In a second round of announcements, Lenovo has descended on IFA Berlin to share their latest Smart Display that looks to be a direct competitor to Google’s own Nest Hub. Unlike Google’s smart display, the new 7″ Lenovo Smart Display is equipped with a front-facing camera for making video calls.
The Lenovo Smart Display 7 features a refreshed design from the companies previous 10″ and 7″ models and looks very much in line with the smaller Lenovo Smart Clock launched earlier this year. It is powered by a MediaTek 8167S SoC and is equipped with a 7″ 1024 x 600 IPS display that will be capable of doing all the things we’ve become accustom to in an Assistant-enabled smart display.
Sound should be better than average with 2 x 1.5″ 5W speakers and a single passive radiator. Like other smart display models, the Lenovo comes with a mute button and privacy shade for the camera should you not care for that feature. Another addition to this model is an upgrade to the newer Bluetooth 5.0 which I presume will allow the smart display to be used as a traditional Bluetooth speaker.
The Lenovo Smart Display 7 will go on sale in October with an MSRP of $129.99. That seems like a fair price, in my opinion, considering the original Nest Hub retails for that and you can’t make video calls with it.
Lenovo Smart Tab M8 and 10
Just when the world thought that Android tablets were a thing of the past, companies have found a way to make them relevant again. Simply add some sort of assistant and call it a “smart tablet.” That’s exactly what Lenovo has done in the past with Alexa and now, they’ve brought the Google Assistant’s new “ambient mode” to the Smart Tab M8 and Smart Tab 10.
The Smart Tab M8 is a traditional Android tablet powered by a MediaTek A22 and wrapped in a premium all-metal chassis. The 8″ 1200 x 800 IPS display cranks out 350 nits while dual side-firing speakers with Dolby Atmos provide the audio experience. The M8 features an 8MP front camera with 2MP rear shooter. You’ll get 2GB of RAM and up to 32GB of storage with a MicroSD card slot for expansion. The M8 will also have an LTE variant on offer.
In the box, the Smart Tab M8 comes with a charging stand/dock that will trigger the tablets Ambient Mode that turns the Android device into a full-fledged smart display. Like other Assistant devices, you can ask Google questions, stream media and control your connected smart home devices using two far-field mics. You can check out the nerdy stats and more specs here.
The Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab 10 takes a similar approach as the M8 gives your Assistant the freedom to move around by nixing the docking station. The 10.1″ FHD IPS tablet runs on a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 439 with 3GB or 4GB of RAM and up-to 64GB of storage. Lenovo upgraded the sound with w 2 x 2W JBL speakers and instead of the dock, the Yoga Tab 10 has a kickstand that allows it to be used as a tablet or a display when placed into tent mode.
The cameras on the Yoga Tab 10 come in the 8MP and 5MP variety and it will even feature Face Unlock. When the device is idle, users can press the”release” button to invoke the Assistant’s Ambient Mode. You can find the finer details here.
The Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab 10 with the Google Assistant will be available in September with prices starting at $249.99. The Smart Tab M8 will launch in October and start at $119.99.
