Do Lenovo Smart Frames offer good value for money?
Lenovo Smart Frames are some of the most expensive frames on today’s market. Lenovo doesn’t have a big presence in the digital frame market, which is seen through a lack of practical features, high price, and 16:10 aspect ratio. When it comes to aspect ratios, 4:3 is probably the best you’ll find. It perfectly matches the aspect ratio that most of our smartphones shoot in. This means that you don’t need to worry about photos being boxed-in, edited, cropped, or distorted in any way. You get a more natural and uninterrupted viewing experience – something that’s hard to get on a 16:9 display, and even more elusive on a 16:10 display.
Photos can only be synced from your phone or through Google Photos. This severely limits you if you’re not a Google Photos user. Even if you use the mobile app, it’s not the easiest to use. These frames don’t sync into multi-frame control groups and elderly users struggle to use them. The result is that Lenovo digital photo frames aren’t suited to family use or for elderly users (or anyone not tech-savvy).
Slideshows are rather limited in terms of what they can do. You don’t have nearly as much control over their play order, frequency, and appearance as you do with cheaper digital frames like the Pix-Star digital frame. While these Lenovo frames do have a large 21.5” display, the resolution isn’t quite high enough to match the price. Due to the large size of the display, you might notice some blurring in your photos upon closer inspection.
One of the biggest issues with Lenovo digital frames is their reliance on the mobile app and the company servers. These frames cannot work without being connected to the servers at all times – and the servers rely on receiving photos synced from your phone via Google Photos. These servers are often the cause of a lot of complaints as they are frequently down – leaving you with a functionally useless digital frame until they’re back up. This is a major problem that some premium frames like the Aura digital frame also struggle with.
Should I buy Pix-Star’s frames instead of Lenovo Smart Frames?
If you’re looking for the best balance between versatility, value for money and real-world performance, Pix-Star’s frame is one of the best digital photo frames out there. The 15-inch Pix-Star frame is easy to use, filled with practical features and can send/receive photos from anywhere in the world.
Its 4:3 aspect ratio means that you don’t need to edit any photos sent from smartphones as most of the shoot in 4:3. Slideshows are versatile and easy to control – no matter where you are in the world. You can use the web interface to start slideshows, manage local & cloud storage, and link web albums from social media and various photo-sharing sites.
Pix-Star’s frames come with access to both their mobile app and web dashboard. You can send photos by email, USB/SD card, as web albums, via the mobile app, and more. Pix-Star’s mobile app also lets you send videos & audio messages to several Pix-Star frames at the same time.
When you consider the massive value for money Pix-Star’s digital frames offers, it’s hard to choose any other premium frame over them. While Lenovo frames might offer slightly better resolution and a larger display, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have the features and performance to get the most from them. Pix-Star’s frames are one of the only premium brands that specifically cater to elderly users in their features, remote control functionality, and ease to use. You can always make sure your grandparents get the latest photos without them needing to lift a finger.
There are no recurring fees and all the features come fully unlocked. You can include videos in slideshows, listen to the radio & web music, view weather forecasts, play games, and connect & manage up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames at the same time. These frames quickly become an important part of how you share and connect with your loved ones. They grow on you and become an essential part of the modern home & family – making sure you’re never more than just a few moments away from the people you care about most.
Almost all of these features are beyond what the Lenovo digital frames offer. Pix-Star offers better value for money, enhanced usability, and a more practical frame overall. Pix-Star’s attention to detail makes it one of the best deals on the market today – despite there being so many decent options out there.
Do Lenovo Smart Frames offer cloud storage?
Lenovo Smart Frames don’t offer direct cloud storage for your use – but rather rely on your Google Photos account and company servers. When you load photos from your phone, they’re saved to the company servers, and the frame syncs them and saves them to its internal storage. That being said, Lenovo Smart Frames still need to be connected to Wi-Fi at all times to view and manage your saved photos; whereas most good Wi-Fi digital photo frames have offline functionality.
For comparison, Pix-Star’s frames offer free-for-life cloud storage that can be managed from anywhere in the world. All photos are saved to the frame’s internal storage and automatically backed up to the cloud. Photos and media are saved directly to the frame and it doesn’t rely on an active connection to the cloud servers – giving the Pix-Star extensive offline capabilities.
How to send photos to Lenovo Smart Frames?
The only ways to send photos to a Lenovo Smart Frame are from your phone (via the company’s cloud servers) or through your Google Photos account. Without either of these active – along with an active internet connection – there is no way to load photos to the Lenovo art frame.
Can Lenovo Smart Frames play videos & audio files?
Lenovo Smart Frames offer neither video nor audio playback & support. These frames are designed to only display photos – which is weird considering the short and wide aspect ratio. Video playback is better suited to 16:9 and 16:10 display, so it’s an odd choice to ignore this feature – especially considering the high price of the frame.
