Google, Amazon, Facebook, and the like want to convince you that you need a smart display. But as we've explored in previous reviews, most smart displays are luxury versions of their screen-less counterparts. Everything that you can do with an Amazon Echo or a Google Home can be done with a comparable smart display, but the latter can show you visual information and (in some cases) videos. If you don't care much for visual information in such a device, why spring for a smart display? These devices are hard sells, particularly because most cost $150 or more.
Amazon Echo Show 5
Last week, Amazon announced the Echo Show 5, a new 5-inch, rectangular version of the Echo Show. Thanks to its shape and $89 price tag, it's even more similar to Lenovo's Smart Clock than the $129 Echo Spot.
Since the Echo Show 5 is only available for preorder right now, we couldn't test it out to compare to the Smart Clock for this review. However, all Echo devices are hosts for Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, so its capabilities are nearly identical to that of the Echo Spot. We've included its specs in the table below, so you can get a better idea of how the Echo Show 5 compares to Lenovo's Smart Clock in terms of hardware.
That's not the case with Lenovo's new Smart Clock. It's the first Google-Assistant answer to Amazon's Echo Spot, serving as a tiny smart screen that shows the time by default and can be used to set alarms and do everything a regular Google Home device does. It could be an ideal device for someone who wants a virtual assistant at home and could use some visual information in their daily routine. But most importantly, it's great for those who don't want to spend a lot—Lenovo's Smart Clock costs $79, which is even more affordable than the $129 Echo Spot.
But a few big differences distinguish Lenovo's Smart Clock from Amazon's Echo Spot, and they will be make-or-break for some users. We used both devices for about a week simultaneously to see if a tiny smart display is the way to go and how the two compare to each other.
Design
Lenovo ditched the wood accents it used in its full-sized Smart Display and opted for a soft-touch fabric in the Smart Clock. It's understandable in a device that will likely live on a bedroom nightstand, and it ended up being a quaint addition to mine. It takes up about as much space as my cheap alarm clock does, and I could easily read the time on its 4-inch 480×800 touchscreen.
The embedded ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the screen's brightness so you won't be blinded by a harsh square of light in the middle of the night. There are 10 clock faces to choose from, too, so you have some control over the digital aesthetics of your alarm clock. You can even enable "dark mode" to give most clock faces a grayscale effect.
| Specs compared: Lenovo Smart Clock vs the competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Device | Lenovo Smart Clock | Amazon Echo Spot | Amazon Echo Show 5 |
| Price | $79 | $129 | $89 |
| Processor | MediaTek 8167S | ARM Cortex-A53 | MediaTek MT 8163 |
| Display | 4-inch 480×800 IPS touchscreen | 2.5-inch 480×480 touchscreen | 5.5-inch 960×480 touchscreen |
| Camera | None | 1 x Front-facing | 1 x Front-facing |
| Speakers | 1 x 1.5-inch 3W speaker, 2x passive radiators | 1 x 1.4-inch speaker | 1 x 4W speaker |
| Buttons/ports | 1 x mic mute, 1 x volume up/down, 1 x USB 2.0 port | 1 x mic/camera disable, 1 x volume up/down, 3.5mm audio output | 1 x mic disable, 1 x camera shutter, 1 x volume up/down, 3.5mm audio output |
| Connectivity | 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth | 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 and 5 GHz) Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth | 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 and 5 GHz) Dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Dimensions | 4.483 x 3.14 x 3.11 inches | 4.1 x 3.8 x 3.6 inches | 5.8 x 3.4 x 2.9 inches |
| Weigh | .72 pounds | .92 pounds | .91 pounds |
Aside from the display, the Smart Clock has two top buttons for adjusting volume, a power port, a microphone disable switch, and a USB 2.0 port on its body. The latter makes charging smartphones and accessories easy because you can plug charging cables into it instead of an AC outlet or a USB port in a less convenient place next to your bed.
Mic-kill switches have become commonplace on devices like these because users increasingly care about their privacy in the wake of AI devices becoming ubiquitous. The Smart Clock doesn't have a camera at all, unlike the Echo Spot, so there's no need for a camera shutter or kill switch.
Lenovo Smart Clock
$79.99 at Lenovo Buy
That may be the biggest selling point of the Smart Clock. The decision to leave the camera out of the original Google Home Hub (now called Nest Hub) was confusing because Lenovo's Smart Display included one for Duo video chatting. However, a device as small as the Smart Clock won't be the best video chatting tool, so a camera's usefulness is minimal.
Video calling with the Echo Spot will likely come in handy more if you have the device on your office desk. That way, it acts as a hands-free camera with which you can answer video calls using your voice. Placing video calls with the Spot isn't any different than doing so with the Echo Show, either—just ask the device to call a specific contact and, if the contact has an Echo Show or Spot or can be reached via the Alexa app on their smartphone, your video feed will start by default. Saying "Alexa, turn video off" will disable your camera and make the call voice-only.
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Ars Technica
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