Following the 13-inch Ink photo frame priced at $499, Aura is now launching a new product at an even lower price: the 10-inch Ink photo frame, which is already available for purchase for $349.
Ten years ago, when we first started working on Aura, we were very interested in creating an e-ink photo frame. We just wanted a frame that looked like a printed photo and could change magically, but the technology wasn’t ready at that time, Aura, co-founder and also CTO Eric Jensen, told TechCrunch. “So it’s really great to see it making continuous progress now.”
The Ink frame of Aura uses the Spectra 6-color display screen, which is capable of displaying only six different colors. What makes Aura unique is its proprietary jitter algorithm, a technique that blends a limited palette of colors into patterns to create an effect that appears to the human eye as a smooth gradient.
Although the 13-inch Ink photo frame is already very beautiful, it is obvious that the colors on the screen cannot match those of the original photos perfectly. For the new 10-inch Ink photo frame, Aura has collaborated with E Ink to add three new exclusive colors to the Spectra technology: off-white, mustard, and orange.
“The final effect is that the edges will be smoother,” said Jensen. “If you zoom in on a face, in the past we might have to use white next to red, or some more abrupt colors for the transition; now we can use more appropriate colors to fill in the gaps, which actually makes it look as if it has a higher resolution.”
After adding these three colors, Ink at 10 inches is closer to the original photo in terms of restoration, but in digital display, the colors still appear less saturated than those of printed photos.
For both Ink photo frames, Aura pays special attention to the accurate representation of skin tones, as most people use these frames for family photos. (Personally, I think these slight color differences can give landscape photos a somewhat vintage feel.) If your child's bright pink shirt appears more red on Ink, it might not be such a big deal; but if her skin tone looks unnaturally gray, that would be strange. Therefore, Aura has made meticulous calibrations for these colors.
The 10-inch version comes in only one color scheme: a black border paired with a mat in a dark gray color with a linen texture. At first glance, it might seem a bit jarring, and I wouldn't hang it on a gallery wall that already has ten white framed photos, but when displayed alone, it looks quite good.
"We deliberately made it dark in color so that there wouldn't be too strong a contrast between it and the electronic ink display next to it," said Jensen.
Like other frames with Aura, the 10-inch Ink is also compatible with Aura applications. Users and their family and friends can easily upload photos from their phones to the album and display these photos on the frame.
Aura comes with random wall-mounted accessories and brackets, as well as a USB-C charging cable. The company claims that a single charge of the Ink 10-inch model can last for three months. However, based on the author's experience with the Ink 13-inch model, the battery actually only lasts for about a month. This might be because the author placed it in a location with strong lighting, which could cause the front flash to turn on more frequently than if it were in a different spot.
This new Ink frame still cannot achieve a one-to-one perfect restoration of the photo, but color accuracy is not that important. More importantly, if you are not aware of this, you might easily mistake the Ink 10-inch frame for an ordinary framed photograph.
