Lenovo Smart Clock Review | NDTV Gadgets360.com

Lenovo is best known for its laptops and smartphones, but it also makes various other products including tablets and wearables. The latest product from the company brings Lenovo into a completely new segment — smart home devices. The Lenovo Smart Clock is priced at Rs. 5,999, and as the name suggests, it is a digital clock that doubles up as a smart speaker and display. The smart features are thanks to access to Google Assistant.

While there are plenty of smart speakers in the market, a smart clock is a somewhat new concept. This device competes with the recently launched Amazon Echo Show 5, offering the same functionality as a voice assistant with the benefits of a small screen. We’ve spent some time with the Lenovo Smart Clock, and here’s our review.

 

Lenovo Smart Clock design and specifications

While we expected more in terms of design from a ‘smart’ device, the Lenovo Smart Clock is quite functional in its appearance, resembling the classic flip clocks we’ve seen in movies and TV shows. This being a device you’ll interact with, the front of the Lenovo Smart Clock is a screen, tilted slightly upwards for better visibility.

The top, bottom, and sides are fabric-wrapped, with just two physical buttons — in the shape of plus and minus symbols — for the volume at the top. The bottom has rubber grips to keep the device securely in place on a tabletop. On the whole, we like the understated and clean appearance of the device, with the fabric exterior adding a bit of sophistication to a product that discreetly gets its job done.

The back of the Lenovo Smart Clock has a socket for the included power adapter, a sliding switch to turn off the microphones, and a USB Type-A port which can be used to charge devices such as smartphones and wireless headphones. The official website states that the sales package includes the power adapter to connect to a wall socket, and a USB cable, but only the former was in the box of our review unit.

The Lenovo Smart Clock has a 4-inch 800×480-pixel IPS touch screen, which serves as the core of the ‘clock’ experience. Powering the device is a MediaTek 8167S processor, along with a single 3W speaker and two passive radiators for sound. For connectivity, the Lenovo Smart Clock supports Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 5.

 

Lenovo Smart Clock features and performance

While we’ve largely only seen Google Assistant on smart speakers from Google itself, such as the Google Home and Google Nest Hub, there are a handful of other manufacturers that make similar products. Lenovo also has the Rs. 14,999 Smart Display available alongside the Smart Clock in India, but the two function differently.

The smaller and more affordable Lenovo Smart Clock does have a screen, but doesn’t have the same visual impact as the Lenovo Smart Display or Google Nest Hub. The small screen is largely meant to serve as a clock face. However, it does also show the weather, and allows you to track information and well as control media playback. You…