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Lenovo’s Smart Display is a Google Assistant-powered competitor to the Amazon Echo Show

By Koh Wanzi - on 9 Jan 2018, 11:51am

Lenovo’s Smart Display is a Google Assistant-powered competitor to the Amazon Echo Show

Lenovo Smart Display

Google’s AI smarts need no introduction, but most smart speakers that integrate it have so far limited it to a voice-only interface. However, Lenovo’s Smart Display goes a step further by putting Google Assistant in a speaker that also happens to come with either an 8- or 10.1-inch touchscreen display.

This means you get all the features of the Google Home smart speaker, plus the benefit of a more intuitive, visual interface. So instead of having your schedule dictated to you, you could simply have it shown to you.

And should you need clarification on a certain step of a recipe you asked for, the Smart Display can just pull up a YouTube video to show you how it’s done.

The Lenovo Smart Display obviously goes up against the likes of the Amazon Echo Show, and it's quite competitive in terms of price. The 8-inch version costs US$199.99, while the larger 10.1-inch model comes in at US$249.99.  

In comparison, the Echo Show with its 7-inch display costs US$229.99.

Lenovo Smart Display

Lenovo wants the Smart Display to be an integral part of your connected home, and it can work with your smart home devices to show you useful information. For example, if you have a compatible smart lock with a built-in camera, you can ask the Smart Display to show you who’s at the door if someone rings the bell.

One useful feature is something called Routines, where you customize the information you want displayed according to your routine and the time of day.

The device also comes with its own 5-megapixel wide-angle camera. But if you’re worried about prying eyes in the middle of your home, there’s a physical shutter that lets you obscure the camera, similar to the ThinkShutter feature on Lenovo’s ThinkPad notebooks.

Lenovo Smart Display

The 10.1-inch model has a higher resolution 1,920 x 1,200-pixel IPS display, whereas its 8-inch counterpart has a more modest 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution.

That aside, they’re both powered by the same octa-core Snapdragon 624 processor, and ship with up to 2GB of RAM and 4GB of eMMC storage. You'll also find dual 2x2 microphone arrays to pick up your voice.

The Smart Display is expected to be available in the US early in Q3 2018.

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