Ive been testing digital photo frames for years, and I've just found my favorite design Pexars innovative rear-lit stunner

Date:
Sat, 15 Nov 2025 20:30:00 +0000

Description:
The Pexar digital photo frame has become one of my personal faves, thanks to its gorgeous build and innovative lighting.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame: review

The Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is an innovative photo
frame built on the third-party Frameo platform. While its premium styling and large, glare-free display are undoubtedly a visual treat, the feature most likely to draw admiring comments from visitors to your home will be the rear-facing wall light, described by the manufacturer Lexar as the worlds first.

If youve read any of my past reviews of digital photo frames built on the Frameo platform, youll be familiar with how easy the app is to use. Adding users is a cinch. You simply tap Add Friend on the frame, and it generates a code. Once you or your loved ones have downloaded the app, you can enter the code, and youre good to go.

Sending photos to the frame has been improved since I last used the Frameo app. You can still select up to 10 photos to send at a time or upgrade to the Frameo+ app for $1.99 / 0.99 a month or $16.99 / 7.99 a year to unlock unlimited sends. Once youve selected which frame you want to send the photos to, you can add captions and adjust their alignment. In a marked improvement over earlier versions of the app, you can now manually select the positioning of images in both landscape and portrait orientation, ensuring your snaps are cropped exactly how you want them.

Once my snaps were loaded on it, I was generally impressed. It certainly
gives some of the best digital photo frames a run for their money. From a decent viewing distance, my black-and-white shots of the Puente Romano in Crdoba look crisply detailed. Up close, though, it doesnt always look quite
as precise thats an inevitable side effect of that larger screen size, which gives it a pixel density of 141 PPI, rather than the staggering 212 PPI of
the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame . (Image credit: Future / Josh Russell)

Another area where it falls a little short of the excellent example set by
its predecessor is color balance. One of the things that blew me away about the older Pexar frame was its impressively vibrant hues, but the Starlight looks more muted to me. Even compared to the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro not
a device notorious for its hyper-saturated colors the Barbie pink of camellias or blazing gold of rhododendron blooms look more conservative and less exuberant. Its not miles off the mark, but its just enough that photos look a little more subdued than Id like.

Despite these slight missteps, the Pexar Starlights performance is still impressive, giving your photos plenty of pop. In a large part, this is thanks to the frames bright display and super-dynamic, contrasty pictures even if the colors look a little duller from time to time, photographs Ive uploaded still look bold and assertive, making for an impressive focal point in my living room.

Naturally, this is helped by the design of the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame, which is flat out gorgeous. That 15.6-inch screen is bright and almost entirely glare-free honestly, its so unperturbed by all
the artificial light in my office that its like its subject to some kind of quantum tunnelling effect where the light just passes straight through it. (Image credit: Future)

The frame is a bit of a stunner as well. Its wood grain finish is beautiful and feels delightfully tactile, while the bezels around the screen are nicely textured to mimic a proper mount. Admittedly, the plastic this is made from doesnt feel quite as authentic as the paper-like effect on the Aura Aspen but the overall effect still gives it a more premium feel than the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame before it.

Given its name, you probably wont be surprised to hear that the biggest new feature of the Starlight is backlighting. I didnt notice it a whole lot when viewing the frame stand-mounted or under bright light, but mounted on the
wall or in the evening, it looks picture perfect. Honestly, it makes the
frame a statement piece in its own right. I do wish there was an option to change the warmth of the backlight, though, as it can look a little cool for the kind of soft amber light I prefer after dark.

Ultimately, I feel like the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch is the difficult sequel to Pexars breakthrough album, the Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame. Its more ambitious, more innovative and yet it compromises on a few of the things that made its predecessor such a hit. It still features pretty highly on my list of favorite digital photo frames but for $159.99 / 149.99 you can snap
up its stablemate instead. (Image credit: Future / Josh Russell) Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: price & release date Launched November 6, 2025 Retails for $349.99 / 349.99

Released on November 6, 2025, the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame is available in both the US and UK for a list price of $349.99 /
349.99.

