Facebook has recently announced two amazing home video calling devices that will sure be loved by customers owing to their great designing and smart features. They are 10” Portal and 8” Portal Mini. These are basically second generation gadgets, being successor to the Portal and Portal+ that were released by the company last year.
These HD display devices are ideal for watching videos or viewing pictures and are definitely best for making flawless, immersive video calls. Here, we will be identifying and understanding some of the key aspects of both these smart video calling devices.
Price
Facebook has priced Portal at $179 and Portal Mini at $129, which is definitely a welcome when measured against the great benefits that they bring along with them. It is also fact that their pricing has been kept lower compared to portal’s previous version.
Portal on Amazon Portal Mini on Amazon
Display and Design
Portal has an excellent display screen of 10” whereas the Portal Mini is a bit smaller in size. Its display is of 8”. But astonishingly, both the portals sport smart and sleek designing, resembling a photo frame. Their designing have been thoughtfully done so that they gel well with their surroundings. They are both fitted with screens that are adaptive in nature, meaning they are capable of adjusting brightness and color depth to match the surroundings and gives a natural feel for the viewers. The devices can change orientation as per the user’s preference.
Important Features
- Being smart video calling devices, they are sure to act smartly. Hence, there is no more requirement of adjusting cameras as per caller’s movements to support proper calling. They come with Smart Cameras that automatically traces the figure in the room and accordingly pans and zoom and even widen to allow free movement and better calling experience.
- Also feature like Smart Sound makes talking better because it provides more clarity to the voice by reducing background noise.
- Additionally, they are both having performance driven built-in speakers. Hence, when not engaged in video call, you can actually indulge yourself in some good music. Such are the multipurpose advantages of these two gadgets.
- When in idle mode, they display your favorite photos and just add to the beautification of the room. And they also provide updates when someone is available to connect.
- These devices support AR effects and come with Story Time. This helps to add more fun and animation to the entire process of storytelling. With innovative AR effects, it is possible to wear funny AR masks and also play games via these devices.
- They support “Hey Portal” functioning. This means that by just saying these two words, it is possible to conveniently begin hassle free video call or just get any other information and updates.
- Another amazing feature is that they support making video calls via Messenger and WhatsApp on friends and families Smartphones. So, two way portals are not always needed to make happy video calling. Also it is possible to add three persons in a group call via WhatsApp and the number is seven for Messenger.
- Both Portal and Portal Mini comes with built-in Alexa to enhance both fun and utility.
About Availability
Both the portal devices can be pre-ordered from official Portal website in US, Canada and Europe. Apart from the Facebook Portal, there are few retails where also orders can be placed. As per information so far, in addition to the above mentioned countries, Portal and Portal Mini will also be available UK, France, Spain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. It is believed that shipping of the products will be opening from 15th of October 2019 by Facebook.