Facebook - Portal TV Smart Video Calling on Your TV with Alexa - Black

I wasn't expecting a lot from the Portal TV based on what I knew about the products that launched last year, so I'm pleased to say the newer iteration of Facebook's connectivity devices has actually pleasantly surprised me. I don't know how much of the functionality this year is new, so I'll cover what has me impressed, and why. The first thing that grabs you is the Big Screen effect of being able to use the LARGEST screen in your home in the room(s) you frequent the most. No one wants to huddle around a tiny picture frame in a specific room like the Kitchen, Bedroom, or Living Room where this size screen makes sense. Having your target subject in nearly life-size glory on your large screen TV is REALLY immersive and connective. If you have small children, you will INSTANTLY see their faces light up at the novelty and warmth of seeing their Pop Pop and Gam Gam up close and personal. The second most impressive feature, and this is actually probably the most impressive, is the Smart Camera auto-focus, tracking, and pan and scan. Honestly its as if a Camera man is directing the footage subtly zooming and panning around the room while the camera itself does not actually move at all. The motion is so smooth and subtle and not at all jarring. Lastly, Alexa is a HUGE boon to this device. Not sure what Facebook had to give up to get Alexa integration, but it makes a HUGE difference in functionality taking this from a niche large-screen Facetime substitute, to turning your TV into a full-fledged massive Echo Show and Echo Speaker. If you are connected to an AV system through your TV or a smart speaker, you are going to get Amazon Music to your TV speaker system which is awesome. On top of that, all of your Skills, including video skills are enabled. A bonus surprise for us was that Nanit recently enabled Alexa skill on Echo Shows. Guess what? It works with the Portal TV too, amazing, now I can move my Family Room Show to a different room. Voice control using just speaking out or remote initiated microphone work great, as well as any Alexa type device. The Portal responds to Hey Portal for Portal specific functions, and Alexa for everything Alexa related. In terms of set-up, it was overall very simple. There is a HUGE update that can take 10-15 minutes initially. Connecting to Facebook accounts is simple as you will get redirected to a URL on your phone or device that already has your Facebook account. You can then enter a Letter sequence to link up your Facebook account to your Portal TV. SuperFrame is another cool feature that is probably better on the smaller picture frame devices, but it will cycle through you and your Friends/Family pictures in a slideshow on your TV. There's also a few Cons that I should mention: 1) You need to provide your own 18Gbps Hi-speed HDMI cable. I used an older cable and it worked but it looked noticeably grainy. Still, not having everything needed to get up and running out of the box is a bad look, even my ISP provided cables with their cable boxes. 2) Requires AC power. The ads and commercials I saw said "HDMI cable only needed" and they don't even provide that, but on top of that, you need an AC adapter. This is important for folks who mount the Portal TV on top of the TV, as you will need power behind the TV or be prepared to hide another cable or extend power up to your TV if you hang it. 3) Remote doesn't match the build quality of the camera and small enough to get lost. Its kind of plasticky while the rest of the camera unit is rubberized and solid feeling. Its also small enough to get lost easily. 4) Switching TV input still makes it kind of clunky compared to a dedicated device. The good news is that the Portal TV has its own light up bar and speaker to signal an incoming call, so you can accept the call via Remote or voice before fumbling to find your TV remote to switch inputs. 5) Call connection is still a bit flakey. I've tried to call the Portal from my phone a few times and it didn't show up on my phone or on the Portal. Wait 5 minutes and it dials and connects without issue. 6) Echo cancelling and latency could be better. Its noticeable but not bad. Despite all these minor quirks and negatives, I think this is actually a great device for the price. It turns something you almost certainly have and adds significant levels of functionality nearly seamlessly, while also adding a few bonus perks like Alexa. I do expect it to get better over time and the Big Screen and Pan and Zoom smart camera effect really do bring you closer to loved ones effortlessly. Another bonus is I used to call my wife and 1 yo daughter via Facetime on my commute home, but my daughter used to try and grab the phone and got really upset if she couldn't play with it. Now with the Portal TV, she knows she can't grab it and just gets really excited seeing her larger than life daddy. Overall I do recommend this for anyone with long distance relatives and especially with young children. Watching my daughter kick her legs uncontrollably when she saw her Pop Pop and Gam Gam on the bigscreen was literally priceless. Maybe someday Facebook will integrate this into TVs as an app or service, but for now, the Portal TV is a great way to connect with distant friends and relatives. PS for those concerned about Privacy, you can close the camera shutter completely.

