Who sells the Nixplay digital frame?
The Nixplay digital frame is quite widely available. It’s most commonly bought on Amazon or directly from the Nixplay shop. Other online shopping platforms like eBay and Target also sell Nixplay frames. We generally don’t recommend buying a digital frame from anywhere but Amazon. They have the widest range of digital frames, making you more likely to find the right digital frame for your home & family.
This is particularly important when buying expensive digital frames like the Nixplay. If you don’t know what kind of value-for-money to expect at different price points, it’s easy to be swept away by any frame that claims to “be the best”. We suggest searching for a digital frame on Amazon. Here you can compare the Nixplay frame with dozens of other premium frames. You’ll avoid making a regretful decision and will find the digital frame that’s right for you.
Is the Nixplay digital frame the best?
One major issue with Nixplay’s digital frames is the subscription paywall. These monthly or annual subscription fees lock away essential features like cloud storage, the mobile app & web app, video & audio playback, using the frame offline, access and remotely controlling the frame, and much more.
Nixplay doesn’t make the need for these monthly fees immediately obvious when browsing through their product descriptions. If you spend time going through the reviews, it becomes more apparent. Many users only run into these subscription paywalls long after the eligible return period ends. They’re left with a choice; either penny-up and buy the subscription, or live with a minimally functional frame that costs way more than it should.
We never recommend buying subscription-based digital frames. Competitors like the Pix-Star (and even Dragon Touch’s frames) offer all of the same features. In many cases, Pix-Star’s features are more comprehensive – along with a host of unique extra features. For example, Pix-Star gives you free for life cloud storage, a mobile app & web interface, importing photos directly from social media, great USB/SD card support (with a plug & play feature), extensive remote configuration support, video & audio support, and much more.
Other digital frames like the Skylight digital frame also use subscription-based models. These frames are far more expensive over the long run, offering poor value for money, and comparatively poor feature sets (even with the “Plus” subscription package). The Pix-Star digital frames are easily one of the most versatile and feature-rich on the market. They’re designed for families and elderly users, they’re easy to use, and you’ll keep them around for years!
Does the Nixplay digital frame work with USB/SD cards?
Nixplay digital frames don’t support USB/SD cards. While they do have necessary slots, they have no functionality. This comes as a bit of a surprise as almost all digital frames support USB/SD cards in one way or another. It’s a common way for mid-range and cheap digital frames to let you transfer photos to their internal storage.
Some premium digital frames like the Pix-Star have a USB/SD card plug & play feature. This lets you insert a USB/SD card into the frame and start a slideshow directly off it. You don’t need to copy the desired content to the frame’s internal storage. In Pix-Star’s case, the maximum size of USB/SD cards isn’t limited – giving you unlimited storage space for your photos, videos, and audio files. It also keeps internal storage free for receiving photos & other media via the app, email, and through Pix-Star’s web album feature.
Since Nixplay doesn’t support USB/SD cards, they don’t have great offline functionality. You can’t load photos to the frame without connecting to Wi-Fi. You’re fully reliant on the frame’s connection to Nixplay’s cloud servers. It’s not a great setup and leaves you far more vulnerable than is necessary. For reference, Pix-Star’s frames offer extensive offline functionality. You can manage storage, start customized slideshows, manage settings, load photos & other media, and much more.
Do Nixplay digital frames need a monthly subscription fee?
Nixplay digital frames are one of a handful of frames that charge optional monthly fees. The “Nixplay Plus” subscription package unlocks features like video & audio support, cloud storage, the mobile app & web interface, custom slideshows, remote access, and more.
These features are typically offered for free by competing frames like the Pix-Star – and often more comprehensively. Without purchasing this premium subscription fee, Nixplay’s frames perform more like a standard mid-range frame – just without USB/SD card support.
You can only send photos to the frame over email (and to one frame at a time). You can’t send pictures in bulk, can’t delete photos, and have minimal offline functionality. Subscription-based digital frames like Nixplay and Skylight struggle to compete with similarly-priced frames in terms of versatility, features, and value for money.
Many users complain that they weren’t made abundantly aware of the subscription paywall and its necessity when buying the frame. We recommend avoiding these frames as they’re very expensive when you factor in the cost of their subscription over their effective lifespan. They fail to deliver unique features that cater to the modern home & family – and struggle to justify yet another subscription-based service!
How to optimize pictures for the Nixplay digital frame?
Nixplay digital frames have a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is unfortunately not ideal for most of the photos we take on our smartphones (4:3) and cameras (3:2). Most photos will need cropping or resizing to use the whole display. Manually editing every image before sending it to the Nixplay digital significantly slows the photo-sharing process – especially for families and elderly users.
You’ll also need to pay for the Nixplay Plus subscription if you want the option to edit pictures on the frame. It’s not ideal, particularly if you share a lot of pictures with your family. Having to go through all of your sent images for each receiving frame, just to find and edit one image then resend it is a major time-waster!
We almost always recommend getting a digital frame with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a free mobile app. Pix-Star’s frames are great examples of this simple functionality. We always have our phones with us – and we hate slow, hard-to-repeat processes – particularly for something as meaningful as photo-sharing with your loved ones!
