Omicrono we tested portal, smart speakers to make WhatsApp video calls from home
Gocfqomicrono portal
Analysis and tests
Meta, the old Facebook, sells in Spain portal Go and Portal+, two smart speakers that incorporate Alexa and can call on whatsapp.
3 enero, 202219:28Chema Flores@chemamalagaNoticias relacionadas
In recent years I have chained tests of different smart speakers of all brands and types.With screen, without it, in different ways and thought for different uses.Now, I have been the last month trying the Meta portal (former Facebook) that have arrived in Spain and are the screen speakers that I have used more than ever thanks to a fundamental ally: WhatsApp.
Although Google and Amazon have become the references of smart speakers.Its models with screen, Nest Hub and the show family, have focused towards being the control of the home and our daily tasks, while the portal are oriented more towards the social section.
During the last 30 days I have been using GO and Portal+ portal (229 and 369 euros, respectively), intelligent screen speakers that give true sense to have such equipment at home.Manages to mix the use of daily consultation and home management with that of being able to make video calls with anyone comfortably.
Same idea, two uses
If a few years ago the most common was call.Although Portal Go and Portal+ were presented together and share some aspects, they are smart speakers with screen oriented to two completely different uses.
Gocfqomicrono portal
GO Portal is designed to take any part of the house.It has a magnet system that serves as a basis for loading it, but has on the back of an handle to move it through all rooms.The idea is to accompany us if we are in the living room, in the kitchen or in the study.It has total autonomy whenever you have drums and wifi.
Portal+ For its part it has a more leisurely use and is designed to always occupy the same hole in the home.That is, you have to think better where you want to place to use it with greater recurrence.As with a portal, Portal+ is ideal to place in the living room or a wide desktop to do from there the daily video calls, either work or family and friends.
Portal+cfqomicrono
Beyond the way of moving it or not, the main difference between both models is in the screen size.While Portal Go has a 10 -inch panel, portal+ climbs until 14, which is a large screen that gives a feeling of total immersion.
Both models have a camera with a system of recognition of the environment that, thanks to the artificial intelligence of their Smart Camera system recognizes people who are plane to meet the scene and follow you.It will not be static in front of the speaker, but this will be able to recognize where you are or how many people are in the conversation to frame in tune in the same way that Apple's last iPads already do with centered frame.The big difference between the portal is in the field of vision since the GO is slightly lower (125º compared to 131º of the vision field).
Cámara de Portal+cfqomicrono
Do not forget that the portal are smart speakers and as such sound, and they do very well.Both have a set of two 5W full frequency speakers and a 20W Woofer, so that the room can be filled without problem listening to music and having a conversation several meters away.And in addition to the speakers it has a set of four microphones with an artificial intelligence system that minimizes the background noise and improves the voice of who speaks.
Alexa and WhatsApp
The portal have their own operating system, but it comes with two main allies to make sense and that their use is really comfortable and simple: Alexa and WhatsApp.
Llamada de WhatsApp en Portal+cfqomicrono
On the one hand, it integrates the Amazon Smart Assistant, which allows us to relate to the speaker in the same way that we would do it with an echo, that is, from asking curiosities to control lights or connected plugs.On the other, it has a series of applications, mainly oriented to video calls, with the clear objective of being a social device, and this is where its greatest virtue for the Spanish market comes: WhatsApp.
Being a goal device, we can synchronize our Facebook, Messenger or WhatsApp agenda, thus we can initiate conversations from any of the three applications directly from the portal screen.However, for the use made in WhatsApp Spain, it is especially interesting to make video calls (or calls) to the application to other mobile phones.
Gocfqomicrono portal
To do so, the most convenient is to save a series of favorite contacts (family and friends we call the most), thus it will be enough with two clicks on the screen to start a conversation.It is so easy that my three -year -old son has learned to use it to call.
In WhatsApp, not only does not only work the automatic refraining (which is perfect for video calls with children at home), but also has a augmentated acting series that contribute a plus to the experience of the application that, for the moment, does notIt can be on any mobile phone.
Portal+cfqomicrono
Beyond WhatsApp, among the applications that can be found are others in more professional scope such as Webex or Zoom, entertainment such as Spotify or Netflix, just as there are another series of websites that we can access directly by not having application with application.Of course, we will also have a browser to access the websites we want.
Privacy
The most thorny point of the new portal is, as always, privacy.As with the smart speakers of Google or Amazon, the user can generate rejection of a device with microphones and camera in their living room or bedroom.In addition, here, it is possible to take into account the company's reputation with the different scandals of data leaks that it has had in recent times.Goal is aware and ensures that both are designed to protect privacy.
Aviso de privacidad en Gocfqomicrono portal
In both models you can find a series of characteristics designed to give the user greater privacy.To start the cameras have a physical lid that covers the lens and it is completely dark.In addition, at the time the lens is covered, apps cannot start the camera.
On the other hand, we find a button that turns off the camera and microphones.Although we say the 'Alexa' or 'Hey Portal the speaker will not be activated.This is interesting to 'disconnect' the speaker completely or if we only want to make a call, have the covered lens but the activated microphones.
Botones y tapa de cámara en Gocfqomicrono portal
Meta explains that the Smart Camera system does not use facial recognition to identify people who are plane, as well as the follow -up system that details who is plane is executed locally and is not shared with the Facebook's global servers.
Also, Portal includes a home mode to share the speaker with another person from the home without sharing contacts or applications.It is really easy to set limits so that other members with which the house is shared cannot, for example, chat with the contacts of another person.
Portal+cfqomicrono
I buy it?
The new Go and Portal+ portal are one of the best smart speakers that can be purchased.They are for very different uses and come to cover diverse needs.In my case, the one that has best adapted to my lifestyle has been the go that, without a doubt, would be the one who would buy me.
It is versatile, comfortable to use and really takes advantage.During the month I have been using it I have given more use than to other Google or Amazon speakers with a screen that I have at home.The possibility that it can be used without cable.
Gocfqomicrono portal
On the other hand, the portal have two big problems: on the one hand the price.The 229 euros of the GO portal and the 369 euros of the portal+ can make them prohibitive for many families.Not only do they come to compete against speakers that move like the Echo Show 10, but also do it against tablets such as the Realme Pad, the iPad or the Xiaomi Pad, tablets that can meet the needs of these speakers in the same fork of prices.
On the other hand, there is the brand image.Putting a goal device at home can still generate rejection of many users who trust more than Amazon or Google rather than the old Facebook.
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