Overviews of the back and sides of the unit show off its attractive (IMHO, at least) grey fabric cover for the white plastic chassis underneath: ):Īnd here’s a close-up of the specs of the “wall wart”: penny for size-comparison purposes (the Smart Clock Essential has dimensions of 4.8 × 2.5 × 3.3 inches and a weight of 11.6 oz. Here it is accompanied by its “wall wart” and an as-usual 0.75-inch (19.1-mm)-diameter U.S. Since mine was a refurb, it arrived already de-boxed, albeit still with a protective sheet of plastic over the 4-inch (10.2-cm) diagonal front. And finally, while ordinarily the differential between bill-of-materials (and other) costs and price is the definitive determinant of profit or loss for a consumer-electronic device, in these cases, I suspect Amazon and Google may be subsidizing their partner’s (Lenovo’s, in this particular instance) products’ costs as a means of expanding their ecosystems. To date, it’s developed two generations’ worth of the Smart Clock Essential, a voice-controllable “clock radio on steroids.” Lenovo has also developed two generations’ worth of the higher-end Smart Clock, which adds touchscreen support, but whereas both Smart Clock generations support Google Assistant, the company switched from Google Assistant (Gen 1) to Amazon Alexa for the just-introduced Gen 2 Smart Clock Essential.Įqually curious to me is the fact that Lenovo is a China-headquartered (albeit international) company many Google services are blocked by China’s Great Firewall. Lenovo is a particularly curious example. And in the latter camp are Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Home (again, now Nest) Hub variants.īoth Amazon (with Alexa) and Google (with its Assistant) have also strived to gain support for their “smart” ecosystems within other companies’ products, with varying degrees of success. Branded examples of the former include Amazon’s various audio-only Echo devices and Google’s Home (now Nest) products, along with Apple’s HomePod Mini (supporting the company’s Siri technology). Smart devices are an increasingly common presence in residences, often in multiples per address, and ranging from audio-centric smart speakers (also with microphones) to more capable screen-inclusive (and sometimes also camera-inclusive) products.
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