Lenovo Smart Display: price. Google Assistant for your home or kitchen

The Lenovo Smart Display is the first of a series of smart speakers with a screen that incorporates Google Assistant (which also includes the LG ThinQ View WK9 and the JBL Link View) in its first attempt offers a very good experience.

The idea of ​​this smart speaker is to offer the same functions that we currently use with speakers like Google Home Mini, a visual appearance to better understand the answers from the virtual assistant or to better interact with your requests.

The Lenovo Smart Display arrives, without a doubt, to compete with
Amazon Echo Show
($ 230 on Amazon.com) and although Alexa continues to lead some aspects (later), Smart Display manages to become a more complete package thanks to the multiple Google services and its integration. [19659002] What is certain, is that the Lenovo Smart Display does not work completely like a tablet with a built-in speaker, as one might imagine the first time, which limits it a bit – although he also distinguishes it. This is important because although we have the Google Assistant in millions of cell phones and tablets, the Lenovo Smart Display offers many more visual and attractive responses that accompany the voice of the assistant, but it also means that he does not have access to the application store. Android (turns Android Things, the operating system for smart home devices and the Internet of Things) as we would like a lot, but is completely focused on extensions and Google Assistant applications that live mainly in the cloud. [19659002] Although the Lenovo Smart Display is the first of four screen speakers and Google assistant presented, the experience is good and opens the possibility for your virtual assistant to reach more homes to help more d & # 39; users.

moment is the best smart speaker with screen you can buy, although the Amazon Echo Show will offer you a better experience if you are very attached to the Amazon ecosystem and not much to Google. In addition, this horn has the advantage of allowing you to buy Amazon without problems and to show you the lyrics of the songs, although you will need to subscribe to Prime Music to enjoy all the music you want.

Editor's Note : This analysis was done using the 10-inch Lenovo Smart Display, but the differences with the 8-inch are rare.

Pricing and Availability

The Lenovo Smart Display is available in 8-inch versions. and 10 inches with prices of 199 USD and 249 USD.

Lenovo Smart Display: Features and Specifications

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 624 (1.8 GHz)
• RAM: 2 GB
• Storage: 4 GB
• Front camera: 5 megapixels
• Operating System: Android Things
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2×2) MIMO (2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth
• Microphone: Double 2 x 2
• Buttons / Sliders: Microphone mute, camera block and flight umen
• Energy: Electricity transmitted by a plug, does not work by battery

Differences between the 8 and 10 inch model (in addition to the price)

• 8 inch screen: 1280 x 800 pixel HD resolution (IPS)
• 10 inch screen: 1,980 HD resolution x1200 pixels (IPS)
• 8 inch noise: dual 10-watt passive radiator 1.75 inches
• 10 inch noise: dual passive radiator 2 inches 10 watts
• weight of 8 inches: 2, 2 pounds
• Weight 10 inches: 2.6 pounds
• Dimensions of the 8 inches: 263.21×142.21×12.5 – 111.36mm
• Dimensions of the 10 inches: 311.37×173.87×12 .5 – 136.02mm
• 8 inch color: gray
• 10 inch color: bamboo

What are the features of the Lenovo Smart Display?

• Answer the questions you ask with a lot of visual and vocal support.
• It allows you to control smart appliances and offers a visual guide to the status of appliances and options control them
• offers cooking recipes with ingredients and a cooking guide with voice and text
• You can make purchases via Google Express
• You can search for restaurants and send information to your mobile phone. 19659013] It has a screen saver in which you can place predetermined pictures or also your photos from Google Photos (it is automatically synchronized).
• He has a screen always where at least he shows you the time. United and Canada
• You can make video calls to people using Google Duo.
• Play music (like Google Play Music and Spotify), news and videos (YouTube).
• The screen The main time of the sample, like other related information such as your calendar or videos of your interest
• Calendar of alarms and countdowns
• Create shopping lists.
• Play different games. the voice of your content that you have captured and stored in Google Photos.
• You can create Google Assistant routines.
• You can use it to communicate messages via Smart Display or Google Home in your home.
• of the intimacy that blocks him so that he can not always see what is in front of him (with a physical mechanism).
• The microphone can also be silenced by a button.
• Among others. Google Home, Home Mini and other speakers with the Google Assistant (no screen)
  • When you specify a voice command, you can see what you understand (text in the upper left of the screen. screen).
  • Responses are usually supplemented by visual information.
  • You can control various functions via the touch screen.
  • Depending on the question you are asking, the Google Assistant visually shows you some options for continuing to interact with him. 19659013] You can watch and watch YouTube videos without having to subscribe to YouTube Red.
  • You can make video calls.
  • Recipes are much more advanced, precise and useful – it's probably one of the most refined functions
  • You can watch live streaming from cameras, like the Nest Cam IQ