The Facebook Portal TV with Alexa is a fun and interactive way to video chat with your friends or family. This device connects to your TV by way of HDMI and turns your TV into a large video chatting device. The camera on the Portal TV is a 12-megapixel camera that has full 1080p HD quality. 12 high quality microphones help to capture the audio on this thing, and I found it to work well. My daughter and my grandkids were on one end and my kids (yes, I have young kids and grandkids too) were on my end. 4 kids all excited and talking at the same time was a little too much at certain times, but for the most part the audio quality was great, and the “adults” could talk and carry on conversations. The pan and zoom features of the camera work great as well. Video quality does degrade a bit if it zooms in, probably due to the digital zoom) but when it is not zoomed in the quality is great. Some of the other features that the Portal TV offers is augmented reality masks, playing games (while video chatting with friends), watching TV (Facebook watch party) together while video chatting, and story time with some cute kids’ stories. My girls love the augmented reality masks when we do the story time apps and makes them part of the story as well. I did experience a small network issue after about 30 minutes, I noticed that my internet speed had dropped down to 3.19Mbps and the video and auto became very choppy, but a quick call disconnect and reconnect I saw my speed go up to the advertised speed of 102Mbps again. I don’t know if the Portal TV was to blame or my router was. Overall the quality has been good, and I haven’t experienced that same issue again. I was initially worried about privacy, but happy to see that the camera does have a privacy cover that you can close, and you can also mute the microphone on it. If you are worried about leaving this on all the time, then simply just close the cover and mute the microphone. Over-all this is a fun way to interact with your family and friends who are afar and can make it seem like you are all in the same room. It was fun to sit on the couch and watch them sitting on their couch as well and still feel close.

Using the Facebook Portal TV reminds me of the time in the movie Back to the Future part II where future McFly is talking to Needles on his big screen TV. However, the Portal TV is much higher clarity and we have face tracking. The Portal TV is like your own personal home video teleconferencing system. However, you don’t need an IT team to set it all up. If you know how to connect an HDMI cable to your TV, connect to your WiFi and use Facebook, you are already an expert. Once connected everything else is guided through on your TV. Initial setup did take about 30 minutes or so as it did require some updates plus you have to use another internet connected device to connect the Portal TV to your Facebook account. Once running though I was able to call anyone in my contacts that has Messenger, Whatsapp or another Portal device with voice or the included remote. Voice activation works with “Hey Portal” and some various commands. I found out the hard way that watching a Portal ad with Katy Burg will also try to call Katie on my friends list. The face tracking on this single camera is pretty surprising. For a single wide angle camera it acts like you have your own cameraman as it follows you around and zooms in and out when there are others in the room. However, it could still use some work as there are times when it doesn’t pick up others that you want or the tracking has your head more at the top of the screen. There are several times that I wanted to point something else out in the room, like my dog, but unless my face was there no one could see it. An option to manually control the pan and zoom would be ideal, but for now the only manual option is a spotlight where you can select one face out of the room. This strangely works on large pictures in the background too as I stole the focus from a friend and it zoomed into their picture on the wall. If you have kids or family and friends that are distant, this is by far the coolest thing. With the camera able to see the majority of my living room, kids are easily able to run around and play while talking to whomever. There are times I wish I had something like this when my kids were younger and we were hundreds of miles away from the rest of our family. Not only is it great for seeing and talking, but there are fun little augmented effects, games and story books that make it a fun event. There are still some minor issues with the effects and the position in which a single person is placed in the face tracking messes with some of them even more. Especially if you try the shared effects where it seems to only focus on the center of the camera and your head is is too high on the screen to play the games. The shared effects also only work Portal to Portal even though Messenger has some of the same activities. Another shared feature is being able to use Facebook Watch and view videos that are on Facebook with another Portal TV user. While watching the video either person has the option to play/pause the video however some other features will be limited. It also starts the video before the other person starts watching it, but will rewind it so that you are both watching it at the same time. This is a feature that I wish the could expand into other smart apps such as CBS and Starz so that you could watch other shows together or in group calls. Speaking of smart apps, there are a few apps like Spotify, Pandora, Red Bull TV, CBS, Starz, Showtime and a couple others that allow you to turn your TV into a smart TV. However, some of the most common smart apps are not available. Another smart feature is having Alexa integrated, once logged into your Amazon account. Just like any Alexa device, just say “Hey Alexa” and whatever it is you need and it will respond through the integrated speaker of the Portal TV device. Some of the features I have used on other Alexa devices did not seem to respond on this one though. You can have up to 5 accounts associated with the Portal. The primary account, or first account, will have to use the device code first in order to add another user which will have another device code. When the second user was added, none of their contacts showed up. However, we were able to call that profile and answer from the Portal. After a while though, contacts did finally show for this account. The only issue I had from there is when trying to connect with others on the Portal through Messenger as it will ask to answer and drop call until the other person answers on their other device. The portal TV reminded me a lot of the Xbox Kinect in the build style and size. However, the Portal TV easily rests on top of my thin TV or entertainment center with the ability to ever so slightly angle down. The Portal TV is also its own smart device so it only needs the TV for video and sound. For those concerned about privacy you can slide a little panel in front of the camera which turns off video and the button on the side disables the microphone, indicated by a red light that it is off. Bottom line is that this is an amazing device and is really meant for you to share with other Portal TV users to get the most out of it. If you want to stay visually connected with family and friends this is so much better than a webcam or a phone cam even though it is limited to the area the TV is in. I feel this is more of a 4.5 star, and since this is the first generation I feel they have plenty of room to improve.

We bought this product to make phone calls and absolutely love it. The camera follows you which is very convenient. Ask for privacy it's easy to turn off the audio with a click of a button or close the camera. I highly recommend this product to anybody that video chats with family members. We used to use Skype until this came along. It is much more interactive and the kids love that's funny faces we can put on each other.

