The first Android Things device is now available; Google is officially firing shots at Amazon's Echo-everywhere mentality with Lenovo's help. Lenovo's Smart Display is much like Amazon's Echo Show: a screen-toting smart speaker that carries not Alexa, but the Google Assistant. Like the Google Home and its Max and Mini cousins, this Smart Display (and similar forthcoming devices) is designed to enhance the Google Assistant experience with a screen that can show weather forecasts, recipe instructions, smart home controls, Duo video calls, and YouTube videos.

Android Things is Google's Internet of Things initiative, basically a stripped-down version of Android aimed at low-end hardware. Things' two big points of emphasis seem to be improving IoT security through Google-led updates and allowing third parties to build smart devices that leverage Android APIs and Google Services... like Lenovo has done here with the Smart Display.

The screen is the selling point of this first Android Things device, begging you to assess your expectations for the Google Assistant. Do you need the Assistant to have a screen? Google hopes your answer will be yes and, in turn, that you're willing to drop extra money for such a smart display. Lenovo's 8-inch and 10-inch Smart Displays, priced at $199 and $249 respectively and available starting tomorrow, show off the perks of having a panel. But after spending some time with this device, these Smart Displays don't hide the fact that the Google Assistant remains—first and foremost—a voice-activated helper.

Design

You could mistake Lenovo's Smart Display for a device made by Google itself, not just one powered by its software. Lenovo is not the only OEM to have a Google Assistant display device in the works, but so far it has done the best job of producing a Googly-looking device. Both the 8-inch and 10-inch Smart Displays are rectangular slabs with wide speaker grills on their left-most sides. Both devices can sit vertically or horizontally on a table or countertop, and the speaker grill lies underneath the display when positioned vertically.

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It would be easy to label it a souped-up tablet, but that would be misleading. The device isn't flat like a tablet, and that may be the most polarizing part of its design. The back has an asymmetrical shape, with an L-shaped arm growing from the speaker's end. The 8-inch device covers this part with a soft-touch gray finish, while the 10-inch model does so with a light yet earthy bamboo finish.

The hunch-like back makes the Smart Display awkward to pick up and hold at first. But unlike a tablet, it's not meant to be mobile. Once you pick the best place for it in your home—be it on a kitchen countertop, a living room table, or a nightstand—it stays put. Mine lived on my countertop that divides part of my kitchen from my living room, with its display facing out to the living room. Angle adjustments are unnecessary and impossible, and I only swiveled the device to face the screen toward me when I wanted to watch videos in my kitchen.

"Minimalist with a dash of quirk" is my preferred aesthetic, but it's not for everyone. Undoubtably, the Smart Display is a weird-looking device when observed from 360 degrees, but most users will forget about its oblong shape after they set it and forget it. Lenovo created Google's first version of Amazon's Echo Show, giving Google's own AI assistant a digital face—or at the very least, a digital interface that you can interact with. The primary method of interaction is still voice, but the device's touch screen lets you tap and scroll when the results of your vocal inquiry require more attention.

The dual mic array inside the Smart Display is top-notch. I never had to yell or raise my voice for the Google Assistant to hear me, even when a video or music was playing. I was halfway across my apartment before the device stopped picking up my voice, allowing me to speak commands from all of the common areas in my home.

Lenovo included mic and camera toggles on the Smart Display, which allow you to turn off either or both whenever you want. The mic toggle is a basic on/off mechanism, and the camera toggle is much like Lenovo's privacy shutter included on some of its laptops. When shuttered, the 5MP camera has a red dot over it, so you'll always know when it's blocked off.

Both models have a 10W speaker inside that's more than capable of filling a whole room (or a small apartment) with sound. The speaker on the 10-inch model is slightly larger than that on the 8-inch model, and boy does it get loud. While I have portable speakers that produce better sound overall, I was impressed with the audio quality of the Smart Display, as it was better than that of the Echo Show.

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Everything visual

Internals and setup

The Smart Display runs on Qualcomm's 624 Home Hub platform, which is the faster of its two architectures for Android Things devices. While the Qualcomm 212 platform will be sufficient for things like smart speakers and low-power smart home accessories, the 624 Home Hub platform likely helps the Smart Display process Google Assistant requests both verbally and visually.

I wasn't sure what to expect in this first Android Things device, especially since it has a screen. Lenovo described the software to be "Android Things with a Google Assistant overlay," so it's appropriate to describe the UI as the most visual version of the Google Assistant we've seen to date. The UI is friendly, and it will be familiar for those who use Android devices already. It's like if a Chromecast and the Google Assistant mobile app birthed a tablet-like child—artwork and photos dominate the display when not in use, and white screens peppered with primary colors deliver information, including the time, weather, and your next calendar appointment.

Like Amazon's software on the Echo Show and Echo Spot, the Smart Display holds no apps like we're used to seeing on smartphones and tablets. Using it feels different from using an Android device for this reason, and a few others. Lenovo didn't stick any bloatware on the Smart Display because there's nowhere to put it. Lenovo can't skin the UI, either, so the UI on other smart displays should look identical to this one.

But it's worth noting that Amazon recently gave users more choice: it introduced "Show Mode" in a software update for its Fire tablets that essentially turns the slabs into portable Echo Shows. Those abilities combined with the mobile apps available for the Fire tablet make them more versatile than a device like the Smart Display. Google is slowly incorporating the Assistant into new devices, so it's possible that future Chrome OS tablets may combine the best features of the Assistant on the Smart Display with full Chrome OS abilities.

OEMs have control over hardware, but Google controls the software. Google promised three years of updates to every Android Things device, and, according to Lenovo, there should be no function gaps other than those set by hardware restrictions (i.e. devices without screens won't be able to play videos). Its Smart Display should receive all software updates and new features that apply to Android Things devices with screens for the foreseeable future.

The Smart Display's initial setup takes no time at all. After plugging it into a power source and downloading the Google Home mobile app, you'll follow the prompts to connect the device to Wi-Fi, name the Smart Display based on where it's located in your home, verify your phone number for Google Duo video calls, and then pick Ambient Mode settings. These let you customize how the display looks when you're not using it—you can have a slide show of your Google Photos or professional photography playing or a clock stagnant on the screen. I chose the art gallery of professional photos, which made the Smart Device look and feel like a TV connected to a Chromecast.

The device looks more like the Google Assistant app (which you should also download to edit Assistant-specific settings) after you say a command. Before the ambient screen pops up again, the home screen remains up with the date, time, and weather, along with info cards with recently accessed or suggested content. Mine often had Spotify playlists I could tap to listen to and YouTube videos I could tap to watch. A card with suggested Google Assistant commands rarely disappeared from the end of the carousel as well.