Nixplay 2K Smart

Share photos and videos from your phone or by email to the nixplay smart frame, wherever it is; a great gift for new parents, grandparents, newlyweds, college kids or families separated by distance
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Nixplay 2K Smart

Digital Picture Frame 9.7

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Facebook Portal

-Smart Video

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Google

Nest Hub

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PhotoShare

Friends and Family

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Nixplay Seed

Wave 13.3 Inch

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Best skylight frame Reviews

We capture so many priceless moments on our cameras and smartphones, and they deserve to be displayed on no less than the best digital photo frames. Modern digital frames let you break those pictures free from your memory cards or hard drives and show them off as personal pieces of home décor. Unlike traditional frames, you don’t need to get your photos printed, and you don’t need to swap out each picture manually when you want a change of pace; most frames can store and rotate through hundreds of images. Plus, since it’s typically easy to learn to use a digital photo frame, users of just about any age or tech skill can handle and appreciate the upgrade.

There are plenty of options on the market for digital picture frames, and most can take on their basic functions just fine. You can find screens as small as 7 or 8 inches, and as big as 14 inches and up. You’ll encounter a broad range of display resolutions, storage capacities, and frame styles. Frames today support more advanced technology than ever, with many harnessing Wi-Fi connectivity for wireless uploads and controls. Some even serve as multifunction smart devices, with voice commands, video calls, smart-home integration, and more.

We narrowed the options down to frames of the best quality, value, and features—see which of these might be the ideal fit for your home or for giving to loved ones as a thoughtful, practical gift.

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Nixplay 2K Smart Digital Picture Frame 9.7

  • GIFT THE TOP-SELLING FRAME AND STAY CONNECTED: Share photos and videos from your phone or by email to the Nixplay frame, wherever it is; A great gift for new parents, grandparents, newlyweds, college kids or families separated by distance
  • SHARE PHOTOS AND VIDEO (UP TO 15 SEC.) PRIVATELY, SAFELY: Send photos and photo playlists to your loved ones’ frames and invite others to share pictures to your frame; Create a photo-sharing network for your family that’s private, secure, and GDPR and CCPA-compliant
  • MANAGE THE FRAME USING YOUR PHONE: The Nixplay App for iOS and Android gives you full control over your frame; Connect to Google Photos to ensure your frame is always up to date; Dropbox, Facebook and Instagram also supported from website

Nixplay’s line of Smart Photo Frames embody sophistication in both design and modern functionality, and the 9.7-inch W10G model is about as good as it gets. While there are larger sizes available from Nixplay and other manufacturers, the W10G’s screen boasts a super-crisp 2048×1536-pixel (2K) resolution that few frames can match. Even the beveled frame around the display makes it a gorgeous addition to any room, with a shiny, metallic silver finish as the most striking option.

Turn a Nixplay Smart Photo Frame around and you’ll find advanced design touches there, as well. The brand’s signature honeycomb pattern weaves across the back surface, and you can stick the included magnetic remote to it so you don’t lose it when it’s not in use. Also sticking out from behind the device is a semi-rigid power cord that doubles as a fully adjustable stand that props the frame up in either portrait or landscape mode. It’s an innovative design solution that Nixplay has made quite reliable over the various iterations of its products.

What We Like

  • Beautiful 2K-resolution display

  • Elegant, effective frame design

  • Advanced cloud-based features

What We Don’t Like

  • Internet connection required

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Facebook Portal - Smart Video

  • Easily video call with friends and family using your Messenger, WhatsApp or Zoom account, even if they don’t have Portal.
  • Smart Camera automatically pans and zooms to keep everyone in frame, so you can catch up hands-free.
  • Hear and be heard. Smart Sound enhances your voice while minimizing unwanted background noise.
  • Experience even more together. Join or host a group call of up to 50 people with Messenger Rooms.
  • Become some of your children’s favorite storybook characters as you read along to well-loved tales with music, animation and immersive AR effects.

Able to serve as more than just a static photo frame, the Facebook Portal bills itself as a smart video calling device. You can use it to video chat with your contacts on Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, with a crystal-clear four-microphone array and a 13MP camera covering a wide 114-degree field of vision. Making the experience even better is Portal’s ability to intelligently follow faces around the room, smoothly keeping people in the frame and letting you zoom in on subjects. On top of this are entertaining effects and games powered by augmented reality (AR). Along with a read-along Story Time mode, it’s handy for kids who might not otherwise have much to say on a video call.

