I’ve Bought 6 of These Digital Photo Frames. Here’s Why I Think They’re *Actually* the Perfect Gift

I’ve always loved that feature on my iPhone where memories pop up in random collages — the totally miscellaneous collection brings me joy daily. When I bought the Aura digital frame for my father-in-law a few years ago, I realized it captured that same magic: a random, ever-changing carousel of your own photos. That discovery is what led me to buy one … then another … then another for my own family and other loved ones. 

I’ve bought six Aura frames in the three years since I had my first kid. There’s the one for grandparents located across the country. Another one for grandparents located just a half mile away. One for my aunt celebrating her 60th birthday. Two for my own home, one for our beloved babysitter. I’ve never given a gift that’s been so universally well-received, nor has any item in my living room been such a conversation starter as the 15-inch Walden frame I keep there, loaded with photos of family, friends, and kid artwork that rotate at random all through the day.

I’d go so far as to say that the Aura frame is the perfect big gift. And now is a great time to buy one — for example, for a special mother figure in your life — because several of the frames are currently on sale for $20 or $30 off for a Mother’s Day promotion. 

It’s a digital picture frame that displays photos in a random order on a picture-frame-like screen. It connects to WiFi and uses an app, so you can add images into the rotation remotely and also add images to other frames that you’re connected to. (I’m the primary photo provider for my in-laws’ frame, for example, but other members of the family whom I’ve invited to contribute can view the photos on the app even if they don’t have a frame themselves.) Aura currently has five frames in various size and color variations; the Walden version is wall-mountable, and the others are tabletop. All have a high-resolution display and automatic brightness adjustment. The frames are priced from $199 to $499, and there is no subscription fee for the app. 

Setup is easy, even for the technically disinclined. You plug in your frame, connect your frame to WiFi, download the free app, and start uploading. Uploads are free — you can add both photos and videos directly from the app to one or more of the frames you’re connected to, as often as you’d like. The uploads are stored on Aura’s secure cloud servers. You can make adjustments, like setting your photos to swap every minute, or after shorter or longer durations. 

For as long as I’ve been a mom, I’ve seen the sentiment circulating on social media that goes something like, “Moms have tens of thousands of photos of their kids and none with them.” And I’ve lived it myself; the photos I have with my kids are usually poorly snapped selfies that I’m not exactly eager to pay to print and frame. A survey from the brand itself found that moms are usually the ones behind the camera, noting that 66% say they’re the primary memory keepers, yet they’re also the least likely to appear in the photos, with 91% wishing they had more images of themselves with their kids. It’s part of what makes this a meaningful gift — it serves as a reminder to capture photos, even imperfect ones, and makes displaying those photos so much less of a lift. It asks us moms to put ourselves back in the frame. 

I’ve noticed a positive for my kids, too. Specifically, that they’re developing a deeper connection to family members who live far away. As a kid in the 1990s, I visited my paternal grandparents once a year, and I remember flipping through photo albums of them but never quite feeling a connection to the images. Today, my kids stay connected to far-off family through tools like FaceTime, and now, our digital frames. I’ve loaded ours with photos of family near and far, and many times I’ve looked up to see my kids transfixed, even pointing out relatives who live far away by name and waiting for the next photo in the carousel to appear so they can see who’s in it.

Aesthetics is another strong point. My siblings and I bought our mom a different digital frame from another brand about 10 years ago, and the quality was dubious at best. That frame was plasticky, the cord wouldn’t stay put, the images looked pixelated, and the uploading process was a pain. With the Aura frame, there’s a pleasantly tactile quality; the frame feels substantial and well-crafted, the photos are crisp and vivid, the app is intuitive, and even the cord has a premium feel. 

But more than anything, it’s what appears on the screen that keeps me coming back. In a house full of noise and chaos, it’s a constant reminder of the people who matter most.