Pretty good price for pick up in your local store. Much smaller footprint then other smart displays and has a USB port out the back for charging things.
Credit goes to dealbot
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/479455
Pretty good price for pick up in your local store. Much smaller footprint then other smart displays and has a USB port out the back for charging things.
Credit goes to dealbot
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/479455
Thanks mate will do
perhaps even more important if google or amazon!
Does anyone know if the screen dims like the home hub?
Have no idea but I know none of these devices are to be used as a bedside thing or in the bedroom, too bright even on the lowest setting.
Thanks, that answers my question better than I asked it. I was more interested in whether it behaved like the home hub which mimics a real photo frame, but if it brightness on lowest setting is still too bright than I guess I won't be getting one.
The Smart Clock dims like the Home Hub (or maybe even better) but lacks auto warmth adjustment. I use it as my bedside clock and love it.
Here's my little value add: if you swipe over to the weather page and click into it for more info, it'll start talking (at your set volume) about the weather. It's not very well thought out lol. Also, you can smack on it like an old alarm clock to snooze the alarm. It has an accelerometer built in purely for this pleasure.
@Penpinch: I love that!
I once threw my phone at the wall while I was half a sleep because I didn't want to get up.
@drazenm The home hub is fine in the bedroom. Auto dims to almost non existant
The Home hub (Nest hub now?) dims to the point that you can't see the clock on the screen unless you are next to it. It is definitely suitable for a bedside setting. If anything I would say the ambient light setting could be brighter!
Absolutely not true. It's not too bright at pitch black it's barely readable which is great. Don't make a comment unless you actually used one pls.
Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, tap the brightness option, and then tap on the sun symbol on the left. That will enable/disable automatic brightness adjustment.
https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-Smart-Display-Lenovo/Amb…
Reading a couple of reviews - yes it dims dependant on ambient light. Can also tell it to turn off screen as well.
I don't have the Home Hub. But my Lenovo Smart clock dims to pretty dark. And it can be set to dim when you are about to sleep.
I can confirm that it does dim like the home hub as I have both.
Before you buy this, do note that there is actually a SKU of this that packages a Lenovo Smart Plug and a Smart Bulb (colour changing, either in Bayonet or Edison screw) for the retail price of $149 (search SMARTCLOCKE27PACK)
The alarm clock gets a good review in recent (ex-Fairfax) 9Newspapers:
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/lenovo-s-smart-alarm-clock…
I was on the fence until this article. Sold, thanks 👍
How does this compare with the Echo Show 5?
Well damn, just bought one of these on Saturday from OW for $99…
Buy this and return to OW?
that one has a Lenovo Smart Plug and a Smart Bulb as well. Worth for the extra $15
The OW model with the Smart Plug and Smart Bulb is now $149. Previously on special for $99.
Their current $99 one is identical to this model.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/478757
It was on sale for $99 last Thursday with the Smart Plug and Smart Bulb, didn't realise it had expired by Saturday.
@A Banana4scale: Nah I just got the clock only for $99. For the sake of $15 I'll just wear it and maybe have two less coffees this week.
So it does exactly the same job as all my old phones/tablets then :P
The all become alarm/wall clocks.
That's what I was thinking as well. I run Giant clock on an old tablet.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bojankogoj…
not OLED, it will be bright as shit
What’s your diet?
"Of course, it can be hard to sleep with a bright screen right next to your face, so thankfully you can set it to automatically dim when the room gets dark, leaving the time barely visible. It adjusts the screen brightness based on ambient light, but unfortunately it lacks the Nest Hub's smart Ambient EQ brightness settings, which means sometimes it's still not bright enough for you to read the onscreen menus."
From: https://www.smh.com.au/technology/lenovo-s-smart-alarm-clock…
Nah I wouldn't trust that. If it's not OLED you're gonna have glowing from the whole screen. Or at least whenever the screen is on, that's just unavoidable without OLED.
