Facebook Portal vs. Amazon Echo Show (2nd gen) - Digital Trends

Posted: 03 Jan 2020 12:00 AM PST

If you're looking for a smart display that's large and has a lot of great features, the Facebook Portal and Amazon Echo Show are both great choices. They both use Alexa, have wide, 10-inch screens, and offer up great sound. These similarities can make it hard to choose. So, we compared the Facebook Portal and the Echo Show to find out which one is the better buy.

Design

facebook portal 2019 review 10 inch 14 of 20

These two smart displays couldn't look more different. The Portal looks like a picture frame, which is great if you'll be using it to display photos. The Echo Show looks more like a tablet with a big speaker stuck on the back. Neither is particularly attractive, so this one's a toss-up.

Winner: Tie

Sound

Echo Show 2nd Gen front and back with call

When it comes to listening to your favorite tunes, you probably won't be disappointed with either of these displays. They both offer rich bass and clear sound that carries throughout a room. With the Echo Show, though, music doesn't sound strained or warped at higher volumes like with Portal. This is probably due to the Show's more extensive speaker system which features a passive bass radiator, dual 10W 2-inch neodymium drivers, and Dolby processing. So, if you're going to put your smart display in a larger room, or you just like to crank your tunes, then Show is the better option.

Winner: Show

Displays

Overall, we really love both screens on these smart displays. They are large, crystal-clear and display lifelike colors. The Echo has a 10.1-inch HD screen with 1,280 x 800 resolution, while the Portal has a 10.2-inch screen with 1,280 x 800 HD resolution. So, the Portal is slightly bigger but really takes the win with its adaptive display technology. Its screen adjusts to match the light in your room to make anything on the display look more realistic. The screen is so good, in fact, you may feel like you're looking at a professionally printed photo inside of a picture frame.

Winner: Portal

Camera

A good camera is important if you're going to do video calls with family and friends. You want them to be able to see you clearly, after all. The Echo has a 5MP camera, which isn't terrible, but it's nothing compared to what the Portal is packing. Portal's camera has more than twice the megapixels, at a whopping 13MP. Plus, it has AR capabilities that allow you to add fun filters to your face when you video chat and you can even tell on-screen stories that incorporate your face and animations.

Winner: Portal

Video calls

While Portal seems to be coming out on top so far, how each smart display makes video calls will probably be what sways you in one way or the other. Echo Show allows you to make calls with anyone that has Skype, the Alexa app, an Echo Spot, or Echo Show. Portal, on the other hand, only lets you connect with people who you are connected with through Facebook and WhatsApp. So, if you're not a big Facebook or WhatsApp user, this could be a big deal-breaker for you. Even if you're a die-hard Facebook addict, your favorite people may not be.

For example, my mom hates Facebook for moral reasons and refuses to use anything they offer, so I can't contact her using the Portal. She does use Skype, though. More than likely, you'll run into the same problem with some of your friends and family. Show just gives you more flexibility on who you can contact.

Winner: Show

Price

Echo Show was originally $230, and we've seen some price cuts on Amazon for as low as $170. However, the Echo Show won't be back on stock until January 12. The Portal retails for $170 as well, but we've seen sale placing it at $129 for the Mini 8-inch and $149 for the 10-inch. Obviously, price cut or not, the Facebook Portal is a better buy.

Winner: Portal

Facebook Portal 10-inch:

Conclusion

While Facebook Portal won in more categories, which one you buy really comes down to what your needs are. If you're looking for a smart display that you can rock out with and lets you call the most people, then Show is the best pick. If you want a display that has advanced screen capabilities, a great camera, and a lower price, then Portal is the one for you.

Since both are also powered Alexa, neither one has the upper hand when it comes to what they can do in terms of controlling the smart home. Although, the Echo Show can act as a hub for various smart home gadgets, allowing you to control certain things, like your connected smart lights, using on-screen controls directly on the Echo Show — and that's in addition to voice commands with Alexa.

Editors' Recommendations

The Turing Test Review — Man, or Machine? - DualShockers

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 01:00 PM PST

January 31, 2020 4:00 PM EST

Portal-inspired puzzle game–The Turing Test–finds a new home with a great port to the Nintendo Switch.

