Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame review

There's not much to the Aluratek 8-inch Digital Photo Frame — but that’s a good thing. Its simplicity makes it one of the best digital photo frames for users who just want to view their favorite snaps without fussing with the complexity of networks, the cloud, email accounts, or downloading apps. With the unconnected Aluratek, the entire operation of the frame lies directly in your hands. Because of this, it’s dirt cheap, too.

Read our Aluratek 8-inch Digital Photo Frame review to find out if its lack of features is just what you’re looking for, or if you should spend more on a photo frame with more bells and whistles.

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Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame: Price and availability

As a true budget pick without many options, it’s only $39 on Amazon — originally $49 and a third of the price of some of our other picks on the best photo frames. Considering it's simplicity and decent picture quality, this is a bargain.

The Aluratek frame features an unobtrusive black plastic case that comes with a screw-in plastic stand, which works both in horizontal or vertical mode, but there is no hole to hang it on a wall.  

Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame: Design and interface

While simple is not necessarily a bad thing, there are many common digital photo frame features that this frame does not offer. The unit has no touch screen, no built-in memory, and no remote control. There are some basic adjustments for positioning images on screen, how long each image lingers, and the screen brightness. This also gives you the choice of 11 transition styles to suit your mood,  and display photos from 3 seconds to 1 hour. 

The navigational controls are located on the back of the unit and each command registers with a toy-like click, but you must put your hands on the frame to operate the controls.

To view images, you plug in SD camera cards (up to 32GB) or a USB thumb drive, which is an accessible operation for most non-technical users. Photos automatically play in slideshow mode. However, normal-size USB drives stick out of the frame's side, which is unsightly.

Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame: Image quality

Image quality from the Aluratek’s 8-inch, 800 x 600 TFT LCD screen is a mixed bag. You can adjust the brightness and saturation of your images, and some look very good, with just the right realistic memory-based hues — with neither punched up nor oversaturated colors and respectable skin tones. Then again, other images look washed out. 

However, this small, low resolution screen has another more serious problem: viewing from most angles washes out most of the image, so be prepared to keep this small frame right in front of your nose.

Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame: Verdict

The Aluratek 8-inch LCD Digital Photo Frame is as austere a product as you can get, but it has its virtues. One is the price: It’s as inexpensive a digital photo frame as you are likely to find. It could even serve as a starter frame for kids or for people who just want to try out the digital frame format.

The immediacy of hands-on operation, and the act of inserting a card or a thumb drive into waiting slots, may be the ideal solution for non-tech or elderly viewers. However, if you’re looking for something with better image quality and features such as Wi-Fi connectivity, you’ll have to look elsewhere — and be prepared to pay more.