The Portal’s bright, sharp display works wonders for both video chats and your photos. When you’re not interacting with the device, its “Superframe” slideshow mode kicks in, displaying your selected photo albums from Facebook or Instagram, or ones uploaded directly from your phone. It also has Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant fully integrated, letting you ask quick questions, get weather updates, set timers, and more. This does mean—even though there is a switch to block off the camera and mic—that the Portal is generally always listening and always connected to Facebook, leading to privacy concerns that could make some users uneasy.

What We Like

  • Dynamic video-calling features

  • High-quality photo frame

  • Serves as a large Alexa dis

What We Don’t Like

  • Pricey if you only want a frame

  • Calls only through Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp

  • Privacy concerns

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Hand Massager with Heat

With all the features that can be packed into a Wi-Fi-enabled display, it makes sense for modern frames to do more than show a few pictures. The Google Nest Hub is a prime example—it excels as both a digital photo frame and a smart hub for your connected home. The compact device serves as a dashboard for controlling smart home products like your thermostat, lights, or security cameras, whether they’re from Google Nest or other supported providers. And you can do it all with your voice through the very capable built-in Google Assistant.

Though it’s on the small side with its 7-inch display and sub-HD 1024×600 resolution, the Nest Hub looks great as a picture frame. This is in large part thanks to automatic brightness and color adjustments that help the display blend into any room. (Google’s higher-end Nest Hub Max has a larger 10-inch screen and other upgrades, but the standard Nest Hub has plenty going for it at a notably lower price.) It displays photos straight from your Google Photos collection, which can include dynamically updated albums of any people and pets. You can also stream music from services like Spotify and Pandora through its small but capable speakers, as well as play video from YouTube and—more recently—Netflix.

What We Like

  • Multifunction smart home device

  • Excellent for photos and video

  • Convenient voice assistant

What We Don’t Like

  •  Small 7-inch screen

  • No offline media suppor

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PhotoShare Friends and Family Smart Frame Digital Photo

  • SEND PHOTOS & MESSAGES FROM YOUR PHONE TO FRAMES IN SECONDS with the free PhotoShare App
  • CREATE YOUR OWN PERSONAL PHOTO & MESSAGE SOCIAL NETWORK with your closest friends and family
  • MULTIPLE PHOTOS MAY BE SENT TO UP TO 10 PHOTOSHARE FRAMES AT ONCE
  • PHOTOS CAN BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PHOTOSHARE FRAME VIA EMAIL, from PC or via Link with Facebook
  • PHOTOS CAN BE SENT FROM GOOGLE PHOTOS or other photo apps, making it fast, easy and fun to find and share your favorite pictures with friends and family

The Brookstone PhotoShare offers a good combination of high design, offline features, and Wi-Fi technology in one elegant digital photo frame. Available is matte black or espresso, its wood construction promotes durability, and you can opt for 8-inch, 10-inch, or 14-inch sizes. Also included are black and white mattes, so you can change the design based on your home decor. 

The Wi-Fi-enabled frame has a companion app, as well as its own email address. It only runs on 2.4GHz, but through the companion app, you can send photos from your photo library or Facebook to the PhotoShare. Friends and family can use the frame’s email address to send you photos, and you can add video clips too. It has a built-in speaker for audio, so you can add background music or hear the audio in video clips. With SD and USB slots, you can locally add content or expand the storage. 

What We Like

  • Durable design

  • Frame has its own email address

  • Wi-Fi capable

  • Built-in speaker

  • USB and SD expansion

What We Don’t Like

  • Not battery operated (limits portability)

  • App could be more feature rich

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Nixplay Seed Wave 13.3 Inch WiFi Digital Picture Frame

  • Gift the top-selling frame and stay connected: Share photos and videos from your phone or by email to the Nixplay frame, wherever it is; A great gift for new parents, grandparents, newlyweds, college kids or families separated by distance.
  • Share photos and video (up to 15 sec.) Privately, safely: Send photos and photo playlists to your loved ones’ frames and invite others to share pictures to your frame; Create a photo-sharing network for your family that’s private, secure, and GDPR and CCPA-compliant.
  • Print photo service with fuji: The Nixplay App for iOS and Android gives you full control over your frame; Connect to Google Photos to ensure your frame is always up to date; Dropbox, Facebook and Instagram also supported from website.
  • Get the smart frame that is truly smart: 16:9 aspect ratio display with 1920 x 1080 resolution auto adjusts to portrait or landscape placement; Motion sensor turns the frame on/off when you enter/leave the room; Works with Amazon Alexa, just ask for the playlist you want.