While thats not exactly cheap, its still reasonably priced. For example, the Aura Aspen costs $229 (around 175) for a smaller 11.8-inch display, though it does offer better pixel density and color reproduction. By contrast, the huge 27-inch Netgear Meural Canvas II will set you back a whopping $599.99 /
649.99 for that spend, you get great features and better color, yet it has a much lower pixel density as a result of its bulk. (Image credit: Future)
Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame review: specs

Dimensions

7.1 x 10.2 x 1 inches (180 x 259 x 25mm)

Display size

15.6-inch

Resolution

1920 x 1080, 144 pixels per inch

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Touch Screen

Yes

Sound

Built-in speaker

Orientation

Portrait or landscape

Storage

64GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, SD card, USB-A, USB-C (Image credit: Future / Josh Russell) Should I buy the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

The Frameo app is easier to use than ever, thanks to new settings for
cropping your photos.

4/5

Design

The Pexar Starlight is stunningly designed, with a gorgeous wood-grain frame, textured white bezels and that classy backlight.

5/5

Performance

Impressively bright and glare-free, the Starlight offers crisp, contrasty images its just a shame its colors can occasionally look a little more subdued than other frames.

4/5

Value

With an increased price and build quality, the Pexar has also lost some
detail and color accuracy, which is a real shame. But its still not a bad frame for this kind of spend.

4/5 Buy it if

You want a bright, expansive screen
Not only does the Pexar Starlight offer a generous 15.6-inch screen, its also pleasingly bright, looking bold and eye-catching even in bright daylight.

You want a truly gorgeous looking frame
With its wonderfully tactile wood-grain finish and textured mount, this frame looks very close to its analog counterparts. But add that innovative backlight and youve got something that almost no frame currently offers. Dont buy it if

You want the absolute crispest photo frame you can get
While the Pexar Starlight looks reasonably sharp, its 141 PPI pixel density
is dwarfed by that of some frames on the market, such as the 212 PPI Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame.

Youre looking for striking, true-to-life color
The Pexar Starlight handles earth tones well enough but its a bit of
shrinking violet when it comes to primary and secondary colors, lacking the vibrancy of some rival digital photo frames. Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch
digital photo frame review: also consider

Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame

Aura Aspen

Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame

Dimensions

7.1 x 10.2 x 1 inches (180 x 259 x 25mm)

12.7 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches (323 x 257 x 28mm)

7.4 x 11.2 inches (18.9 x 28.4cm)

Display size

15.6-inch

11.8-inch

11-inch

Resolution

1920 x 1080, 144 pixels per inch

1600 x 1200, 170 pixels per inch

2000 x 1200, 212 pixels per inch

Aspect Ratio

16:9

4:3

5:3

Touch Screen

Yes

No

Yes

Sound

Built-in speaker

Built-in speaker

Built-in speaker

Orientation

Portrait or landscape

Portrait or landscape

Portrait or landscape

Storage

64GB

Unlimited cloud storage

32GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, SD card, USB-A, USB-C

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi, SD card, USB-A, USB-C

Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame
If you care most about performance over style, Pexars previous digital photo frame is the one to go for. Thanks to its huge 2000 x 1200 resolution display crammed into a 11-inch screen, this Pexar rocks a whopping 212 PPI pixel density and is also capable of truly glorious color, with pinks, reds and yellows positively glowing in my photos. Read my full Pexar 11-inch Digital Picture Frame review for more.

Aura Aspen
Alternatively, the Aura Aspen offers a fantastic sweet spot between both form and function. Its build is exquisite its bezels have a matte, textured-paper effect that feels like real mount, while its body and stand are satisfyingly sturdy. Meanwhile, it still has an impressive display, rocking a 170 PPI
pixel density and some of the best color accuracy Ive ever seen. Read my full Aura Aspen review . (Image credit: Future) How I tested the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame Tested over several weeks Uploaded a range of color and monochrome photos Have many years of experience working with photography

I spent several weeks testing the Pexar Starlight 15.6-inch digital photo frame. To test out how easy it is to use, I first set up the frame and added several users to it. I then sent over a range of photos using the Frameo app, both individually and in large batches to see how easy the transfer process is, before tweaking the fit and alignment of each image.

I made sure I uploaded a significant variety of photos to test out how the frames display performed against different criteria. To test its resolution and contrast, I used a variety of black-and-white photographs, from mountains in the Scottish Highlands to Spanish architecture. When assessing its color performance, I used vibrant shots of blossoms, flowers and fireworks, comparing its color reproduction against the screen of my iPhone 16 Pro .

Not only have I tested over half a dozen of the best digital photo frames released over the last 18 months, Im also a keen photographer, having snapped over 40,000 images on my Canon SLR and iPhone 16 Pro. On top of this, I spent over a decade working in print publishing, meaning that I have a keen eye for managing photography and assessing how its translated to another medium.
First reviewed: November 2025 Read more about how we test



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