The best digital photo frame 2023: top picks from Aura, Nixplay, Netgear and more

The best digital photo frame options make it easy to showcase your cherished memories. An instant upgrade for your shelf or wall, digital photo frames use built-in screens to display a slideshow of your favorite images. Besides saving you the cost of printing individual snaps, they also allow to change the images on display whenever you like.

We’ve spent countless hours testing the best digital photo frames, assessing factors such as design, ease of use and screen quality in real-world conditions. The top options are chic, accessible and promise to put your personal photos center stage. From the results of our reviews, we’ve ranked our favorite frames in the comprehensive list below.

We think the best digital photo frame for most people is the Aura Mason Luxe. With a neat design, intuitive interface and sharp display, it’s pretty much the complete package. That said, if you’d prefer a frame that also supports video calls, Facebook’s Portal is worth considering. Or if your budget is a little tighter, the Aeezo Portrait 01 offers excellent value.

Whether you want to display family portraits, vacation snaps or your own photography collection, you’ll find a fitting option in the list below. Our guide spans a wide variety of digital photo frames, ranging from simple, affordable models to premium frames with features to match. We’ve also included a handful of smart hubs.

Whatever your price bracket and expectations, you’ll find a frame to fit the bill below. If you’re not sure where to start, scroll to the bottom of the page for expert buying advice to help you choose the right frame. If you need more in-depth suggestions, check out our guide on how to buy a digital photo frame. Once you’ve selected your favorite, you’ll find links to the best deals beneath each entry.

Written by

Written by

Timothy Coleman

Tim is TechRadar's Cameras editor, with over 15 years in the photo video industry and most of those in the world of tech journalism, Tim has developed a deeply technical knowledge and practical experience with all things camera related. He loves making pictures and believes they should be enjoyed by others, and what better way to do that than to frame them and put them on display.

The quick list

If you’re in a hurry to display your favorite pictures, the round-up below will give you an instant summary of the top digital photo frames. If you find one which fits your needs and budget, you can use the links to fly down to our full write-ups.

• ^ Back to the top

The best digital photo frames in 2023

The best overall digital frame you can buy

The Aura Mason Luxe is a clear cut above most other photo frames. It’s stylish, has greater character to its design and, most important of all, the screen is excellent in most respects. 

Its 4:3 aspect display is perfect for not just adding some color to your room with your photos, but to actually get an up-close look at them. Pixel density is so high they look sharp and detailed even when you get your face right up to the screen. We found that color is natural-looking and well-saturated too, so you can be sure you’re seeing a fair representation of the photos you fling its way. 

There’s also a social side to the Aura Mason Luxe. You can invite friends and relatives to send photos to the frame, and everyone in this inner Aura circle can “like” and comment on the images, creating a cosy sort of private social network. The cost of the Mason Luxe may seem high for a 10-inch photo frame, but after our tests, we conclude the quality of the software and hardware justifies the expense. 

• Read our in-depth Aura Mason Luxe review

The best high-resolution digital photo frame

Nixplay’s 2K Smart Digital Photo Frame features one of the sharpest screens on the market, offering lots of detail. Our tests found it vibrant, too, with deep blacks and enough brightness to beat the reflective coating. At 9.7 inches, we also felt it struck a good balance: with a flexible stand that works in portrait or landscape, the frame fits on most shelves, yet still gives images space to be seen. The option to wall-mount is also a useful one.

As with other Nixplay frames, the settings menu offers no shortage of customisation options, from colour adjustments to the sensitivity of the motion sensor. Controlled via a physical remote (or the virtual replica in the app), the frame proved responsive and pretty intuitive during our review, even if the high resolution means text can appear small.

One of our favorite things about this frame is how straightforward it is to load photos using the app. You can create playlists using photos from your smartphone, or sync with Google Photos to display AI-generated smart albums. You can also connect with friends to easily add their snaps to your frame.

One final note: in matte black, the bezel is sizeable but understated. In contrast, the metal-effect variant is both excessively reflective and a serious fingerprint magnet, distracting from what is otherwise a sharp and capable Wi-Fi frame.