I use to do video calls to my family in the Philippines. There is nothing like it anywhere. It works perfectly. Go get two so you have one at each location. You must see this to believe what it can do. The whole family is so excited about it's capabilities. You can barely make it out in the included pic sitting up on top of the flat screen. Super quality. Way to go Facebook!

It was not the Superior product that I thought it would be, I had difficulty in hearing my friends. Although the picture quality was excellent and I really enjoy camera that follows me around the room. My overall review is favorable.

Bought this to replace an old 1080 and wow that a great TV. We have a nicer one for the tv room, but this one (a spare) is AMAZING! $249 for a 50” UHD 4K tv, what a deal and the Amazon fire works so well with apps!

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, with the first long-distance call in 1877, to connect one persons voice to another. Apple Inc introduced FaceTime to the masses in 2010 with the iPhone 4, connecting video between faces of two callers (though far from the first video conference application to do so). In 2019, FaceBook brings us the Portal TV which instead of connecting two individuals, for voice or video conversation, it connects two LIVING ROOMS together in real-time live video. All users on both sides can choose to converse normally, or optionally not participate and assume a background role. First off, let me inform you, I am NOT a big Facebook user, nor social media fan in general. While fully expecting to dislike this product, if I’m being honest with myself, I have to admit Portal TV is pretty darn cool !! If you’re a friendly person, and like to stay close to family, friends, and other loved ones, this is a very viable solution. It brings a certain “REALNESS” to FaceBook — as opposed to casual likes on posts, with this, you connect your living rooms together with people you care to spend time with. Geographical distances are no longer a barrier, or an excuse. First time setup couldn’t be any easier. -Choose a location for the device ( below your TV screen, or above with built-in support leg ) -connect AC power to the wall, -connect HDMI cable to the TV and you’re hardware is ready to go. The Guided setup wizard walks you through collecting -your WiFi name and password, -your Facebook name and password, -Amazon Alexa account (optional), -and the EULA, and you’re ready to connect. USAGE Ask Portal to call and it will automatically connect to the recipient’s Portal TV (or Portal), if they do not have the hardware will use WhatsApp or Messenger. Note: Portal Tv on both sides produces a bright and nice looking full screen picture taking up the entire TV screen - WhatsApp and Messenger calls with a user on a cell phone defaults to vertical mode with their face in a thin sliver of the screen (see photos) If that user tilts their phone sideways it does fill the TV screen). My first Portal to Portal call from was with my parents 800 miles away. They had a living room with 5 and our initial impressions were “Wow, this looks really clear, I can see the whole living room”. Portal draws a box around each face in the frame (likely for photo analysis to identify other FB users on screen). We tested the camera’s auto-tracking ability, by walking to our respective Christmas Trees, initially out of frame, but wide-angle near fisheye lens easily zoomed for photo ops (attached). We agreed Portal will connect our families for the holiday. After catching up, and discussing pros and cons for this review, we decided to test the Fun Features, aka Augmented Reality Effects. These are amusing silly little games like “Last smile wins” and a “Donut eating contest” (trying to catch donuts in your mouth) as well as an interactive Grandparent like mode “Story Time” where one user reads a story wearing superimposed virtual accessories, and the players on the other side answer questions. My kids are grown so this feature is ancillary for us. It will be interesting to see what developers come up with in the future. I also find the Facebook Watch together an interesting concept, videos were available but not all shows on broadcast television. My evaluation of this product is not without reservation. Issues encountered include faulty initial hardware on the unit my parents received (red privacy LED would not disengage). Tech support verified this and was quick to ship a replacement. Additionally I personally have privacy concerns with the parent company based on past security breaches, and trust issues, … none of which prevented me from liking this product much more than anticipated. POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS - A sister’s gender reveal party in 2012 had callers conferenced in via cell phone. Certainly looking at the color of the inside of the cake is a visual thing. - Family Holidays - Birthday Parties - Face to face conversations one-on-one, or group, - Sports viewing parties in real-time PROS + wide field of view camera + SmartCamera intelligent image tracking is very good + auto tracks new people entering the room, adjusts the frame + voice control with or without Amazon Alexa integration + SuperFrame to view FB photos together + Portal TV, Messenger and WhatsApp tools + Great tool for the Holidays, without passing a phone around + fun and enjoyable graphics, incl story time + large, easy-to-read on-screen graphics CONS - Requires an HDMI port, takes over the TV while in use - Half duplex feel (two people talking simultaneously is awkward) - Dedicated activity takes over your TV without it’s own screen - Home Button only offers End Call? End / Resume option - Odd usage - never permitted access to Contacts in my phone, BUT WhatsApp shows me ppl from numbers I’d saved years ago. - Remote is awkward shaped and too small, easily lost in sofa cushions, without a locater chime CONCLUSION : Facebook Portal TV really is very useful and more cleanly implemented than I expected. The few quirks I noticed will likely be rectified by future updates, since the hardware is solid. If you are invested in the FB community, I see many reasons to give this product a try. Connecting to a Living Room full of Family / Friends is rewarding, and the communal games are really enjoyable.