How Facebook's Portal Mini earned a place in my home
Despite privacy concerns, the Facebook Portal smart camera and assistant has helped my family and me tremendously these past months.
Emily Glover
Emily Glover
There are multiple reasons I’ve come to adore our new home robot caller.
With Facebook Portal, finally, my kids can safely entertain themselves without co-opting my devices. Although we make an attempt to limit screen time in our house, there are occasions when my 4-year-old and I both wanted a little digital distraction at the same time — which used to be hard when we were both reaching for my phone. With Portal, though, he can entertain himself with dozens of fun face filters or by turning us into characters in “Story Time,” thanks to cool AR effects.
I first looked to Portal for better video calls, but we honestly get the most use out of its Alexa integration. Sure, we had been getting along just fine with an old Echo Dot, which primarily served to play “Who Let the Dogs Out” on repeat for my kids at their beck and call. However, by adding the screen, I’ve been rediscovering all that I can do through Alexa, like catch the news headlines while I’m prepping dinner, manage other smart devices and gradually steer my kids in the direction of some better music through my Pandora channels.
When we aren’t actively using it, Portal transforms into a digital picture frame that pulls pictures from my linked Facebook account — and displays the outside temperature. These aren’t necessarily reasons to spend more than $100 on a device, but they were some nice perks. The biggest drawback to Portal is one I hadn’t anticipated minding: It’s not portable, of course, lacking a battery. The irony is that, even though I initially hoped for something my kids wouldn’t run away with, I have found myself wishing it wasn’t always tethered to one location — hopefully Facebook is working on a portable model.
What I’ve glazed over here is that there are actually two other Portal options on the market:
Perhaps there is something I’m missing that makes those worth the additional investment to gain extra inches of screen width, but it seems to me that the functions are roughly the same as what I get out of Portal Mini.
If availability hadn’t been a barrier, I probably would have gone with Portal TV because that truly allows for a bigger viewing screen and would already be posed to capture our whole family while gathering in the living room. Still, I am more than pleased with everything the Portal Mini offers—and am now planning to purchase one for both sets of grandparents so that we can really unlock its full features.
Catch up on Select's in-depth coverage of personal finance, tech and tools, wellness and more, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.