The best landscape frame for design fans

Classier than most competitors, the Aura Carver stands out with an embossed border and angular, free-standing design. Its 10.1-inch display isn’t as sharp as the slightly pricier Carver Luxe, but we found its 1280x800 panel fine in testing, with pleasant colors and good viewing angles. It helps that the screen can adjust automatically to ambient conditions and go impressively bright, aided by a semi-matte finish.

We think Aura frames have the slickest software out there, and the Carver is no exception. It doesn’t have a touchscreen, but the subtle touch panel on top makes it easy to flick between photos. Other settings are found in the similarly streamlined smartphone app, although we found during our review that customisation options are limited. Friends and family can contribute to your slideshow, but there’s no support for albums.

It’s also worth noting that the Aura Carver requires a consistent Wi-Fi connection to display your photos, and it’s only designed to sit in landscape orientation. But if you want a hassle-free frame with no paywall and unlimited cloud storage, we think the Carver is a fantastic choice. 

• Read our in-depth Aura Carver review

The best budget digital photo frame

A cheap and cheerful photo frame, the Aeezo Portrait 01 is more flexible than its price tag suggests. Its no-frills, plastic build won’t win any design awards, but it’s neat enough – even if our tests found that its simple stand has limited stability.

We were largely happy with its photo reproduction in our review. Color depth isn’t exceptional, but the 10-inch display strikes a good balance when it comes to detail: hard edges aren’t too soft or too sharp. It is less bright than other frames in the same price bracket, though.

Rather than cloud storage, you can load photos onto its 16GB of internal storage via the Frameo app, or from an SD card or USB stick. That means you’re not reliant on constant Wi-Fi connectivity or third-party servers. We found that the interface isn’t sophisticated and the app is less glossy than others in this list. But like most of the frame, it all works as it should. Overall, the Portrait 01 is good value.

• Read our in-depth Aeezo Portrait 01 review

The best hybrid photo frame for art fans

The Netgear Meural isn’t like other digital photo frames. By the standards of this category, it’s a pretty high-end purchase – but it’s actually the entry-level model in Netgear’s series of art displays. They scale all the way up to 21.5 inches. 

This is a 15.6-inch photo frame that you can orient in portrait or landscape. It gives you a large canvas to work with, and the Meural app includes a huge catalogue of artwork to choose from. You have to pay for a subscription to unlock full access, but a handful are available for free. While this won’t appeal to everyone, we think the option to pick paintings gives Netgear’s frame a unique flourish.

In our time with the Meural, we found its matte display a genuinely appealing way to display art: it doesn’t look like a repurposed tablet or smart display. However, its color depth isn’t perfect and we think a panel sharper than the Meural’s 1080p screen would be better if you want to really inspect your images. Still, it’s a lovely way to creatively enhance a room.

• Read our in-depth Netgear Meural Wi-Fi Photo Frame review

Best for its real-like finish including frame mount

With a generous border and glass facade, the Skylight Frame is one of the more attractive photo frames we’ve tested. It’s larger than most 10-inch models, but its white surround and classy design give it real presence on a shelf. In use, its responsive touchscreen feels quite a lot like a tablet: you can pinch to zoom and swipe to switch photos. It’s not sophisticated, but it works smoothly and makes it easy to find specific images.

We don’t think the Skylight Frame does a perfect job of representing images. In our time with the frame, we found that its compression software added visible artifacts, softened images and made certain hues look unnatural. That said, its 1280x800 pixel LCD did hold up well against similarly priced rivals, even if its 255-nit brightness is a long way below the Aura Carver.

The frame works fine without Wi-Fi, but key features are only available with a paid subscription, including cloud storage. Despite these reservations, we still think the Skylight Frame is a good choice if you want a statement photo frame.

• Read our in-depth Skylight Frame 10-inch review

The best digital photo frame with video calling

Facebook has officially discontinued its Portal devices, but core functionality won’t be affected, and Meta will continue to offer product support. You can still find this 10-inch display online, at a discounted price that makes it even better value.

Designed primarily for calling friends and family, Meta’s social screen does a side-gig as a slick digital photo frame. Styled like a floating box frame, it’s an attractive fit for contemporary shelves. One drawback we discovered in testing was the supporting leg: it can prop the Portal in portrait or landscape, but its length means the frame can’t sit flush against a wall.

