’s digital frames are one of the only premium digital frames that cater specifically to elderly users & families through features like remote control functionality, ease of use, web album support, and a mobile app & web dashboard.
Pix-Star was the company that came up with the idea of a digital photo frame with a dedicated & unique email address. This address was to be used to identify the frame and enable it to receive photos from anywhere in the world. Today, Pix-Star’s digital frames can send & receive photos by email, mobile app, via linking web albums from social media & photo-sharing sites, directly from your computer wirelessly, by USB/SD card, and many more.
Pix-Star’s digital frames are exceptionally priced. In most cases, they’re cheaper than almost every other premium digital frame while still offering features like free-for-life cloud storage. All of your photos are automatically backed up to the cloud as they’re received on your frames. You can effortlessly manage and control up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames from a single user account via the web dashboard.
The Pix-Star remote control function lets you use the web dashboard to remotely adjust your frames settings, start slideshows, manage local & cloud storage, and much more. You have almost full control of your frames and can make sure that everybody gets all the latest photos at the same time through the Pix-Star web album feature. It’s a great way to keep everyone in the family effortlessly up-to-date and connected all the time. There aren’t many digital frames that can do this so effectively at this price point.
By contrast, Loop digital frames don’t offer cloud storage for free (it requires an additional subscription), sending photos to your frames isn’t nearly as easy, and you don’t benefit from multi-frame control groups. While these aren’t bad frames, they simply can’t compete with frames like Pix-Star given their similar price – yet Pix-Star’s frames offer more robust features and more practical day-to-day performance.
Do Loop digital frames offer cloud storage & backups?
Loop digital photo frames don’t offer free-for-life cloud storage like Pix-Star’s frames offer. There is a possibility to unlock and use cloud storage for all of your photos on the Loop frame – but you’ll have to pay the additional subscription fee. We don’t usually recommend digital frames that charge extra recurring fees or subscriptions as there are plenty of premium frames that don’t charge a cent extra. It’s rarely worth it in the long run – especially when the base prices are similar.
Can Loop digital frames play videos & audio?
Loop’s digital photo frames do support video & audio playback – though not a wide variety of formats are supported. Make sure you know which formats work on the frame, which might require some trial and error. Note that videos and their accompanying audio can only be sent to the frame via the mobile app. Since the app is only supported on iOS at the moment, you can’t send videos from your camera or Android to your Loop frame.
Do Loop digital frames have a mobile app?
Loop digital frames come with a mobile app that can be downloaded to your phone or tablet. That being said, the app is only compatible with iOS devices and isn’t fully rolled out for Android yet. If you’ve got an Android device, you’re going to need to wait until these frames have been officially released and fully developed. Since Loop are new to the digital frame market, there is no set time frame for their full launch – so there’s an innate element of risk in buying one of their frames. We recommend going for a more established brand like Pix-Star that offers robust features and reliable real-world performance.
