Are Kodak digital picture frames worth the money?
Kodak digital picture frames come in a couple of different sizes and budget levels. From super-cheap and budget-friendly frames to more upper-mid-range frames like their 10-inch version, Kodak frames seem like a great choice on paper. Unfortunately, this doesn’t carry through to the real world. Kodak frames don’t have the greatest quality control or longevity, especially when compared to other similarly priced frames on the market.
Kodak’s cheaper frames are very seldom worth the money as they don’t include any way to send photos to the frame remotely. The only way to load photos is by USB/SD card. These photos can be played directly off the inserted storage device, though you don’t have any control over the play order and/or frequency of the loaded photos. Internal storage is also limited, so you can’t store and view many photos without leaving the connected USB/SD card inserted at all times.
Even Kodak’s more premium 10-inch model doesn’t have many unique offerings. These frames do run on battery, though they don’t pack enough battery power to compete against most Wi-Fi digital frames like the Pix-Star. There is a cloud function that lets you send photos to the frame via the mobile app – but you can only send 6 photos at a time. By contrast, Pix-Star’s mobile app lets you send up to 250 photos to several frames at the same time.
This isn’t to say you can’t get used out of these frames, they just don’t have what it takes to compete with top frames like the Pix-Star, Nixplay, etc. Their buggy software and confusing interface aren’t great for elderly users. Kodak digital frames can’t connect to a family of frames (like a multi-frame control group) and can’t be remotely controlled. Their cloud setup is also very limiting and doesn’t offer nearly as many features as similarly priced frames.
How do Kodak digital picture frames compare with the Pix-Star frame?
Pix-Star’s digital photo frames are some of the most versatile and family-focused frames you’ll find on today’s market. With extensive Wi-Fi & cloud functionality, Pix-Star’s frames can send & receive photos from anywhere in the world. There’s a connected mobile app & web interface, free-for-life cloud storage, remote control capabilities, great ease of use, and much more.
Pix-Star’s web interface is where much of the Pix-Star magic happens. You can add all the Pix-Star frames in the family to a multi-frame control group. Here you can control & manage up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames from a single user account. It’s a great feature for families and offers unique functions like remotely controlling any connected Pix-Star frame.
This remote-control function lets you remotely start & edit slideshows and their settings, adjust the frame’s settings, manage local & cloud storage, update the frame’s firmware, change the screen brightness, and even adjust the source files for slideshows. It’s the perfect choice for families and those with elderly users as you can make sure they always have the latest photos without them needing to do anything.
Pix-Star’s web album feature lets you link selected photo albums on popular social media & photo-sharing sites like Facebook & Google Photos. Here you can link a selected album to any connected Pix-Star frame and have the photos inside the album automatically sync and save to the frame’s internal storage.
To load new photos to any frame, simply load the desired photos to the linked album and set it to automatically update whenever new photos are added. This makes sharing photos with everyone in the family effortless and quick – no matter where you are in the world.
Can Kodak digital picture frames receive photos wirelessly?
Only a handful of Kodak digital picture frames can receive photos through any method other than a USB/SD card. This method involves downloading the mobile app that gives you access to your Kodak cloud service. Unfortunately, you can only send 6 photos at once with the app. Additionally, you can only send photos to one Kodak frame at a time.
If you have multiple frames, you can’t add them to a multi-frame control group like you can with the Pix-Star frame. You need to manually load photos to each frame, and there’s no way to automatically set new photos to share to all connected frames.
The only other way to load photos to most Kodak digital photo frames is by USB/SD card. Sadly, you can’t control the play order of slideshows, regardless of the sending method. Even a randomize feature isn’t available – so you need to view the photos in the same order that you uploaded them to the frame.
Do Kodak digital picture frames use batteries?
Almost all of Kodak’s digital picture frames use batteries to power them. In Kodak’s flagship model, the battery has a 4,000mAh capacity. While this is claimed to offer 4-7 hours of screen time – this isn’t the case in the real world. The 10-inch display is a big drain on the battery. This is why you rarely find digital photo frames larger than 7-8-inches that use battery power.
In practice, you can expect a 3–4-hour battery life – especially if you’re using the Wi-Fi/cloud function. This battery life further depends on the brightness of the screen and the type of slideshows. If you’re constantly sending and syncing photos via the cloud-based mobile app, battery drain will be far more significant.
You’ll need to make sure that the charging cable is nearby most of the time. This more or less negates the advantage of going battery-powered. Learn more about battery-powered digital photo frames here to help you make the right choice!
Can Kodak digital picture frames play video and audio?
Video & audio playback is limited to Kodak’s more premium digital frames. Note that you can only load these files to the frame via USB/SD card as the cloud setup doesn’t support this function. Make sure you know which files types, lengths, and sizes are supported by the Kodak frame to avoid compatibility issues. Only load videos and audio clips that are less than 1-minute in total length.
It’s also worth noting that video and audio playback can’t be included in slideshows. They need to be viewed individually – and they can’t be set to play muted automatically. Playing videos and audio files will significantly increase the battery consumption, further reducing that claimed 4-hour battery life.
