Facebook Portal Go

£199 / stuff.tv/portalgo

Facebook’s ad campaign for the original Portal lays bare the main appeal for this device: grandparents calling grandkids. And for good reason – it’s easy to live with and simple to use, especially when you don’t really want your ankle-biters accessing oodles of apps on the family ipad.

The Portal Go stands out from the rest of the range because of its portability and 5hr-plus battery life – there’s really nothing similar available from Amazon or Google.

It’s a tactile gadget with a soft finish and, thanks to its amply wide base, stands up without having to be propped against something (a familiar ipad annoyance). Of course, it can still do everything the static Portals can, so you can treat yourself to a bit of portable music or faff about with Alexa.

The disadvantages are three-fold: it’s heavy at 1.4kg, it isn’t completely portable since it still needs to be connected to your Wi-fi, and it’s costly for what it does. After all, for another £120 you can get the basic ipad, which does pretty much everything.

Stuff says HHHH✩ Brings a bit more flexibility than a static Portal