Smart displays, a new type of screen-equipped smart speakers, were recently introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show 2018, powered by Google Assistant. These new types of devices are similar in a way to Google Home, except that there’s now a visual confirmation of what you’re asking the smart device to do. You can also do so much more than just listening to music or asking for weather updates with these smart displays such as watching a video or asking for direction from Google Maps.
But what are these smart displays recently announced by Google? In this post, we list the top four Google Assistant-powered smart displays, including their details as far as we know.
Lenovo Smart Display
The Lenovo Smart Display has been put on an exhibit at CES 2018, showing off its ability to let you make video calls, watch movies, and view photos in addition to operating your connected lights. The smart display comes in two variants: 8-inch and 10-inch. Both variants are expected to be available for purchase in July this year, with the smaller version costing $200 and the larger sibling $250.
Lenovo is offering its smart display in two color options: bamboo and grey. It’s got a square face with a pair of 10W speakers to one side, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and a full HD touchscreen display. The device is built to sit upright or lie in a horizontal position. The smart display runs on Qualcomm’s Home Hub Platform powered by Snapdragon 624.
Other specs of the Lenovo Smart Display include 2×2 dual mics, up to 2GB of RAM and 4GB of native storage, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It also supports video calling through Google Duo.
JBL Link View
JBL, which is owned by Harman (a Samsung company), is heavily invested with Google Assistant, as manifested by its announcement of a new headphone powered by Google’s personal assistant. On top of that, the company also unveiled the JBL Link View, one of four smart displays fueled by Google Assistant.
The smart display features an 8-inch HD touchscreen display, two 10W speakers and a rear-facing passive radiator, 5-megapixel front camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, and an IPX4 rating. The device is expected to be commercially available this summer, though pricing remains unclear.
LG ThinQ
The LG ThinQ is the South Korean OEM’s contender in the emerging smart display segment, unveiled at CES 2018. It features Meridian Audio’s advanced technologies, an 8-inch touch display, front-facing camera, and Chromecast.
LG claims the Meridian Audio provides a class sound experience to users. However, details about its pricing and availability remain unknown at the moment.
Sony is also one of Google’s partners in the smart display tech category, but the company is yet to release details about what its offering in this segment includes in terms of specs and features, much less pricing and availability. So we’ll have to wait for the company to make an official announcement. Until then, let’s just hope the above mentioned Assistant powered smart displays hit the stores soon.
