Android Things based smart displays were announced at CES 2018 with companies like Lenovo, LG, JBL, and Sony promising products later this year. In May, Google announced Google Assistant was now supporting smart displays, and released Android Things 1.0, the first production-ready version of the operating system. With all main software components released a few months ago, the first smart displays with Google Assistant support have now started selling for $199.99 and up courtesy of Lenovo.
The smart display is available with either a 8″ or 10″ display.
Lenovo Smart Display specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm Home Hub Platform based on Snapdragon 624 octa-core Cortex A53 processor @ 1.8 GHz
- System Memory – Up to 2GB RAM
- Storage – Up to 4GB eMMC flash
- Display (one or the other)
- 8″ IPS display with 1280 x 800 resolution, 86° Wide Angle
- 10″ IPS display with 1920×1200 resolution, 86° Wide Angle
- Audio
- 8″ model – 1.75″ 10W full range speaker, 2x passive tweeters with support for multi-room audio, 2×2 dual microphone arrays
- 10″ model – 2“ 10W full range speaker, 2x passive tweeters with support for multi-room audio, 2×2 dual microphone arrays
- Camera – 5MP wide angle camera supporting 720p video calls
- Connectivity – Dual band WiFi 802.11 ac 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 4.2 LE
- Buttons – Microphone-mute, camera shutter, and Volume +/-
- Dimensions & Weight
- 8″ model – 142.21 x 263.21 mm; thickness: 12.5 to 111.36 mm; 1 kg
- 10″ model – 173.87 x 311.37 mm; thickness: 12.5 to 136.02 mm; 1.2 kg
The displays ship with a power adapter, a quick start guide, and a warranty card. Smart Displays work pretty much like smart speakers in the sense that you just talk to provide commands, but you’ll also get visual feedback so you can actually see the weather forecast on the display, watch a video showing how to cook a recipe, make video calls, and so on.
Several larger US tech websites already got samples for review, and they’ve found the device to be a useful kitchen assistant, and integrates well with Google Services in most parts. However, some complained about audio quality, and scrolling a web page with voice commands can be cumbersome. There are also some limitation with YouTube (no subscription support), and the device only works in Landscape mode, except for Google Duo voice calls where portrait orientation is also supported.
Lenovo smart display with the 8″ screen sells for $199.99, while the 10″ screen version goes for $249.99. It will soon be available on Walmart, BestBuy, Amazon, Costco, and SamsClub. You can also purchase directly and find more details on Lenovo’s product page. If smart displays are not your thing, maybe a smart voice sofa might be more interesting 😉
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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