You don’t have to awkwardly hold your phone in front of you for video calls anymore with Facebook Portal. Essentially smart speakers with widescreen displays, Portal and Portal+ aim to create a more personal calling experience, as if you’ve gone through a portal to be in the same room with the person you’re calling.
To achieve that, Facebook Portal incorporates hands-free technology into almost every feature, allowing you to not only make calls by saying certain phrases, but also adjust camera angles and focus, and even enhance the voice or sound of the person who is talking. No need to fiddle with buttons or account settings to improve the quality of your call. Built-in Alexa makes sure your commands are heard.
Taking things one step further, Facebook Portal automatically tracks your face as you move around within the frame with the pivoting camera that can also pan and zoom to keep you in view. This makes calls feel more natural as you aren’t forced to sit still in an uncomfortable position or hold your hand out while talking, but instead get up and walk around or engage in other activities.
You can also listen to music or watch shows together via Spotify, Pandora, Facebook Watch, and more. Calls can be made to and from other Portal devices and Facebook Messenger-enabled devices. The standard Portal features a 10-inch 1280 x 900 display, while Portal+ features a bigger 15-inch 1920 x 1080 display.