Is the Skylight or Pix-Star frame better for families?
The Skylight vs Pix-Star comparison is not a new one. Both of these frames sit at the peak of what the digital picture frame market has to offer. You get a premium digital frame with Wi-Fi and cloud capabilities, but many key differences have quite a big impact on how practical and functional the frames are in the real world.
For families – especially big families – the Pix-Star frame is one of the best choices on the market. You don’t need to worry about subscription fees to unlock features like cloud storage, sending photos via the mobile app, and managing/viewing your photos online (as is the case with the Skylight frame). All of these features are offered for free.
With Pix-Star’s frame, you can control up to 25 connected frames and get free-for-life cloud storage. This is locked behind a paywall with the Skylight frame. You can email photos and send via the Pix-Star Snap mobile app effortlessly. The mobile app is also locked behind Skylight’s subscription paywall.
Pix-Star’s frame also has a handy web interface that lets you manage all of your connected frames. You can remotely control them, change settings, create folders & albums, and much more. This isn’t possible with Skylight’s frame – without the Skylight Plus subscription.
Pix-Star’s web album feature is one of the best features for families. You can link all of your Pix-Star frames to your favorite social media and photo-sharing sites easily. You then select the albums and photos you want to sync to your frame. These albums will be saved to the Pix-Star frame’s internal storage so that you can view all photos while offline.
Additionally, all the connected albums will be automatically updated and synced whenever you add new photos to them. It offers you a great way to make sure everybody in the family has all the latest photos as soon as you upload them – all without having to lift a finger. Below we look at other deciding factors in the Skylight vs Pix-Star comparison.
Which frame offers better value for money between Skylight and Pix-Star?
When you consider that most of the Skylight frame’s features are locked behind the Skylight Plus subscription paywall, it struggles to compete with what the Pix-Star offers for free. Without the Skylight Plus subscription, you can’t view or send videos to the frame, add text captions to the photos, get access to cloud storage and backups, online access to view and manage your photos (web interface), or using the mobile app to send and view your photos.
All of these features – and more – are offered for free on the Pix-Star. Both the Skylight and Pix-Star 10-inch digital picture frames are priced very similarly, with the Pix-Star being slightly cheaper. You then have to consider that you need an active Skylight Plus subscription just to compete with what the Pix-Star offers – it’s hard to justify choosing it when you get such good value for money with the Pix-Star frame.
One key difference between the Skylight and Pix-Star frames is the level of customizable options and settings. Skylight frames are known for being rather limited in terms of settings and customizations. You don’t have many changeable options in the settings menu concerning play order, color settings, bulk actions, storage management, etc.
On the other hand, Pix-Star’s frames offer plenty of control over nearly all aspects of the frame’s functionality. You can change color and brightness settings, create albums and new folders, add photos to them for dedicated slideshows, set slideshows to display newer photos (from the past “x” number of days more frequently), and much more. Many settings can be changed without needing to exit slideshows, making it very user-friendly and great for not-so-tech-savvy users.
What makes the Pix-Star better than Skylight for sending photos?
Pix-Star’s digital picture frame is one of the most capable frames when it comes to sending photos from anywhere at any time. The robust feature set enhances the user experience and doesn’t charge any recurring fees or hidden costs.
You can send photos to the Pix-Star instantly via the mobile app, email (add the photos as attachments to the frame’s unique email address), the web interface, and even by USB/SD card. Most of these features are limited to Skylight Plus subscribers. The Skylight frame is often referred to as a “one-trick pony” by many online reviewers as most of its features and functions are tied to the Skylight Plus subscription.
Pix-Star’s web album feature that lets you sync all connected frame (up to 25) to several social media and photo-sharing accounts to automate and effortlessly share your favorite photos and memories with your loved ones.
Both frames can work offline quite equally, but the Pix-Star’s frame dominates when it comes to cloud storage and management. The web interface is quick and easy to use, letting you take control of all connected frames from a single user account.
Skylight vs Pix-Star: Which frame has a better viewing experience?
While the resolution of their displays is very similar, the 4:3 aspect ratio of the Pix-Star frame beats the 16:9 aspect ratio of the Skylight frame almost every time. 4:3 aspect ratios are more versatile as they match most of the photos we take on our smartphones and point-and-shoot digital cameras.
Photos don’t need to be edited, cropped, distorted, or boxed in by black pillar bars on the frame’s display. The result is a more immersive and full-screen experience with the Pix-Star frame. When you consider Pix-Star’s adjustable saturation, hue, and brightness, you can get the right picture every time.
Another key issue is the Skylight frame’s touchscreen. You should try to avoid touchscreen displays as they are significantly more expensive on displays larger than 8-inches. This cost often needs to be recovered by limiting the frame’s features – probably why most of the Skylight frame’s features are locked behind a paywall. Touchscreens are less durable fingerprint magnets that are more prone to scratching and being damaged by small knocks and falls.
Is the Skylight Plus subscription worth it?
The Skylight Plus subscription lets you send videos to the frame, use the mobile app for sending and viewing the frame’s photos, cloud storage & backups, creating albums and folders, and adding text captions to photos. These features are offered for free on the Pix-Star digital picture frame (plus cloud storage is unlimited and free-for-life).
It’s hard to justify choosing the Skylight frame as the base price is slightly higher than the Pix-Star, and that’s before you consider the Skylight Plus monthly/annual subscription fee. Skylight vs Pix-Star? Now you have all the information you need to make your decision!
