And once or twice, the video quality dropped down to a still frame for a few seconds before the video resumed. Every few minutes in most calls, I’d see an intermittent video glitch. Even though it was sharper and clearer than other Messenger video chats I’ve had, it was prone to stuttering. Unfortunately, video quality wasn’t uniformly seamless. How often will you have a conversation while moving around the room? Not super often before automatic pan and zoom, but I see a lot more of it in the future thanks to tech like this. After a while I’m sure you will start to take these automatic camera movements for granted, but throughout my testing I always noticed it, in a good way. The camera pans and zooms to keep you in frame as you move around the room, giving your video chat something of a cinematic feel. The 12-megapixel camera also has a wide 131-degree field of view that feels expansive compared to the narrow watching-through-a-straw-like video you get on an iPad. I’ve always found Messenger video on my iPhone and iPad to be an ugly, pixely affair, but on the Portal+ it’s sharp, bright and colorful-one of the nicest-looking video chats I’ve used, in fact. Forbes/Dave Johnsonįirst impression: It’s an impressive video chat experience, and a dramatic step up from using Facebook Messenger video anywhere else. There’s a row of your favorite contacts at the top of the display, so I tapped the icon for a friend of mine and, moments later, I was in a Facebook Messenger video call.Īn actual Facebook Messenger video call between two Portal+ devices.
When the device is idle, it starts a slideshow of photos, and tapping the screen blurs the most recent photo and overlays the various buttons, icons and messages.įacebook clearly thinks of the Portal as a family communication tool, and has repeatedly said that the main use for “Portal is video calling and to make it easier for people to connect with their family, friends and colleagues.” So I was anxious to try out this core feature. When it’s all set up, you get a home screen with access to Facebook’s two dozen apps (which you can rearrange and hide the ones you don’t like), shortcuts to apps you’ve recently used, calendar events and more. At no point did I need to clumsily enter passwords on a touchscreen keyboard the Portal+ sent me to the web on my computer to give it permission to access Facebook, Spotify and other accounts. After being plugged in and connected to Wi-Fi, the Portal+ installed updates and then guided me through the rest of the process. The initial setup was pretty straightforward. Also makes great video calls with Facebook Messenger.
Thanks to the inclusion of Alexa, the Portal+ basically does everything that an Echo Show does-but.
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