The Turing Test is a first-person puzzle game by Bulkhead Interactive that first released for current systems and PC in 2016. The game's design draws heavy inspiration from Valve's Portal series, while the narrative is an original mind-boggling adventure. The puzzles don't develop into a worthy challenge until late into the game; however, the story is unique and intriguing and keeps you playing until reaching the game's greatest sectors. This 2016 puzzler runs wonderfully to the Nintendo Switch's hardware, hopefully allowing a new audience to experience a Turing Test of their own.

Over recent years, game ports have been controversial, especially when porting to the Nintendo Switch; a relatively weak system compared to competitors. I'm happy to report that this is a masterful port. The game is absent of bugs–or at least I didn't experience any–and the game looks great on Switch. Aside from some brief slowdown within one of the game's 7 challenge areas, The Turing Test ran perfectly smooth.

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The Turing Test is one of the most aptly named games I've ever played. A Turing Test is a test created by famous English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing in 1950. The test involves a human having 2 separate text conversations, one with a human, and one with a machine. However, the human participating in the test is fully unaware of which conversation is with a fellow human, and which is with a machine. Ultimately if the human participant is unable to determine which conversation was with the machine, then the machine passes the test. Turing created the test to answer the question, "Can machines think?" a question you'll be asking yourself while playing The Turing Test.

You control Ava Turing, a researcher sent from the International Space Agency to excavate Jupiter's moon Europa in the 23rd century. Awoken from cryogenic sleep by T.O.M., an artificial intelligence that surveys Europa's excavation for the ISA, you depart for Europa's freezing surface. Greeting you is a seemingly-empty space station, prompting the question, "Where is the research crew?" To answer that question, you'll need to work your way through the game's 70 puzzles and pay close attention to the dialogue and your environment along the way.

The Turing Test Review — Man, or Machine?

Along with having an AI as your only conversation partner, puzzles are solved by using an EMT gun to power different machines–drawing obvious comparisons to the Portal games. The puzzles take place in white and grey environments very reminiscent of Portal's testing chambers. Each level is called a sector, and there are 10 sectors and 1 challenge level called "restricted areas" in each chapter. The first few chapters are extremely simple and introduce new puzzle elements too quickly without fully testing players on recently learned mechanics.

These levels were simple enough, but I often had trouble properly aiming my EMT gun; an issue that gyro controls could have easily solved, if included. Each chapter's ending rewards you with an explorable area of the station packed with notes and audio-logs which help you understand the story in a similar fashion to games like Gone Home.

Fortunately, about 65% of the way through the game, a new mechanic is introduced which gives the game a unique twist. This new gameplay element–which I don't want to spoil–complicates all sectors following its introduction, and gives the game a level of challenge that it had been missing. At this point instead of breezing through puzzles, I encountered a few rooms that had me thinking for 20-30 minutes before finally conjuring a solution. Honestly, I wish this mechanic would have been introduced sooner, or have been the main gameplay mechanic rather than the EMT gun. Regardless, this mechanic's introduction is a needed change of pace and breathes life into the game which felt like it had been dragging for a few sectors until that point.

The Turing Test Review — Man, or Machine?

The game closes with its most difficult puzzles, and the story ends at a climax which may satisfy, depending on the choices you make. I'm very impressed by the story in The Turing Test. After learning that Ava's last name was "Turing", I spent the first few chapters hypothesizing whether T.O.M. was the computer, or I was. I noticed that I was working my way through puzzles purely because a computer was ordering me to; in that sense was I in charge, or was T.O.M.? The dialogue between the two characters only contributed to my theory.

T.O.M.'s voice acting is wonderful, he sounds intelligent and robotic, while also slightly sinister. Meanwhile, Ava sounded genuine but didn't appear to understand any information read in notes or heard in audio logs. I really wish Ava would've learned with me instead of being seemingly clueless as to what was going on. However, when I finally reached the game's conclusion and the credits appeared on my screen, I was blown away by what I read.

The Turing Test is a well-made puzzle game that translates well onto the Nintendo Switch. Although its mechanics could be better utilized to create slightly more challenging puzzles in the first few chapters, Bulkhead Interactive started to perfect the formula by the game's conclusion. Meanwhile, the narrative features solid voice acting performances and motivates you to keep playing through the game's slow sections which are few and far between. Bulkhead Interactive did a lot right, and if they take another shot learning from the few mistakes they made, they could have a puzzle masterpiece on their hands. Regardless, The Turing Test is a very good, well-priced puzzler that is well ported and certainly worth trying on Nintendo Switch.

January 31, 2020 4:00 PM EST

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