Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is very good for video calling. Sound battery screen everything is good quality. Portability is the best feature. Battery life is good. Sound is also good

I love the Meta Portal Go. During the pandemic i had the original portal that i used almost everyday, the problem is i could only stay in one location...This changes the game. Recharges and easy to use to move from room to room when talking to friends and family. I love that it also has Alexa to listen to music and news.

Great video call device and youtube watching. A plus for being able to move around easily... it's a bit short on the battery side so have to leave it charging almost whenever finished the call, though on plus side, it does charge up quickly... Got it at sale price so it's a good value. I wouldn't buy at original price as I think it's expensive for a device to do video call + youtube

Hands down a great device! I love the fact it is portable, cable free and it zooms in on you as you walk and talk during a video call. Another plus is the option to call your portal (it pretty much works like a land line) and you can communicate with whoever is at home. Voice command has worked pretty well so far.

Great device to call family members. I use it for video calls for work and personal. Free up my phone and iPad. Wish there were more apps but it’s fine.

The Portal Go, by Facebook (now Meta), seems to land somewhere between a digital assistant and a great way to stay in touch with your loved ones. I was curious to see how the “Alexa” feature worked and was pleasantly surprised with the performance. In the box, you’ll find the Portal Go and a dock for charging. Powering on the device for the first time, and you’re welcomed with setup, where you’ll need to sign into your Facebook account to pair the device. There was also an update that was applied once it was connected to the internet. Overall setup time was around 10 minutes with the update installation being the longer duration of the process. I was also surprised to see that it included the ability to sign in or pair with your WhatsApp, Workplace, and a few other accounts. The camera also had a slide over cover, which would also display a camera off icon in the status area. If you’re using the Portal as an overall home device, you can also enable a household feature, which allows everyone to use the device without worrying about your personal profile’s privacy. You can still go back to your personal profile on the device, and secure access with a Pin. The included apps are limited, compared to other smart featured displays, and some features require the use of the built-in browser. The browser, however, was quite responsive and handled most websites without issue. This Is where you benefit setting up Alexa on your Portal. It had access to pretty much every skill I already have enabled in my Alexa Smart Skills. When using Alexa, you’ll hear the familiar Alexa voice, and she responds in similar ways to one of Amazon’s display devices. I was able to use the same commands to call on familiar smart home triggers, and even call up my Alexa enabled cameras, including my doorbell. The 10-inch screen is clear, easy to see, and goes into a sleep state when not actively in use. You can also turn your Portal go into a digital photo display, by selecting specific Facebook, Instagram, or phone photos in settings. I can see families using this feature to display a gallery of photos, which look great on the larger display. Otherwise, you can continue using the built-in screensaver, which cycles through curated art photos and nature backdrops. The Portal voice commands themselves can look up information and be used to start video calls with those on your Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp contact list. I found using the built-in call features pleasant, and my family loved the pan feature. My niece had me walk back and forth just to watch the camera follow me in either direction. The biggest feature is the ability to take the Portal with you, around your home, and use the device to watch YouTube videos, join video calls, or listen to your Spotify account. The built-in browser can be used to browse most websites, and the touch keyboard was responsive when needed for type entries. The battery charge lasts upwards of 8 hours, and in my use did require placing on the charger at around 7 hours of extended Spotify and a few facebook messenger video chats. In case you’re wondering, I was able to have up to 8 people on a group video call with Messenger. To charge the Portal Go, you simply place the device on the charging dock, which fits in the small cut out on the bottom of the Portal device. I can’t recall a single time where I had to re-adjust the charging dock to make sure the device was charging with an audible tone confirming charging has started. The speakers are clear, plenty loud, with most bass sounding as expected for a device like this. Listening to music, watching video content or taking video calls are a great experience, and the speakers perform well overall. I found setting the volume at midway was more than enough for most purposes. Call quality was clear, with minimal buffering on my Wi-Fi network. The small cut out handle makes carrying and moving the device easy. It has a similar weight to holding a large tablet or laptop. If you’re worried about the microphone being on the entire time, you can simply tap the small circle/mute button on the top, and you’ll see a small red LED light turn on. There is also a small notification on the screen that confirms the mute setting. The battery charge is easy to see at any point, with it being displayed in the status area of the screen. If you’re using this as a personal device, you’ll see your current Facebook profile photo, your most used apps, your selected favorite contacts list. If you’re using additional apps, you’ll be able to scroll down the screen to perform actions like playing one of your Spotify shortcuts or read through some “how to” tips to use on your Portal Go. Using your location, it even shows you a summary of the current weather, just below the clock. If you want to see a forecast for the day, you’ll find some limitations, such as, only being able to show you a day by day forecast vs a summarized week. So, who is this Portal Go for? I’d say this is a great way to stay connected with friends and family. Especially if you’re all connected on any of the available apps you can use on the device. You will need to pair this to your Facebook account but do have choice to limit the use of your voice data; even having the ability to delete voice captures. Using Alexa is a familiar process, performing most (if not all) smart skills enabled through the Alexa app. There is added security settings to ensure your device remains locked when not in use, such as requiring the use of a lock code, or even limiting to general use by an entire household. You can have multiple profiles, all with their own login sessions for all the various apps. The “Hey Portal” feature is great for hands free calling, getting simple weather updates, or starting your selected music app. I should clarify that your friends and family don’t need to use a Portal to receive a call from you, they just need to be using one of the supported Apps. Ultimately, this is a well-rounded device for staying connected with friends, family, or even attending work meetings on any of the apps compatible with the Portal Go. The browser allows access to most websites, with basic browsing capabilities, like reading up on additional news or multimedia websites. I was pleasantly surprised with the included Alexa support, with the ability to use all the same voice commands and access the same camera streaming skills I was already using on my previous smart display. Given the greater desire to stay connected with loved ones or colleagues and assuming you’re using Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Zoom this is an easy recommendation. You'll be disappointed if you're wanting a similar experience to an Amazon device, but happy to know that the voice commands and skills all seem to work.

