Facebook Portal
BEST FOR SOCIAL.
FACEBOOK HAS ALSO thrown its hat into ring with the new Alexapowered Portal.
Despite the name suggesting otherwise, you can’t use it to access the entire Facebook experience. The Portal is mainly a video communications device that enables you to make video calls through Facebook and WhatsApp (complete with goofy AR masks, if it pleases you).
The Portal looks like a digital photo frame, which you can orient in portrait or landscape orientation, but photos that aren’t shot in the same orientation appear with a lot of dead space on either side. The speaker – which is loud but lacks fullness and bass – is built into the rear, and there’s a skinny stand on the back. As you’d expect, you can use photos from your Facebook or Instagram accounts as screensavers (as well as photos from your camera roll, if you install the Portal app).
Facebook has souped up the camera significantly, equipping it with a 13MP lens that can automatically pan and zoom to keep you in the frame while you’re on a video call. This works surprisingly well so long as you stay within its ultra-wide field of vision.
The Portal bucks the trend set by previous Smart Displays by offering a classic apps launcher screen. This is where you can find additional features like Facebook Watch, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, FB Gaming, a web browser, and a nifty Story Time app that enables remote parents/grandparents to read to kids via video call using AR effects to match the story (only the person telling the story needs to have a Portal). There’s even an app store, although the selection is currently limited.
But let’s not forget this is an Alexa-powered speaker as well, so you have the full spectrum of Amazon smarts at your disposal, too.