What is the best Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame?
Pix-Star’s 15-inch Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame is one of the best frames on the market. Pix-Star is known for its easy-to-use frames and simple menus/user interface. They have a rich feature set that offers functionality and versatility that’s hard to beat at its price point. While there is no perfect frame on the market, Pix-Star’s combination of a robust build, loads of features, usability, and free-for-life approach makes it one of the best choices available.
Pix-Star’s Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame has a large 15” inch is bright and crisp with a broad viewing angle. There’s also a 10” frame available if you’d prefer a slightly smaller display. The display is automatically turned on/off according to either a set schedule or by the motion sensor (that works).
Perhaps what makes Pix-Star’s Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame one of the best is how well it caters to elderly users. Each frame can be controlled remotely from anywhere in the world through the web interface. You can control all the settings you’d be able to control if you were physically using the frame. This feature lets you set up and manage a frame you buy for your grandparents. You can create slideshows, manage storage and content, update the firmware, and more. The big screen is easy to see from different angles and the menus are easy to navigate with the magnetic remote control. Buttons are big and tactile, so there aren’t a lot of misclicks.
One of Pix-Star’s most useful features is linking and syncing photo albums from social media networks, photo-sharing platforms, and even online cloud storage platforms like Dropbox. You can link entire albums and have them automatically update every time new photos are added to them.
Pix-Star’s Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames are supported multimedia playback. You can play videos that are up to 2-minutes long, and audio. The frame connects to external speakers, so you can hook it up for an enhanced viewing experience. Multimedia support includes features like viewing the weather, using calendar & reminder apps, and even listening to the radio.
It’s Pix-Star’s ease of use and simplicity, combined with all these features, that make it one of the best value-for-money choices on the market. Each Wi-Fi digital photo frame comes with all features unlocked, and you have free-for-life cloud storage. These features are often locked away behind paywalls with many of the competitors’ frames.
What to look for in a Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame?
Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames need to make the best possible use of their Wi-Fi connectivity. This is the biggest advantage they have over non-Wi-Fi frames, and where you get the most value for money.
Perhaps the most useful Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame feature to look for is web album compatibility. Frames like the Pix-Star can link and download albums from social media accounts and photo-sharing platforms – which are then saved as web albums. Web albums should be automatically updated when new pictures are added to the linked account.
Another extremely helpful feature (especially for gifted frames for grandparents) is remote control capability. This feature lets you control a frame remotely, adjust its settings, manage its content, start slideshows, etc. While it’s not a very common feature, it’s available on some of the top digital frames.
Cloud storage is a key feature to be on the lookout for. Most of the top Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames offer some form of cloud storage. This gives you a place to store photos when your local storage fills up and backs up all your precious photos. It’s worth noting that many top frames charge recurring monthly or annual fees for additional cloud storage (or to unlock some features). As mentioned earlier, some frames like the Pix-Star offer free-for-life cloud storage – giving it quite a big edge over its competitors.
One super-important feature to look out for on Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames is multimedia compatibility. While almost all Wi-Fi frames have limitations on video playback (due to how they’re compressed when sent), some are more lenient than others. Pix-Star is one of the more lenient brands and lets you play video clips with a max length of 2-minutes. Other frames require a premium subscription to unlock video playback, and even then it’s still limited to around one minute. In-built speakers are a must if your family wants to send voice notes or if you want to watch videos with sound.
The last aspect of Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames worth paying attention to is how media is sent/received. We’ve already discussed web albums as an important feature for getting pictures from social media and photo-sharing platforms onto your frame. A well-designed and easy-to-use mobile app and web interface will make your life a whole lot easier. You should be able to perform bulk actions and send media to multiple frames at the same time. Basic features like emailing photos/videos and USB/SD card compatibility are essential.
How to send photos to a Pix-Star Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame?
The quickest and most efficient way to send media to your Pix-Star digital photo frame is through the mobile app. You can select media by browsing through your gallery in the app, or you can natively shoot photos and record video/audio and send it directly to your frame. You additionally have the option to send the same photos to multiple frames at the same time.
Another popular way to send media to your Pix-Star Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frame is via web albums. Simply link your frame to your favorite supported social media accounts and photo-sharing platforms, choose the albums you want to sync, and view them on the frame. They’ll be automatically updated and synced whenever you add new photos to the linked album.
Other ways you can send media to your frame are by email and through connecting a USB/SD card directly to the frame – these two methods are almost universal among the top Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames.
Can Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames work offline?
Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames with internal storage can usually work without a Wi-Fi connection. Web albums and received media are usually saved to local storage and can be viewed offline. Frames like the Pix-Star let you start slideshows, manage content, play games, watch already downloaded videos, and even view web albums that were previously synced.
You need Wi-Fi for syncing new content and updating web albums, along with any weather apps, radio apps, and for firmware updates (and features like remote control).
Do Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames need to be plugged in all the time?
Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames need to be plugged in at all times. Battery-powered frames are very rare and often don’t have Wi-Fi or cloud compatibility.
Most Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames have an auto-on/off feature that can be set to a schedule; and a motion sensor that wakes the frame up when somebody walks into the room.
Wi-Fi cloud digital photo frames like the Pix-Star can still sync, receive, and update even when the screen is off – making sure your frame is always ready with the latest and most recently received media.