We found the touchscreen vibrant and responsive, with good detail and color reproduction. It’s reflective, but there’s enough brightness to counter glare – although this dips when viewing from a 45-degree angle. We were also impressed by the intuitive interface and polished app. Setup is simple: photos can be loaded from Facebook, Instagram or your smart device, then sorted into albums.

We did find customisation options limited: you can’t change how the slideshow is sorted or tweak the transition style. Nor can you extend the sleep setting beyond an hour. You also need a Facebook or WhatsApp account to activate the Portal, which will be a negative factor for some – but with Alexa, Spotify and family apps included, it’s a feature-packed digital photo frame.

• Should I buy a Facebook Portal?

The best traditional digital photo frame

The Nixplay Touch 10 passes for a traditional photo frame at arm’s length. Its back is heavily sculpted, but this will usually be hidden away from view. While its slot-in stand didn’t feel especially sturdy in testing, the frame itself isn’t heavy enough to make this a problem.

Its plastic display surface softens reflections, and photos generally look good. We liked the color temperature during our time with the Nixplay, finding that it could produce rich tones, even if its LCD panel lacks the depth of OLED. We were less impressed by its sharpening, which caused edges to appear pixellated.

Lag does make the touchscreen interface feel clunky. You’ll also need to pay for the frame’s full capabilities, although most users will be fine with the 10GB of cloud storage and five ‘playlists’ you can create with a free account. It’s auto switch-off abilities aren’t hidden behind a paywall, either: an activity sensor can snooze the display when no-one’s around, making this is a frame that can run by itself. 

• Read our in-depth Nixplay 10-inch Touch Screen Photo Frame review

Best for those with Google Photos and the company's cloud service

The Nest Hub Max is both a hub for smart devices and a portal for accessing Google Assistant at home, but it also does well as a digital photo frame. Styled like a 10-inch tablet attached to a fabric-skinned speaker, it forms a neat free-standing package with a small shelf footprint – even if the screen’s plastic shell and bezels don’t feel particularly premium.

The fixed stand setup means you can’t adjust the display angle from its default upward tilt. While this will be an issue if you want to place the frame on a higher shelf, the viewing angles are otherwise good, with decent saturation and plenty of brightness – provided you’re fine with a reflective panel.

At 1280x800, the resolution of the touchscreen could be higher, but we found that there’s still good detail with no noticeable pixellation – and it makes controlling the Nest Hub Max a cinch. Swipe between photos or tap the pop-up controls to hide, star or share particular images, or do the same thing with voice commands.

The Nest Hub Max can display art backgrounds, a full-screen clock or a selection of snaps from your Google Photos account. It supports Live Albums, features the option to show portrait pics in split-screen and offers time, weather and image data overlays – but you can’t manually change the slideshow order. And because it only works with Google Photos, the Nest Hub Max makes sense mainly for those already invested in the company’s cloud backup service.

• Read our in-depth Google Nest Hub Max review

How to choose

How we test digital photo frames

Digital photo frames are unique devices with a range of specific factors to test. We put each frame through a range of scenarios to ensure each one is worthy of a recommendation.

We place each digital photo frame in a series of similar viewing scenarios to assess the sharpness and brightness of its display. This will usually include a dark environment, a daylit room and a bright spot in direct sunlight. Using an identical set of photos, we look at the accuracy of color reproduction, the clarity of each image and the viewing angles of the frame. We also take into account the proportions of the display and whether any cropping is likely to affect standard-sized digital images.

When it comes to ease of use, we start by adding a batch of images to each frame. We’ll do this in every way supported by a specific frame, so if there’s an app as well as memory card support, we’ll assess how simple it is to upload images using both techniques. We’ll also dive deep into settings menus to understand how straightforward a given frame is to operate, as well as which settings can be customized. We look first and foremost for commonly desired options, such as customizable slideshow intervals, sleep timers and color adjustment sliders.

We also review the physical design of each frame in a few ways. Unboxing a frame, we try each of its potential orientation and mounting options to assess how simple it is to assemble and switch between different positions. Then by placing each frame in a range of locations (usually including a shelf, desk and wall), we look at the footprint and dimensions of the frame, focusing specifically on whether its shape, size and stand angle make it easy to position and arrange as required.