Digital frames are a nifty way to remotely share videos and photos with someone without the need for them to have a smartphone, Facebook or Instagram account. Granted, they could use a regular tablet for the same purpose but, with a dedicated photo frame, like the Nixplay Frame, the person doesn't need to be technology savvy.
Digital frames have been around for more than a decade now and the Nixplay Frame is one of the easiest to use, having simplified the usability process so, anyone without knowledge of computers or smartphones can still be digitally connected.
Once you setup the Nixplay Frame for someone, all they need to know is how to operate the included remote control. They don't have to do anything else, not even worry about recharging it since the Nixplay Frame is plugged into the wall outlet.
Inside the box, you get a Nixplay-branded AC adapter with interchangeable plug mechanism so, you can attach the included plugs, UK 3 pin and Europe 2 pin. The AC adapter is attached to a long 2-meter long cable that terminates into a standard 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC barrel male jack. Being an AC adapter it is designed to continuously power the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame via mains electricity.
Safety-wise, the AC adapter cable is made with AWM (Appliance Wiring Material); hence the wiring is made of stranded, soft annealed copper conductors insulated with PVC and FT1-rated, meaning the cable passes the Flame Test. The cable will not continue to burn for more than 60 seconds after catching fire.
There is no rechargeable battery inside the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame; hence it will not work without the included 5V/2A AC adapter, which consumes 10W of electricity. The Nixplay is also wall-mountable so, you have the option to fix the Nixplay frame on to a surface and use it as a wall clock when the screen is in sleep mode.
The rear of the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame ingrates a thickly woven, 9-inch long bendable cable that doubles as a nifty kickstand and DC port for connecting the included AC adapter cable.
The flexible cable kickstand is similarly constructed to a gaming headset boom microphone arm; hence it can be bent and stay fixed at any angle you want. The kickstand cable is reinforced at the end with hard plastic, making it easier to grab when connecting the AC cable.
The plastic back panel of the Nixplay Smart Photo Frame has a mesh texture with a square frustum design so, it has a pyramid structure (1.5-inch deep) with a square top where the bendable woven kickstand is built-in to a plastic retainer.
On either side of the kickstand, there are tiny perforated holes seamlessly integrated inside mesh gaps, which conceal 5-watt speaker drivers that provide a total of 10-watt RMS output. The volume output and sound quality are surprisingly good with a decent stereo reproduction, thanks to the separation of the drivers, which are separated 9cm apart. The bass is present, although the drivers favor the higher frequencies.

The Nixplay photo frame comes in several sizes, including the one shown on this review which is the 10.1-inch version. The actual screen size of the 10-1-inch Nixplay Smart Photo Frame is 8.5 inches tall (21.5cm) by 5.4 inches wide (13.5cm). The plastic bezel surrounding the front of the screen measures 3cm wide. From side to side, the frame measures 19cm wide and 27cm (10.1 inches) tall.
There are no user control buttons on the Nixplay photo frame, which is entirely controlled via the infrared remote control. Upon connecting the AC adapter into the frame, the Nixplay frame automatically powers on and boots up in the welcome page, which contains the instructions on how to operate the remote control.
The second on-screen page is the Wifi setup page, which is required since the Nixplay display works exclusively via Wifi. There is no bluetooth support so, you cannot connect the Nixplay frame directly to a smartphone.
As you navigate through options via the remote, the Nixplay photo frame makes an audible sound. The Nixplay photo frame screen doesn't support touch control so control is taken via the included remote.
Setup is very straight forward and mostly automated by the Nixplay itself, which automatically downloads and installs the necessary software and firmware. The first stage of the setup process takes less than 10 minutes, including waiting time when the Nixplay reboots after software installation.
After the setup is complete, you are presented with an online tutorial, telling you how to proceed next by downloading the Nixplay mobile app or going to the Nixplay online website to create an account, which is required in order to pair the Nixplay frame to a mobile device.
Whichever device you use to send pictures to the Nixplay frame will have to be connected to a Wifi network so, you can receive and send photos and videos from anyone around the world via the "Send Photos" feature.
The second stage of the setup process, which consists of downloading the app and creating an account and pairing the Nixplay Frame takes less than 5 minutes. The Nixplay mobile app has a simple layout and also lets you control the Nixplay Frame, including volume and screen brightness.
If you've used a mobile app before, you won't have any difficulties navigating through the Nixplay mobile app, which is very intuitive to use.
You can create playlists where you can upload pictures from your camera roll, as well as photo sharing and storage services such as Google Photos and FlickR.
The Nixplay Frame also works with Alexa so, you can control the Nixplay from any Alexa-enabled device via the Amazon Alexa app and using "My Skills" to search for Nixplay.
The Nixplay comes with 5 GB internal storage and 10GB free cloud storage for your photo and media but you can increase storage by upgrading to Nixplay Plus from £1.49 per month. You can change the play options of the photos and media like an mp3 player so, you can shuffle the content. You can play up to a maximum of 1000 photos
You can also adjust the transitioning style and interval of the content if you want the images to fill the entire screen or if you prefer images to display in a tile format. You can choose a total of seven transition styles
The Nixplay Frame comes with a sleep motion feature, which can be disabled and enabled via the Nixplay app.
This feature is activated via the motion sensor built-in to the front side of the frame, which is designed to detect a human presence. When the sensor does not detect human presence, it will send Nixplay to sleep and automatically wake it up when it does.
The Nixplay mobile app also integrates a sleep motion sensor and sleep schedule, which you can also disable and enable, if you want to control when Nixplay wakes and goes to sleep. The sleep motion sensor can be set from 5 minutes up to 4 hours.
The Nixplay Smart Photo Frame uses a 1280 x 800 display with IPS LCD screen technology, which provides better color reproduction than basic LCD, as well as wider viewing angle so, you can view the images on the frame sideways very clearly.
The quality of the screen in on par with 10-inch Android tablets and portable CCTV monitors. By default, the screen shows the connectivity status, although you can also enable a clock and caption function to show on the screen.
The clock shows on the bottom right of the screen and it's approximately 1.2 x 0.6 inch in size. The clock uses Network Time Protocol (NTP) to keep time accurate.
The Nixplay Frame does not support multipoint pairing but, you can access the Nixplay via a different device by downloading the Nixplay app and login in to your account. In fact, if you give anyone access to your account sign-in details, they can too access the Nixplay.
It is not possible to pair the same Nixplay Frame with two separate Nixplay accounts. Also, when you unpair the Nixplay Frame from a device, it automatically resets the frame settings to factory defaults, meaning having to repeat the entire setup procedure again.
Sending one picture to the Nixplay Frame takes a few seconds (less than 20 seconds). Sending multiple pictures and/or videos takes a bit longer. Videos are limited to 15 second clips.
The remote control measures 9cm long and it's powered by a single 3V cR 2032 coin cell battery and has a magnetic backing so, it can be stuck out of sight on the back of the frame.
The Nixplay-branded remote can control a total of 11 functions, via 11 rubber buttons, which have an interesting layout design with pyramid-style buttons that compliment the pyramid style of the Nixplay smart frame.
Thanks to the relatively low weight (590 grams) of the Nixplay Frame, mounting it on a wall is feasible via the included wall plugs and flat head star screws. You can buy the Nixplay Frame on amazon.