Aura Digital HD Picture Frame, Best Frame for Gifting, Carver, 10" Black (10" - Gravel)

The Aura feels like it's intended to be given as a gift, and it has some nice features to make that easier. I was able to set one up quickly for my 88-year-old aunt, including setting it up for her wifi (since I knew the SSID and pass). Adding pictures from your phone is easy too, and the process to invite others to add photos is mostly painless. I was impressed enough by all that to order one for myself, which also was pretty easy - I will say though that in my case, trying to add photos from old backups (that weren't in Google Photos on my phone, that is) proved to be a little more awkward. In principle you can email photos to a unique address associated with your phone. That's fine for one or two, but I had hundreds, and gmail wouldn't send more that 3-4 as attachments on a single message. Texting them was actually easier (I had the files on small usb-c drive I could just plug into the phone). I won't need to do that often, but it would be nice if there was a simple web UI you could drag and drop files onto. I decided not to hang mine on the wall (mainly due to the power cord) and go with the stand, which is a solid hunk of cast aluminum (or maybe zinc) painted to match, a little tricky to slot in but very stable feeling.

I gave this frame to my wife as a gift for Christmas and it got a way better response than I anticipated. My wife and kid immediately fell in love with it. The display quality is great - not just great for a digital frame but genuinely great. I've seen other family members receive no name or off brand frames in recent years and the screens always look TERRIBLE. Bad viewing angles and colors, brightness and contrast which are just glaring to look at. Just over all bad displays. This Aura frame's screen is the centerpiece of the device and thankfully it delivers and impresses easily. I like that the device is cloud connected (even while I try to reduce my reliance on cloud services) for the simple fact that Aura app makes it extremely simple and convenient to add and manage photos/videos on the device. I do wish it had offline, onboard storage as an option but in my experience you end up adding a few hundred pictures at the beginning and maybe 1 or 2 more times and then the photo frame is just full of 5 year pictures with new new content. Aura makes it incredibly easy to add new content and gifting it is where it really shines. If you're giving this as a gift, you have the ability to upload photos to Aura's servers, via the app, and when the recipient activates the frame, they will automatically download all the photos you preloaded their frame with. This is a great experience for the recipient because they can have hundreds or 1000s of pictures viewable on the device within 5 minutes of setup without any work on their end. The owner can manage who else may add photos to frame remotely so this allows different family members or friends to send photos to your frame - great feature in my opinion. Photos can be uploaded via mobile app (We've only used Apple devices so far), SMS/MMS, or email. This is pretty flexible and allows anyone with a photo capable phone share photos regardless of mobile ecosystem. Email is another nice OS agnostic option. I'd preferably like to use a web site but didn't see that as an option. Please be aware you run the risk of the photo frame either being bricked or not able to add more content if Aura goes out of business or discontinues support for this device and/or their app. My only gripe with the device is that it cannot be wall mounted. Aura does make other frames which may be wall mounted but they are larger and more expensive.

I've used this frame for just under 3 years and it's been great. Although the interface for loading and managing photos is a bit clunky, set-up is easy, the picture is sharp, and the frame is simple to use. Unfortunately, a week ago the device just went blank and then wouldn't come on at all. I sent a message through the Aura website to customer service and received a response within 10 minutes! Without any fuss at all, a few minutes later a new power adapter was on its way to me and the problem is resolved. That's excellent customer care worthy of 5 stars.

I decided to write this review two years after purchasing, simply because it has become a family staple. I love this picture frame so much, and use it daily. I have it in my kitchen so that I can see it all of the time. My children will sit for 30 minutes, just to watch our pictures and videos. It has been plugged in and on every day for two years. Still works as new! The size and shape are typical of a normal picture frame, but the functionality is lightyears better. I love that my kids can see photos from before they were born, as babies, and current. The randomness of the pictures, makes it exciting to sit and watch. They often scroll through the images (using the top Touch Bar) soaking up all of the memories. They love to play video clips, sometime with sound, and ask questions about the timeframe. It is a perfect solution for all of those photos in your phone that you forget about. I love that the frame is horizontal, but shows two vertical photos side by side. Sometimes they match up the photos to make the photo story stronger. It even plays Live Photos, which is fun. The color is sleek, and it looks like a nice decor frame. The sentimental value is what keeps me coming back watching it. I loved it so much, that I purchased two more for my mom and mother in law for Christmas gifts. Easy setup, even for elderly. The app is easy to use. There is even a shortcut to send the photo straight to your phone, without opening the app. In the app, you can control the frame settings, like face matching photos, slideshow speed, volume, and more. You can even change the photo to display on the frame right from the app. Display one photo for a long time, or run a slideshow of all of your photos. You can also have it time out when the room is dark, good for bedtime. When the lights turn on, or the sun comes up, your frame is already on and waiting for you to watch with a smile. Another huge feature is that you can connect to other people’s frames by invites. Once the frame is connected to your app, you can send photos to their frames. Perfect for grandparents to get continuous updated photos, or for them to share photos with you. 10/10 recommend. Great for families and so simple I don’t even have to think about it. Just enjoy the nostalgia of lost photos. Great conversation starters with my kids.

