Google Smart Display launched by Lenovo is Pretty Intelligent

At this year's CES, Google presented its Smart Display which essentially provided Google's Voice Assistant with a screen. Lenovo debuted a device for sale with the Smart Display feature that provides visual context to voice commands.The screen gives visual feedback for queries and more robust video/photo content. The device has been praised for being a value for money product and an upgrade to Google Home.

Design wise, the Lenovo device looks like a tablet plugged with the Google Assistant. It does look like a tablet with a speaker but it doesn't have an onscreen keyboard for typing or a menu button. It's a device which you works through voice commands and the Smart Display aids in the process through visuals. The design is elegant and pleasant even without having all the core tenets of Google's Smart Display. Surprisingly, it looks better than any of the Home devices that Google has made. It also offers portrait and landscape mode though portrait mode can be enabled only for Google Duo video calls. Although the touchscreen can become a little less responsive, it's speaker is louder and crisper than Google Home and other speakers in this price range. Also, the device is available in 2 screens sizes, a $249 10-inch 1080p version suitable for larger spaces and a $199 8-inch 720p version for smaller spaces.

There were not many problems with the hardware but the software was a different story. On one hand, while some tasks were easy to perform like searching and looking through recipes others were difficult like finding a YouTube video. Opening YouTube with your voice is simple, but navigating through the app using voice commands when you can get to the video quickly by tapping seems like a tedious process. The full version of the Google Smart Display handles this problem in a better way but this Lenovo device does not have the full version of the app. These features could use an update.

However, some of the software features work seamlessly. The visual content is a perk when you're looking for information that is better displayed than heard. For example, you can easily see the weather forecast of the week instead of hearing it. Saying,"Hey Google, good morning,” will tell you about the weather, your commute, some headlines and display your routine.

Read more at techcrunch.com