Lenovo’s new Smart Clock Essential brings the Google Assistant-powered clock to an even lower price point, but you might be better off just getting a regular Lenovo Smart Clock with its LCD screen.
Last year, I reviewed Lenovo’s Smart Clock, which is a four-inch Google Assistant smart display that costs $79.99. This year, the company introduced the Smart Clock Essential. Rather than being a successor to the original Smart Clock, this one is meant to bring it to a lower price point of just $49.99. It does this by removing the LCD display and replacing it with an LED display. The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is not a smart speaker like the Smart Clock is. Instead, this product is a smart speaker that’s built into a digital clock, and it’s best to think about it that way. The only thing smart about the LED display is that it shows the temperature on it. The display is the key difference between the two products though, so that’s what you need to know going into this. One is a smart display and the other is a smart speaker. Right now, you can actually buy this on Lenovo.com for $29.99. Also, the regular Smart Clock is just $39.99, so there’s currently a $10 difference between the two products. The body of the Smart Clock Essential pretty much looks just like the Smart Clock. It’s wrapped in gray cloth and it’s a sort of wedge shape. As you can see, there are some buttons on the top, such as volume controls, a play button, and an alarm button. Previously on the Smart Clock, there were only volume controls. One feature that’s pretty cool is the nightlight feature, which you can turn on by holding volume down. Of course, you can also tell Google Assistant to do it. On the back, there’s a power port, a switch for muting the microphone, and a USB 2.