This frame is awesome. We bought as a gift for my parents and in-laws, and it was SO easy to gift/set up with preloaded pictures. The app is easy, and then we connected to another in the family. We finally got one for ourselves and my kids LOVE seeing the pictures/videos. And it’s become our own little private social media thing where I can see my cousins photos and they can upload to ours, and vice versa. We also recently lost a family member, and it’s lovely to see his picture pop up. It is pricey but we have found it is absolutely worth it. What’s the point of having 1000000 photos and videos with no way of viewing them all?

This maybe a long review, but I think it's important to mention as others may be trying to do what I had to do. Downloading tons of "old digital photos" that aren't easily accessible on your phone. This is the 2nd digital frame I've owned. I bought the Aura Carver. The first frame I owned was the Skylight, which was essentially the "only show in town" at the time for being able to instantly transfer photos to your frame via email. I was tasked with downloading nearly 4,000 photos taken many, many years ago (20-25 years ago to be exact) with those older digital cameras that weren't exactly cheap at the time. Price wise. These "cheap" digital cameras were used before cell phones existed, for a quick history lesson. :) I downloaded all these pictures on a thumb drive and plugged it into the external USB slot in the Skylight frame. Unfortunately, It would only transfer around 100 to 150 photos out of that whole bunch. Due to larger file sizes, formatting issues or other reasons... this was just the case. Other than that issue, the frame worked fine. Then, due to recent problems with my Skylight frame after upgrading modems, and them not offering any solutions other than a $20.00 voucher for a new Skylight frame, I decided to go with a different brand out of spite. :) I'm glad I did. After opening the package after Christmas (2023) I began the daunting task of downloading the same batch of photos previously mentioned. I plugged my thumb drive into my PC to accomplish this. You can also do all tasks on your computer as well as using the Aura phone app. I prefer to use my computer, rather than on my phone. I'm old school that way. Long story short, I was able to transfer nearly 1,300 photos from the old batch. I could've transferred all 4,000 but I deleted duplicates, out of focus, and just bad pictures in general. My folks became a bit over-zealous taking pictures back in the day knowing you didn't have to take them to the drug store to be developed. :) I was able to transfer up to 500 photos at a time on the Aura interface deleting the bad ones and downloading the keepers. Granted, this took me about 3 or so hours to do, but it was over 4,000 photos to sift through! I was able to do this without a hick'-up using the Aura website. Their software condensed the photos into manageable sizes automatically. I was extremely impressed. Picture quality was as good as it could be for old cameras, but I was mostly impressed with how quickly I was able to accomplish this and the ease of doing it as well. This review is probably geared more towards people who are attempting to download old photos that remain in a folder collecting dust in your computer somewhere. I've also downloaded current photos from my phone which was also a very simple process. They look much better on the frame than the old photos do, as would be expected. They say it's unlimited cloud storage so you can download to your hearts content. They also include video footage which you have to pay extra for with other digital frame companies. I would imagine these have to be short and sweet. I haven't tried this yet. Overall, I am extremely pleased that I went with Aura. Based on my experience and the positive reviews I've read... I think you'll be pleased as well.

Very pleased, great options through application, no fee. Sleek design couldn’t be happier. Packaging was very impressive. Makes for a great gift instructions. Very clear easy to use.

Easy set-up. Clear images. Nice not to have a limit on images. Issue: Asked an easy customer service question and got a multi-paragraph response that evaded the question when a Yes or No would have worked. Template answer: "Aura is designed to be a beautiful ambient device in your home, and we've gone to great lengths to ensure the experience is as seamless and enjoyable as possible ... etc...etc..."

This is a great product especially for friends and family who are spread around the world. The ability to share pictures and see them daily is a joy.

Love it, so good and my wife really found intuitive to set up. Great bit of kit, and nice build quality.

Très bon produit

Funciona excelente con su aplicación y tiene muy buena resolución.

I love this frame. Great size, lovely frame doesnt look cheap. The app is easy to use to add and remove images. Also you can set a timer for when it comes on, so it doesn't come on when your out.