Lenovo's Best Smart Home Devices: A Review

Lenovo's Best Smart Home Devices

With the ground-breaking Lenovo Smart Display and a full line of related smart control solutions, Lenovo is now bringing its award-winning innovation to the smart home industry, just as it's done with PCs, laptops, and other personal technology.

From individual smart bulbs and plugs to whole-home-control speakers and displays, these convenient, time-saving products are lifting Lenovo engineering and design to new heights -- expanding it beyond the home office, and to the rest of the home.

Lenovo Smart Display

The Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant debuted in 2018 to wide critical acclaim. Among other innovations, it added an incredibly useful, high-definition display to a home controls market that, until then, had been dominated by speaker-only devices that didn’t have a display (with one exception). Now you can see -- not just hear -- your latest messages, daily schedule, or traffic conditions. You can even view how-to videos on YouTube.

The Lenovo Smart Display is the first smart display powered by Google Assistant, the same highly adaptable, voice-activated virtual assistant that millions of us are already using on our smartphones. For many, this integration with the existing "Google universe" means near-instant access to our email, calendar, vacation pictures, and Google Duo video call lists. Plus, right out of the box, Google Assistant can control more than 1,500 smart home devices (speakers, light bulbs, door locks, and so on).

Each Lenovo Smart Display includes a 10W full-range speaker and dual passive tweeters for room-filling sound. It has an attractive, curved design and can sit horizontally or vertically, so it fits in any room or decor. For extra privacy and peace of mind, it features Lenovo's TrueBlock camera shutter (no more sticky notes over your webcam!) and microphone mute.

Two models of the Lenovo Smart Display are available:

Lenovo Smart Display 10" 10.1" Full HD display (1920 x 1200) 2" speaker 2.6 lb. (1.2 kg) Bamboo

Lenovo Smart Display 8" 8" HD display (1280 x 800) 1.75" speaker 2.2 lb (1 kg) Soft Gray

Lenovo Smart Home Essentials (light bulbs, plugs, cameras)

To follow up the successful launch of its smart display, Lenovo is also introducing a new line of home control solutions called Lenovo Smart Home Essentials. These individual connected devices extend the voice-activation and synchronization capabilities of the display to smart light bulbs, plugs and monitoring cameras that you can place anywhere throughout your home.

Lenovo Smart Home Essentials products aren't for sale everywhere yet, but here's a look at what's coming:

• Lenovo Smart Bulb

  • Makes any table or ceiling lamp "smart"
  • Dimmable and customizable (warm or cold), with no hub required

• Lenovo Smart Plug

  • Makes any wall outlet-- and whatever's connected to it -- "smart"
  • Compact and convenient -- won't block adjacent plug

• Lenovo Smart Camera

  • Full HD video with motion detection and notification
  • Two-way audio lets you hear -- and talk to -- those you see

Each of these smart home control solutions can be used on its own or in conjunction with the Lenovo Smart Display, and additional, related products are planned for release in the future.

Tying everything together is the Lenovo Link app, which provides extensive smart hub capabilities to help you control and manage your smart devices individually or in groups.

Lenovo Smart Assistant

The Lenovo Smart Assistant with Amazon Alexa Voice Service is the convenient "helping hand" you need in the family room, the kitchen -- even the garage, if you're so inclined. It's a powerful smart speaker that saves space compared to larger, screen-equipped alternatives while delivering all the useful, time-saving features of the popular Alexa virtual assistant.

Simply say "Hey Alexa," and call up the latest news and weather, updated traffic conditions, or the perfect song from your playlist. You can sync it with your email and calendar apps, and the “assistant” actively learns your preferences, so that activities such as online shopping and bill paying can be completed with just a few simple commands. You also can integrate and control additional smart devices around your home (lights, locks, etc.), and there's a wide library of Alexa "Skills" you can use to automate everyday tasks and routines.

ThinkSmart Hub

Moving from the smart home to the smart office, the ThinkSmart Hub is an all-in-one Skype Room System device that can make complicated single- or multi-location meetings run more smoothly and efficiently. For those hosting the meeting, the ThinkSmart Hub features a rotatable 11.6-inch display with an anti-glare, anti-smudge finish. For participants, there's integrated audio and a 360-degree microphone array.

By unifying the way participants connect, engage, and control meeting activities using Skype for Business, the ThinkSmart Hub (developed in conjunction with Microsoft Corp.) helps ensure that critical business sessions get started on time and give everyone a chance to contribute.