Lenovo’s New $50 Smart Clock Essential is an Actual Smart Bedside Clock

The original Lenovo Smart Clock was a cute little smart display that often wanted to act more like a smart clock than some of the bigger smart displays on the market. Today, Lenovo introduced a sibling called the Smart Clock Essential, and it really is mostly a clock that does keep its Google Assistant smarts.

The new Smart Clock Essential is basically a Google Home or Assistant-powered speaker with a digital clock on its face that can also show you limited info, like the weather. That 4″ clock face is a pretty basic LED setup that should provide excellent visibility no matter the time of day.

If you need some smarts still, the Smart Clock Essential does act like a smart speaker, so you can ask Google Assistant to set reminders, check on your day, play music or podcasts, control your smart home, etc. But again, the display isn’t going to show you Google Photos or visual weather – it’s just a clock.

It will pump out audio through a 3W speaker, connect over Bluetooth 5.0 or 802.11ac WiFi, and listen to you via two microphones. Like the original Smart Clock, you have a USB plug on the back of this Essential, so you can charge your phone overnight. You’ll find a pretty cool night light on its rear too, one that should be discreet enough to not wake anyone else in the room when in use.

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential costs $49.99 and should arrive in September.