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For many people, the iPhone serves as their main camera, and images captured with the device often live on smartphones, computers, and social networks. Printing photos for display requires additional hardware or the hassle of ordering online and waiting for pictures to arrive.

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Aura Frames aims to make your photos more accessible through digital picture frames, which connect to power and cycle through the images and videos that you've taken with your iPhone. Aura has a range of frames available at different price points, but this review focuses on the Mason, which offers a nine inch HD display.

At $199, the Mason is not cheap, but there are lower priced options and Aura has sales around holidays. The Mason has an HD display (1600x1200) that isn't as high quality as the 2K display offered on some higher-end models, but it does have the versatility to be used in either portrait or landscape mode, which is a plus.

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Basically the Mason is an LED display inside of a picture frame, and it connects to your WiFi network and plugs in to show a rotating selection of images that you choose. The frame measures in at 9.7 inches tall and 7.6 inches wide, and it is about two inches thick, so it's not too far off from a larger-sized 8x10 photo frame that you might have on a desk or a bookshelf. It is fairly thick at two inches, but this allows it to stand up on its own in either orientation.

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Setup consists of plugging it in and using the Aura app to connect to WiFi, and it's a fairly painless process. Note that you are going to need a 2.4GHz network as it is not compatible with 5GHz, which is a downside. Sometimes trying to set up on a mixed 2.4GHz/5GHz network can be a hassle that requires some troubleshooting, but it was seamless for me.

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Since this is an LED display, it needs constant power, so you need to set it up near an outlet and deal with a cable. It has a proprietary cable that plugs into the back, and the braided cord is a good length so you should be able to set it up almost anywhere. It comes with cable management clips so you can neatly wind up any extra cord that's not needed, tucking it behind the frame. There's a speaker in the frame for video content, and while it's not the best speaker I've heard, it's decent enough. I personally don't care for sound, so I have that turned off.

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At the top and side of the frame, there are touch-based controls for swapping photos with a swipe, excluding a photo from the slideshow, or deleting a photo. Videos can be set to play automatically, and it's worth noting that Live Photos will also animate. The frame does attempt to put the subject of an image in the middle and will zoom in on images that are in the wrong orientation or add black bars to the sides. Sometimes the framing has been off, but that can be adjusted. Images can also display information about where they were captured, which is useful for vacation photos.

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Using the Aura requires an iOS device that's running iOS 13 or later, or it works with an Android device using Android 5.0 or later. Cross-platform functionality is nice because it means that everyone in the family can contribute photos to the Aura by downloading the Aura app.

In the app, you can see each Aura you're connected to in the sidebar, and there are options for setting it up for yourself or for someone else. I have used both workflows, and for a gift, it's handy because you can add photos to it before it's ever provided to the person using a special code.

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You can invite multiple people to contribute photos to an Aura frame, and all they need to do is download the aura app and make an account. Every person in the family can have an Aura frame, for example, and contribute images to the frames owned by other family members. I gifted a frame to my mother in law, and have set it up so six people can add images of family members, kids, pets, and more.

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On the frame I've been testing, it's set up so I can add images, and the image process is simple. You just tap on the "Add Photos" option and go through your camera roll to decide what to upload. Note that between selecting photos and tapping on the upload option, there is no preview feature, so don't misclick. I would like to see an option for previewing what you're going to upload, especially on someone else's frame.

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You can view all of the photos uploaded to an Aura frame that you have access to, whether it's your own or owned by a friend or family member. For any uploaded image, you can change the position or select the "show now" button, which displays it right away.

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In the Settings section, you can adjust the time that each photo is displayed, change the photo order from shuffle to chronological and vice versa, adjust video autoplay settings, and choose the photo background for when photos don't take up the entire display.

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There are also options for choosing when a device is on, adjusting the speaker volume, and a Remote Control function shows what's on the frame at the current time so you can swap photos or remove the current photo. These controls are available for any frame that you have access to, even if it isn't owned by you.

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All upload activity is shown in an Activity feed, and if you have a frame owned by multiple people, you'll sometimes see an alert that you have photos from a similar time that you can add to the frame, which is a useful addition.

Bottom Line

Testing the Aura for this review was the first time I've used one myself, but I have given them as gifts to family members in the past, so I am familiar with the product over a long period of time. Everyone who has an Aura or sees the Aura seems to be a fan of it, and I've found that it makes a great present.


