How does the Meural digital art frame compare with the Pix-Star 15-inch frame?
The Meural digital art frame is a 27-inch digital frame; whereas the large Pix-Star frame offers a 15-inch display. That being said, bigger isn’t always better. Pix-Star frame’s user arguably the most versatile aspect ratio (4:3). On the other hand, the Meural digital art frame uses a far more awkward aspect ratio. You’ll find that most photos and videos need to be cropped – especially if they’re from full-frame cameras or smartphones.
Despite having a higher resolution, the Meural digital art frame has a very large screen, significantly bring down the pixel-per-inch count. The result is that some photos aren’t very clear – an issue that’s made worse by cropping, distortion, and photos not taking up the whole screen due to the strange aspect ratio.
Pix-Star frames are one of the most versatile on the market at the moment. With a mobile app, web interface, sending photos via email, syncing your Pix-Star frame with your favorite social media and photo-sharing albums, and more – Pix-Star is one of the top choices at the moment. They also have adjustable brightness and color settings that help you get the perfect picture every single time.
Is the Meural digital art frame worth it?
The biggest drawback of the Meural digital art frame is the price. It’s one of the most expensive frames on the market at the moment at nearly $400 (depending on where you live and shop). Another major drawback is the odd aspect ratio.
In practice, most of the photos you send to this frame will need to be cropped or distorted to use all the available screen real estate. You’ll often find that every picture you send to the frame is boxed in by unsightly black pillar bars – even with the Smart autofill feature activated.
When you consider the lack of features and functions like limited control over photo playback, no remote-control features, and limited cloud functionality, it’s hard to justify paying the high price that the frame demands. You then have to figure in the annual subscription fee (something we don’t like seeing with digital picture frames), costs keep shooting up.
While there are some redeeming qualities like a swivel mount and access to the members’ collection of artwork and photos (via the annual plan), it’s not enough to justify choosing this frame over top options like the 15-inch Pix-Star frame and other top sellers.
Does the Meural digital art frame have a subscription fee?
Meural digital art frames use a subscription fee model if you want access to the members’ photos, artwork, and videos. This might seem like a cool feature but isn’t the most functional as the work isn’t your own. You might get more versatility displaying artwork on a TV screen at this price point – plus you’d benefit from everything a TV offers.
It’s becoming more common to see premium digital picture frames that use hidden costs and recurring fees in the form of annual and monthly subscription plans. The issue with this is that there are frames like the Pix-Star offer more features for a lot less money – and no hidden costs or recurring fees.
Frames like the Pix-Star also offer extensive offline use, and a much more intuitive mobile app, and a web interface that enables features like controlling your frame remotely, importing web albums, managing all your photos, and controlling up to 25 connected frames from a single account.
Considering what you get from the Meural premium subscription, it’s not worth it for most people. It doesn’t offer any boost in functionality or features. You simply get access to all the photos locked behind the member paywall. Unfortunately, without this subscription, you won’t find many photos that match the odd aspect ratio and display of the Meural digital art frame. You will have to manually edit, resize, and crop them to match the frame’s display and aspect ratio if you want your photos and videos to use the whole display (no black bars around the sides).
Can a digital picture frame be used to display art?
This is important because it undercuts a lot of what digital art frames have to offer. With larger digital picture frames like the 15-inch Pix-Star frame, you can view artwork and professional photos just as easily as with a digital art frame – without paying nearly as much. There are no subscription fees or hidden costs, Pix-Star frames can be wall-mounted, and offer adjustable color and brightness settings to match any theme or mood.
You’ll also benefit from the intuitive mobile app & web interface, as well as the multi-frame synchronicity and control. You can link your professional photos and artwork directly from Google Photos, Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Flickr, and many more. These can be easily shared with everyone in the family that has a Pix-Star frame quickly and effortlessly. With the ability to remotely manage your Pix-Star frame, you can start slideshows without needing to be in the same room.
To summarize, frames like the Pix-Star 15-inch digital picture frame offering such versatility and functionality at a significantly lower price point – without any hidden or recurring fees – make it an excellent choice for artists and photographers. The 4:3 aspect ratio is far more photo and user-friendly, making photos appear more natural and compatible, and saving you time not having to edit hundreds/thousands of photos before sending them to your Pix-Star frame.
Does the Meural digital art frame offer cloud storage?
The Meural digital art frame doesn’t offer a dedicated cloud service for sending and backing up your photos. That being said, the annual subscription gives you access to the members’ collection of photos and videos that you can download and display on your frame. This is quite disappointing considering that this digital art frame is one of the most expensive in the digital frame market. Frames like the Pix-Star offer free-for-life cloud storage that’s unlimited and easily managed through the web interface – something that’s not offered on the Meural digital art frame.
