This Amazon Facebook Portal review is sponsored by Amazon. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Growing up in Memphis, I was fortunate to live minutes away from both sets of my grandparents, almost all of my 11 cousins, and even a slew of second and third cousins that we were super close with too. Family events were loud, boisterous and tons of fun! Never did I dream that I would be settling down with my own family so far away from my own. And I truly don’t think I could have lived the long-distance life this long had video chat not existed. Especially now that I’m a mom, it’s so important to me that Annie gets to see her extended family on a regular basis, even if it is via video!
Thanks to technology, there are so many more ways to keep up with our family spread out all across the South. From texting, sharing saved videos, to phone calls, it’s easier than ever and I’m so grateful. But I’ll tell you what has really made life easier, the Facebook Portal from Amazon! After trying it out, I simply can’t go back to the regular old handheld video recording. Being hands-free is the way to be y’all! Especially when two-year-olds are involved!
Sharing a peek into how we use the Facebook Portal and how you can save BIG on one right now with Amazon Prime Day too, below!
Time for a Remote Tea Party
Our video chats before the Facebook Portal were mostly close-ups of our faces and sometimes from not so flattering angles. When Annie would run off with the phone, my mom would generally just see her chin and up through her nostrils. It was totally cute but not the big picture I’m sure she was hoping to glimpse.
Since we got Facebook Portal, my mom is able to take a seat all the way in Tennessee at Annie’s tea table here in Texas! Seeing Annie in action with her Nana, giving her sips of tea to the screen, is like watching a scene from The Jetsons or something. The future is now, y’all! But it’s so great to be able to video chat with my mom without having to hold the phone the entire time. This way, instead of my filming the tea party, I can get in on the action too.
Facebook Portal enables you to connect with your loved ones via Facebook Messenger. So you aren’t actually making a phone call or even using your phone number for the video chat. It’s all through your Facebook account. You can save your favorite contacts to your home screen and give them a call with the touch of a button. It’s so simple, my toddler figured out how to call her Nana within seconds!
And setting up the entire system was a piece of cake. I think there were only 4 simple steps to walk through and soon we found ourselves chatting with my mom within minutes.
Now Nana Can Join in on Our Morning Routine Too with Amazon’s Facebook Portal
Once Patrick has left for work and after I have had a few cups of coffee, Annie and I always give my mom a phone call to see what she’s up to too. At this point in the day, we’ve been up for a few hours and I’m itching to talk to a grown up once again. Annie loves to be involved in everything that I do so it’s great when she can join in on the call with my mom too.
Facebook Portal works great when it’s docked in a specific spot in your house, for example, the kitchen or living room, but I like to pick ours up and move it around to accommodate whatever we’re up to at that moment. No matter where you place the portal, the Smart Camera moves around to follow the action in front of it. So if Annie is climbing all over the bed, we don’t have to move the screen, the camera will follow where she’s going and my mom can see her on-the-go the entire time without me having to feel like I’m directing a video! If more people walk into the room, the camera will even widen to accommodate everyone, so nobody misses a moment.
Another great feature that has nothing to do with video chat is that the Facebook Portal can connect with your Amazon account and has an Alexa built-in too! It can play your favorite show tunes, set a timer for your cinnamon rolls in the oven and even run a slide show of pictures from your family’s most recent vacation when not in use. This device feels like it has literally become a member of our family, (I mean it has tea parties with us!) and I can not recommend it enough!
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There really are so many great goodies at amazing prices up for grabs on Amazon Prime Day. This time last year, we ordered Annie’s Kindle Fire for a fraction of its full price and we’ve used it countless times since. My family also loves loves loves (literally loves) our Echo Dot. We have one in the living room and our master bedroom. She sets our morning alarms, tells us the weather and knows my favorite Celtic music playlist by heart. She’s a pretty great voice assistant if I do say so myself. Echo Dot with Alexa comes with a built-in speaker and are on sale for only $22 today for Prime Day too. It’s so wild to me that we live in a time where you can have a robot turn your house into a Smart House for only $22! I’m here for it!!
Are you shopping Amazon Prime Day today!? Let me know what deals you snag in the comments below!
And a big thank you to Amazon for sponsoring this Facebook Portal review. My family was thrilled to share a peek into our everyday life and how we use our favorite Amazon finds. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Lone Star Looking Glass possible.
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xo, alice