  Design: Relatively Stylish and Well Built

  I can not say that the Lenovo Smart Display C is the most beautiful device for the home I've seen, but its good build and its back with imitation bamboo is superb. In addition, the design is ingenious to allow to place it in vertical mode, in the case where the entire interface is optimized for this, because it is not currently the case

  The horn is heavy but it is not a party device or at least that is not the goal. The Lenovo Smart Display does not have a battery, so it would not make sense to try to carry it everywhere if it does not work.

  I would have liked the bevels to be a little smaller and although the combination of black and white Well, maybe that would have been more interesting if the front part had been that. a sound, or at least this option.

  Something good about the Lenovo Smart Display is the door that Lenovo has installed in its laptops to block the cameras and provide more security. If you are very concerned about privacy, you can move the slider located on the side edge so that a plastic barrier blocks the camera and can not transmit anything that can be identified. Even this gateway provides protection if the Lenovo Smart Display becomes hacked for any reason (I'm not saying that it will happen but no device is fully protected), the mechanism does not. is not electric, so it's just can manually control and offer this visual protection.

  In addition, the Lenovo Smart Display also incorporates volume controls and a switch to mute the microphone

  The touch screen reproduces the colors well and has good brightness, but that does not mean make it the best screen I've seen – it's good for your purpose and complies with what is needed to have a good experience.

  

  Navigation: Voice or Touchscreen

  This smart Lenovo speaker can be voice controlled like any Google Home device, but its touch screen also lets you control others functions of your Android Things operating system.

  The main screen displays weather and personalized information, such as reminders, calendar appointments, or simply activities related to the latest things you have requested.

  In addition, the Lenovo Smart Display has a screen saver you can select different default images or even use Google Photos (more on that below).

  Also, the speaker with screen always has a screen that shows you at least the time.

  The interface is relatively simple and large In fact, there are not many things you can customize but you can control whether you want to show your calendar and your custom content on the screen. main screen.

  The screen works as any other touch screen, mainly by gestures. You can slide from the edge (left) to go to the main screen and you can slide from the bottom to access the brightness, volume, do not disturb and some setting controls.

  Control Center for Your Smart Home [19659010] Like Google Home, Home Mini or Home Max, the Lenovo Smart Display serves as a control center for your smart home.

  The same devices are compatible with this horn and work the same way. However, the advantage is that the screen shows you the status of what you have requested and also allows you to control it from there. This is something you can not even do with Google Assistant on cell phones or tablets.

  For example, for lights, you can control the intensity or colors, as long as you have a smart lens like Philips Hue. The Google Assistant is the most appropriate way to automate your home because you usually have to use your voice to activate or achieve something similar to what Amazon Alexa offers.

  However, I consider platforms like SmartThings and Wink they manage to offer the closest home automation we've imagined for the future, while they can also be embedded in different voice systems such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.

  

  The Echo Show can, for example, make the difference with Amazon Cloud Cam: the Lenovo Smart Display allows you to ask Google Assistant to activate the live broadcast of a camera like the Nest Cam IQ on your screen. [19659011] A Digital Photo Frame with Google Photos

  One of the biggest strengths of Lenovo Smart Display is its integration with Google services, one of which is Google Photos.

  In the screen saver, you can select an album or your favorite photos in Google Photos are visible there to work as a digital photo frame. After a few seconds, the photos change, but you can also slide them on your finger.

  Since this option is synchronized in the cloud, if you mark a new photo as a favorite or if you add a new photo to this album, Lenovo Smart Display He knows and he adds it to this group of photos that & # 039; He will show.

  The bad thing here is that you can not currently control the time the photos pass or the effect that occurs when this happens.

  Plays YouTube Videos Without Problems

  One of the results of the battle between Google and Amazon was that YouTube was blocked from the Amazon Echo Show, although after Amazon managed to integrate via Firefox.

  The Lenovo Smart Display logically has no problem with YouTube and can play the videos you want on your screen. 19659011] An exemplary kitchen assistant

  One of the great strengths of the Lenovo Smart Display lies directly in its utility in the kitchen, you can not only control it without your hands (or with your hands if you want) but you can search for recipes this shows you clearly on the screen, as he tells you through the voice of the Google assistant.