Once upon a time, digital photo frames had a bad rep for looking tacky, but the Aura Mason Luxe completely changes the game. It looks really stylish and feels well made. The screen delivers 2K resolution so your pictures should look clear. A built-in speaker enables you to play and listen to video clips and an intuitive top bar on the top of the frame means you never really have to touch the screen with your fingers – so no sticky marks!
Pros
+
Easy to use
+
Stylish finish
+
Touch control
Cons
-
Quite chunky
-
Needs constant Wi-Fi connection
-
No USB or SD card slot
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Whether you're after a stylish digital photo frame for your own home or want to give one as a gift, the Aura Mason Luxe is classy, really easy to set up and you can pre-load it with photos. The 9.7-inch 2K display ensures your photos look high-quality and you can play videos with sound thanks to built-in speakers. It's definitely up there with the best digital photo frames.
Unlike most digital photo frames with touch operation, you control the display using a touch bar on top of the frame so you don't have to keep cleaning the screen. With this, you can replay a video, remove a photo, swipe through images or turn the frame off.
Aura Mason Luxe: Specification
Screen size: 9.7-inch Screen resolution: 2048x1536 PPI (2K) Overall size: 9.82 x 7.84 x 2-inches Photo storage: Unlimited Orientation: Portrait or landscape Power supply: Fabric power cord Built-in speaker: Yes
(Image credit: Hannah Rooke/Digital Camera World)
Aura Mason Luxe: Key Features
Although the Aura Mason Luxe isn't the only digital photo frame that can be pre-loaded with photos, it has been made very easy to do so. All you need to do is download the Aura app, and if you have the box with you you can scan the gift set up QR code. If you don't it will generate a virtual code that can be inputted when the device is turned on.
Images can be added by friends and family anywhere in the world, all they need is the frame's unique code or to be added as a member so they can share and view photos.
The frame can be used in either portrait or landscape mode but unfortunately, if you choose a selection of both photos, not all of them will display properly. If you want them all to appear as they should it might be a good idea to pick one or the other. There is a touch bar to control the screen on top of the frame regardless of whether you choose to use it in portrait or landscape mode which shows how much Aura has thought about the design of this digital photo frame. It looks great and has some really intuitive features that make it easy to use.
(Image credit: Hannah Rooke/Digital Camera World)
Aura Mason Luxe: Build and handling
The Aura Mason Luxe photo frame feels really good quality and it looks very stylish compared to some of the more basic photo frames. I have the Aura Mason Luxe in pebble which is a dark grey with specks of light grey, but you can also get it in Sandstone if you would prefer a lighter colored frame and darker specks.
Even the power cord feels like it's made from really good quality material as it's coated in fabric and features a smooth metal attachment where you plug it into the back of the frame.
The frame itself is a little chunkier than other digital photo frames but this makes it feel on the sturdier side – whether it's in portrait or landscape mode you shouldn't have to worry about it being easily knocked over.
Speckled finish in Pebble (Image credit: Hannah Rooke/Digital Camera World)
Aura Mason Luxe: Performance
The screen isn't the highest resolution screen on the market, but with a 2K resolution, images look crisp enough from a reasonable distance away. So long as the photos you are displaying a good quality, they will look great on the screen. I found some photos did look a little more blurry and pixelated on the digital photo frame than they did on my phone but on closer inspection the ones that happened to were a little out of focus anyway.
If you've pre loaded photos on it, set up takes less than 30 seconds. All you need to do is make sure you have the Aura app pre downloaded and have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on. It will pop up with a pairing code you'll have to accept on your phone and then you're good to go.
Even if you don't have photos pre loaded set up is really fast, just make sure you allow the app to access all your photos and videos then select the ones you want to appear on the frame.
(Image credit: Hannah Rooke/Digital Camera World)
Aura Mason Luxe: Final Verdict
You'll have to splash a bit more cash if you want to buy the Aura Mason Luxe frame but honestly, it's totally worth it. It looks and feels a lot better quality than some other frames and even though it's made of plastic it has a really nice matte finish. There are lots of little details Aura has thought about such as including two touch bars, two different ways of pre-loading photos and automatic orientation when you turn the frame around.
Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. Hannah spent three years working at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant, using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With eight years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.