If you want the strong sound to go along with strong visuals, the Seed Wave from Nixplay is here to satisfy your eyes and ears. The 13.3-inch, the widescreen 1920×1080-pixel display is already among the larger and nicer-looking digital frames you can find. It then adds on a pair of very capable 5W speakers that can pump out the solid volume and bass output from behind the device. With the ability to connect it to your audio sources via Bluetooth, you have a picture frame that can easily fill a room with your tunes without bringing in a separate set of speakers.

Nixplay designed the Seed Wave with some high-quality hardware, and it doesn’t skimp on the software side, either. Once the frame is connected to your home Wi-Fi network and a Nixplay account, you can upload photos directly from your phone, from cloud storage like Google Photos and Dropbox, or from social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. The frame itself can hold 8GB of pictures at a time, and a free 10GB of online storage comes with your account. You can also connect and play video files, but it’s limited to 15-second clips.

What We Like

  • Large, Full HD display

  • Powerful Bluetooth speakers

  • Extensive online features

What We Don’t Like

  • Expensive

  • Setup can get complicated

About Our Trusted Experts

Anton Galang is a Lifewire writer with a background in journalism and more than 12 years of experience in the areas of tech and education. He tested several digital photo frames for Lifewire and ended up keeping a few for his home and giving others as gifts.

Andy Zahn is a Lifewire writer and reviewer with expertise in all sorts of consumer technology—with the added bonus of photography experience that helped inform his testing of the Google Nest Hub and other digital frames.

Erika Rawes has been writing for Lifewire since 2019. Specializing in consumer technology, she’s previously been published on Digital Trends, USA Today, and others. She’s reviewed a number of smart home and lifestyle devices, including several digital photo frames.

FAQs

How do I add photos to a digital photo frame?
Different frames offer different ways of loading your photos, so you’ll want to check if it supports the method you prefer to use. More basic frames have a port for a USB storage drive and/or a slot for an SD card, so you’ll need to load your files to an acceptable medium and then plug it in. (Some frames ship with a modest-sized SD card for you to use.) Some frames have internal storage to transfer your pictures into; otherwise, you’ll have to leave your drive or card inserted.

More advanced digital frames connect to the Internet and let you send photos via e-mail, upload wirelessly from your computer or smartphone, or link directly to your existing photo storage or social media accounts. Many of these web-based frames don’t allow for offline photo transfers, so it’s often a case of one or the other.

Do digital photo frames run on batteries?
While there are some frames that are powered by rechargeable batteries, most displays use too much power to run efficiently on batteries. Having a high-end LCD screen displaying images all or most of the day usually requires that it be connected to a power source, i.e., a power adaptor plugged into the wall. In most cases, the frame is intended to serve as a piece of home décor that stays plugged in and stationary.

Can I hang a digital photo frame on the wall?
Traditional photo frames could easily be hung on your wall in any orientation, but digital frames need to specifically account for this option for it to be viable. With the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame, for example, you can remove the adjustable kickstand from the back to access the wall-mounting holes and then use the included hardware (or other VESA-compatible accessories). Digital art frames like the Meural Canvas are designed to be displayed on the wall, and you can purchase it with a standard or swivel-friendly mount. Other frames may have stands, power cords, and other pieces in the back that prevent them from being hung against a wall.

What to Look for in a Digital Photo Frame

Display – Display size is likely a personal preference, with models measuring as small as seven inches and as large as 21 inches. This decision is largely based on your interior design and how much room you have for the frame. Resolution, though, is less negotiable. Some of the best frames out there offer 1920×1080 16:9 IPS displays that will be visibly sharper to the naked eye than lower-resolution models.

Memory – The more memory a digital photo frame has, the more photos (and even videos) the device can store. Most offer between 4GB to 32GB of storage, with some even offering additional capacity via USB, SD, and SDHC memory cards. Still, 4GB of memory can hold about 20,000 pictures, so that should be ample unless you’re uploading large videos.

Cloud features – Higher-end frames today can connect to Wi-Fi and take advantage of a wide assortment of cloud-based functionality. This can include everything from uploading pictures through a computer or mobile device to social media integration and sharing to remote control via a mobile app. Such features can add a lot of convenience and flexibility, but at the same time can make installation and use of the frame much more complicated than some users want to deal with.

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