Aura Carver Frame review

Our Verdict

With its minimalist chichi and like shooting fish in a barrel-to-utilise app, the Aura Carver Frame tin display thousands of your favorite photos in realistic colour, impressive depth, and sparkling detail.

For

Gorgeous high-resolution screen
App controls image positioning and lighting
Integrates with Google Photos and iCloud
AI-based app automatically groups and pairs photos

Against

Does not play videos
No USB/SD ports
No internal storage

Tom'south Guide Verdict

With its minimalist chic and easy-to-use app, the Aura Carver Frame can display thousands of your favorite photos in realistic color, impressive depth, and sparkling detail.

Pros

+
Gorgeous high-resolution screen
+
App controls image positioning and lighting
+
Integrates with Google Photos and iCloud
+
AI-based app automatically groups and pairs photos

Cons

-
Does non play videos
-
No USB/SD ports
-
No internal storage

Aura Carver Frame: Specs

Resolution: 1920 x 1200
Dimensions: 10.half-dozen 10 seven.five x two.6 inches
Wi-Fi: Yep
Touch screen: No
Remote: No
Congenital-in storage: No
Motion sensor: No
Music player: No
Video: No
USB/SD slots: No/No
Deject Services: iCloud, Google Photos

The Aura Carver Frame is a peak digital picture frame with an unusual specialty: the ability to display 2 vertical photos in a unmarried frame infinite. Similar to its sibling, the Aura Mason Frame, it has many of the same characteristics — such equally a total HD 1920 ten 1200 pixel display. The frame's streamlined exterior exudes minimalist chic that fits easily into whatsoever room.

What sets the Carver Frame apart is that it'due south designed equally a landscape-merely frame measuring ten.1 inches diagonally, featuring a large, cinematic image presentation. If y'all're a nature lensman or y'all want to brandish two vertical images side by side, this frame gets the job washed, every bit y'all volition see from our Aureola Carver Frame review.

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Aureola Carver Frame: Cost and availability

The Aura Carver Frame is a high-resolution desk frame with a low key, minimalist look that won't detract from your images or call undue attention to itself. It comes in neutral White Chalk Charcoal or Charcoal with White Mat color schemes. At $179, it'due south on the high end side of the price spectrum, but offers cracking flexibility in a widescreen presentation.

Aura Carver Frame review: Design

The frame'south structured dorsum and sturdy platform saves infinite by sitting directly on its own solid border and is heavy plenty not to budge, which is a good thing, as the frame is not wall mountable.

In that location are no physical inputs on the frame, and then if you lot want to manually change a photo, y'all must swipe the touch bar at the top of the frame. This is an elegant solution, because it keeps the glass pristine, as opposed to other bear on screen frames marred past fingerprints.

Because there is no internal storage, nor a memory card slot, the Aureola Carver Frame must be connected to Wi-Fi to display photos and automatically downloads software updates to the frame, every bit needed.

Aura Carver Frame review: Uploading photos

The Carver Frame is for notwithstanding photos only, and so you volition not be able to view video or hear sound on your frame. However, Aureola is compatible with Apple's Live Photos.

The frame has no internal storage and no camera carte or USB input, and then all images you want to see on the Carver take to be uploaded to the cloud. You lot (or your friends and family) can upload images via the Aura smartphone app (Android and iOS), or via a web interface.

Aura Mason Frame review — (Paradigm credit: Aura)

The Carver accepts photos from iCloud, Google Photos, and your Camera Roll via its proprietary app. There is no limit to the number of photos you can display because all uploads to your frame bike through the Aura app. Images are stored on Aura's cloud server, which is powered by Amazon Web Services and protected by AES-256 encryption. It can also exist programmed to work with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Aura Carver Frame review: Image quality

The Aura Carver'south image quality is among the best available in a digital frame. Each paradigm maintains a sharp focus and a realistic fidelity to the original shot. It does not artificially punch up colors but shows the virtually accurate rendition, consequent with your retention. Not but does the Carver frame display images naturally in ambience light, the frame'south 1920 x 1200-pixel resolution lets me view pictures at extreme angles with very little color or image baloney.

The frame's ambient lite sensor automatically adjusts the display'due south brightness, while an auto role switches the frame off after the room goes nighttime. While you tin can schedule when the frame turns on or off, information technology will not play in a room where the lights are out, which is kind of an oversight if you wish to observe your images in a darkened room.

From its server, Aureola applies an algorithm that analyzes your images to grouping them together for viewing. If yous upload large libraries, it too skips posting duplicates and blurry pictures. This serves another purpose of automatically pairing vertically oriented photos together in a unmarried widescreen display view. The Aureola app lets you lot alter the orientation of photos so you can transform a horizontal image to a vertical. The software will intelligently pair vertical photos via its fourth dimension- or content-based algorithm, only you cannot manually pair images. Yous can also disable the pairing mechanism altogether.

Like most photo frame software, the Aureola app lets yous fix a slideshow interval ranging from xv seconds to 24 hours, merely does non offering any transition options.

Aura Carver Frame: Verdict

The Aura Carver Frame delivers outstanding image rendering of colour and photographic detail directly from the deject and controlled via its companion app, so apart from a touchpad at the top, y'all seldom have to handle the frame straight. This is convenient for non-technical family members who just want to come across the latest photos.

The Carver is leap to return among the best images you lot will see of your photos. If you lot shoot a lot of vertical images, or you lot specialize in panoramic or dramatic scenes, you will not find a meliorate widescreen frame. Because there'due south no local storage, the frame works equally well for friends and family, who can use the app to contribute and view images on one or multiple frames, in sequence or two at a time. Its spacious ten-inch IPS brandish is viewable even from extreme angles, offer a charming addition to your tabletop memories.

Jackie is an obsessive, insomniac tech author and editor in northern California. A wild fauna abet, true cat fan, and photo app fanatic, her specialties include cross-platform hardware and software, art, design, photography, video, and a wide range of creative and productivity apps and systems. Formerly senior editor at Macworld and inventiveness editor at The Next Web, Jackie at present writes for a variety of consumer tech publications.