What is a Polaroid digital picture frame?
The Polaroid digital picture frame is a digital frame with a small, low-resolution screen. Polaroid digital picture frames are very cheap when compared with other digital picture frames on the market – though you’ll understand why when you take a look at the features and functionality. They usually have thick bezels and a small screen. The standard screen size is around 7”, with the 12″ model being quite hard to find.
Polaroid digital picture frames don’t use Wi-Fi. You can only add photos to the frame with a USB stick or memory card. They have little to no internal storage space, meaning you’ll usually need to leave the USB or card connected to the frame at all times.
Polaroid digital picture frames have a very low-resolution screen of around 800×480. Some larger frames can have a higher resolution – but they’re generally low resolution with the sub-par display quality.
You’ll find that most Polaroid digital picture frames have very limited features and functionality. They don’t have many customizations when it comes to displaying photos. Polaroid digital picture frames are designed to be as cheap as possible, offering only the most basic digital picture frame features.
Why are Polaroid digital picture frames so cheap?
Polaroid digital frames use low-quality build materials and don’t offer rich features or versatile functionality. While on paper the price and specs look great, they usually don’t live up to their claims in the real-world.
Low-resolution screens with a poor user interface helps to keep the cost deceptively low. In the end, you get what you pay for. Polaroid digital picture frames are controlled via a remote controller that’s often quite hard to use. You’ll find the buttons don’t always respond when pressed and that the range isn’t great.
Polaroid digital picture frames also have an awkward display size and aspect ratio. Unless you’re willing to edit and crop every photo you send, you’ll have to deal with black bars or stretched photos. You can usually choose between fit, optimal, or full options for displaying the options. All of these settings will produce awkward pictures unless they are sent to the Polaroid digital picture frame in the correct aspect ratio and resolution.
Polaroid digital picture frames make sacrifices to the build quality, aesthetics, user experience, and features to keep the cost low. They don’t usually connect to Wi-Fi and can only receive photos by connecting a USB or memory card directly to the frame.
Is the Pix-Star frame better than the Polaroid digital picture frame?
It’s not a fair comparison to make as the Pix-Star is one of the best digital picture frames on the market; whereas the Polaroid digital picture frame is one of the cheapest on the market.
That being said, comparisons can be made based on features offered by both frames. They both use remote controllers and/or on-board controls to navigate through menus and options. Pix-Star’s digital picture frame has a far better remote control. Button presses are seldom ignored by the frame and the remote’s range is much better. Polaroid digital picture frames are notorious for gimmicky and glitch-filled remote controls.
Both frames let you load photos directly onto the frame with USB sticks and memory cards. For Polaroid digital picture frames, this is the only option. On the other hand, Pix-Star digital picture frames can receive photos by email, through a great mobile app or web interface, and even via web albums linked to various social media accounts like Facebook.
In terms of screen size, most Polaroid digital picture frames are either 7” or 12” (diagonal screen size). Pix-Star has a 10” and a 15” frame. Pix-Star’s frames have much higher-resolution screens with brighter displays and broader viewing angles. This combined with thinner bezels and front-facing speakers gives Pix-Star a massive advantage over Polaroid digital picture frames.
The above comparisons are based solely on the common features. If you compare the frames based on everything they offer, the Polaroid digital picture frame can’t stand against the Pix-Star. That being said, the Pix-Star frame is a premium top-of-the-line digital frame, whereas the Polaroid digital picture frame is arguably the cheapest on the market.
How to send pictures to a Polaroid digital picture frame?
Polaroid digital picture frames are extremely limited when it comes to sending and receiving photos. The frame only supports USB sticks and memory cards (SD cards). These need to be connected directly to the frame via its ports.
It’s worth noting the Polaroid digital picture frames have very limited internal storage space, meaning you need to leave the USB or SD card connected at all times to view photos.
To send photos to a Polaroid digital picture frame, get a USB drive or SD card and connect it to your computer. Transfer the photos you want to send to the frame over to the USB/SD card. You should crop or edit the photos to match the resolution/aspect ratio of the Polaroid digital picture frame if you want borderless and cleanly displayed photos.
Insert the USB/SD card with the photos into the Polaroid digital picture frame’s ports. If there is space on the frame’s internal storage, you can copy the photos from the USB/card to local storage. If there isn’t enough space, you need to leave the USB/card connected to view its photos.
Unfortunately, this is the only way to send photos to a Polaroid digital picture frame. They don’t have Wi-Fi compatibility, so you can’t send via email or through a mobile app (as you can on most Wi-Fi digital picture frames).
Is the Polaroid digital picture frame a good gift idea?
While Polaroid digital picture frames seem like a great gift idea due to their cheap price and seemingly simple user experience – the reality is quite different.
The combination of a gimmicky remote control, limited options for sending/receiving photos, and a low-resolution display; make this digital frame quite difficult to use.
You can’t see what’s being displayed on the screen unless you’re standing right in front of the frame. The viewing angle and range aren’t great. It’s not a great gift idea, especially for grandparents that want something simple and quick to use. You’ll find you have to constantly give them new pictures due to the limited internal storage. It can be quite frustrating to use the remote control to navigate through the photo library.
In summary, you’d be far better off choosing a more gift-friendly frame like the Pix-Star. They’re naturally more expensive, though it’s well worth the money if you want something with lots of features and good usability with a better display.
