# Meta Portal Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/meta-portal/ 9 people recommended Meta Portal in Hacker News comments, 7 had mixed feelings and 15 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 3 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. 7 of the 9 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “Meta enables adb on deprecated Portal devices”. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended: critics say Meta ended support and the software raises privacy concerns; those who recommend it cite easy family video calls, with good hardware, camera tracking and speaker quality. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Privacy concerns and spyware accusations (3 comments in the sample): "Buying a camera and mic appliance from the least trustworthy company in the world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48407889)) "Spy on your grand parents from the convenience of your kitchen counter top!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48655359)) "buying a piece of Spyware from the least trusted company in the world" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48407880)) - Locked down, no third-party apps (3 comments in the sample): "they disabled every feature on other than Messenger and WhatsApp calls that I can now only use as a bluetooth speaker" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48406860)) "The problem here is that devices being locked down is something being fought against" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48408397)) "no 3rd party story for FaceTime, Zoom, Google… was a real problem for most folks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073944)) - Support ended, no security updates (3 comments in the sample): "portal was killed, even though the next gen device was actually a really great media device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48408922)) "running an EOL version of Android and isn't getting security updates" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48408289)) "my Portal, Oculus, and Glasses are now bricked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49825106)) ## Why people recommend it - Good hardware and industrial design (6 comments in the sample): "Good hardware, decent usecase, killed within a ~year of its release." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50109703)) "The hardware is very nice but the software cannot be trusted." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48410247)) "Yep Meta Portal is very very nice industrial design" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48407338)) - Easy family video calls (4 comments in the sample): "Your product helped our kids stay connected to their grandparents and cousins during the pandemic." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48418971)) "It was so much better than laptops and webcams for family videocalling." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48409594)) "they worked really well at bringing the family together across distance" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48655241)) - Camera tracking and speaker quality (1 comment in the sample): "I loved their camera tracking and picture frame along with their speaker quality." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543118)) ## Other smart speakers people recommend - [Siri](https://hackerapproved.com/p/siri/): 61 recommend, 80 mixed, 663 criticize - [Bose SoundTouch smart speakers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bose-smart-speakers/): 22 recommend, 13 mixed, 18 criticize - [Apple HomePod](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-homepod/): 17 recommend, 11 mixed, 41 criticize - [Amazon Alexa](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-alexa/): 17 recommend, 26 mixed, 123 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Meta Portal", https://hackerapproved.com/p/meta-portal/ (9 recommend, 7 mixed, 15 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.