How does the GiiNii digital photo frame work?
The GiiNii digital photo frame is a decent low to mid-range digital frame that’s designed to be simple and offline. You cannot connect the frame to Wi-Fi and there are no features related to cloud compatibility and support. This means you don’t get any mobile app, web interface, or Wi-Fi-enabled features that let you send photos to the GiiNii digital photo frame.
There are a couple of choices for sending photos to the GiiNii digital photo frame. The easiest and most common is via USB/SD card. Make sure your card meets the compatibility requirements (different types of cards and drives are limited by their max storage size). You can find this information in the user manual.
Load your photos onto the USB/SD card, insert them into the frame’s relevant port, and the auto-copy feature will prompt you to allow the pictures to be copied. Once you allow this, they’ll be copied across to the frame’s internal storage. It’s worth noting that you only get 128MB of internal storage space, which isn’t a whole lot. The frame will fill up the available space and then stop copying. You’ll need to manually delete photos to make space for newer ones to be copied.
The other way to send photos to your GiiNii digital photo frame is by connecting it to a computer via a USB cable. Once you’ve connected the frame to your computer, you might need to follow the setup wizard. Note that there is no 3rd party app or connection manager. The frame will simply be registered as a storage device. Here you can drag and drop photos to the frame’s internal storage – just make sure the photos match the supported format type, size, and resolution (and possibly aspect ratio).
You can control the GiiNii digital photo frame through a mix of onboard controls and the handheld remote control – though the 7-inch model doesn’t come with a remote controller.
How does the GiiNii digital photo frame compare to the Pix-Star frame?
Admittedly, this isn’t the fairest comparison as the Pix-Star is a premium digital photo frame; whereas the GiiNii digital frame is a budget choice. That being said, it’s often worth seeing if you’d be better off by getting a premium digital frame by saving up a little longer. Is the extra versatility and functionality worth the steeper price tag?
With Pix-Star’s digital frame, you can send photos to your frame from anywhere in the world. This can be done through the web interface, via email, or with the intuitive mobile app. It just takes a few seconds to capture new photos, videos, and audio, and send them to multiple frames at the same time. This offers massive utility for big families and those with elderly frame users as you can keep their frames up to date with the latest photos without having them be next to their frame in person.
Pix-Star’s frame also offers you free-for-life and unlimited cloud storage. This is quite rare to find even at the top end of the digital frames market. All your photos and other media from any connected frame are saved to the cloud. You can export it, manage it, and make changes through the web interface.
A unique cloud-enabled feature is the ability to link web albums to your Pix-Star frame (and all connected frames). Web albums include photos and full albums from online storage sites including Dropbox, OneDrive and SmugMug. They’re automatically updated when you add new photos and all web albums are saved to the frame’s 16 GB internal storage for offline availability.
Unlike the GiiNii digital photo frame, the Pix-Star frame makes extensive use of Wi-Fi to enable features like web radio & music, web album support, remote control functionality (you can control the frame as though you were there in person), alerts & reminders, and much more.
With a better display, more features, a smooth user interface, and free cloud storage – it’s well worth upgrading and getting a premium frame like the Pix-Star. While it might be a little more expensive, the boost in versatility, durability, usability and functionality gives you way more value than you’re paying for.
Can a GiiNii digital photo frame connect to Wi-Fi?
GiiNii digital photo frames don’t connect to Wi-Fi, though they do have limited connectivity when connecting to a computer via a USB cable. This is usually where you’ll update the GiiNii digital photo frame’s firmware – though you might need to manually download it beforehand. GiiNii’s digital frames don’t have any Wi-Fi or cloud-related features or functions.
How to perform a GiiNii digital photo frame’s firmware upgrade?
To perform a GiiNii digital photo frame’s firmware upgrade, head over to the “Settings” page, by selecting it from the main menu. When you’re on the main “Settings” page, navigate down to the “General Settings” section (it should be after the “Date and Time” section).
Once you’ve found the “General Settings”, scroll to the bottom of the section and locate the “FW Upgrade” option. Make sure that “Yes”. This will make sure that your GiiNii digital photo frame’s firmware upgrade is done when one becomes available.
If you navigate to the “Information Page”, you can check your GiiNii digital photo frame’s firmware version. It should be the first item on the list. If you’re in doubt, refer to your user manual, or check with the support team to see if you have the latest compatible firmware version on your GiiNii digital frame.
Can I play videos on the GiiNii digital photo frame?
GiiNii digital photo frames are not multimedia compatible. This means that you can only send, store, and display photos on the frame. Most similar budget-friendly digital photo frames like the GiiNii frame don’t support video or audio playback.
If this feature is important to you, more premium digital frames like the Pix-Star (discussed above) offer multimedia support, allowing you to play videos with or without their accompanying sound – or even to play audio-only notes and messages.
How to send photos to GiiNii digital picture frames?
Since GiiNii digital picture frames can’t connect to Wi-Fi and don’t offer any cloud functionality, they can only work offline. The only offline for sending pictures to the frame is by USB/SD card. It’s worth noting that cards larger than 32GB aren’t supported and you’ll need to ensure that all the photos are in the right format. You aren’t going to have much control over the play order & frequency of the photos played in slideshows directly from the USB/SD card. You can only play a randomized slideshow will all of the photos on the USB/SD card – there’s no way to select specific folders or files to play from.
Can GiiNii digital picture frames be wall mounted?
GiiNii digital picture frames can only be rested on a flat surface via the frame’s stand. Unlike many premium and mid-range digital frames, the GiiNii doesn’t come with any standard VESA mount or dedicated hanging holes. This is common for cheap digital frames. It’s also worth noting that these frames are not battery-powered – as is suggested on their Amazon page. They need to be connected to the power outlet at all times. There are quite a lot of complaints that the frame was delivered without the power adapter or cable – so make sure to do all the checks during the initial unboxing.
How long do GiiNii digital picture frames last?
GiiNii digital picture frames don’t have a good reputation when it comes to building quality and longevity. Their Amazon product page is littered with one-star reviews claiming that the frame was delivered non-functional, with missing parts or damage to the display/body, and more. Make sure to keep all the original packaging and accessories in case you need to return the frame for a refund. Better yet, avoid all these potential issues and get a more premium digital picture frame like the Pix-Star.
Is the GiiNii digital picture frame battery-powered?
GiiNii digital picture frames come with batteries and a battery port where they’re installed. That being said, these frames don’t run on battery power. You’ll need to keep them connected to a power outlet to use the frame. They can’t run without being connected to a power source.