Excellent sound and screen viewing! Just ask Alexa anything.

CALLING: This comes to no surprise to anyone. But the bread and butter of this device is video calls. It has a 13-megapixel front facing camera that automatically zooms in and pans according to whomever is the in frame. It has a privacy slider that goes over the camera when you don’t want to be seen. Along with a physical button on the top to turn off the microphone. All of this is much appreciated as I like to feign privacy at the very least. It has a four-microphone array with 360-degree pickup. It does a great job at this, and my voice sounded good to the people I talked to. It has two speakers (one on each side of the device) that provide good sound during calls, when watching media, or listening to music. I really like that you can simply lift it off the charging base and you’re portable able to go wherever you want with it. With the base you can also go hand’s free which I like a lot. I found no issues with the battery life. It works with multiple call applications. But is still VERY limited in that degree. I’m hopeful they will add more. You can access a lot of these via the touchscreen or through voice commands by saying “Hey Portal”. Which I like. With it being part of Facebook, you need a Facebook account or What’s App account to get it setup. Due to this I would have figured it would have more Facebook features. Such as a dedicated Facebook App and Messenger capability (through text over just video). Instead, you need to go in through the browser to access these. If you’re buying this primarily for calling people, it does a great job at it. SMART HOME: Personally, I was more interested in making this a hub to be able to control my smart home with the ability to call people on the side. For that I’m left semi-disappointed. Mostly because the Qualcomm 605 processor is just plan slow for 2021. A lot of that is because I’m spoiled by having the privilege of using fast processors in most of my other devices. So, take that with a bit of salt. I found that you can control anything that is compatible with Alexa by either physically going into the Alexa App on the device or by using the “Hey Alexa” voice command. It does a great job turning on/off lights and routines. However, when I tried to connect to my Smart Cameras it would often get hung up and fail. Despite having a good internet connection. I also found it frustrating that they don’t have dedicated apps for Hue, LifX, etc. and instead I had to go through the Alexa App (which is very limited) or through voice commands (which has more options but is dependent on saying the right things and actually speaking which makes it no different than a cheaper version such as an Echo device). What I like a lot though is any of the “Hey Alexa” questions will bring up information on what it found. Such as “Hey Alexa define Onomatopoeia” will bring up the word, how you say it, and the definitions. Or if you ask the capital of somewhere it will bring up more information on that such as location and population size. Same with the weather. That aspect I like a lot. But I would like to see more smart apps featured and the ability to have shortcuts so I can quickly access them (turn on/off lights, set timers, change colors, set scenes, etc) to use this device as a remote and make it more of a center staple over just a calling device. When listening to music or media it provided good sound quality. But nothing that blew my socks off. If you are using it as a bedside clock it does a good job and you have the ability to go into night mode and turn off the screen. I don’t have another “Screen Version” of Alexa to compare but I don’t know what would make this device more competitive over that one or one from Google. BUILD QUALITY: This thing has great build quality. It is a bit heavy. Which is a good thing. As when you are touching the device you don’t want it to tip over. It has a 1280x800 LCD screen which isn’t the best resolution. But don’t let that stop you as colors are mostly accurate and punchy (I’d guess an 8-bit panel) with good white point and crushed blacks. It gets bright enough. As mentioned previously the speakers sound good and can get plenty loud. It has relatively large bezels and the back of the device is covered in fabric. I like the fabric design a lot. Also, the carrying handle is comfortable and easy to grab. The camera cover moves back and forth easily and without issue. The buttons feel nice to press. Touch screen is responsive and feels good to use. But isn’t nearly as nice as my iPhones. The gestures (or really lack thereof) can be a bit frustrating. BROWSER: This has a fully functioning browser. Which means you can do whatever you want on it including signing into Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, etc. It is running a modified version of Android. So, if you don’t have access to a specific app, you can usually just go to the website and access it that way. Making this a slow pseudo tablet. Which is awesome. I do hope they add a lot more apps though. As right now it is EXTREMELY limited, and I feel like I’ve stepped back into 2010. CONCLUSION: This device has a lot of potential but currently to me feels half-baked for anything other than video calling. I think to make it something really special they need to add a lot more apps, better smart home features, and a faster processor. As I constantly felt like I was using a dated old device from 2010. As the UI is basic, slow, and limited in what it can do just like devices were back then. It is also limited in gestures which seems foreign in 2021. The touch screen while responsive can feel a bit cheap at times. Screen resolution is on the lower end but has good colors and contrast (which are more important). If they switched out the processor and loaded up a new updated OS this thing could be the bee’s knee’s. Until that time the only people I recommend buy it are those who are deep into the Alexa/Facebook ecosystem who do a lot of calling. As I wouldn’t buy it for anything other than calls as I think there are better devices out there for that.

