7 Best Digital Photo Frames (2024): Wi-Fi, High-Res, and Artwork | WIRED

Nov 05, 2024

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Most of us have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos just sitting on our phones and computers that we rarely get to revisit in a polished way. You can always make photo albums, but some deserve to be more on display, and there are just too many to frame. That's why digital photo frames make such a great addition to any home.

If you're thinking of the tacky, pixelated digital frames of the early aughts, you're in for a nice surprise. They've come a long way. They're nice to have around the house, and they also make great gifts. You can set them up for others and push your latest vacation photos straight to them, so your parents or grandparents can always stay up-to-date. Most require a Wi-Fi connection, but we have a pick that doesn't. These are the best digital picture frames (and the worst).

Don't have enough pictures? Check out our many other buying guides, like the Best Compact Cameras, the Best Mirrorless Cameras, the Best Photo Printing Services, and the Best Camera Gear for your Phone.

Updated October 2024: We've added notes on the Pexar by Lexar frame, and updated pricing throughout this guide.

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You might not think that photos count as sensitive information, compared to a bank account statement or your Social Security number. But it can be devastating to find photos of loved ones used for nefarious or unsavory purposes.

This is why we prefer frames from reputable companies like Aura and Nixplay over cheaper ones with less clearly defined privacy and security practices. Nixplay offers reasonable security measures, like encrypting your photos during transmission, and Aura offers the option to delete metadata, like the location where a photo was captured. However, both say they may disclose personal information if court-ordered or subpoenaed, and neither provides safety guarantees against hacking.

If you're concerned about security, you can avoid connecting to third-party services, but your most secure option is to just download several photos on a tablet and disable all internet connectivity.

There's no beating Aura when it comes to digital frames. All of them have high-quality displays and unlimited photo storage. Plus, they're dead simple to set up, use, and share with family and friends. Everything is controlled with the app, so there's no laggy touchscreen to futz with—you can scroll through or heart photos using the touchbar on top. This 2022 version of the Carver drops the price to $149—from there, styles go up to $300, though they're often discounted. The Carver is landscape only, but some other Aura models, like the Mason, can work in portrait too.

Maybe the best part is that Aura frames don't look like shiny computer screens. Several guests have said they didn't realize it was a digital screen until the photo changed, which is exactly what I want. You can use Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to control some features, but you still need Aura's app, which is straightforward to use. There's a scan feature to help better display physical photos or your kid's drawings.

Aura's extra-large frame is designed to give you the option to hang it or place it on a tabletop like the rest of Aura's line. It's got a thin form so that it's hangable, but don't forget the cord will be hanging below it. Still, if you add it to a gallery wall or above some kind of shelving unit, it's easy to hit the cord mostly out of sight.

I've loved the Walden since I can tuck it into the farthest corner of my living room and still enjoy the photos from the kitchen counter. The white, textured mat gives it a high-end look even from across the room, and can work in either landscape or orientation mode. It gets all the other pros of an Aura, like the easy set up and various upload options.

Nixplay frames are comparable to Aura, and if you can get one on sale for cheaper, you'll be happy with it. I typically prefer frames without touch screens because those tend to be low-quality and frustrating. Nixplay is better than the cheaper touch-screen frames, and it's nice to not have to keep track of a remote like some of the brand's other options.

Nixplay frames have additional perks, like a small clock you can add to the display, though that does make it look less like a real photo frame and more like a smart display. Google Assistant can only control power to the frames, but Alexa has more capabilities. As with the Aura, you still need to use the Nixplay app. Nixplay plants a tree for every frame bought, in partnership with Trees for the Future.

Digital photo frames are a great gift for family members to keep them up-to-date on your lives, but not all our parents or grandparents use Wi-Fi. Familink's frame works with or without an internet connection, thanks to its 4G SIM card. Someone will need to set up an account on the website or app (iOS, Android) so that family members can send photos (or even chats) to the frame. It's more expensive than our favorite Aura, and there's no slideshow feature—the most recent addition shows automatically, and you can manually scroll through. But the screen still looks good, and I love the wood frame.

With 4G service, the frame can receive 10 photos per day. You'll get three months free and will then need to pay a monthly fee (about $6.30) to keep it running. If you are using Wi-Fi, there's no monthly fee and you can send unlimited photos.

Loop's touchscreen display was among the best of the options I've tried, and photo quality is solid. You can text photos to the frame instead of having to do it in-app, which is nice if your family member is sending photos to your frame and you don't want them to see your entire slideshow. A few frame options offer the ability to email photos. Vertical photos can be shown side-by-side, auto-stretched, or letter-boxed. For the latter, the background is a blurred image of the photo, but Loop says a black or white option is coming as an app update. I was also impressed by the quality of the rose gold metal stand, which adds an extra element of style.

But there are some quirks that I think can be improved upon. I don't like that you have to do some of the signing-up on the frame and some on the app—and if you want to remove a frame, you have to do a factory reset on the device itself, and then remove it from the app, where your photos will remain. I think it should be app only.

Vieunite's Textura Digital Canvas is beautiful for displaying professional art. It's bright and high-def enough that you don't lose the integrity of the original painting. I tried the walnut frame, which added another beautiful element to the setup. There's a large library with the likes of van Gogh and Monet, as well as modern artists curated by the company.

However, it's extremely expensive so most of us won't be able to get one (even if it cheaper than buying an actual van Gogh). While most of the library comes with the frame, some images cost extra. It's also heavy. You can upload your own photos like a regular digital frame, but for this price, I'd stick to the ones that need intense clarity to shine.

The 15-inch Skylight Frame looks sleek and expensive sitting on my shelf—it should, it costs $300 (the 10-inch frame is $160). Upon closer inspection, you'll see that image quality suffers a bit, especially for the pictures I took on my iPhone. They lose a little bit of detail, but photos taken with a professional camera looked better. The Skylight frame adjusts images to fill the entire screen, but you can zoom out with two fingers like you would on a phone or tablet.

When you create your account, you can set up a custom email address to send photos to or handle everything in the app, as you would on the other frames we like. Like the Aura Walden, there is a wall mount if you want to hang it, and you can install it in either landscape or portrait orientation. If you have a Fire device, like a Fire TV, you can display your images there too. There's an optional subscription, but it doesn't seem worth the money.

If you already have a smart display, you can set it to cycle through your photo albums when it's idle. They're more expensive but you'll get more for your money, plus a voice assistant to control your smart home products and helpful additions like walking you through recipes while you cook. On the downside, smart displays don't blend into your decor the way digital frames are designed to. They can also be tricky to navigate for those who aren't tech-savvy, and built-in microphones and cameras come with privacy concerns.

We think smart displays are becoming less necessary, and we're not sure how long they'll be around. Google has stopped providing updates to some third-party displays, and we suspect more companies will follow. That being said, the Pixel Tablet is our favorite, since it can transport like a tablet but sit on its dock like a smart display. The Google Nest Hub Max is a nice cheaper option from the same brand, and both Google options allow you to easily display an album from your Google Photos account. The 3rd Gen Echo Show 8 is good for fans of Alexa, but it's not as photo-first as any Google option.

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