Product Survey: Digital photo frames

As the market for digital photo frames is getting bigger, the device itself is evolving.Check out what you can get.

Florence Legrand
Updated: October 16, 2009

The tests

The same tests apply to each of the digital photo frames. First we see how easy to handle it is and inspect the design. Does it look good, is it innovative, does it have a tripod to stand, can it be hung on a wall, are the navigation buttons discreet enough, can you see the pictures from every angle…? Those are the questions we ask.

Then we measure battery life, evaluate how user friendly the navigation is, time the seconds between two pictures during the slideshow… We also check if the photo transfer is as easy from a memory card as from a computer. Finally we pay close attention to colour reproduction, resolution, brightness, noise… and to power consumption.

Competition within the world of digital photo frames is bigger than ever. The picture-playing product is changing and becoming more and more a multimedia device.What we check here is that the pictures are played correctly and that extra features are not merely gimmicks. Do not be oversold, the prices still remain quite high!

More features

Manufacturers seem to have high hopes as the market has been flooded recently with new products. Screens are bigger and new features appear. So what exactly should one look for? A simple frame that will show off your pictures or is that no longer good enough? Brands like Samsung and Kodak seem to have understood that they should cater for everyone. On the one hand they make traditional frames that do nothing but show your pictures, on the other they make multimedia devices. The latter offer numerous possibilities: photo-video-MP3 playback, wireless, second PC monitor option…and the results vary.

The ideal product

For pure and simple photo display, a good deal of products are out there. However, the more the features there are, the more you are likely to find frames that are not up to standards. Sadly indeed, the more they want to be doing, the less they seem capable of doing things correctly. Frames offering photo-video-audio for example do not always have the sound quality one would want…
It seems a better idea to aim for a photo frame that will perform its main job well, than to go for a multifunction option that will just do okay. Last but not least, a digital photo frame should really be free from power cables (battery operated) to be enjoyed to its full.