Meural Canvas II – The Smart Art Frame with 21.5 in. HD Digital Canvas That Renders Images and Photography in Lifelike Detail | 16X24 White Frame | WiFi-Connected | Powered by NETGEAR (MC321WL)

I ordered this Meural Canvas II digital frame because I'd seen it at a friend's house and fell in love with it! I ordered mine in white 19 x 27 inches. I absolutely love this frame! Getting the frame hooked up to wifi and learning to operate it was so easy., the frame guides you with instructions every step of the way. We hung the frame above the sofa in our living room and it is the star of the show. The photos are so crisp and the technology really brings the images to life. One thing that is really cool is that you can share the link to upload photos with anyone. My son lives across the country with his family and I get pictures of my grandchildren appearing on my frame. What a nice surprise! I've read the reviews on this frame and although they are mostly favorable, I havent had any issues with my frame. One of the best purchases I've made in the past year!

The NetgearMeural Canvas II is amazing way to not only experience major artworks from around the globe but it gives life to our photos in a way I did not think possible. The vibrant colors and the way the frame allows us to see incredible detail.

Original Rating is 4 Stars, downgraded to 3 stars as the Annual Membership card is not in the box and Netgear Support can't seem to get a code to enable the membership in 6 weeks. Downgraded to 1 star as none of the three companies (Woot, Amazon or Netgear) is able to get the code the the Annual Membership after 3 months. In the beginning of month 4, Netgear finally provided a code. Not increasing the rating as that was a struggle, and mounting with no wires exposed is very difficult. Bought this as a gift for my spouse per request. The rotating mount works nicely, images look great even next to a window, no glare like a glass covered picture. There is an included flat mount that could be used but rotating would be more difficult since it would require removing the picture and reinstalling it on the flat mount. Rotating is nicer. Mounting and draping the cord down the wall is an easy install. This is what I recommend doing. Trying to plug into power behind the Meural, and not show the plug is very difficult. The plug (wall wart) that comes with the Meural is huge! Most recessed outlets require an angle on the outlet, since the wart has the plugs twisted 90 degrees, it can’t be plugged into a typical recessed outlet. Using a 360 outlet that can be turned to keep the wart inside the recessed outlet, the wart sticks out of from the wall at least 1/2”. https://www.amazon.com/360-Electrical-36011-V-Rotating-Duplex/dp/B000VWE67A Replacing the wall wart with a smaller one reduces the amount that sticks out to 1/3”. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Supply-Adapter-5-5mm-Camera/dp/B08T69FYYL None of those allow the Meural to rotate freely. The plug is touching the picture and gets unplugged easily. There are large recessed outlet boxes that put the outlet on a flat bottom or side but they are huge and the hole and/or wires would be exposed in landscape mode. The sub-optimal solution was to get a 3 gang recessed TV box, and a shallow old work box, plus a couple blanks. The shallow old work box is too big to fit in the box, so it must be altered to make the center hole wide enough to put the shallow old work box, then drill a couple holes to attach the box to the frame securely. Wire it up and use the non-Meural plug to plug it in. This is sub-optimal because the bottom of the frame of the outlet box is exposed in landscape orientation. https://www.amazon.com/Legrand-Pass-Seymour-TV3WW-3-Gang-Recessed/dp/B008SDCKC2 I would not recommend trying to use a recessed mount with this picture. Too much work, and quite difficult to do. Just drape the cord down the wall to an outlet and save the effort. It took Netgear over 3 months to provide the code for the first year included membership. If you don't have a membership card in the box, RETURN it within 30 days! There is NO defined process to get the code if it is not in the box. Amazon will not email a code to you as they don't have access, Woot support doesn't read your messages if you are outside of the 30 day return window, but will probably have the same answer as Amazon. Netgear will deny the code should be provided by them. You might be able to annoy Netgear enough to get one, like I did, but I wouldn't bother. I would say that purchasing from Netgear directly should get you a code that works, but I found another review here that says a purchase from Netgear directly has the same issue. If you contact [email protected] and ask them for it. They will reply and ask you for a picture of proof of purchase, and a picture of the serial number from the device. Be sure to take that picture before hanging it. The serial number is under the back cover, under the rotating mount. That is not an easy place to get to after it is hung. Netgear support took over 3 months to finally provide the code. So far, it is a decent screen to display your own pictures. I would not be expecting the Annual Membership to actually be included in the "bundle". If you get the membership, then there is several themes to choose from and seem to be good quality pictures. Some playlists are not included in the membership and have additional costs.

I've wanted a digital picture frame for a while and have been eyeing the Meural Canvas for some time. Have been skeptical since cannot be found in a brick and mortar store but it didn't disappoint. The other frames I've been researching was Canvia and Samsung The Frame and for the price you get bang for your buck compared to smaller frames. I selected Meural over Samsung for one main reason, Meural can be used in portrait or landscape and Samsung The Frame is only in landscape. Also, Meural does not need any other component to be attached like Samsung. Settings up was easy but must be done through the Meural app. Meural has gesture controls which allows you to wave your hand to switch images and details. You can also use the app to cycle the images you have loaded. You can add images to the cloud or use SD card and makes most images look great. One annoyance is if you installed Meural in portrait and the image is landscape then it will not load and their isn't a way to adjust or center the image if it is offset a bit. You can force a landscape image in portrait but you also can just rotate the frame. Meural has sample artwork and of course could subscribe for their service but the beauty is you can load any image you want. This is a great product that decided to get a second unit. It took a while to find a way to add another Meural to my account and I wish they would provide more instructions even on their website. There are two latches on the back of the unit to remove the outer wooded frame but Netgear does not sell them and state that removing the wooden frame could damage the unit. The power adapter is huge and wondering why does it need to be so large and the unit has some weight to it. So when installing Meural to the wall pay close attention to the wall material and use the correct fasteners. I would recommend this product to anyone that wants to display their pictures or artwork. Pros: Size SD Card Ways to load picture Included mounting hardware Cons: Price Large boarder Lack of instructions Size of power adapter Update 02/28/2021 Tried the SD card to add my pictures and not use the cloud or upload any to the netgear servers. After trying for some time found a forum on Netgear's website where it states you can use any sd card as long as it is class 10 and faster. Created folders but Meural didn't find anything then found another forum that says have to create folders "Meural 1, etc but max four folders. If you create a folder meural5 or more the system does not find it. Lastly, it does play short videos but Meural isn't very powerful and you will see the video latency. Lastly, if the video is small on size it will not stretch the video to fit the screen.

The Meural Canvas II gets everything right. The optional mount makes it easy to rotate for portrait or landscape art, and it feels intentional, not like a workaround. The art store is surprisingly good: great selection, new work showing up regularly, and a clean interface that makes it easy to discover artists I’d actually follow. But what really sealed it for me is the open API. I love having that kind of access. It shows real respect for the user and opens up so many creative possibilities. This frame fits seamlessly into my space and my workflow.