![]() ![]() They want us to have as many touchpoints in our lives as possible, an infinite number of ways in which we might interact with their products and services. Of course, if you’re not an Amazon Alexa user and don’t want to mess with the privacy vulnerabilities of having a microphone and multiple cameras near your bedside, the smaller, more affordable, and simpler Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is the less complicated choice for telling time and waking as requested.For tech companies, it’s not enough that many of us now fall asleep with our smartphones next to us, then reach to grab our phones yet again immediately after opening our eyes. The Echo Show 5 also has an ambient sunrise lighting feature for gentle rousing in the morning. The 5.5-inch touchscreen provides flexibility with interactions while the built-in camera can help you keep up with monitoring your smart doorbell, catch up on video chats, and take pictures as well. That could be desirable if you’re an enthusiastic streamer, which this device also supports. The Echo Show 5 has a similarly sized speaker, but it’s compatible with external speakers for better audio quality. While it costs $45, which is nearly double the price of the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential, the feature set could make the extra investment worth it. If you’re considering venturing into smart alarm clock territory, you might be tempted to dive right in with a device like the Amazon Echo Show 5. Yoona Wagener / Lifewire Lenovo Smart Clock Essential vs. It doesn’t rival the best smart speakers or more sophisticated smart alarm clocks with touchscreens and cameras. While you can find digital and analog alarm clocks that are as cheap as $15 and below, this is still a decent bargain given the boost of smart feature convenience, thanks to the Google Assistant/speaker and streaming music platform (Spotify, YouTube Music, and Pandora) integrations. The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential retails for only $25. Price: Affordable and fairly priced for the functionality If you have a connected home, this product is compatible with 40,000 different varieties of smart home devices such as smart lights, which could make up for the limited working distance. This clock worked comfortably without requiring me to shout from about 16 feet away. Google Assistant didn’t work that well with a Roku TV, misunderstanding requests or not being able to perform certain actions (launching Netflix for example).ĭespite inconsistencies with display brightness, I did find Lenovo’s operating range claim (of 5 meters) accurate. And while activating night mode in the Google Home app helped reliably reduce the screen brightness within that time frame, I couldn’t adjust the actual hours during which night mode was active. The display seemed to brighten again within a matter of minutes. But even after making this adjustment with a voice command, I noticed that the request never stuck. The only way to adjust the clock’s display brightness is via a voice prompt (or to activate night mode in the Google Home app). In other instances, the reliance on Google Assistant and Google Home prohibited or didn’t do much for ease of use. If you have another speaker set up, you could add it to a group and cast the same program or music at once on multiple speakers. It’s also very easy to use the built-in Chromecast feature to cast whatever you want directly from your smartphone-whether it’s a Pandora or YouTube Music playlist or an audiobook. Google Assistant is the key to most functionality, and the integration mostly proves successful.Īnd while the 1.5-inch 6-watt speaker isn’t phenomenal, and you probably won’t want to use it as any sort of primary speaker, it’s not underpowered and doesn’t suffer from tinniness. All four buttons are responsive and clearly labeled just above the display with slightly raised graphic icons for controlling volume, media playback, and alarm functions. There’s also a built-in nightlight, which gets quite bright and comes on automatically with the alarm and when ambient light is low-but it can be disabled or turned off manually by holding down the lower-volume button. The display itself is dark but brightly lit by default, almost too bright at times (especially for sleeping), which makes it very readable but also prone to showing every fiber of lint or smudge that it picks up.įaithful to the minimalist design, you’ll find just three ports on the back of the clock: the power port, a switch to mute/unmute the microphone, and a USB charging port. Although the sizable 4-inch LED face does resemble more old-fashioned alarm clocks, the fabric surrounding the rest of the clock gives it a plush and contemporary feeling-but it’s a bit slippery and doesn’t offer much grip. Yoona Wagener / Lifewire Design: Compact and minimalistĪt a mere 0.52 pounds, this wedge-shaped smart clock doesn’t require much space to operate. ![]()
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