We tested the Facebook Portal Go against the Facebook Portal Plus to find out which really is the brand’s best smart display.
Love it or loathe it, Facebook (sorry, Meta to use the brand’s new moniker) just won’t quit making smart displays. The Facebook Portal range of video-calling devices is making an assault on a difficult market due to the popularity of Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest line of smart speakers with built-in screens, while at the same time carrying Facebook’s difficult history when it comes to privacy concerns. That still hasn’t deterred the brand from launching even more video-calling devices; late last year saw the arrival of the Facebook Portal Go and the Facebook Portal Plus. The Facebook Portal Go is a battery-powered version of the brand’s original 10-inch smart display, while the Facebook Portal Plus is a new version of its largest 14-inch device. The new Portal Plus is more compact than the original, but it doesn’t have many other upgrades, and unlike the Portal Go, it’s still mains powered. As with the previous Portals, both smart displays stand out when it comes to video-calling — they’re the only ones on the market that let you make WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger video calls. But aside from their screen sizes and the way they’re powered, you’re probably wondering exactly what the differences are between these two new Facebook Portal devices and whether they’re both worth investing in, or one will suffice. So we pitted the Facebook Portal Go against the Facebook Portal Plus to help you decide. Read on to find out just how these smart displays compare – or, if you know which Facebook Portal you want, check out the best prices right now for both products below: The Facebook Portal Go will set you back $199 / £199 / AU$279 while the Facebook Portal Plus is considerably more expensive at $349 / £349 / AU$519. However, a larger screen understandably pushes the cost up, so we’re not surprised at the price difference. The Facebook Portal Go is slightly more affordable than its similarly-sized rivals — the Amazon Echo Show 10 costs $249.99 / £239.99 / AU$ 399.99 while the Google Nest Hub Max is priced at $229 / £219 / $349. While Google doesn’t offer a smart display with a screen larger than 10 inches, Amazon’s nearest rival is the Echo Show 15, which unsurprisingly has a 15-inch display. The Show 15 is also slightly more affordable, costing $249 / £239.99 / AU$399 You might think these two are similar due to the size of the screen, but in actual fact, the Echo Show 15 is initially designed to be a wall-mounted device, although it can be used free-standing if you purchase the additional stand for $29.
