The Pix-Star FotoConnect offers impressive flexibility that allows you to organize your photos your way from anywhere in the world. You get a lot of control over aspects like how long each photo displays and how the frame transitions between photos. It is also more flexible than most digital photo frames in what it can display. In addition to photos, it can display audio and video messages. That way, you can hear your grandbabies' gurgles from half a world away, not just see their sweet faces in photos.
Value
The Pix-Star FotoConnect is the second most expensive digital photo frame in our comparison, and you’ll find the manufacturer selling it for roughly $160. This is the only manufacturer in our comparison that stands by its product with a two-year warranty, which is double that of competing frames. The long warranty inspires confidence in the potential longevity of this frame and may help you justify the relatively high price when making the initial investment. But then again, it only lasts for two years.
User Experience
Our test photos looked practically perfect on this digital frame, though our panelists did notice a few flaws around the edges. One said the "light bleed is distracting," and another said it "shows the edges of the photos, which detracts from the photo quality." The overall quality was good, though, especially compared to lower-ranked frames. Colors on this frame were true to life, and we could see the photos from different viewing angles around the room, which was not the case for all the digital photo frames in our reviews.
Specifications
With this frame, you can display photo collections from Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox and Flickr, but you can also use the iPhone or Android app to send photos from a connected phone directly to your frame. Family members who have the app and your frame's information can also add to the photo collections on your frame from anywhere. The connectivity is wonderful, but there is a lot to be said for local storage too. The Pix-Star FotoConnect offers 4GB of space for easy access to your favorite collections even when your frame is not connected or is displaying from physical storage like SD cards.
The frames in our comparison that connect to the internet are inherently more difficult to set up than the stand-alone frames, because you have to set up an online account and a phone app, but the Pix-Star version of all that is pretty easy to use. We were able to get everything working and add photos with just a few hiccups along the way.
There are no touchscreen controls with this frame, but there is a remote control and the buttons on the back of the frame for when you need to access a menu or skip a photo. The built-in motion sensor means the frame will not waste energy to display photos to an empty room.
Display
The Pix-Star offers some of the best photo quality of any frame we tested, though the resolution is relatively low at only 800 x 600 pixels. The frame itself is 10.4 inches, making it the largest in this comparison. Pix-Star is not the easiest manufacturer to reach. There is no live chat or phone number to use, but the online manual is helpful, and the Pix-Star website in general is well-organized to address any questions you may have. If getting to customer service easily is an important matter for you, check out the Nixplay Edge.
Versatility
The FotoConnect scored higher than any other frame for versatility. That is because it gives you a lot of control over how your slideshows come together. Only one digital picture frame offers more ways to transition between photos. You can also have this frame gather your photos into chic collages.
Extras like the ability to play music and schedule medication reminders make this frame like a digital personal assistant in some ways. You can even build and manage a contacts list and get the weather forecast automatically with this frame. It's not nearly as sophisticated for those types of tasks as Amazon Echo or the like, but if you already have this frame in your living room, it might be nice to have it perform a few other functions as well, especially since it is pretty easy to use.
With practically perfect photo reproduction and a lot of flexibility to display your photos the way you want, the Pix-Star FotoConnect is definitely among the best digital photo frames on the market. After initial setup, you can add photos and video from anywhere in the world, and the longer warranty inspires confidence that this frame will last a long time.
