Smart speakers are starting to gain traction, withand all vying for our attention. Lenovo recently launched its in two screen sizes: 8 inches at £179. As I write, Black Friday prices are £129. The design incorporates a stand that allows the screen to be oriented into landscape or portrait mode, although it's worth noting that the user interface doesn't swivel and portrait mode is only good for video calling -- via. The speaker that sits fully along one of the screen's narrow edges will be either to one side or at the bottom of the unit depending on orientation. Either way round, the 1. The screen is touch responsive, so a swipe up from the bottom calls up volume and other controls including screen brightnessand, of course, you can just ask it to be quiet or loud. Lenovo's Smart Display is designed to support landscape or portait modes. The speaker is at the bottom in portrait orientation, which is most useful for Google Duo video calls. Image: Lenovo Setup was simple, and lenovo smart display done through the Google Home app on an Android device. Even with a firmware update coming down to my review unit, the whole process only took about ten minutes. What took longer, actually, was lenovo smart display out where to put the device, as its mains power cable is short. Longer term that may well be an issue as inevitably the ideal location for kit like this might be some distance from a power socket. There are microphone mute and volume controls on the top in landscape modeand a camera privacy slider on the side. Automatic or manual brightness settings can be used. As already noted, video calling is tied into Google Duo; when the camera isn't needed there's a slider button on the side that pushes a privacy cover over the lens. The screen also adds value. For example, when I asked for the weather tomorrow I got a verbal response and a visual forecast for the day. When I asked for my nearest Italian restaurant several were returned, a couple were shown on-screen, and I could sweep the screen to see them all, tap the screen to pick the nearest one, and get directions to it. Oddly, to get directions for others I lenovo smart display to ask rather than tap, but the potential is there, and so far in my explorations it feels like the touch-screen opens up a wide range of possibilities. This doesn't mean the work is all done. The 'ambient mode' when nothing is happening offers a choice of Google Photos i. There need to be more choices. Visual information along with spoken responses makes a smart display more engaging than a smart speaker. The microphone array picked up my commands from across the room, even when I spoke quite quietly. If you have a collection of smart home devices, the home view in the Google Home app is on hand to control things like lighting, heating and security cameras. The Lenovo Smart Display brings additional value to Google Assistant, and the mixture of voice and visual responses works well. There's room for improvement though: the physical design is arguably a little clunky, with a maximum depth of 13. A second iteration will doubtless refine the design somewhat. Still, this marriage of screen and Google Assistant delivers some interesting and compelling goods. But the privacy-testing small screens have big differences in design focus and user distraction. Its speakers need to rock if it's lenovo smart display to stand out. Facebook has the right pricing and strategy for its Portal and Portal+ video calling devices, but your individual return on investment will go well beyond the usual tech economics.
