Facebook Portal Review and Business Uses

The social media giant Facebook has ventured again into hardware with the introduction of their latest offering: Facebook Portal, a video communication device. It has two models, Facebook Portal and Facebook Portal+ (10.1 and 15.6 inches, respectively).

Both deliver the same functionality, which is to support improved video chat via Facebook Messenger.

Of course, you might be wondering why you’d need Facebook Portal when you already have a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop that can already fulfill the same purpose, and more. Facebook Portal is a good device to own if any of the following reasons appeal to you:

AI-powered technology

Called “Smart Camera and Smart Sound,” this technology lets Facebook Portal follow you around the room using its 12-megapixel camera. It can zoom and pan automatically and accordingly as you move around. Therefore ensuring you always stay in sight no matter where you go (unless you leave the room). Thus, you’ll feel like the person you’re talking to is right there with you.

Voice commands

Facebook Portal has built-in Alexa, so you can ask it to do anything from playing a song to controlling the other smart devices in your home. In this aspect, Facebook Portal gives its earlier counterpart, the Amazon Echo Show, a good run for its money. But aside from supporting Alexa, Facebook Portal also supports voice command in general.

Third-party integrations

Currently, Facebook Portal is pretty much a standalone device with only one main purpose. But that’s bound to change soon. For starters, Facebook already is partnered with Food Network and Spotify Premium, to name a few. Expect to be able to run more apps and perform more tasks using Facebook Portal in a year or two.

Augmented reality

Facebook Portal aims to make video chat more interactive by incorporating AR effects, like stickers, graphics, and animations. It’s highly similar to how Snapchat’s Lenses work in Snaps. But Facebook Portal takes it to the new level with Story Time, a feature that lets you read a story to the party you’re talking to, and also become the character in that story thanks to the different effects available. A typical use case for this is when you’re away from home and want to read a bedtime story to your kid.

Business Uses

Based on the aforementioned features, it’s clear to see that Facebook designed Facebook Portal for use among family and friends. However, it’s great for office use as well, specifically for video conferencing. All Facebook needs to do is to integrate it with Workplace — the enterprise connectivity platform they developed. Thus making joining a video chat at work as seamless as it can be.

Whether Facebook decides to market Facebook Portal as a business tool is yet to be seen. However, you don’t have to wait for them to do so if you already want to use it at the office. Starting at $199, Facebook Portal is a more affordable and more portable than the alternative. As compared to bulky and costly conferencing systems. It also makes meetings more engaging, effective, and we dare say, entertaining.

I can also see Portal being a big hit for anyone planning to video stream an event, such as a wedding or birthday party, to friends and famil

1. "Superframe" always provides up-to-date photos

I am constantly posting cute pictures of my family on Facebook, so the Portal’s Superframe feature means I always have the latest photo of my smiling little ones on display.

It cycles through my Facebook photos at the speed I choose (from 15 seconds to ten minutes), and if a photo pops up that I don’t feel like staring at, I can swipe to the next one. I can select to display my photos, photos of me, photos posted by my favorited friends, or specific albums.

When one of my favorite Messenger contacts comes online, Superframe displays that person’s Facebook picture and online status and pops up a text reminder than I can call them by saying, “Hey Portal, call [Name].” I hate talking on the phone, but the Portal makes me feel like I’m just sitting down to chat with someone, so when I see a friend is online, I actually want to call them.

2. A smart camera that follows you around

Once you’re on a call with a friend, the Portal’s Smart Camera will make sure you stay in frame if you move around the room, and it will zoom out to include other people who walk up to join the call.

This feature is perfect for my kids to show the grandparents their latest ninja moves and ballet steps. Smart Camera’s focus and zoom AI feels exactly like that of the Nest IQ security cameras. All of the Portal’s artificial intelligence happens locally in the device, so what it sees and hears stays private to your encrypted call.

3. Facebook's Story Time is legitimately awesome

Another feature clearly designed for families to feel more connected is Story Time. Leveraging Messenger’s Snapchat-like masks and filters, Story Time allows the person reading Portal’s built-in stories to become the story.

For example, I read my kids the story of the Three Little Pigs. I read each line as it appeared on my screen, and when it came time for the wolf to huff and puff, I suddenly had wolf ears and could blow the little pig’s house away. My 5- and 9-year-old kids were completely mesmerized and begged for another.

4. A speaker that sounds pretty great (on the Portal+)

The speaker on the Portal+ is surprisingly good. Its bass isn’t quite on par with that of the new Echo Plus, but it’s close. The smaller Portal’s speaker, on the other hand, isn’t anything to get excited about.

Both Portals can stream music from a Spotify Premium account, Pandora, and iHeartRadio. They can also stream video from Food Network and Facebook Watch. We’d love to see these options expand to include basic Spotify memberships and YouTube, but for those subscribers the sound quality isn't bad at all.

5. The ability to contact anyone through Messenger—not just Portal users

As cool as it is to use one Portal to call another, Portal makes its video calls via the Facebook Messenger platform, so you can video call and chat with anyone who has access to Messenger.

This nullifies one of the big issues with other popular video chat services like Apple’s Facetime, which only works between Apple users on Apple devices.

...but do you really want a Facebook camera in your home?

Considering the recent Facebook hack that affected millions of users, there is bound to be some real concern about inviting a connected camera from Facebook into your home.

Portal has several security features that Facebook hopes will make us more comfortable, such as:

• A single button on the top of Portal turns both the microphone and camera off
• A red light that turns on to let you know that you’re not being watched or listened to
• A physical camera cover that clips over the lens

While the clip-on camera cover is an above-and-beyond inclusion in terms of privacy safeguards, the ability to turn off the microphone and camera is a standard feature on competing smart displays like the Echo Show and Spot. But do we really want a camera from Facebook in our homes given the company's recent track record? It's an open question.