I was intrigued by this device when I first read about it and jumped at the chance to review it. I can’t think of any other device to directly compare it to. It is a portable all in one device for video conferencing of any type, whether through Zoom, Facebook Messaging, or other means. I used it extensively with Zoom and Facebook messenger with great success. You must have either a Facebook or WhatsApp account to set it up, and you can’t get around that requirement. Set up is done in minutes. Every participant that I conferenced with commented on how crisp and sharp my image was as I spoke with them. The camera is great. It is as sharp as any video cam I have used, and the software allows the camera to follow your face as you move about. That was a well-liked feature by all my conference members. It is an attractive device that is self-supporting on a flat surface, and it is battery powered. You charge it up and, in my experience, you can use it all day. Want to go to a different location? Pick up the device and carry it to another room. It has a built-in recessed grip for carrying, and it only weighs 3 pounds. The 10-inch screen is sharp and bright, and no one ever complained about the audio delivered by the device’s microphone. Everyone sounded crisp and clear, and the speaker is more than adequate to fill my room with clean sound. There is also a Household mode if you want to share the device between family members. You have total control over what contacts and apps can be shared among your family. I added my family members to my home screen, and a conference with any of them was only a click away. You can protect access to the device’s settings with a passcode. I was able to easily install the Zoom app and conference with others for both business and pleasure. I understand that a Microsoft Teams app is on the way, but not yet available. I will certainly use that feature when available. I have not tried the voice control yet with Alexa. She needs a rest after the holidays, but this is a potential convenience I will be able to enjoy later. There are also Spotify, Pandora and iHeart Radio apps for musical enjoyment, and the device can be used as a digital photo frame when not in use for conferencing. I have one slight criticism of the design. The battery charger does not snap into place and is not held in place by any magnet. You must position the device on top of the charger like a hen sitting carefully on her nest. You do get an audio tone when the device is getting power. If you move the device around while it is charging, you can dislodge the charger. This never caused my any real problems, but it should be addressed in the future. The price makes this Portal Go even more attractive. I highly recommend it. It is a one-of-a-kind self-contained conferencing tool that is fun to use and practical.

