As the season of giving comes quickly upon us, many of us find ourselves confused and bewildered about just what gift to give to which of our many loved ones… Do you have all of your Christmas shopping decisions sorted? Me either. But that doesn’t mean that I’m completely devoid of ideas. In fact, I have one extremely good idea. And if you’ll allow me to provide some assistance, I’ll lay it all out for you plainly in today’s blog article, which is all about Smart Displays with Google Assistant built in. Read on!

 

Google Assistant is easy to use!

One of the great things about the Google Assistant is that absolutely anyone—of any age, can use it. Whether you’re a child asking questions about your favourite super hero character, a teenager looking for a cool hangout for the young and hip, a working adult consulting your schedule or calendar, or an old-timer obsessed with the daily weather forecast, every answer is just a question away. And you can get information on virtually any subject, from poker tips to hockey scores, from recipes to traffic reports, from corny jokes to the day’s stock quotes—there’s very little that the Google Assistant can’t help you with.

smart display with Google Assistant

And devices with the Google Assistant built in are many and growing. For instance, the Google Nest Hub with Google Assistant is a great option for those looking for an attractive and versatile smart display. This particular model comes in a variety of finish colours, and its 7″ landscape touch screen offers 1024 x 600 pixels of fine resolution. With it you can do things like take in YouTube video tutorials and catch up on all the day’s news and current events.

 

What else can you do with a smart display?

There are so many amazing things you can do with a smart display. Take the Google Nest Hub Max with Google Assistant as an example. With this device, you can make video phone calls using Google Duo, and converse with family and friends the world over in crystal clarity thanks to its impressive 10″ HD touch screen. You can also set reminders, create to-do lists, enjoy your favourite music (this model has stereo speakers with a 30W subwoofer), and control thousands of different compatible smart home devices with nothing more than simple voice commands. Learn more from Shelly Wutke’s review of the Hub Max HERE.

smart display with Google Assistant

Where should you place your smart display?

Where you choose to keep your smart display is a matter of personal comfort, convenience, and preference. In fact, some people have multiple smart display units for different parts of their home, such as the living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. You might, for instance, keep one in your kitchen to help you with cooking meals. Smart displays are great for helping you find recipes on the Internet, and they even allow you to watch along with instructional cooking videos so you can recreate the delicious dishes you find.

Keeping a smart display in your living room is also a good idea, as most of us spend a great deal of time in that room on a daily basis. For this reason alone, it makes sense to have close access to our friend the Google Assistant. As for keeping one in the bathroom, well, that could certainly come in handy when you’re getting ready for work in the morning and might want to ask the Assistant what traffic is like on your commute this morning, or to let you know when the clock strikes a specific time so you won’t be late for work.

 

If you should choose to keep a smart display in your bedroom, there are 2 particularly good options for you to choose from as they are also both clocks. There’s the Lenovo Smart Clock with the Google Assistant (shown above), and the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential with Google Assistant (shown below). The former is a smart alarm clock with a 4″ touch screen display, while the latter is an LED smart clock with a 4″ screen and LED digits. Both offer a number of useful features besides just telling the time.

The Lenovo Smart Clock has features such as Good Morning and Good Night Routines. In the morning, for instance, it lets you quickly and easily check things like the weather report, your daily calendar, information about your work commute, and the day’s most pressing news, while the Good Night feature allows you to do things like lock the doors and turn out all the lights right from your comfy bed. You can even have it play you some relaxing music to help you fall asleep.

Not to be outdone, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential offers features like a built-in night light so you can easily move about your bedroom in the dark without stubbing your toe on the dresser. It also has built-in speakers so you can unwind with a nice audio book or take in you favourite podcast. Of course, because it has the Google Assistant built in, it also allows you to control over 40,000 other compatible smart devices from across 5,000 different brands—entirely hands free!

 

What’s new in the world of smart displays?

smart display with Google Assistant

The very latest in smart displays is the new Lenovo Smart Display 7″ with Google Assistant. This device has a nice, 7″ touch screen display (1024 x 600 native resolution) with which you can do things like watch live TV or display your favourite photos. It also has a front facing, 2MP, wide-angle camera that’s perfect for 2-way communication with family and friends over great distances. Better still, it features something called the TrueBlock privacy shutter, which hides the camera from sight when it’s not in use. This ensures that your privacy is always maintained when in the presence of your display.

Other features of this excellent new display include room-filling stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, and Bluetooth 5.0, just to name a few. If you’re looking for the very latest in smart display technology, Lenovo certainly has it!

And if what you’re looking for is a great gift idea for the coming Holiday season, any of the smart displays mentioned above are sure to please your gift recipient. But take note: Each of the individual devices discussed above has many more great features than I could possibly mention here. You should definitely take the time to check them all out individually on their various product pages. You can also find them all on Best Buy’s Smart Displays page. Happy Holidays!

Leonard Bond
Leo enjoys writing about everything from secret agents to tech toys and gadgets to professional hockey. Find his reviews and other product related commentary right here on the Best Buy Blog and his latest hockey rants at www.hockeycontroversial.com.