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Thanks to the excellent cameras in smartphones, it's easier than ever to build a large photo collection of family, friends, and other cherished memories. If you're looking for a way to display your favorite photos in your home, consider going digital. We've been testing digital picture frames since 2006, so we know what to look for in them. These are our top picks for frames, along with other devices like smart displays and TVs that can show off your photos. We've tested every product on this list, analyzing its appearance, functionality, and ease of use. The best choice for you will depend on your needs and budget, but the 12-inch Aura Aspen and the 9-inch Aura Mason are our top picks for their gorgeous matte screens, which give the impression of a printed photo.
Our Top Tested Picks
Skylight Frame (10-Inch)
Samsung The Frame (2022)
TCL NXTFRAME
Samsung The Frame Pro
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- Colorful, accurate screen
- Slim design
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Works in landscape and portrait orientations
- Simple setup
- Requires an internet connection
- No manual brightness or color control settings
The 12-inch Aspen is Aura's latest digital picture frame and one of its thinnest. It features a black or tan frame, an off-white paper mat, and a 12-inch screen with wide, accurate color and an anti-glare finish that makes digital images look like prints. It comes with unlimited cloud storage and is easy to set up for yourself or to give as a gift. Better still, multiple people can send their photos right to the frame.
- Sharp, colorful screen
- Works in landscape and portrait orientations
- Unlimited cloud storage
- Easy to set up
- No brightness adjustments
- No onboard storage
If you're looking for a smaller frame, the 9-inch Mason has all of the benefits of Aura's other models. In particular, it has a beautiful anti-glare screen that shows accurate colors and can make the art and photos it shows look almost like prints under the right conditions. It, too, is easy to set up, gift, and load with pictures.
- 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 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. However, its screen doesn't particularly amaze.
- Stylish, wall-mountable design
- Bright, clear screen
- Improved camera
- Uses the Fire TV interface
- Mediocre audio quality
- Doesn't come with a table stand
Any smart display can work as a digital picture frame, but the Echo Show 15 is one of only two that looks the part. It's designed for hanging on the wall, with a framed picture-like design around a sharp, bright 15.6-inch 1080p screen. It's loaded with features, too, including support for Alexa voice commands, a touch-friendly interface filled with widgets, a 13MP camera for auto-framing video calls and keeping an eye on your home when you're away, and a remote for using the built-in Fire TV smart TV platform for streaming media.
This is one of the most feature-packed digital photo frame-slash-smart displays available and one of the bigger screens that isn't an outright TV. If you have a bare spot of wall where you want to show off art and photos, and you also want the versatility of an Alexa speaker, this is the device to get.
- Sharp 21-inch screen
- Subtle, wall-friendly design
- Uses the Fire TV interface
- Versatile camera
- Pricey
- Mediocre sound quality
If you want a bigger wall-mountable smart display, the Echo Show 21 has a 21-inch 1080p screen, along with all of the same smart display features as other Echo Show models plus a remote and the Fire TV interface.
- 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 is designed to serve as an eye-catching, and huge, digital picture frame. It's excellent in that role, with customizable bezels and a matte screen that really makes any art you show on it look almost like a hanging canvas. You can load it with any of several thousand works of art (with a $4.99 monthly or $49.90 yearly subscription) or fill a USB drive with your photo library or any number of museums' free high-resolution art archives. Even with its native 4K resolution, it's not the best for watching TV and movies since its panel is relatively dim and has poor contrast.
We have not yet reviewed the latest version of this TV, the LS03FA (2025), but the LS03D model we reviewed in 2022 is still available and for much cheaper than the 2025 model or its own very expensive launch price. We look forward to testing the LS03FA in the near future, so check back soon for more on that model.
- Accurate colors
- Anti-glare screen
- Removable magnetic bezels
- Includes a flush wall mount
- Poor contrast
- No official frame customization options
- Optional stand sold separately
- Expensive
TCL's NXTFRAME is also a TV designed to look like a framed picture, with a removable magnetic bezel and a glare-reducing matte finish. The screen’s accurate color performance, modest brightness, and anti-glare screen all work very well together to make artwork pop. The NXTFRAME has a built-in ambient art mode with a few hundred pieces to choose from, along with a few dozen animated scenes and clocks. Its art library doesn’t require a subscription or any sort of additional purchase to access what’s available, and you can also load your own photos by either plugging in a USB drive or through the TCL Home mobile app. Just be aware that it isn't a very good TV due to a dim panel and poor contrast.
- Matte screen minimizes glare
- Excellent color performance
- Frame-like design with customizable bezels
- Wireless One Connect Box reduces cord clutter
- Mediocre contrast
- Poor black levels
- Expensive
- Too much lag for gaming
The Frame Pro uses a Wireless One Connect Box to stream pictures and video to the screen from up to 30 feet away. It has a colorful, accurate screen with a matte finish and customizable magnetic bezels. We checked out a preproduction version of The Frame Pro at Samsung's lab, so we can't give it a formal score until we look at the retail version. However, our initial tests also show that it's much brighter than the 2022 Frame, though its contrast still seems mediocre due to its edge-lit LED system. We're eager to get the final version in the PC Lab, so stay tuned for more on this model.
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Other Ways to Display Digital Photos
Smart Displays
Smart displays combine all of the voice control functionality you get from smart speakers 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.
The Amazon Echo Show 15 and Echo Show 21 really stand out here because they look like digital picture frames, not smart devices. They have picture-frame-like designs and are primarily meant for hanging on the wall.
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 and the TCL NXTFRAME stand out among these choices because of their modular, picture frame-like bezels and matte screens. However, while their screens are very good for displaying still images, mediocre contrast means they aren't ideal for watching movies or shows.

