Lenovo Smart Clock Essential: A Minimalist Marvel for Your Nightstand

The classic bedside alarm clock remains a relevant idea, providing a simple and handy way to check essential information upon waking. This concept is adaptable for modern enhancements, integrating internet capabilities into a device that is already a staple in your living space. Curiously, there are not many brands producing this type of item, with Lenovo being one of the select few. Their latest offering in this category is the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential, available for Rs. 4,499.

As a simplified and more economical alternative to the Lenovo Smart Clock that I previously reviewed, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential reduces the complexity of the display and lowers the cost. At its essence, it functions as a smart speaker but features a basic monochrome display for showing the time. Is this the perfect smart device for your bedside or tabletop? Discover more in this review.

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is more compact and budget-friendly compared to the Lenovo Smart Clock

Design and Specifications of Lenovo Smart Clock Essential

Unlike the Lenovo Smart Clock, which features a color screen, the Smart Clock Essential has a 4-inch monochrome LED non-touch display. It displays the time, day of the week, and a weather update (including temperature and conditions) for your chosen location via the Google Home app. Additionally, the screen shows icons for any active alarms. Located at the top of the display are four lights that indicate when volume adjustments are being made or signal that the device is ready to receive voice commands after detecting the wake words.

The display is slightly angled upwards for easier viewing, making it suitable for bedside or tabletop use. The remaining body tapers towards the back and is covered in fabric on all sides. Rubber grips on the bottom prevent the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential from slipping on smooth surfaces.

The back of the device includes the power socket for the provided power adapter, a physical switch for muting the microphones for added privacy, and a practical USB Type-A port, allowing you to connect a charging cable to power other devices. Two microphones are positioned just above the screen, while the top features physical buttons for adjusting volume, playback, and setting alarms. All functions can also be controlled via voice commands.

Utilizing Google Assistant for voice commands and controls, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential operates similarly to any other Google Assistant-enabled smart device. The rated speaker output is 3W, located at the top of the Smart Clock Essential, projecting sound upwards. Connectivity options include dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5, along with 4GB of RAM and an Amlogic processor. Notably, there is also a night light encircling the rear, capable of reaching a maximum brightness of 31 lumens.

A USB port on the back allows charging of other devices, while the ring at the rear functions as a smart nightlight.

Features and Performance of Lenovo Smart Clock Essential

While the initial smart speakers featuring Google Assistant were produced by Google, companies like Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Sonos have subsequently released their own versions. They function with Google Assistant in the same manner as Google’s smart speakers: always-on microphones await the wake phrases, enabling the speakers to perform various tasks such as answering questions, managing smart appliances, and playing audio content.

The display on the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential complements its standard smart speaker capabilities. It’s straightforward and accomplishes its purpose effectively, showing fundamental information like time, weather, and day of the week. Customization options for the display are non-existent, but this isn’t a drawback; it’s intended for clock functionality, which it fulfills admirably. Brightness adjustments can be made through voice commands, with the lowest setting being gentle on the eyes at night.

Since it lacks a touchscreen, physical buttons are provided for specific functions, including volume control, playback, and alarm settings. While adjusting volume and playback is user-friendly, setting alarms with the buttons can be quite convoluted and error-prone. Personally, I found using voice commands for alarm settings to be much quicker and more efficient.

Interestingly, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential also features a night light at the rear, which can be turned on and off via voice commands. This is a practical addition, providing soft illumination akin to a traditional night light.

The display on the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential prominently shows the time and weather conditions

I did notice that precise voice commands were necessary, as they often conflicted with commands I use for other smart lighting in my home. For instance, saying “Hey Google, turn on the light” activated both the smart light in the same room and the night light on the Smart Clock Essential. To address this, a distinct command, “Hey Google, turn off the night light,” was required.

Sound quality from the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential is not particularly impressive; the unusual angle of the speaker, its size and output level, along with its sonic characteristics, resulted in a sharp sound that I found unpleasant. While voice responses from Google Assistant and sound from voice-based content like podcasts were acceptable, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential fell short for music listening.

Listening to a rendition of Maroon 5’s Maps by Postmodern Jukebox revealed that the highs and mid-range frequencies were piercing, leading to an unpleasant sharpness in the cymbals, hi-hats, and retro-inspired vocals. While lowering the volume helped, it diminished the purpose of utilizing it as a speaker beyond sporadic listening in specific contexts. You can customize alarm tones and choose particular tracks or playlists to wake up to through voice commands, but precise phrasing is necessary for successful execution.

A minor, yet significant, issue I encountered with the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential pertains to its microphones. Although they performed well from a close range, accurately responding to wake phrases and voice commands, there were times when my Google Nest Audio (located in a separate room) would react to my command instead, even though I was nearer to the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential. This was resolved by lowering my voice and adjusting my proximity to the Smart Clock Essential. Perhaps improved microphones could have alleviated this peculiar issue from the outset.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential closely resembles the Smart Clock, with one clear distinction — the display. The monochrome LED screen enhances the Smart Clock Essential’s suitability as a bedside or tabletop device compared to the Smart Clock, and the reduced price makes it an attractive option. Aside from a few minor quirks with the microphones and night light, the device operates effectively.

However, its sound quality is a notable drawback, which is an important consideration for a device marketed as a smart speaker (to an extent). While Google Assistant and its functionalities perform well, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential offers an unexpectedly harsh audio quality, rendering it less ideal for music enjoyment. This device is worth considering for its design, features, and alarm clock capabilities, but if sound quality is paramount, you may prefer the Rs. 3,499 Mi Smart Speaker if you are invested in the Google Assistant ecosystem.

Is HomePod mini the best smart speaker under Rs. 10,000? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.