There are a lot of digital photo frames in the world, but Amazon hopes that Alexa will give its first-ever entrant an edge. The Alexa Photo Frame is a 10-inch digital photo frame that’s designed to look more like an actual photo than another glowing rectangle.
To achieve the photo-like look, Amazon is using a semi-matte, anti-glare screen that—in my initial glimpse—looks pretty photo-like. In fact, it was (at first glance, at least) hard to tell the Alexa Photo Frame apart from actual frames with photos in them when they were positioned right next to each other. Light-sensing technology helps here, too, since the frame can adapt to how bright or dark your room is.
As much as it’s about the look of the Alexa Photo Frame, it’s equally about—you guessed it—Alexa. The Alexa Photo Frame uses Alexa+ to sort through your Amazon Photos and pull out ones that it thinks you might like, and also photos that it thinks should be grouped together. That could mean putting two photos of your kids at different ages side-by-side or, as Amazon puts it, photos where “you’re smiling, and the lighting is right” or ones that “match the season you’re in.” You can choose which people you want to feature in your photos, and the Alexa Photo Frame syncs automatically, so it’s constantly updating.
One nice sentimental touch is the addition of a voice note feature that lets you record yourself and link it to a photo—to play the voice note, you just tap the photo and then tap the recording. You most likely won’t want to hear your own narration of a photo, but if you’re getting the Alexa Photo Frame as a gift, it might be nice for your mom or your grandma, for example, to hear something you’ve recorded for them—granted they’re tech-savvy enough to use the feature.
It wouldn’t be Alexa without a voice assistant. If you thought for one second there wasn’t a microphone in this thing, think again. You can use voice commands to search photos and curate experiences by saying stuff like “show photos of the kids.” If you don’t want a photo to appear, you can long-press on it and then tap “hide.” Very handy for ex-spouses or estranged relatives.
The Alexa Photo Frame is available now. The black version costs $199, while the birch and walnut frames (real wood, mind you) cost $229.
More screens!
If a photo screen doesn’t do it for you, there’s also another new Amazon screen: the Echo Show 16.
This is Amazon’s newest version of its smart display, and it has quite a few upgrades over the last generation. Amazon says that the Echo Show 16 is 40% thinner and has 10% more viewing area thanks to smaller bezels. There’s a new 13-megapixel wide-angle camera as well, which Amazon says increases the range of Visual ID from eight to 13 feet. Amazon also added night vision, so it can see in the dark.
Amazon upgraded the performance here, too. The Echo Show 16 has 20% more computing power, Amazon says, which it claims will make interactions “faster and more fluid.”
Software gets a tweak as well, with three new “Screen Styles.” Those include “Smart Home,” which prioritizes your Echo Show screen for controlling other devices in your home; “Family Organizer,” which shows schedules, calendars, meal planning, and to-dos; and “Photos,” which leans into the digital photo frame aspect.
The Echo Show 16 is available for pre-order today and will ship later this year for $499, but if you pre-order, you’ll get $100 off that price.
