Customer Ratings & Reviews

I like the portal. Useful for my toddler to video chat and not changing the screen with touch screen like phone or tablet. But it was too complicated for my aunt and grandma (who passed away recently :( to use). I was hoping she could get some video calls in since she was getting older with my 2 year old. We ended up using Viewclix. Even though you have to pay a subscription for the video call service it was worth it and my grandma really loved the pictures that rotated on the screen.

We’ve been struggling for years using our phones to do whatsApp chats with family and friends. Its ok for 1:1 but its very frustrating to stream to TV. The Meta Portal TV is perfect for turning your TV into a very comfortable video chat experience. When meeting with someone who also has a portal app, it feels like you are in the same room. Video and audio wuality are outstanding. I cant applaud this product enough. You have to try it. Check out YouTube reviews to see it in action.

Awesome item great to connect with family that is far away very easy to install and use

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!

Reminds me of old web cams but with much more added features. Facebook ready. Voice command calling with Alexa and much more. Great addition to the TV In family room. Fun for kids when on the call with others.

Gave the Portal TV to children for gifts, one in state and one out of state. I have the first model of Facebook Portal Frame and still love it for listening to music, listening to the News, watching my photos as the screen saver, listening to Sirius Radio NFL Games, and Video Chatting. The children and I now video chat and love the big view of our rooms. The grandson is not paying any attention to us, but I get to see him running in and out of the room. Love how the items refocus to the people as they move within the room.

For WhatsApp callers this is perfect to have long natural calls with friends and relatives. The follow focus is great and fun! And portal comes with nice filters like in instagram that makes the call fun and kids would love it as well! There are no much integration, so I just use it for WhatsApp. Zoom is supported but I don’t use zoom. Fits nicely in TV! It didn’t come with hdmi cable so know that you need one to connect it to your tv.

This a great gadget to use when video calljng using your tv... Especially having a 86” tv helps when chatting!!!!!

We purchased a Portal TV units for ourselves and each of out kids so that we could go from video calls on our phones and tablets to the Big Screen. Hookup and setup were straight forward with no problems connecting to our network. The grandkids have a lot of fun with the special effects and the story books and we have a chance to see, talk and play with them and keep in touch with our kids. The Portals have met our expectations and not too much of a learning curve.

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.

Great for family gatherings and calling others to say happy holidays when they are far away in another country. Love the ease of installation

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!

Best device for video conf with your love ones if you use FB or WhatsApp video chat

Was easy to add to the tv. The call quality was good. Has a privacy shutter too!

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 <insert friend name> 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.

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.

Solidly built. Pretty impressive. Motion tracking and automatic zoom. Detects people in shot and adjusts how wide the shot needs to be. Decent microphone. We have a large living room and it works well. Only complaint is that it detects the ceiling fan while running and includes that in the shot. Odd. Hopefully that will be fixed in an update.

great product lots of options great face time video

You normally don’t see tv like cameras anymore or the use of camera for video chatting on your tv.The best part is that on top of using apps like WhatsApp and messenger but it also has Alexa for just about anything. My favorite is Facebook stories when your bored. Did I mention it has apps built in too? What more can u ask for?!

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.