The Best Digital Photo Frame

Digital photo frames are nothing new. In fact, they’ve been around since the 1990s. But if you haven’t shopped for one of these innovations for a while, you may not realize just how far they’ve come. Today’s digital photo frames are built for the way consumers store their photos, often relying heavily on Wi-Fi connectivity and online photo importing.

The first feature to note when buying a photo frame is resolution. When you’re pulling photos in from various sources, you probably won’t always have them in the highest resolution available. Some frames will also automatically orient your photos, avoiding that annoying issue of photos displaying sideways.

Getting photos onto the frame is the biggest challenge. Most frames connect to Wi-Fi, but you can often save significant money by opting for a version that relies solely on USB devices for photo importing. If you choose Wi-Fi, make sure you also have a USB option if that’s important to you. You should also research whether a frame will pull photos from your social media feeds, as well as whether you can email photos directly to your frame.

No matter which model you choose, storage space is an important factor. Some frames let you use cloud storage, but with many, you’ll be limited on the number of photos you can store on the actual frame. Some frames come with an online photo management tool that lets you store all your photos in the cloud, eliminating the need to rely on onboard storage.

Once you’ve nailed down the features, your choice may boil down to how the frame actually looks. Many of today’s frames have sleek, classy designs that look more like a small computer monitor than a traditional photo frame. Some come in multiple color options, as well, making it easier to find one that matches your own home or office décor.

• Whether it’s photos of your last vacation or your child’s soccer game, you want your images to display as vividly as possible. This comes down primarily to resolution. The Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame has a high-resolution 1024 x 768 display that offers vivid colors and contrast. The Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame, by comparison, offers only 800 x 600 resolution.
• Since many of today’s photos are taken using a smartphone camera, Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame uses a 4:3 aspect ratio that matches the aspect ratio on a smartphone.
• Frame size is also a factor. Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame gives you a choice of an 8-inch, 10-inch, 10-inch widescreen or 13-inch widescreen frame. With the Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame, you can choose between a 10-inch, 10.4-inch or 15-inch model. The PhotoSpring 10-inch WiFi Cloud Digital Picture Frame comes in either 8-inch or 10.1-inch versions. With the NIX Advance Digital Photo Frame, you get a variety of options, from 8-inch to 17.3-inch frames or 8-inch to 13-inch widescreen frames.
• One unique feature of the Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame is that its power cord doubles as a stand, which eliminates the need to figure out where to put the cord so that it’s out of the way.
• Whether you choose portrait or landscape mode for your frame, you won’t want to have to waste time manually rotating all your photos so that they face the right direction. The NIX Advance Digital Photo Frame automatically flips your photo orientation to what it needs to be based on how you’ve set up your frame.
• At one time, a new digital photo frame required a setup process. Today’s frames make it much easier to get up and running. With the Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame, you can use the Nixplay app to pull photos from your social media, email and cloud accounts. The Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame can access photos from more than 20 online providers, including Facebook.
• Another feature found in many modern digital frames is the ability to email a photo directly to your frame. With the Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame, you can share photos through either email or a smartphone. If you capture a photo on your phone, you can set the frame up to immediately import it. The Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame also lets you email your photos. The PhotoSpring 10-inch WiFi Cloud Digital Picture Frame uses a smartphone app to help you share your photos with your frame.
• The NIX Advance Digital Photo Frame doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi at all. To load photos onto the frame, you’ll need to use either an SD card or USB port, which means you’ll have to load them up manually. This also means you won’t have access to cloud-based storage. The PhotoSpring 10-inch WiFi Cloud Digital Picture Frame has the opposite issue. You’ll have Wi-Fi connectivity, but no USB or memory card option, which means a Wi-Fi connection will be necessary if you want to add photos to it.
• If you plan to store photos directly on the frame, you’ll need to find one with plenty of built-in space. The Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame builds in 8GB of internal memory for storage. The Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame provides only 4GB, but you can also add to that storage by hooking up a USB device or memory card.
• Although the NIX Advance Digital Photo Frame doesn’t connect to Wi-Fi, you do get a big benefit in exchange for giving that up. This frame is far cheaper than others on the market, retailing for less than $100. The Nixplay Seed WiFi Digital Photo Frame and PhotoSpring 10-inch WiFi Cloud Digital Picture Frame sell for between $100 and $200. You’ll pay significantly more for the Pix-Star 10.4 Inch Wi-Fi Cloud Digital Photo Frame, which retails for more than $250.