I have one and its not 'bright as shit' when the lights are off. It the lights are off then it dims down and is as bright as a regular beside clock and when the lights go on the you can see it as normal, trust me on this . You can always buy it and return it if you are not happy.
u have no idea of recent LCD tech.
Thanks for posting this, I bought one a little while back and love it. So I just bought a second one for the kids rumpus room.
It's a:
"pretty good smart speaker"
"pretty good alarm clock"
"pretty good home intercom"
The kids are mostly amused when I use it as a broadcast system (initiated from either my phone or another smart speaker).
I liked it at $120, for $84, it's a bargain! (ok OzBargain)
Thanks to your comment I have now learned about the intercom feature! Will come in very handy, thanks for that! Bought 2 of these clocks
Can you broadcast to specific home devices yet or does it still broadcast to all devices?
All devices I think
Need to worry eavesdropping?
No.
Thanks OP been thinking about one of these, could not C&C at my local store so had to pay freight, still a good deal though.
This is a relevant link
for this device confirming that Google photos as background display is now on/coming to this device.
Can any owners confirm that this works?
Picking up this afternoon I'll get back to you on it
Yes. Got mine a few days ago. One of the displays enables you to use your Google Photos albums as background display. It does a random cycle. Don't think can do a permanent photo though. Also with the weather on the same screen. Nice!
You can set a permanent photo by making an album with one photo in Google Photos.
Google photos is working on the clock , just need to change clock face and link it to the album. Looks very good
Confirmed.
You could just use your iPad. Businesses leave iPads on charge and unlocked 24/7 and they run just fine. You can use your iPad or android tablet at night as a clock and just take it with you in the morning, fully charged.
Sure you could, but I'd like to see a brand new iPad for $84
Still seems kinda pointless. It’s like buying an iPad shaped timer device. Why not just save $80 and use your iPad timer app?
Some people either don't have use or don't own an iPad or a tablet, and prefer a standalone device instead of trying to find a reliable Android tablet/ipad at this price point brand new, sure you could go second hand but there's nothing stopping it from biting the dust at any given second
I used to use an old phone as a bedside clock. I found it annoying as the screen does not dim down enough at night. The Home Hub (and this, according to reports), dim down really low which makes it suitable as a bedside clock.
@eug: IPad Pro sims down very dark
@AustriaBargain: So every single night before you sleep, you have to remember to take out your iPad Pro from your work bag, plug the charger in, and place the large expensive device on a desktop stand next to your bed?
@eug: It’s already set up next to my bed each night. Turning the case isn’t stand mode and plugging it in isn’t so laborious, I like to charge it daily anyway. In the morning you just unplug it, close the case, slide it into your bag. You can include unzipping the bag, tending your muscles to grip the iPad, etc. to make it sound harder than it is.
It’s already set up next to my bed each night.
OK, so if you charge your iPad every night next to your bed on a desktop stand, you do not need to buy a smart clock.
If you do not charge your iPad every night next to your bed on a desktop stand, you could stand to benefit from a smart clock.
I'm glad my cheap tablet doesn't require daily recharging!
@eug: I mean you might need a shower after setting it up, charging it and plugging it in and getting power to it and giving it some juice before bed can be hard work, you’d likely be dripping with sweat after all that.
@AustriaBargain: Keep going, it's not helping your case. :)
@eug: Plus there’s the physical therapy fees, you could get a hernia from plugging your iPad in if you aren’t careful.
@AustriaBargain: Oh no, it sounds like you have serious physical problems. You definitely shouldn't be buying this smart clock, spend the money on a doctor's appointment instead.
i never know what to do with these things…
Useful to tell the time.
You need to have a bit of creativity to make voice assistants useful.
If you don't do any research on what they can do, and just buy it for the same of having a smart home device, it's not going to do much for you.
