Are Samsung digital photo frames worth buying in 2022?
Samsung digital photo frames don’t have much pull in today’s digital frame market. They’re severely limited when it comes to features as they don’t offer Wi-Fi connectivity or cloud storage. You can’t send photos to the frame through any method other than a USB/SD card. Even then, USB connections direct to your computer have to be managed through the software (loaded via the provided CD) – it’s not user-friendly and feels outdated – hardly something you’d expect to find the “Samsung” name attached to.
Much like with smartphones, these Samsung digital frames don’t have the value-for-money you’d expect at this price point. When you consider that many premium frames such as the Pix-Star are not only cheaper – they’re also significant upgrades – it gets very hard to justify buying these Samsung frames.
From their small and low-resolution displays to their lack of essential Wi-Fi connectivity and restrictive slideshows, these Samsung digital frames are hardly worth the money. There is almost nothing on offer that most cheap to mid-range digital frames don’t offer. Even the USB/SD card feature is limited – relying on buggy and clunky software to facilitate transferring photos to your frame.
If you’re looking for a modern digital frame for modern homes & families – or even an individual user – these aren’t the frames for you. We wouldn’t recommend getting these frames, even if they were one of the only options. At this price point, and with the offered features & functionality, there isn’t much of a reason to buy. You’d likely be better off getting a cheap monitor or tablet and using that to display your photos. You’ll have almost the same level of control over how and when photos are displayed.
If you’re on the market for one of the best digital photo frames, there are many other great options at this price point. Pix-Star’s frames are some of the most versatile choices out there (more on that down below). If you don’t mind paying recurring annual subscription fees, digital frames like the Skylight or Nixplay are also decent options – though we’d still lean more towards getting the Pix-Star.
How do Samsung digital photo frames compare with the Pix-Star frame?
Samsung digital photo frames (8-inch model) are priced a little higher than Pix-Star’s 10-inch digital frames. This comes as quite a shock considering their feature sets, performance, and versatility are vastly different. Samsung digital frames don’t offer Wi-Fi, cloud storage, mobile apps, a web interface, or any way to remotely control the frame (via the internet).
By contrast, Pix-Star’s digital photo frames are one of the most versatile and capable frames on the market. They’re known for their robust feature set, elderly-friendly design, ease of use, and family-focused design. Pix-Star’s frames offer Wi-Fi & cloud capabilities. You can send & receive photos from anywhere in the world via mobile app, web dashboard, email, and through linking web albums.
Pix-Star’s web album feature stands out as particularly useful for families and modern homes. It lets you link & sync photo albums directly from social media and photo-sharing sites to your Pix-Star frames. Several frames can be linked to the same albums and they’re all saved to the frame’s internal storage.
You get free-for-life cloud storage with every Pix-Star frame – and the ability to remotely control it from anywhere in the world. This feature lets you adjust the frame’s settings, start & change slideshows, manage cloud & local storage, update the frame’s firmware, and much more. It’s an excellent feature for families and elderly users as you can effortlessly manage who sees what & when – without them needing to lift a finger.
Pix-Star’s frames have higher-resolution displays than Samsung digital frames. Not only is the display better, but it also offers manually adjustable brightness & color settings. Pix-Star’s frames come as either a 10-inch or a larger 15-inch version – offering an immersive and versatile viewing experience. You have far more personalization and customizations for slideshows, and both videos & audio can be included in slideshows.
Can Samsung digital photo frames be used as point-of-sale tools?
This is one of the few good uses of the Samsung digital photo frame. That being said, value for money is still a key issue. These frames are more expensive than many premium digital frames like the Pix-Star – yet they offer significantly less by comparison. There’s no Wi-Fi connectivity and connecting to a computer via USB isn’t very user-friendly.
While these frames can be used as an external USB display for a computer, they’re still rather limiting. When you consider that you could get another monitor for less money – for doing a very limited set of tasks – these frames aren’t great choices.
How to send photos & videos to Samsung digital photo frames?
Since Samsung digital photo frames are non-Wi-Fi digital frames, you don’t have access to any Wi-Fi-enabled methods for sending photos. The only way to load photos to the frame is via a connected USB/SD card. The SD card option is arguably better as you don’t need to use a computer, and don’t need to install any additional software. Avoid using SD cards with more than 16GB of onboard storage to avoid compatibility issues.
The other method involves connecting to your computer via a USB cable. You first need to install the accompanying software onto your computer. This alone can be a massive task – especially for users that aren’t tech-savvy. To add to this, the software is not well optimized. It’s plagued by freezes, slow responsiveness, and a generally clunky overall feel – not something you’d feel comfortable using in 2021 and beyond.
Can Samsung digital photo frames connect to Wi-Fi & cloud?
Samsung digital photo frames are offline frames. This means that they don’t have any hardware or software that supports connecting to Wi-Fi – and by extension, also means that you don’t have access to cloud storage or cloud-enabled features.
While most non-Wi-Fi digital photo frames are usually very cheap, these Samsung digital photo frames are very expensive. For comparison, they’re more expensive than Pix-Star’s 10-inch digital frames. Pix-Star’s frames offer Wi-Fi, free-for-life cloud storage, a higher resolution display, and a far more robust feature set. At this price point, Samsung digital frames should offer extensive Wi-Fi connectivity and cloud-enabled features such as web album support, remote control functionality, the ability to receive photos wirelessly or via email/mobile app, and much more.
