Lenovo brings Alexa to its Smart Clock Essential
Back in June of last year, Lenovo announced the new Smart Clock Essential 2, complete with Google Assistant. This remains one of the best smart displays that you can get, especially now that Lenovo is offering an optional wireless charging pad mount.
The truth is, however, that while Google Assistant is one of the best options out there, it’s not the only smart home assistant. It’s not even the most popular option, as Amazon’s Alexa continues to grow in popularity thanks to products like the Echo and Fire TV Stick.
Lenovo is looking to capitalize on Alexa’s popularity, while providing another great smart display. The Smart Clock Essential with Alexa has been introduced at CES 2022, bringing all of the same awesome features from the Google Assistant version, with Alexa users in mind.
Along with being able to control all of your connected smart home devices, you’ll also be able to use the Smart Clock Essential just like you would any other Amazon Echo device. This includes things such as adding items to your Amazon shopping cart, streaming songs from Amazon Music, or just finding out what the weather will be like tomorrow.
To help differentiate the Alexa speaker from the Google Assistant one, Lenovo is offering the former in two new colors; Misty Blue and Clay Red. The material used is a soft-touch fabric that will blend in with your home. On the back of the clock itself is a single USB-A port that can be used to charge your phones. Speaking of which, this Smart Clock Essential is also compatible with Lenovo’s Wireless Charging Dock if you prefer to ditch the wires completely.
Since this is designed to be more of a bedside smart clock than a full-on smart display, you won’t find a built-in camera. Lenovo has also built-in a hardware mute switch for the microphones if you prefer to just use the display or don’t want to accidentally trigger Alexa.
Lenovo is also a new Ambient Light Dock that acts as a night light when the Smart Clock is placed in it. There are eight different lighting modes, and you switch between them by either double-tapping the top of the Smart Clock, or using voice commands.
The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Alexa will be available later this month. Pricing comes in at $59.99 for just the clock, while the Ambient Light Dock is coming in Q1 2022 and is priced at $29. Those who want the wireless charging dock can grab one today.