Lenovo Smart Display Review

The home, it’s constantly evolving in more ways than we can imagine. We’ve gotten to that point where the stuff in science fiction is now a reality, and the lines between the two are often blurred by services and tangible products that help us in our daily lives. Google’s various Assistant-enabled devices, like the Google Home and Google Home Mini, are a perfect example of that and have been well-received by the masses.
And if you’ve been satisfied by what these Google Assistant smart speakers have achieved thus far, then your interest may be piqued by what’s in store with the Assistant-powered Lenovo Smart Display. Obviously, this is a product following after the smart displays offered by Amazon, the Echo Show and Echo Spot, which both already have a considerable head start. Then again, the Lenovo Smart Display does show some promise by being deeply integrated into Google’s diverse ecosystem.
Design

The all-white matte plastic construction does feel solid – complementing the contemporary look of the Lenovo Smart Display. Going with this particular design, it’s better able to adapt and blend into an assortment of décor styles. On one hand, it’s nowhere as discrete-looking as some of Google’s smart speakers, but on the other, it’s vying for attention because of the added level of engagement it possesses. Our only wish, though, was that the display offered some sort of built-in battery, considering how frequently we transported it from one room to another.
Overall, the design of the Lenovo Smart Display plays it safe. Sure, it could’ve commanded significantly more attention with a more futuristic or industrial design, but we’re pleased that it goes after a more subdued presence amongst the other gadgets and gizmos in our homes.
Display

Functionality

So, what else can you do besides the usual stuff we already know and love about Google smart speakers? For starters, the biggest thing here is the visual element, allowing the Lenovo Smart Display to not only read aloud recipes for a dish, but show us on screen the ingredients and step-by-step instructions. And probably the biggest thing here is being able to watch YouTube directly on it, something that you can’t do on rival smart displays from Amazon. Again, the display here is the biggest differentiator and sets it apart from Google’s smart speakers – so it comes in handy for many things!
The homescreen here defaults to showing the time, temperature, weather, and a pane of windows showing some pertinent information – like our calendar events, recommended YouTube clips, and some tips surrounding voice actions. Frankly, it’s not too often that we find ourselves having to interact with the display by touch, since most of the time, everything is initiated through voice actions. Using the Google Home app running on our Android smartphone, it’s incredible how much we can further personalize the experience, like setting up “Routines” where we can say “good morning” and it’ll respond back with the weather conditions, calendar events, reminders, and much more.
When it comes to accessing and controlling other smart devices in the home, the Lenovo Smart Display performs exactly like its smart speaker counterparts. Throw in the fact that support has continually grown for Home Control devices, the Lenovo Smart Display caters to a wide range of devices. Want to stream a YouTube clip to your TV in the living room with a Chromecast? You can do that. Want to turn on or off the Philips Hue light bulbs in your living room? Yeah, you can do that as well! Even more impressive, we can even tell the Lenovo Smart Display to choose a particular color with the Philips Hue lights.
If there’s one gripe we have with the experience, we have to say that it lacks support for portrait mode – with the exception of using Google Duo for video chatting. That’s the only time when we can choose to go either portrait or landscape, but beyond that, it still puzzles us as to why portrait mode isn’t supported natively with everything. Another would be the current selection of video streaming services accessible to the Lenovo Smart Display. While we relish being able to watch YouTube videos directly on it, there’s no support for others such as Netflix.
Audio Quality

When it comes to initiating the speaker with the usual “Hey Google” voice trigger, the Lenovo Smart Display does a decent job at recognizing and responding when there's nothing being played. Unfortunately, it seems like the microphones have a tough time discerning the voice command when something is playing. In fact, we normally have to speak up a second time for it to register in such instances.
Conclusion

Priced at $200 for the 8-inch model and $250 for the larger 10-inch one, the Lenovo Smart Display does indeed command an investment, but we feel as though it offers much more versatility for the price than the $400 Google Home Max speaker. Compared to the $129 original Google Home speaker, the $70 price separation does manage to validate the Lenovo Smart Display’s worth. Sure, there are still a few things that could enhance the experience to a higher degree to distance what it can do from traditional smart speakers, but it’s only a matter of time before developers truly expose them.
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