Review: Aura Digital Frames Offer an Easy Way to Display Your iPhone Photos

[noblesoul117]

I got one of the frames in 2017 and have really enjoyed it. Typing this just made me realize and appreciate it's still working like normal with zero signs of issues 5 years later.

Sure, there's the argument of "who needs a device dedicated to this," but in proper paradoxical minimalist fashion (minimalism with not less things, but more specific purposes for those things), I love having this sitting on a bookshelf, casually sifting through photos over time without my intervention. In fact, I need to upload more of my favorite photos to it.

Sometimes I'll pass by it and a photo sticks out to me and makes me pause in my tracks to remember it. For me, this is worth the auto-changing feature of the frame. Being pleasantly surprised by something I forgot.

Plus, I HATE doing useless menial tedious tasks, such as the idea of swapping photos even if once a year, when this frame can just sit there and do it for me. Technology's job was always supposed to be doing things so we don't have to…

That said, I'd love to see a better utilization of old iPads. I'm surprised no one is making dedicated iPad stands and frame cases. But I also wonder if iPads would burn more electricity?

 

[Amazing Iceman]

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.

I would say the opposite. Nothing beats the looks of an image shown on a device with a good display.
I have recently restored several old photographs for a client. Originally she wanted to have them printed, but after I finished, she told me the photos look a lot better on a digital frame than printed. It must be that because a digital photo has a backlight it's more visible than a printed photo which relies of ambient lighting to show.

Also, printed photos are not as good as original photos developed on photo paper in a lab.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I got one of the frames in 2017 and have really enjoyed it. Typing this just made me realize and appreciate it's still working like normal with zero signs of issues 5 years later.

Sure, there's the argument of "who needs a device dedicated to this," but in proper paradoxical minimalist fashion (minimalism with not less things, but more specific purposes for those things), I love having this sitting on a bookshelf, casually sifting through photos over time without my intervention. In fact, I need to upload more of my favorite photos to it.

Sometimes I'll pass by it and a photo sticks out to me and makes me pause in my tracks to remember it. For me, this is worth the auto-changing feature of the frame. Being pleasantly surprised by something I forgot.

Plus, I HATE doing useless menial tedious tasks, such as the idea of swapping photos even if once a year, when this frame can just sit there and do it for me. Technology's job was always supposed to be doing things so we don't have to…

That said, I'd love to see a better utilization of old iPads. I'm surprised no one is making dedicated iPad stands and frame cases. But I also wonder if iPads would burn more electricity?

I have an old iPad with Retina display (3rd gen?).
I'll buy a photo frame with the right dimensions and will attach it to the iPad.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

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.

Backlit is better. and modern frames like the Aura can be programmed to turn off when no one is in the area or create an ON/OFF schedule.
Perhaps that's why you meant by: " They look fine in the product pictures, but these are so obnoxious once the sun goes down".

 

[spinedoc77]

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.

I love real printed photos, but I'm going to have a hard time hanging up all the ones I'd love to carousel. I have something similar that cycles through whatever pictures I put into it and it's a huge hit when family and friends come to visit. Instead of having just a single picture, you can have a bunch of them. Plus it's not like you are going to get the "feel" of a printed photograph behind a wood/glass enclosure, and I actually much prefer the nice backlit look of the photos on a screen. But nothing wrong with single printed photos if that's your thing.

PS: You can do MUCH cheaper than $200, although you might have to work a little bit to sync or upload pictures. These have become ubiquitous in the past few years and you can get them much cheaper on Amazon or in dept stores.

 

[spinedoc77]

I got one of the frames in 2017 and have really enjoyed it. Typing this just made me realize and appreciate it's still working like normal with zero signs of issues 5 years later.

Sure, there's the argument of "who needs a device dedicated to this," but in proper paradoxical minimalist fashion (minimalism with not less things, but more specific purposes for those things), I love having this sitting on a bookshelf, casually sifting through photos over time without my intervention. In fact, I need to upload more of my favorite photos to it.

Sometimes I'll pass by it and a photo sticks out to me and makes me pause in my tracks to remember it. For me, this is worth the auto-changing feature of the frame. Being pleasantly surprised by something I forgot.

Plus, I HATE doing useless menial tedious tasks, such as the idea of swapping photos even if once a year, when this frame can just sit there and do it for me. Technology's job was always supposed to be doing things so we don't have to…

That said, I'd love to see a better utilization of old iPads. I'm surprised no one is making dedicated iPad stands and frame cases. But I also wonder if iPads would burn more electricity?

Seems like having an ordinary picture frame would be backwards to me, and I'd definitely ask the question "who needs a device dedicated to this" in relation to the old fashioned wood and glass picture frame, or rather who needs *multiple* devices dedicated to the old fashioned way. Of course a combination is the best as I'm not going to buy 10 of these to hang up in my home, or maybe on second thought...

iPads are probably too expensive to use for this, although I suppose older iPads would work fine. I'd opt for one of those $80 Amazon tablets for something like this.

 

[ignatius345]

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.

