A digital frame may seem like too obvious of a gift — but that's for a reason. They actually improve upon something we all have around our homes, allowing you to display more of your favorite photos all the time. Engadget's favorite option in this space, the Aura Carver Mat, is on sale for Prime Day, down from $179 to only $141.
While many digital photo frames are a mixed bag at best, the Aura Carver Mat topped Engadget's best digital frames list because it's simple to set up and looks great. The 10.1-inch frame is made of plastic and designed to be used in landscape, and it makes for a convincing copy of traditional mat photo frames. Aura's designed the Carver to rotate through the photos you upload on its own, but there's also a built-in touch bar that can be used to swipe forwards and backwards through your collection, if you want.
Buying into Aura's system means committing to a device that has to be connected to the internet to work, but Aura's app for adding photos is easy-enough to use that it should more than make up for it. You can even set the app to automatically upload new photos from a specific album if you want. That feature, along with the ability for multiple accounts to add photos to a single frame, makes the Aura Carver Mat perfect for families who might not all live in the same place. Speaking from experience, grandparents love being able to receive fresh photos of their grandkids without having to lift a finger.
A $150 Amazon Echo Show 8 could make for a formidable alternative to the Aura Carver Mat, especially if you're interested in having a voice assistant on-call to control your smart home. The single-minded focus of Aura's device — especially at $141, within spitting distance of last year's $139 low — is its real charm, though, something you just won't get from an Echo Show.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/home/smart-home/prime-day-has-our-favorite-digital-photo-frame-in-stock-and-on-sale-for-20-percent-off-101539085.html?src=rss
