What are the best digital picture frames with video and audio?
Pix-Star’s digital picture frames with video and audio support are some of the most versatile on the market at the moment. With extensive Wi-Fi capabilities and free-for-life cloud storage – these frames are great for families and elderly users.
With the Pix-Star Snap mobile app, you can send pictures to your frames from anywhere in the world. You can select video clips from your phone’s gallery and send them to several frames at the same time. It’s an excellent way to share quick clips while you’re still on holiday or giving your loved ones personalized hello messages from across the world.
Videos can also be loaded to the Pix-Star frame via USB/SD card. Simply load the videos in a compatible file format to any size USB/SD card and insert it into the frame’s relevant port. You can either play slideshows directly off the USB/SD card or can copy its content across to the frame’s internal storage. This method doesn’t require access to the internet and the copied content can even be backed up to the cloud.
Pix-Star’s frame lets you include videos into slideshows. You can decide whether you want to include them or not via the frame’s slideshow settings. Here you can also set the videos to play muted or with their sound. Videos’ sound is played through the frame’s inbuilt speakers and can even be played through connected speakers, headphones, or earphones – via the frame’s USB port or 3.5mm audio input port.
Pix-Star’s frames let you play video clips with a maximum length of 2-minutes. This is more than almost all other digital photo frames and is offered without requiring an active “plus” subscription package. This is the case with other premium frames like the Skylight or Nixplay that require an active annual subscription plan to unlock features like video playback, cloud storage, or the use of the mobile app.
Pix-Star’s immersive 4:3 display lets you naturally showcase video clips without needing prior editing or cropping – which is especially helpful when sending video captures on your smartphones or cameras. Their frames come in either a 10-inch or a larger 15-inch model and offer an immersive viewing experience. You can find Pix-Star’s digital frames here. You can also get unique bulk deals if you’re buying several frames for the whole family (you can remotely manage and control up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames from a single user account).
What to look for in digital picture frames with video support?
If you’re looking for a high-quality digital picture frame with video, you need at least 4GB of internal storage space. Depending on the resolution of the display, this space can fill up quite rapidly – especially if you love sharing special videos and audio messages with your loved ones.
Closely tied to storage are cloud capabilities. You should be able to have your videos and audio messages automatically backed up to the cloud. With frames like the Pix-Star, this is done for you when you send videos to the frame via the mobile app.
On that note, the ability to send videos to your frames from anywhere in the world is essential – especially if you have a big family with several frames. It means you don’t have to be with the frame in-person to share photos and videos. You should be able to send quick video clips from your phones directly to the frame. This is usually done through a supported mobile app, but in some cases, you can do it by email (very rare and comes with a host of restrictions).
Since almost all digital photo frames have restrictions on the size of the length of supported video files, make sure you get one that lets you play at least 1-minute video clips. It’s more common to find cheaper frames with 15-second video clip playback support – though this isn’t enough in practice. Premium frames like the Pix-Star let you send 2-minute video clips.
How to send videos to digital picture frames?
The best way to send video clips to your digital picture frames is by mobile app. It’s worth noting that most digital photo frames don’t offer mobile app support. It’s a feature that’s only limited to a handful of the top digital frames like the Pix-Star. Simply select the video from your phone’s gallery, choose the receiving frames, and send them away. They only take a minute or two to show up on your frame depending on the size and quality of the videos being sent.
A great offline method (and the more common way) is to load the videos onto a compatible USB/SD card. Make sure the videos are in a supported format. Premium frames usually support most common file formats like MPEG-4, so if you’re not sure, common formats are your best bet. This is a great choice for family members that don’t have regular internet access. Read our guide on how to play videos on the Pix-Star digital photo frame here!
Can I play long videos on digital picture frames?
Most digital picture frames have length limits for the videos they support. In some cases, there can be both size & length limits. Almost all frames have specific video file formats that they support and can playback. Some premium frames like the Pix-Star can play 2-minute video clips, though the average is closer to the 30-second mark. Some frames only offer video support for clips of 15-seconds or less.
Digital frames are designed to show and display your photos in customized slideshows, video playback is just a bonus on top. They’re not made to play movies or stream long videos. Even if they could, they’d struggle to compete in this niche with TVs, smartphones, and tablets due to limits display resolution, storage space, and screen refresh rate.
Can I play videos in slideshows on digital picture frames?
Some premium frames like the Pix-Star let you include videos into slideshows. They can play with their accompanying sound or can be set to play muted. That being said, this isn’t a commonly offered feature. Most other digital photo frames can only display videos when individually selected in the frame’s media gallery.