Nope. The last thing you want to hand off to an older relative who knows nothing about tech is some iPad that may or may not freeze up or ask for an update or whatever. These kind of things are a single-use device and that's their strength.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Nope. The last thing you want to hand off to an older relative who knows nothing about tech is some iPad that may or may not freeze up or ask for an update or whatever. These kind of things are a single-use device and that's their strength.

iPads don't freeze up. You may be referring to Android tablets instead.
I do agree, these frames are extremely easy to use, even for an elderly person. Or simply give them the frame and you manage their photos from your own device.

 

[Xano]

$200 USD ???
Auch ... i have one bought in 2014 that cost me $30 USD.
Still there, inside a cabinet.

 

[PhireWare]

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.

While I mostly agree, I have been looking for a digital photo frame like this for some of my elderly family members who I only get to see about once a month. Having something like this would allow me to share recent photos of me and my kids for them to enjoy when I'm not there to share them in person.

 

[jclo]

While I mostly agree, I have been looking for a digital photo frame like this for some of my elderly family members who I only get to see about once a month. Having something like this would allow me to share recent photos of me and my kids for them to enjoy when I'm not there to share them in person.

This is what I did, bought one for my mother in law. It's simple enough that she can use it, her friends can use it, and I can upload photos to it. Works really seamlessly in my experience.

 

[ignatius345]

iPads don't freeze up. You may be referring to Android tablets instead. I do agree, these frames are extremely easy to use, even for an elderly person. Or simply give them the frame and you manage their photos from your own device.

Maybe they don't hard freeze, but they do tend to throw up messages or update themselves and need to be re-authenticated into, or otherwise require inputs -- stuff you or I wouldn't think twice about, but which are full-on show stoppers for someone older and technophobic. I do "tech support" for my 90+ y/o grandmother's Mac usage by screen sharing in, and she's thrown by stuff like her browser window being shifted over.

There's something to be said about a device that does ONE thing and nothing else at all.

 

[braket]

Backlit is better. and modern frames like the Aura can be programmed to turn off when no one is in the area or create an ON/OFF schedule.
Perhaps that's why you meant by: " They look fine in the product pictures, but these are so obnoxious once the sun goes down".

No, I meant what I said. Why would I want framed pictures to glow at me even if I were in the room?

 

[ignatius345]

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.

I may be mistaken but do any photo-quality e-ink displays like this even exist at good resolution? I'd be intrigued if they did.

 

[roncron]

On paper, the aura digital picture frame doesn’t seem worth the money. That’s what I thought when my wife bought one for my 80-year-old parents last Christmas.

But they freaking love it. It’s easy for them to add their own pictures to it, and I can add some remotely. Im now vacationing in New Orleans and I put some of our pictures on their aura frame from afar.

Lastly, it looks like (and is) a high quality picture frame. It looks really good in their home. They are picky and would not display a cheap looking frame (digital or otherwise). It’s also a nicer way for them to view our vacation pictures than me texting our pics to them.

Yes, there are cheaper ways of achieving the same or similar functionality. But the Aura frame is a very classy and refined product and makes a terrific gift for relatives you regularly share pictures with.

 

[colticus]

We have 2 and they are great. We added friends and family to the frames and they can add pictures as well. It's really a convenient way to display shared pictures in the home.

 

[bellis1]

Bought one as a Xmas gift for folks some years back. It has been a winner. Us kids upload photos for to their frame. They really have enjoyed it and I think feel more connected to our going ons. I don't need one for myself and but check out the pics from my siblings with the app. Apple TV have any type of passive screensaver/shared photo gallery that multiple people can contribute?

 

[braket]

I may be mistaken but do any photo-quality e-ink displays like this even exist at good resolution? I'd be intrigued if they did.

I think the resolution is there these days, but dynamic range (on both the light and dark ends) is still lagging. And since e-ink doesn’t have the same economies of scale it’s still relatively pricey, but I would love an e-ink frame some day.

 

[ChromeAce]

Whoever engineered this is not firing on all cylinders.

Clearly the more efficient way to handle photos to the frame would be to simply connect it to an iCloud account and pull them from there instead of having to manually select photos from your phone. That way your sideshow could shuffle ALL your photos automatically, which is what I would want.

 

[frogslapper]

Nice until it displays some extra special memories when your parents are visiting.

 

[steve09090]

I can’t wait until I see my screenshots of Wordle on the buffet come up…

 

[chouseworth]

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.

You are not a grandparent or great grandparent who has very limited computer knowledge, sits at home most of the day, and only wishes to see lots of pics of the kids come up on the picture frame next to the television without any fuss or muss. I think this is a godsend for them. By the way, I am a grandparent myself.

 

[LHMac]

My 14 year old 24” iMac is doing this job, waiting for a kid who needs it. I have a few iPads in semi-retirement, who could pick up the job.

 

[ian87w]

Remember how the original iPad has a photo slideshow feature on the Lock Screen? Wonder why that’s gone.

 

[mectojic]

There are too many old, unused iPads that could serve this purpose already. Makes a product like this a hard sell.