what's up guys check this out I've got the new Facebook portal I'm going to go
ahead and just unbox this real quick here
you know what hold on can I just call you back in a sec
there we go that's better all right so this is the new second generation
Facebook portal and the new portal minion basically they're smart video
calling machines so it's kind of like a
phone but not that kind of phone like that
kind but with a video camera and then also some tablet features thrown in but
here's the thing was anybody actually asking for this
and if they were did they really want Facebook to be the
one giving it to them
foreign
have a stellar track record when it comes to protecting user data so what
could they possibly do to convince consumers to willingly put a Facebook
built video camera and microphone array into their homes so like the first gen
portal devices the 2019 portals each include both software and Hardware
toggle switches for disconnecting the camera microphone or both then for added
peace of mind the separate losable lens cap has been replaced by an integrated
shutter that physically obstructs the camera a much more elegant solution the
chassis looks more like a picture frame this time which is nice either in white
or black making it feel more at home in a home and I guess that's an extra bonus
for Facebook's Engineers too because this design gives them a license to
print fat gigantic bezels which both devices definitely have the difference
between the two models comes down solely to screen size the mini is eight inches
while the regular is 10 inches both with a screen resolution of 1200 by 800
that's not full HD but when paired with
the 13 megapixel camera that's built in it's definitely enough to deliver a
video stream that's clear enough to make out that sweet shirt your friend is
wearing that is as long as you have a good enough network connection it's also
enough for the portal to act as a digital picture frame many of which are
similarly low res viewing of the portal devices does lose
quite a bit of brightness but to their credit there's very little color shift
regardless of whether you're using your portal in landscape or portrait mode
which is facilitated by the somewhat odd looking yet functional stand which
happens to house the power cable for audio the portal has a four microphone
array with One mic on the front two on the top and one on the back and of
course a red LED to indicate when they're Hardware disabled the mics do a
really good job of delivering clear sound even when you walk away from the
camera without requiring you to raise your voice or turn around to face them
hidden within the chassis outer frame are two full range drivers accompanied
by a two inch subwoofer on the back which altogether offer audio that we
would describe as at least on par with other mini smart speakers in terms of
both loudness and Clarity you can play Tunes through the native Spotify Pandora
and I heart radio apps or you can play whatever you want on your phone if you
pair it via Bluetooth as for i o there is a USB type-c port concealed on the
back of the full-size model anyway this one actually has the little flap glued
down but it's not a huge loss because it only enables beta features such as
connecting to Ethernet and external displays and even then only through a
short list of approved adapters I tried plugging a headphone dongle in there but
unfortunately no dice so we're limited to Bluetooth headphones at least for now
so then that's the what let's move on to why we could have
possibly thought it appropriate to title this video the way we did personally I
don't use video calling a ton because I like to multitask while I'm talking to
people and when I'm on video they can tell that I'm looking at something else
and doing something else so the way that I use it tends to be very utilitarian
you know to like stick under my sink to get some pointers from a plumber friend
or point at the Shelf to make sure that I'm getting the right Taco mix at the
grocery store so I'm assuming you guys are probably a lot like me so when I
said to buy this thing I honestly didn't mean for yourself to find out who the
portal is for you really have to look no further than Facebook's own marketing
materials which feature parents and grandparents pretty much exclusively
and it really is kind of perfect for them parents are so busy that being able
to be on a call while they're doing something else with their hands like
cooking or wrangling children helps a lot and portal is simple enough that I'm
pretty sure that even my grandma who does not have a smartphone could figure
out how to use it the feature set is heavily aimed at families too from the
AR filters which are not even close to as good as Snapchats to the shared
experiences games to the story time feature portal offers a way to make
video calls to a far away loved one interesting enough to keep the attention
of even the smallest users which brings
us perfectly then back to privacy because who cares if there's a camera
cover I mean what about all the data that you are creating just by using the
portal exactly the way that it's intended well Facebook says that all
video calls whether they're through Messenger or Whatsapp are encrypted and
that the company doesn't listen to view or keep your video calls nor use them
for advertising purposes even the camera and the microphone AI Tech that keeps
you in the frame and clear sounding As you move around the room actually runs
locally on the device not on a remote server run by Facebook and then finally
the camera's facial recognition doesn't identify you specifically it just
recognizes that your face is a face unlike the Google Nest Hub which uses
face data to create separate user profiles on that subject by the way we're
reviewing Google's new 2019 stuff so get subscribed so you don't miss that
so all of that sounds
okay but collect any user data it does for
example Facebook tracks how often you make calls and how long those calls last
and since you can say hey portal to
initiate and end calls Facebook also keeps recordings of your voice commands
which you can delete from their servers but like their competitors this is a
manual process that you'll have to remember to go back and do from time to
time which I find pretty frustrating the important thing though is that Facebook
might actually be learning from the terrible couple of years that they've
had and they seem to be making an effort to be transparent about all of this
for example the warning that your voice recordings may be reviewed by humans
appears prominently during the device setup process and isn't buried in a wall
of Legally is designed to dissuade you from reading it so for real then
should you buy a Facebook portal well assuming that you are a Facebook or
Whatsapp user and you actually make video calls to other users on those
platforms and you see a value to making those video calls from a place where you
can't realistically move around well Facebook has actually done a lot to
make the portal a good value not only is it pretty good at following you around
so that you can communicate more naturally it also has Amazon aliexa
built in so it can do anything that an echo dot can do and it's a digital
picture frame and all of that for the wow this is even more heavily subsidized
than last year price of a hundred and thirty dollars for the eight inch and
180 for the 10 inch it's by no means a perfect device it can be pretty slow the
camera doesn't adjust properly to group call split screen situations and while
it does have a basic internet browser for pulling up recipes or whatever it
still has hardly any third-party app support but overall I think the portal
is genuinely pretty good at doing what it sets out to do and it would be a
great Christmas gift for the right person just don't buy one for me because
I would find it about as useful as a gebo which guys if you haven't already
seen that video it's worth a checkout even though Jibo is dead
maybe it's even funnier now that Jibo is dead so thanks for watching guys hope
you hope you know if you want to buy a portal we'll have that linked below with
our affiliate link and if you don't well I'll understand that too