Portal from Facebook. Smart, Hands-Free Video Calling with Alexa Built-in (Gen 1)

Bought this as an xmas gift for the wife and one for our son & daughter in law who live across the country. Best money I've spent in a while. They both love it.Used to video chat once or twice a week via phone to stay in touch and see the 1 1/2yr old grandson. Needless to say the phone version sucks because half the time you're looking at the ceiling or the floor.Now we video chat 5-6 times a week every night at bath time. We have ours set up on the coffee table and they set theirs up across the bathroom on the counter. So now every night its "let's go take your bath and call grandma ". We like that it auto focuses on whoever is in the room. It stays focused on the grandson as he plays in the tub but automatically zooms out to add the daughter in law in the video also if she starts talking or steps further into the room.Also not to bulky to take along if we go out to visit other family close by or if we go overnight someplace. Just plug it in and connect to the wifi and wait for the call. Now we're a part of his every day life even though they're 1400 miles away.I personally not one for all this new tech crap, but being able to see and talk to the grandbaby and family every day is well worth the investment. Plus it's easy enough I can operate it without any help.

This has proved to be an excellent way to keep members of my family connected (including the elderly). A video chat is so far superior than a voice chat for "being there" and my elderly mom loves that she can see three of her kids that are all in different parts of the country at once.Certainly being a a Facebook device comes with a certain amount of potential privacy baggage but to that I'd suggest that's at least partly a matter of personal responsibility. If you don't want people to know things about you, don't put it on Facebook.And to those who give the device low ratings because "It's only a video chat device", how can you blame the device or the manufacturer for that? That's all the Facebook claimed it to be. If you were expecting more, that's on you. It's like giving your car a low rating because "it only lets me drive on the road, I can't fly with it!!!". It would be entirely different if the vendor made claims that weren't true.The device is super easy to set up, the audio and video quality are fantastic. The fact that the camera automatically moves around to follow you is also very cool.And if you're afraid the thing is spying on your when you're not using it, turn it off!

We have 3 children (ages 10, 7, and 2). My parents recently moved over 12 hours away from where we live. My siblings and I bought them one for Christmas last year, 2019. They love it. We then ended up buying one for ourselves and are so happy we did as well. My children can all be hanging out in various spots in the living room, and my parents can see all of them at the same time, and vice-versa. It definitely has helped with my kids in staying in communication with their grandparents. Instead of just a phone call or seeing them on a small phone screen, it feels more like they are in the room with us. My 2-yr-old is constantly kissing the screen when we're talking to them.My husband and I even took the portal with us when we went to Jamaica a few months ago. We talked to the kids that way each day and that definitely helped me. I felt closer to them, so I missed them less than if I couldn't see them. My youngest would be tired of talking to us, so she'd be in the background playing - so I was comforted in knowing she's totally fine and not missing us!

My dad is horrible with technology. In fact, he has trouble operating his flip phone. So I figured this would be the best way to communicate face to face with him using my phone. I had to set up a Facebook profile for him. Now other friends and family can easily call him.I wanted something where it can serve one purpose, video calling. Alexa has too many functions and I was scared he would accidentally play music at level 10 volume and freak out. The portal, however, can be set for video calling only.I practiced a few times with him, and taped a set of instructions at his head board on his bed. He was able to figure out how to use it.I will start with the cons.It recognized my voice, my moms, my sisters, and nieces voice to the point where we could whisper at it. For some odd reason it would not recognize my fathers voice even though he is speaking clearly to it. It is a struggle for him to get portal to recognize his voice when he says "hey portal".The set up was kind of a head ache but we managed to get it working. When I tested it in my office, no problem. The nursing home, on the other hand, not so much. It took about 30min messing with it until randomly it stated working. I still have no idea what we did (I'm a pretty tech savvy person). I think its just a software glitch.Now the prosIt has great resolution. You can clearly see everyone laying down in bed with it positioned at the end of the bed.Sound is good. I can hear him clearly and he can hear me clearlyBeing able to make it for video calls only is great. Makes it easy to use with the elderly.My father can see updated Facebook pictures while sitting idle. It like a digital picture frame at the end of his bed.The camera changes poison and focuses on him if he moves around.The build quality seems pretty nice.