Facebook Portal Plus

There’s a default screen saver on the device that asks “Hey Portal, what can you do?” It’s meant, of course, to prompt you to click through and discover new features. But it’s an important question — and in its current iteration, it’s not one for which Portal is able to offer a particularly compelling answer.

Beyond making calls, I’m excited to see if working with third-party developers can improve Portal over time and stitch together an ecosystem of in-call experiences. At launch, the Portal+ has some noteworthy elements, but it will likely be a lot more interesting six months to a year from now when more third-party apps and in-call experiences are made available.

The Portal+ is new and will likely evolve as Facebook sees how people are using it. For now, it's an awkward mishmash of technology trends that despite any redeeming qualities -- and there are a few -- feels like a genuinely bizarre product for a company plagued by privacy concerns.

I don't think Portal will be a good fit for most people. Even though I was impressed with the unmatched video quality and the smart camera that followed me around, the rest of the experience felt unfinished. Facebook seemed to admit as much, noting that features like a browser and more apps are coming later.