Aura’s Walden Digital Photo Frame is among the largest hanging photo frames available in the genre. With its sturdy construction, it aims to compete with the best digital photo frames in terms of refinement and quality. Plus, it’s a stylish addition to the company’s pantheon of high-resolution photo and video display products.
I put this digital frame to the test to see its performance and ease of use at home.
Aura Walden Frame Review: Price and Availability
Aura’s new Walden frame is available for $299 from Amazon or directly from Aura for the same price.
You can purchase from a variety of different colored frames including Black Gravel, Black Gravel with White Mat, Clay with White Mat, Ink Black with White Mat and Sea Salt.
Aura Walden Framework Review: Design
The Walden is a large, heavy frame with a distinctive and refined design. Instead of a modified gallery-style exterior that many e-frames adopt, the Walden sports a slim outer bezel in an inky black color, surrounding a moderately sized linen-textured white mat.
This frames all images with a clear border that enhances both color and black and white photos. The white mat also provides a neutral background for the pictures, so the frame coordinates with any room’s decor and looks at home with other framed and framed pictures. The backrest is solid, with a triangular balance bar that allows you to sit securely on a table or ledge without tipping over. The frame also comes with a stylish hanging kit that makes it easy to hang on the wall horizontally or vertically.
Unlike previous Aura frames, the Walden is designed to be viewed on a horizontal or vertical tabletop and to hang on the wall. Regardless of the orientation you place, the images adjust automatically.
Because Walden is connected to Wi-Fi and does not physically store photos in the frame, it presents unlimited photo and video viewing potential. You can add images and videos (up to 30 seconds) directly from Aura’s proprietary app, website, or email from your Camera Roll, Gallery, or Google Photos site. In addition to easy loading, all Aura frames, including the Walden, are designed specifically for gifting and contributing images of connected family and friends. Anyone with permission can send photos and videos to a Walden frame, and you can set up a gift frame by preloading images for family members who can’t or won’t do anything but see what’s in the frame.
Aura Walden Frame Review: Image Quality
Like all Aura frames, the Walden’s image quality is superlative. Whatever detail the camera captured, the frame’s 1,600 x 1,200 Full HD resolution shows it off to the fullest, topped by a 133 pixels per inch matte-finish anti-glare display. According to Aura, each photo is inpidually calibrated to obtain the best exposure for a realistic, natural display that does not attempt to enhance the image but rather show it in its best light.
Some Aura frames support a higher pixel-per-inch rating (for example, another of our favorite frames, the Mason Luxe with its 2048 x 1536 resolution in a 9.7-inch body) is noticeably sharper when viewed up close. distance, but in terms of image quality, the larger Walden frame doesn’t need more resolution. Brilliantly reveals light and shadow details with memory-accurate colors.
In an age where most digital images are taken via a smartphone, the frame’s 4:3 aspect ratio comes in handy as it matches the default settings on most high-quality smartphones. If you’re shooting images with a different aspect ratio, the frame’s proprietary smartphone app for iOS and Android offers smart cropping or manual cropping that lets you pinch-to-zoom on the most important part of the image. Smart Cropping also lets you choose black or color-coordinated borders.
Aura Walden Framework Review: Interface
Presentation is paramount and for frames as large as the Walden, it is essential that the screen is impeccable. That means no touch screen. Instead, like all other Aura frames, Walden allows you to use two sliders, one on the top and one on the right side, to physically operate the frame independently of the application. This almost hands-free approach prevents the screen from getting smudged by fingerprints.
The top bar allows you to swipe left or right to advance or revisit any photo immediately. Pressing down on the top bar offers three additional operations: Close, Exclude, and Power Off. That allows you to close the menu, exclude the current photo from the visible slideshow, or manually disable the frame. Swiping up on the sidebar shows the date the photo was taken, its location if that information was recorded by the phone, and who placed it in the frame. A double tap in the sidebar adds a favorite heart to particular images.
Aura employs a technique that governs how the frame responds to light rather than adding a motion sensor, as some of its competitors do. The frame automatically adjusts image brightness using an ambient light sensor and can turn off completely when the room gets dark. Aside from the ability to determine specific on and off times in the app, the frame doesn’t offer separate brightness control.
As long as the frame senses it’s getting enough light, everything works fine. However, if the frame and wall outlet configuration dictate that the wall is in a darker part of the room, for example blocked by a tall bookshelf or other furniture, the frame may have difficulty detecting enough light. to display the images while they are hanging on the wall. . In the late afternoon, my living room was still lit, but on a cloudy day, I had to turn on a lamp in the room for the frame to display images. To avoid that unpredictable state, you can set frame on and off times through the app.
If you are hanging the frame, it is best to use the attached hanger as it is specifically designed to fit the back design of the frame. The notches are not for hanging the frame, but rather for tucking in and controlling the power cord, something you may or may not need to do. You can also hang the frame with a regular hook and eye, but that may be less secure. Hanging the frame also means the power cord is visible.
The Walden does not have a battery, so you will need to plug in the frame to view images and videos. Some homes may have difficulty finding suitable wall space near an outlet. For them, mounting it on a table is easier and more aesthetically pleasing.
Aura Walden Framework Review: Application
With the photo technology industry’s current obsession with AI, it’s no surprise that the Aura app now brings certain smart elements into the mix. Two features stand out: Highlights and Colorizer.
Colorizer is designed to transform original pure black and white or sepia-toned photographs into full-color photographs. The effects are not always stellar. While the app recognized grass in an outdoor photo, and even showed pretty decent skin tones in a very old image taken with an instant camera, the colors sometimes looked artificial and a bit distracting, like tinted films. By the way, black and white images look great on the Walden.
Highlights, a newer AI-based feature, uses facial recognition to suggest photos of specific people to include in the frame. This feature is designed to save time and effort when selecting which photos of a particular person should be added to the frame slideshow rotation. The feature only works with photos on your iPhone, since the processing is local and does not depend on an Internet connection. Other requirements for the Featured feature are that the frame must have at least 10 photos in total and at least 10 photos of a specific person. At least 10% of the photos in a frame must be of that person. At least 2 photos of that person must be solo. This can be a difficult task for some users. If your photo collection doesn’t meet these standards, you won’t find the Highlights feature.
Once people experience Aura frames, they often purchase more than one to distribute to friends and family. We’ve reviewed several Aura frames over the past few years, including Mason, Mason Luxe, and Carver, and the app allows you to conveniently name each frame and mix images with other frames on the network.
Friends and family can share their own images in the frame via smartphone app, web app or by email. If you’re giving an Aura frame as a gift, you can set up an online account without having to open the box. The recipient will simply see all the preloaded images that you placed in the frame before opening it.
Aura Walden Framework Review: Verdict
The Aura Walden Digital Photo Frame is a large, beautiful and versatile photo frame that looks good in any room. The ability to place it on the wall or on a table differentiates it from its predecessors in the Aura product line. Its unique design is pleasing and gives you the full benefit of high-resolution images that make the most of your life, your family, and your travels.
Its Wi-Fi connection and lack of physical inputs are a plus because you’ll never have to keep track of how many images you want to upload and it gives your friends and family the ability to post new images to the frame anytime, anywhere. . The app works well, even without the special AI Highlights and Colorizer features.
The only obstacle for some may be the price. At $300, it’s among the most expensive large digital photo frames we’ve seen.
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