{"id":2448,"date":"2022-01-25T08:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T08:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pix-star.com\/blog\/?p=2448"},"modified":"2022-01-25T08:27:02","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T08:27:02","slug":"skylight-digital-frame-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pix-star.com\/blog\/buying-guides\/skylight-digital-frame-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Skylight Digital Frame Any Good in the Real-World?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Can the Skylight digital frame play videos and audio?<\/h2>

The only way to play video and audio files on the Skylight digital frame is to pay for the Skylight Plus subscription. This is required to unlock video playback. Even with Skylight Plus active, you can only play one-minute video clips on the frame.For comparison, Pix-Star\u2019s digital frames<\/a> let you play two-minute video clips, send them to the frame via the mobile app or by USB\/SD card, include them in slideshows, play audio over slideshows, and much more \u2013 all without charging any extra fees.This means that even with purchasing the Skylight Plus subscription package, these frames struggle to compete with most other premium options. Pix-Star\u2019s frames even let you listen to web music & radio. Alternatively, you can play audio files on the frame from a connected USB\/SD card and connect external speakers\/headphones for a more immersive viewing experience!<\/p> <\/div>

Do Skylight digital frame work without Wi-Fi?<\/h2>

Skylight digital frames<\/a> have internal storage to save all photos loaded to the frame via email or through the mobile app \u2013 though this is only one dimension of the problem. Skylight\u2019s frames don\u2019t let you load photos to the frame by USB\/SD card, and the email\/mobile app method is locked behind the Skylight Plus subscription paywall.If you don\u2019t subscribe to Skylight Plus and don\u2019t have photos saved to the frame\u2019s internal storage, there\u2019s no way to load photos to the Skylight offline. That being said, once photos are saved on the frame\u2019s internal storage, you can view them in slideshows. It\u2019s worth noting that there are very few slideshow controls available on the Skylight frame \u2013 whether or not the frame is connected to Wi-Fi.<\/p> <\/div>

Is the Skylight Plus subscription on their digital frame worth it?<\/h2>

Skylight Plus is an optional subscription for Skylight digital frame users to unlock specific features and functions. Some other top frames like Nixplay<\/a> use a similar subscription model (Nixplay Plus). Skylight Plus is required if you\u2019d like to send photos by email from anywhere in the world, send and play videos on the frame, add text captions to photos, unlock and expand cloud storage, grant online access to your frame\u2019s content, access to the mobile app, and the ability to create custom albums.The main issue with Skylight Plus is that almost all of these features are offered for free on competing frames like the Pix-Star or Dragon Touch digital frames. Without an active Skylight Plus subscription, the Skylight digital frame is essentially no different from a cheap or mid-range frame. You can\u2019t send photos wirelessly, can\u2019t access any photos online, don\u2019t get cloud storage, can\u2019t play videos, etc.When you consider that the Skylight frame is slightly more expensive than Pix-Star\u2019s frames, it\u2019s hard to justify charging an additional subscription fee \u2013 especially when Pix-Star\u2019s frames offer the same (and better) features for free. The Skylight Plus subscription is not worth the money and lacks the uniqueness to justify its long-term cost. You\u2019d get much better value for money with a top digital frame like the Pix-Star or Dragon Touch \u2013 or any other non-subscription-based digital frame!<\/p> <\/div>

How to view photos from Facebook on the Skylight digital frame?<\/h2>

Skylight digital frames don\u2019t have a feature that lets you import photos from external sources like Facebook<\/a> or Instagram. The only way to get these photos onto the Skylight frame is to download them to your phone or computer and transfer them to the Skylight frame via the Skylight app. This is better when done on the mobile app as it\u2019s less buggy than when done on a computer.This isn\u2019t the ideal setup as it takes a lot of manual input. Since social media is such a commonly used method for photo-sharing, we\u2019d expect any modern digital frame to offer a way to import photos. For example, Pix-Star\u2019s frames offer a robust web album feature. This feature lets you import photo albums from external sources like social media, photo-sharing, and online storage platforms. They\u2019re linked, synced, and saved to each connected Pix-Star frame\u2019s internal storage.Once saved locally, these web albums are accessible offline and can be set to automatically update & sync any new photos that get added to any linked albums. It\u2019s an excellent way for families to share photos with the family \u2013 while requiring very little input on the receiving frames.<\/p> <\/div>

Is the Skylight digital picture frame better than the Pix-Star?<\/h2>

On paper, the Skylight digital picture frame looks like an excellent alternative to the Pix-Star frame. Unfortunately, when you look at their real-world practicality, Pix-Star\u2019s frames are the clear winner. Pix-Star\u2019s frames have a far more robust feature set and they don\u2019t require an additional subscription fee to unlock features like cloud storage<\/a>, video playback, access to the mobile app, etc.While Skylight digital frames have great picture quality, the display is severely let down by the 16:9 aspect ratio. Pictures are often surrounded by black bars and the \u201csmart fill\u201d feature often ends up cropping or distorting them. By contrast, Pix-Star\u2019s frames use a 4:3 aspect ratio. Since most of our modern smartphones capture photos in 4:3, they use the display\u2019s full area and pictures aren\u2019t unnecessarily edited or cropped. This is a massive time saver as you don\u2019t need to manually resize every picture you send to the frames.Without the Skylight Plus subscription, Skylight\u2019s digital frames don\u2019t compete with top frames like the Pix-Star. Their severely limited feature sets leave them with few ways to load photos to the frame wirelessly. You can\u2019t play videos or audio, you don\u2019t have access to the mobile app (or online access to your frame\u2019s content), and no cloud storage & related features.On the other hand, Pix-Star\u2019s offers free-for-life cloud storage, access to the mobile app & web interface, remote control functionality, web album support, online access, USB\/SD card support with a plug & play feature, video & audio playback, and more. Pix-Star\u2019s are not only overall better digital frames than Skylight, but they\u2019re also one of the best on today\u2019s market \u2013 especially when you consider their excellent price point and zero additional costs.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Learn everything you need to know about the Skylight digital frame before buying! Are they really worth the money?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\n