Having had the original Facebook Portal TV, the biggest issue was needing to be connected to a TV and pretty much locked to that space. Now, with the Portal Go, you can use it anywhere you have WiFi. Essentially a 10 inch tablet with a built in base and actual speakers. Designed for video chat and smart speaker functions it can do things like a regular tablet, just doesn’t quite have the specs to keep up with much more. For video chat, this is nice for any situation. The wide angle camera zooms and pans like it was your own personal cameraman. Even zoomed in from across the room, the picture still looked sharper than most selfie cameras. Voice was clear and surprisingly natural sounding and background sounds mostly cut out. You don’t have to use the default Facebook Messenger for video chat either as you can use Whatsapp, Zoom, GoTo, Webex and eventually Microsoft Teams. You can even use this for Facebook Live. There are a bunch of little AR effects you can use to spice up the video or picture and you can play around and save some photos or clips in the Photo Booth to send later. For a smart device you can use Facebook commands and/or Alexa commands, but strangely they don’t seem to know they are both on the same device. So, they control their own environment and can interrupt the other's function. However, using this mostly as an Alexa device myself, I am surprised at the amount of visuals that are provided from things I typically only hear over the speaker. As for the speakers, this is it’s own little boombox with two 5W full range speakers, one 20W woofer. Loud, clear and has more bass that I would expect from a tablet like device. IT easily fills the room with sound. Again, with the visuals provided and Amazon Music providing lyrics, it acts even like a karaoke stand. Privacy is always a concern and it takes that into consideration. You can slide the shutter over the camera to prevent it from automatically coming on in a video chat. With a press of a button you can disable the camera and the microphone, which also stops the smart assistant features from hearing you. It is easy to grab from the top and carry, but kind of wish they would have had some grooves on the side, or a grip like mold, so that you can hold it more naturally if you are still on a call. Battery life stood on standby for about 2 days, but all dependant on usage. The charging base is unique and the only way to charge it. So, make sure you don’t leave that behind if you take it traveling. Overall, for a video communication device and smart speaker, this is pretty neat. Perfect for anyone that likes to be on video chat, but doesn’t want to be holding a phone and don’t want a separate speaker just so they can hear over minor distractions. Perfect for trying to keep in contact with one another.

I take part in 2 zoom meetings a week. I love this product over my laptop or phone because it is easily portable (there is a little carrying "handle" on the back) and it frees up my phone and laptop for use during the meeting. The camera does pan and moves if I shift positions. It has also zoomed out and in while I am sitting there (it looks odd to me but not one seems to have noticed). I don't think it's compatible with Google meet (another platform I need to use weekly)- Google has their own product so they don't cross over. I do like all the other things this can do- Weather, link to my streaming music, display my pictures, alarm clock, etc. It does not answer questions like my google mini (or an Alexa) does but it is still very useful to have around. There are customizable apps you can select to use. The picture quality is excellent- it is a wider shot than the camera on my laptop. The sound quality is VERY good- the bass really reverberates. The charging dock is a disc that you place the unit on so there are no ports to worry about. It does not take up much space and is easy to carry around. Overall, I like this product and can see myself using it to call family and friends as well as using it for my zoom meetings.

Purchased this for my elderly mother to communicate via Facebook messenger and what's ap with family members. She leaves out on next to her and can receive a ring when someone is trying to video with her. She loves it! She can use it to listen to music and watch movies or search the web. It's portable to go with her to the other room or use as a cookbook in the kitchen. The handle is perfect to grab and go. Only negative is that the charging cord is not magnetic so you must be sure the charging pad is placed perfectly in order to get a charge or you will find it was not charging.

I gave this to my wife for Christmas and she loves it. She watches the news on in the morning, has chats with friends and family then listens to music while she is cooking. I was amazed at the picture and sound quality for such a small unit. Only disappointment was that Netflix is not available for it (only on the TV version).

I love that the camera zooms in and out automatically. I like that I can open the browser and some apps. I wish I could access more apps. I also wish that I could use messenger on the portal. It would be nice to leave a message somehow if someone doesn't answer, in text form. This has been vital to connect with family since COVID19 quarantine.

I love my Facebook Portal Go. I like that I can move it to the room I am in and that it follows by movement when I am using it. The picture is clear and clear. I had a slight issue but the portal service team went above and beyond helping fix it. I highly recommend this product. I use it to see my Grandchildren - what a joy!

Great for communicating with family across the country. Enjoy the portability and sound quality as a speaker for music. Love the photo display, acts as a digital frame when not in use for calls. Limited apps is my only complaint.

We loved this! My sister had one but the thing that held me back was that it had to stay plugged in. When I saw this version that doesn’t need to be plugged in I jumped on it! It’s great for video calling family and moving around to follow my mobile 1 year oldp

The best way for my kids to keep in touch with their grandparents oversees—high-quality video calls. We love the portability.

Son bought this for girlfriend. Great gift to put her memories of her little girl. Beautiful picture too. Easy to use..

There is no other product like this out in the market. Was very disappointed to hear it was discontinued. This one it worth buying as you can pick up device and move to new locations throughout your house without messing with phones and tablets. Corded devices similar to this should not exist.