How does the Sylvania digital photo frame compare to the Pix-Star frame?
The Sylvania digital photo frame looks and sounds great on paper. It promises features that you only get on more expensive frames while costing about half as much. It’s meant to be a frame that lets you easily send photos from your phone or on a USB/SD card directly to the frame. Some of the more basic features do work to some extent, the frame doesn’t quite deliver as you’d expect it to – based on the claims it makes.
On the other hand, the Pix-Star frame is one of the best digital photo frames on the market. While it is priced like a premium digital frame, it has the features, functionality, and versatility to back it up. You get a top-of-the-line build quality, one of the richest feature sets on the market, and a whole load of useful functions that actually work when you need them to.
The most prominent difference between the Pix-Star and the Sylvania digital photo frame is cloud compatibility. This feature is one of the Pix-Star’s most useful features and allows it to save, send, and receive media directly to and from the cloud. This is not possible on the Sylvania digital photo frame. You can send photos to the frame by connecting the frame to Wi-Fi (which has some compatibility issues) and sending them from your phone via the app (when it works).
You can also send photos to a USB or SD card and insert them into your frame. Unfortunately, you can’t view these photos directly from the USB/SD card and need to transfer them to the frame’s 8GB internal storage. On top of this, there is only a Micro-USB port (not a standard port) and adaptors seldom work.
The Pix-Star frame can link web albums (pictures from social media and photo sharing platforms) and send/receive media from several different sources at the same time (and to multiple frames). When you consider features of the Pix-Star frame like remote control capability, connecting and sending media to multiple frames at the same time, ease of use, control over how content is displayed, and features like weather apps and listening to the radio – it’s hard to justify the value of the Sylvania digital photo frame. Its lack of functionality and versatility becomes immediately noticeable and the user experience can quickly become incredibly frustrating.
There are several other issues with the Sylvania digital photo frame such as an overly reflective screen that needs to be cleaned after every touch. Long-term durability and build quality are questionable and not quite on the level of Pix-Star and other top-ranking digital photo frames. The mobile app is limited to sending only 10 photos at a time with the same caption, and the lack of a web interface severely reduces usability. Video playback is limited to 15-second clips and you don’t have much control over the order photos are displayed in – plus they often get off-centered when transferred to the frame.
If your budget can stretch a little further, Pix-Star’s frame offers a simpler, quicker, and more versatile experience. The features work seamlessly and the overall experience is smooth and consistent. It makes for a better gift for elderly users and large families – and quickly becomes a useful and important part of your family life.
Is the Sylvania digital photo frame worth the money?
Sylvania digital photo frames are quite a bit cheaper than many of the top digital photo frames on the market – though this doesn’t mean they offer better value. The lower price is quickly reflected by the lack of refinement of features and functions. Issues like struggling to connect to Wi-Fi networks and a mobile app that doesn’t always work are reflective of the lower price.
Other issues like the screen being way too reflective are seemingly insignificant but have a huge effect on the Sylvania digital photo frame’s usability. This overly reflective screen is like a fingerprint magnet and needs to be cleaned after every touch. Unfortunately, the only way to control the frame is through the touchscreen interface – so be prepared to wipe after every swipe.
There are also several limitations on how photos are sent to the frame. The app doesn’t allow more than 10 photos to be sent at a time (with the same caption) and you can’t send the same photos to multiple frames. This is quite a big drawback when you consider that the Pix-Star frame can link to up to 25 frames at the same time from a single account. This, combined with the lack of features and functions, sets the Sylvania digital photo frame back by a significant margin.
It’s hard to justify its slightly lower price when flagship frames like the Pix-Star aren’t too much more expensive – yet offer several more features and include systems like cloud storage, web albums, and a web interface. All of this – and more – means that the Sylvania digital photo frame struggles to compete and find its place on the market. If your budget can stretch a little, you get access to some of the best digital photo frames on the market (like the Pix-Star and others).
How to send pictures to a Sylvania digital photo frame?
You can only send photos to a Sylvania digital photo frame via the mobile app or on a Micro-USB or SD card. Note that you can’t display photos directly from the USB or SD card; they need to be transferred to the frame’s internal storage first.
Are Sylvania digital photo frames multimedia compatible?
Sylvania digital photo frames can only display 15-second video clips and photos. There is no support for longer video clips or audio playback. You are also quite limited when choosing the display order and style of photo playback during slideshows.
Does the Sylvania digital photo frame have a good display?
Sylvania digital photo frames have an extremely reflective screen and a rather limited viewing angle. This is quite uncommon when compared to top digital frames like the Pix-Star that have matte finished with a broad viewing angle.
Sylvania digital photo frames are operated via a touchscreen, meaning you have to constantly clean fingerprints and oily marks off the screen. The lower-resolution screen and LED-lit backlight mean that the display isn’t as vibrant and bright as top frames like the Pix-Star. Given that Sylvania digital photo frames aren’t much cheaper than premium frames like the Pix-Star – these issues are a little surprising.