Minimal tech experience is necessary to use the Aura, so it works for all ages, and if someone isn't able to figure out how to use the frame, family members are able to upload photos. Multiple Aura frames among friends and family makes for a fun way to share photos.

I've appreciated having the Aura on my desk over the last couple of weeks because it gives me a way to visit my favorite photos on a regular basis without having to print them or go into the Photos app to view them. In the future, I think it would be nice for Aura to add organization and different slideshow options similar to the Apple Photos app, but even in the current incarnation, the Aura is one of the best ways to display digital images.

How to Buy

The Aura Mason frame can be purchased from the Aura website or from Amazon.com for $199. Other Aura frame options are also available with different sizes, designs, and higher resolutions.

Article Link: Review: Aura Digital Frames Offer an Easy Way to Display Your iPhone Photos
 
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For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.
 
For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.
Physical definitely the way to go.

I’ve seen a lot of these kinda things bought, none in use a couple months later.
 
For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.
Agreed. We swap around our printed, framed photos once a year, make a calendar with prints from the previous year and browse them on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV.
 
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For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.
Agree on the tactility but do you know how many frickin' photo albums I'd need to find room for to cover the 15+ years of photos I would need to print out? 😬
 
For $200, find a used base model iPad. Better screen, 5Ghz compatibility, and it integrates directly with iCloud. Plus you can swipe over and control HomeKit from it.

I’m not opposed to digital frames (I really like my Samsung Frame TV) but the Aura doesn’t seem to fit the bill.
 
Glad I picked up two Google Nest Hubs for $39.00 each as Walmart.com was blowing them out. They work great as picture frames.
 
For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.

Then you'd have to buy ink. And find a place to put all the photos. I definitely get it, but I'm on team digital. I also don't buy real books anymore!
 
A dream is for Apple to allow these manufacturers to directly tie in to iCloud photos such that I can pick and choose which albums from my phone to share directly, instead of needing to add photos to another app.

Hell, I have an old Mac Mini tied to an old studio display for the express purpose of showing albums from my icloud photos. I'd love to buy a high quality frame that could just do this directly.
 
Glad I picked up two Google Nest Hubs for $39.00 each as Walmart.com was blowing them out. They work great as picture frames.
Yeah, agreed. This frame here is pretty disappointing just from that cat picture - the lighting in the room is super warm, and this frame is just emitting cold blue tones so it sticks out like a sore thumb.

The one thing Google got right with the home hub was the display with a built in ambient light sensor to adjust both brightness and more importantly, color temperature (Basically google's version of True Tone.) It makes the screen look much more organic and like an actual photo while also fitting better in the space, versus just another screen.
 
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I bought a couple of Nixplay connected screens for my mom and grandmother, and they love how they get to see new pictures of the kid every week. I love how quickly I can upload them without any real work on my part.

My grandmother is on the opposite coast and I wanted to send her hers in the mail. I was certain she wouldn't be able to input the wifi info, so I set it up for her before sending it. I changed my own wifi network so it had the same name and password as hers, then connected the Nixplay screen, did all the setup, let it sync photos for a while. Then I repacked it and sent it to her. It already had her wifi network credentials pre-loaded, so all she had to do was plug it into the wall. If she needs a setting changed I can either do it in person when I'm visiting or just open the app on my phone and do it from anywhere.
 
Then you'd have to buy ink. And find a place to put all the photos. I definitely get it, but I'm on team digital. I also don't buy real books anymore!


I hang art not photos anymore. I like the idea of digital photos.

Unfortunately, I'm with you on books too, even if I dont like it. In the last 6 years I've probably read three times as many digital books as I have print books. I still prefer print books though.
 
For less than $200 you could either buy a nice 6x4 photo printer (Kodak) or buy physical prints for next to nothing. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a bit backwards to be having a device that's only purpose is to display photographs. And besides, nothing beats the look or feel of real prints.
Very backwards. These things are cost prohibitive because they need large, high quality screens which are going to drive the price way up. You're almost better off buying an older used iPad for the purpose if you're committed to the digital approach, and then it becomes much easier to actually manage the photos that are on display.

Or just get a couple of new photos printed every year and update some frames.
 
im sure the quality and functionality has improved, but didn’t we have these 15 Years ago and then everyone got bored of them? And as other have said, in reality there are better options via giving a second life to older devices. I mean you could even make or stick a picture frame onto an old iPad for the same vibe.
 
This sort of thing really needs to be e-ink, not LED backlit. They look fine in the product pictures, but these are so obnoxious once the sun goes down.
 
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