Which is the best big digital picture frame?
Pix-Star’s 15-inch big digital picture frame is an excellent choice. It has one of the most versatile feature sets on the market, a fantastic display, and syncs well with a multi-frame setup. The user interface is intuitively designed and caters to elderly users and big families. You can easily set the Pix-Star frame up in less than 5-minutes and start viewing photos right away.
Pix-Star’s web interface and mobile app are right up there with the best. You can take control of any connected frame and can manage a maximum of 25 frames from a single user account. Additionally, the mobile app lets you send photos and other media to multiple frames at the same time – and lets you send entire folders of photos at once.
Web album support is one of the Pix-Star 15-inch frame’s most useful features. It lets you link your frame directly to your social media and photos sharing sites including Facebook, Google Drive & Google Photos, Dropbox, Instagram, Flickr, Dropbox, and more. Once you’ve linked the account, you can view and link photo albums to your frame. Only the photos in these albums will be synced, so you don’t need to worry about unwanted pictures showing up on your family’s frames.
All web albums are saved to the Pix-Star frame’s internal storage and can be viewed without an internet connection. Linked albums will be automatically updated whenever new photos are added so that everyone can view them.
Other ways to send photos to your frame include email, importing external albums, and by USB/SD card. The frame’s 8GB internal storage offers more than enough space for all your photos and videos. On that note, Pix-Star frames also support audio and video playback (up to 2-minutes long). Videos can be sent through the mobile app and by USB/SD card effortlessly.
Pix-Star is one of the few top digital picture frames that use a 4:3 aspect ratio. It matches most of the photos we take on our smartphones and photos taken by point-and-shoot digital cameras. The result is that most photos fill the display without needing to be edited, cropped, or boxed in by black bars. It does a lot to improve immersion and enhance the overall viewing experience.
When you consider free-for-life cloud storage, ease of use, a sleek and robust design, and its versatility, the Pix-Star digital photo frame stands out as one of the best. There are no recurring or hidden fees and all features come unlocked and ready to go. Pix-Star has been around for a long time and knows what they are doing. It’s a fantastic frame for elderly users and big families – without compromising on functionality and versatility for the individual user.
What to look for in a top big digital picture frame?
Display quality and aspect ratio are essential when you’re looking for a good big digital picture frame. The resolution should be at least 800×600 (higher if possible) and use a 4:3 aspect ratio. 16:9 aspect ratios don’t fit most of the photos taken on smartphones and digital cameras. This means that photos are often cut off at the top or bottom, distorted, zoomed in, or boxed in by nasty black pillar bars. It makes the display seem smaller than it is and has a very negative impact on immersion.
Wi-Fi and cloud connectivity are essential features. This lets you send photos to your big digital picture frame from anywhere in the world. For example, with the Pix-Star frame, you can remotely control the frame from anywhere in the world through the web interface. You can change settings, start and manage slideshows, update the firmware, create new folders & albums, and more.
Cloud storage and Wi-Fi connectivity enable features like weather, radio & music, mobile apps, web interfaces, and much more. While they’re typically more expensive than offline frames, the massive boost in versatility and functionality is well worth the comparatively small increase in price.
Avoid touchscreens – especially on big digital picture frames. They’re significantly more expensive on any digital picture frame with a display larger than 8-inches. Touchscreens are fingerprint magnets and a far more prone to scratching, wear & tear, and being damaged by falling. You’ll find them less durable and have to recuperate the higher cost of the touch panel from other areas of the frame’s functionality.
Should I wall mount a big digital picture frame?
Big digital picture frames are excellent for wall-mounting as they have broad viewing angles and can be viewed from across the room effortlessly. With digital frames like the Pix-Star 15-inch, you get support for a secure standard VESA mount that lets you mount the frame comfortably on the wall while still doing a great job at hiding the cabling (without restricting access to the USB/SD card ports and power inlet).
While a large part of this decision is subjective, mounting a digital frame on the wall is a great idea. You should get a frame that can be controlled remotely and doesn’t require you to stand directly in front of the frame to use it. This is ideal for grandparents and other family members who can remotely start slideshows with the latest photos (as can be done with the Pix-Star 15-inch frame).
Make sure that if you mount the frame to the wall, you won’t lose access to the USB/SD card. Most frames like the Pix-Star that have built-in support for standard VESA mounts are designed to still leave space to access the power inlet and the various ports and slots, though the actual VESA mount usually needs to be purchased separately.
Is a big digital picture frame better for grandparents?
Big digital picture frames are good for grandparents, especially if they don’t have great eyesight. They’ll be much easier to navigate than smaller sub-8-inch frames and offer a smoother user experience. Your grandparents will also get to see the family picture big, bright, and clear. That being said, the selection of big digital frames is quite a lot narrower than the smaller 8-10-inch selection. Bigger frames also tend to be more expensive as the display panel is significantly bigger. Make sure the display resolution is at least 800×600 to make sure photos and text doesn’t appear blurry.
What is considered a big digital picture frame?
Big digital picture frames generally refer to frames with a diagonal screen measurement of 12-inches or greater. The most common digital photo frame size is around 10-inches, with many brands offering an 8 or 10-inch frame, and a larger 12-15-inch frame. In the Pix-Star frame’s case, they offer a 10-inch frame and a larger 15-inch frame.