Amazon Echo Show 15
(Credit: Will Greenwald)
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Because of the excellent cameras in modern smartphones, it's easier than ever to build a big photo collection of family, friends, and other fond memories. If you're looking for a way to display your favorite photos in your home, you should consider a digital photo frame. They're dedicated screens that run slideshows of pictures you either load directly onto the frame or access from the internet.
Below are our top picks for the best digital photo frames, as well as some other devices like smart displays and TVs that can also show off your photos. We've tested every device on this list, closely examining how they're designed, how easily you can get pictures on them, and whether or not those pictures actually look good. The Aura Mason is our top pick thanks to its gorgeous matte finish, which gives the impression of a well-lit printed photo rather than a screen. Some of the best digital photo frames can be preloaded for gift-giving and allow for remote photo management if your loved one isn't particularly tech-savvy. Be sure to read our in-depth reviews of each product for the full details.
Our Top Tested Picks
Aura Mason
Skylight Frame (10-Inch)
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
Google Nest Hub Max
Amazon Echo Show 15
Samsung The Frame
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Best Overall Digital Frame
Aura Mason
- Sharp, colorful screen
- Works in landscape and portrait orientations
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Easy to set up
- No brightness adjustments
- No onboard storage
The Aura Mason is a top digital picture frame if you don't want all of the extra features and privacy concerns of a smart display, or you simply want to show photos in portrait (vertical) orientation. You can preload it with pictures and a message before you give it to a loved one, and it offers unlimited cloud storage so you can fill it with as many photos as you want. Note that it lacks onboard storage, so it needs a Wi-Fi connection to work. Despite this limitation, the Aura Mason is our top pick thanks to its gorgeous display and simple setup process. With 1,600 by 1,200 pixels across a 9-inch screen, it's very sharp, and it offers vivid colors with little glare. Most importantly, it makes it feel like you're looking at an actual photo rather than an image on a screen.
Best for Use Without Wi-Fi
Skylight Frame (10-Inch)
- 8GB of onboard storage
- Doesn't require Wi-Fi to show pictures
- Touch-screen controls
- Can be preloaded with photos for gifting
- Screen isn't particularly sharp or vibrant
- Some features require a subscription
- Limited photo uploading options
- Interface lacks polish
The Skylight Frame offers one big advantage over many of the other frames and smart displays we've tested: 8GB of local storage. You need a Wi-Fi connection to load it with pictures, but once that's done it can show photos when offline, so it's ideal as a gift for loved ones who aren't always connected. And if they do have Wi-Fi, you can add new photos simply by sending them to an email address for the frame.
Best Overall Smart Display
Amazon Echo Show 8 (3rd Gen, 2023)
- Big sound with automatic acoustic adjustments
- Loads of Alexa voice control features
- High-resolution, auto-framing camera
- Fast performance
- Supports Matter, Thread, Zigbee
- Limited bass response
- Doesn't function as an Eero mesh node
With an 8-inch screen, the Amazon Echo Show 8 strikes a good balance in size and power between the cheaper and slower Echo Show 5 ($49.99) and the more expensive and specialized Echo Show 10 and Echo Show 15 ($249.99 each). This mid-sized screen has a 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution, which means pictures look sharp. It also has a set of solid stereo speakers and all of the standard Echo functions, including video chat.
Best Google Smart Display
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen)
- Tracks sleep and breathing
- Intuitive interface
- Excellent smart home controls
- Google Assistant responds quickly
- Compact design
- Might attribute co-sleeper's coughing/snoring to you
- No camera for video calls
The Nest Hub is Google's version of Amazon's Echo Show 8. It costs about the same but has a slightly smaller 7-inch screen and no camera along with a few interesting extras. It uses Google Assistant instead of Alexa and supports Google Cast, which means you can stream music and videos straight from your Android phone. It also has a sensor that can help analyze your sleep. As a photo frame, it taps into your Google Photos account and works just as well as the aforementioned Amazon equivalent.
Best Large-Screen Google Display
Google Nest Hub Max
- Integrates with Nest and functions as a security camera.
- Supports Google Cast.
- Fairly loud.
- Sound quality isn't particularly impressive.
The Nest Hub Max is a larger version of the Nest Hub, like the Echo Show 10 is to the Echo Show 5 or the Echo Show 8. It features a 10-inch screen with a higher 1,280-by-800-pixel resolution than the Nest Hub, plus a camera for video calls. The camera also doubles as a security device when you're out of the house.
Best Smart Display for Wall Mounting
Amazon Echo Show 15
- Attractive design
- Large screen displays lots of info
- Good for video playback
- Fire TV integration
- Pricey
- Underwhelming camera quality
- Middling audio performance
The Echo Show 15 is one of the biggest smart displays you can buy and is meant to hang on the wall. When it isn't cycling through art or your pictures, it can serve as a home messaging hub with information dashboards for different members of the family. It features the Fire TV smart TV platform thanks to a recent update, so you can easily stream your favorite content to it as well.
Best TV That Looks Like a Frame
Samsung The Frame
- Striking, customizable design that resembles a hanging painting
- Matte screen reduces glare and adds to the painting effect
- Strong color performance
- Poor contrast
- Very expensive for the picture quality
Samsung's The Frame TV looks just as good when you aren't watching television as it does when you are. Its Art mode shows off works of art from a collection of over 1,200 pieces or your photo library and requires less power than the TV mode. A modular bezel design lets you customize its look with a variety of frames to suit your decor. As a 4K TV, The Frame is also the highest-resolution display on this list, with a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels.
Other Ways to Display Digital Photos
Smart Displays
Voice assistants have come a long way. First, they appeared on smart speakers like the Amazon Echo. Then companies added a screen to the mix, creating smart displays. These countertop, desktop, and tabletop devices provide all of the voice control functionality you get from smart speakers, along with a colorful screen that can display additional media. That media includes photos, so you can turn any smart display into a digital photo frame simply by uploading photos to your favorite service and accessing them from there.
Tablets
Your favorite tablet can serve as an excellent photo frame when it isn't in your hand. By getting a nice stand (or finding a tablet with a built-in stand), you can simply set it down on a desk to show off your photos when you're not using it.
TVs
TVs don't need to be dull black rectangles when they're not in use. Several feature low-power gallery modes that can display works of art or your photos when you aren't watching anything else. Turning your TV into a digital photo frame is as easy as linking a compatible photo service or plugging in a USB drive with your favorite pictures. Samsung's The Frame stands out among these choices because its modular bezel design makes it look like a framed painting.
The Best Online Photo Printing Services
Not everyone wants to display photos on a digital screen. We've tested, rated, and reviewed the best online photo printing services to see which offer the lowest prices, the best user experience, and the highest-quality prints.
