New second generation Portal+ features a large 14-inch HD display that tilts up and down is a great addition to kitchen countertop for video calling, streaming music (Spotify, Pandora) photo frame, or smart display (Alexa built-in).
What’s included: Portal+, Wall adapter.
Specifications: 2160 X 1440 14-inch HD Display, 12-megapixel camera, 131-degree field of view, Weighs 4.1 lbs.
Design: New Portal+ looks like Nest Hub Max in a large form factor mounted on a rectangular speaker fabric base. Screen display can be titled up or down. A physical camera shutter and a mute button for added privacy is a welcoming feature. Smart AI 12-megapixel camera has 131-degree field of view with Pan and zoom that keeps you in frame when the object moves. Very impressive camera and more in detail below. It has 4 microphone array, two 5-watt speakers and one 20-watt woofer for sound.
Setup is straightforward. Just plug the wall adapter and follow onscreen instructions. You will need either Facebook or WhatsApp account to set this device once you select your Wi-Fi details. Once connected, it downloads the software update for over 10-15 minutes before finishing up the device.
I decided to setup using WhatsApp account since we use video calling everyday with our international parents and friends. Once you select the WhatsApp selection for account setup, a QR code is displayed on the screen. You will then open your WhatsApp on your mobile phone (iPhone or android) and scan the QR code to add trusted linked device and all your contacts will be displayed on Portal+. You will be asked to select favorites for quick calling from the contacts and that favorites list will be displayed on the home screen. You can call your family or friends directly from portal device, and they don’t need to own portal for audio or video calls instead uses their smartphone. All video or audio calls are end-to-end encrypted.
You can also enable Household mode to provide access to a subset of your apps and contacts to everyone in your home. This requires a 4-digit profile passcode. You may also add up to 4 members of your home including you, to share this device and each person will be able to connect their Facebook or WhatsApp accounts by clicking settings menu and selecting profiles.
Voice Control with Alexa and Hey Portal: Portal+ supports Alexa voice assistant and all the functionalities can be utilized. You will need to select the voice assistant in settings and link your amazon account. Code will be displayed to add to your account on amazon.com/code to register the new device to your amazon account for voice assistant. Just say “Alexa” keyword to trigger. It controls all your smart home devices, and the same UI of echo show is displayed to control smart devices. Tested with Ring cameras and works flawlessly to stream the video of the Ring doorbell or other cameras. Only drawback is the prime videos don’t play, it does display the movies, play trailer and not the movies.
Hey Portal has minimal voice functionality and only works for launching apps, adjusting device volume and few controls. Not the best and we are using the Alexa for all voice interactions. Alexa has slight lag to invoke, and my other Alexa devices respond fast enough compared to portal.
Video Calling & Music : Portal’s AI-powered 12-MP Smart Camera is awesome that automatically pans and zooms to keep everyone in the frame. On the video call using WhatsApp, we moved around the room and camera just followed. You do have the option to select the object if you have 2 or more person to keep the object on track. Also, video calling on portal is fun for kids. You can select various backgrounds and AR effects. My daughter was sharing Harry Porter and the Cursed Child curtain during our video calls with her grandparents. Story time option is another feature that can be added during the video call. Select the ‘Story Time’ icon on the bottom of the display while on call and choose the story. Lot of options to select from. My daughter was never interested in video calling and for the past few days, she is addicted to calling using this device with different background and story time feature.
Apps: Portal+ doesn’t have many apps like other smart display like Amazon echo or Google Nest. It has few apps like Browser, Calendar, Alexa, CBS News, Facebook Live, Blue Jeans, Food Network, GoToMeeting, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Pandora, Spotify, WebEx Meeting, Zoom, Story Time, PhotoBooth, Newsy, Plex, Sidechef, Workplace Live and few more. Microsoft Teams is not available at the time of this review and planned to be rolled out by this year end. Zoom calls supports up to 25 people in a gallery mode. For $349, apps are very limited and would like to see Netflix, prime video, YouTube apps to fully use the bigger screen and hope this will be rolled out soon by software update.
Facebook or Instagram app is not available currently and not sure why.
Browser app is good where this display can be used as tablet to browse any sites. It does support YouTube from browser with no issue and the video / audio quality is fantastic. Netflix is not supported even in browser, and it just displays movies after logging to your account. No movies are currently playing. Not sure if there is a compatibility issues with playing. Limited functionality for the price point. If you are purchasing this device for watching movies from Netflix or amazon prime, then you are out of luck currently.
Features: Digital Photo Frame, Video Calling using Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, GoToMeeting, BlueJeans, Workplace, WebEx and Zoom, Music (Spotify, pandora, amazon music if Alexa is signed in), Group calls, Watch Together, AR effects & Backgrounds, Photo Booth.
Portal+ has good privacy features like physical lens cover shutter for camera that can slide off when needed with visual indication that camera is off. A red light next to the lens indicates that the camera and mic is off. You can also set 4–12-digit screen lock passcode on the portal to control access to device, disable the microphone with single tap.
Overall, this is a great alternative from other smart displays that are available on the market with the primary focus on Video calling. With Alexa coming up with the new 15-inch display with much more features and great UI, this device needs improvement with apps other than the video calling. Great design compared to previous generation Portal but can’t really substantiate the price point of $350. Purchase this if you need dedicated video chatting device with AI capabilities.