Lenovo’s Smart Display with Google Assistant

Lenovo’s Smart Display with Google Assistant hit the market.

There are two versions of the device, one with an 8-inch full HD screen and the other with a 10-inch full HD screen, priced at US$200 and $250 respectively.

“The cost is significantly below an iPad mini and it offers far more functionality than just a digital picture frame or a Bluetooth speaker,” said Alan Lepofsky, principal analyst at Constellation Research.

Buyers will get three months’ free access to YouTube Premium.

The Lenovo Smart Display runs on Google’s Android Things, an operating system developed for the notoriously insecure Internet of Things.

Google has addressed the IoT security problem by providing three years of OS updates for free for every Android Things-based product.

You Can Speak tenderly

The Lenovo Smart Display lets users play music, make video calls, conduct Web searches, view their calendars, and access YouTube videos. It has native integration with Google Duo video calling and Google Photos.

However, Android Things reportedly can run only one app at a time.

Both versions of the Lenovo Smart Display have a 10W speaker with tweeters, and both offer multi room audio support. They have two microphones that are sensitive enough to pick up commands spoken softly.

The 10-inch version can be stood horizontally in landscape mode, or vertically in portrait mode. It comes with a privacy shutter to block the camera, and a microphone mute toggle setting.

Voice commands are the main interface, but the device also has a touchscreen for follow-up actions such as zooming in on a map, for example.