This product was provided for the purpose of this review.
The NearHub digital photo frame is a 10.1-inch picture frame that acts a little bit differently from other photo frames that I’ve seen in pleasantly surprising ways. While it has an MSRP of $150, I’ve seen it selling as low as $120.
Design and Display
The frame has a somewhat interesting shape, not the pure rectangle you might typically expect. Importantly, it has a matte finish, not a reflective glass finish, which I really appreciate, as this is way better for viewing photos, especially in places like a kitchen or office space where you have constant natural lighting. The display is a 10.1-inch IPS screen with 1280×800 resolution that brings your memories to life in vivid clarity.
On the side, you’ll find an ambient light sensor, which is super helpful because, depending on the ambient lighting conditions, your photo frame will either turn up the brightness or dim the brightness automatically. For navigation, it features what I called a capacitive button kind of thing—there’s no tactility to it, you just sense your flicking. There’s one on the right and one on the top. You can choose to orient the frame vertically, and the buttons switch positions and function accordingly.
The Killer Feature: Air Quality Monitoring
This is where the NearHub surprised me most. It has environmental sensors built right into the device! While parts on the side may look like speakers, the top sensor is actually a temperature and humidity detector, and the bottom one is a carbon dioxide (CO₂) detector. If you don’t already have one in a specific room in your home, this will double as a CO₂ detector.
In the setup section, you can choose to display all this environmental data—the humidity level, temperature, and the CO₂ levels—all the time on your photos unless you disable it. You can also set it up to get an alert if high CO₂ levels are detected.
Setup and Application Experience
Setting up the frame is simple: you plug it in, download the free NearHub Go application (available for Android or Apple), and get your credentials set up. Watch my video to see more about this. The frame runs on Android, by the way, so updating it should be a breeze. Once you get the four-digit pin code that appears on the screen, you pop it into the app, connect it to your home Wi-Fi, and you’re all set. The intuitive setup makes it perfect for users of all tech levels. It does come with 32GB of internal storage, which can hold up to 40,000 photos.
The application gives you control over the frame’s functions. For instance, you can change the name of the frame if you have multiple units, maybe designating one for the ‘kitchen’ or for your ‘parents’ house’. You can set the interval for photo changes; I have mine set to every 30 seconds. You can also upload short videos—those under 16 seconds (0 to 15 seconds)—and have them automatically play, thanks to the built-in 5W speaker. I appreciate that if you want to mount it, there are cutouts on the back to tuck the power cable away, preventing an unnecessary crease.
A quick note on some quirks: the power cable is a barrel cable, and when you plug it in, it actually covers the USBC port, so I’m not sure why that port is even there. Also, while I initially had a bug where the temperature setting wouldn’t change from Celsius to Fahrenheit, a firmware update has since resolved that issue, so now the temperature translates correctly.
The Biggest Barrier
The one major thing I have to point out is that there is no SD card slot and there is not a USB port on this. The only way to upload photos is wirelessly through the application. I have thousands of photos stored on a NAS drive, and I really don’t want to have to transfer them to my phone just to transfer them to the frame. However, for people who just want to upload photos straight from their camera roll and update them every once in a while, it works perfectly. You upload your photos and you sort of let it roll.
Overall, the non-reflective display and the combination of CO₂ detection, temperature, and humidity detection elevate the NearHub photo frame far beyond the competition. It’s a smart piece of tech that quietly guards the air in your space while displaying your memories. Again, you can pick it up for just $119.99.