They are proportionally more useful the more smart things you have in your home, for example, I have smart bulbs in almost every room, the front courtyard turns on at dusk, the bedroom lights turn on when I wake up, and all the lights turn off when I use a preset voice command (such as "I'm off to work" or "Good night")
Smart plugs are useful for normal appliances such as heaters and fans — I set my bedroom heater to start warming up the room right before I wake up, or if it's summer time I set the fan to turn off after I wake up so as to save power when I'm no longer in my bedroom.
Kinda jumped on this without reading much about it. Wanted to replace the Home Mini and alarm clock I have on the bedside table as we use the Mini for radio and were really only keeping the clock there for time display without having to ask google every time.
Much smaller than I was expecting, but I guess for it's purpose as an alarm clock it's a good size. The Mini does sound a little better in the bottom end though which is a shame. 500mA USB output bit of a let down also.
I don't understand why not all alarm clocks and particularly in this price range don't have a simple battery backup? Was the reason I didn't go for one of these.
Its 2019, its the future dammit!
We shouldn't be able to sleep in and miss hoverboarding to work?
It would be nice if you were able to have a power bank plugged into it & if it looses mains power it switches to the power bank.
I guess if it helps, when the power comes back it re-connects to your wifi, gets time from the magic of the internet and since it is a smart device it has all your alarms and personal preferences stored and continues on happily like nothing happened.
If your power stays off… I guess you get to sleep in?
Really good clock and a good price for it, don't be expecting it to do the same thing has Google Hub despite the fact it has a little screen on it.
I mean..
Why does it not have some form of small battery?
Also why not just use a phone? I don't really understand the value of this over a smart phone + normal alarm clock?
Why does it not have some form of small battery?
What for?
I don't really understand the value of this over a smart phone + normal alarm clock?
Personal preference. Some people would say, why bother with a normal alarm clock at all when you can use your phone's alarm?
Some people don't sleep next to their phone. Also, this clock has an always-on screen so you can easily tell at a glance what the time and weather is. You can ask it questions like "will it rain later?", or say "turn off the living room lights". "Set alarm for 6.15am". You can play music or listen to the news - it's much louder than a phone speaker.
It also functions as an auto-updating digital photo frame. You can get your family or friends to add photos to a shared album - give one to your parents and they might like that feature alone.
There are plenty of things this does better than a phone+clock, but as with just about everything, some people will find the features more useful than others.
Okay well that makes sense, I'm a techy guy but I've never seen these before really.
I'd probably consider this @ $50 tbh. It really doesn't need much to run haha.
As for the battery, if the power goes out?
Thanks for the informative reply too!
I got one to replace a home mini and normal alarm clock.
Use the mini for usual voice assistant stuff, lights etc but also radio too. Easier to say "play this radio station for this long" when going to bed than turning on the clock radio, setting a sleep timer etc. Also have alarm set to play a radio station in the morning on the mini, so clock was only being used for a time display (unless the internet goes down of course)
The Lenovo has a footprint not much bigger than the Mini, so while the setup was working before, just a bit more minimalist now.
Admittedly would be nice if the Lenovo had a small backup battery even if just to drive the speaker without display or WiFi for alarms. I do have an alarm set on my phone as a backup anyway though.
Fun fact, you can smack on it like an old alarm clock to snooze the alarm. It has an accelerometer built in purely for this pleasure.
Has anyone hacked these for use with HomeAssistant/Hass.io?
Not sure about that, but Lenovo provides some source code. not sure whether it's complete but be nice if we started seeing some custom roms for it.
Would this be able for C&C before sunday? Might be a decent fathers day gift
I ordered one this afternoon 3pm, it said it would arrive by Friday if shipped. I chose to pick up instead.
I got pickup notification within half an hour.
Too good to be true Google Hub…< $50 ?
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Google-Home-Hub-Smart-Home-Contr…
"We looked everywhere. Looks like this page is missing. If you still need help, visit our help pages."
I saw this at JB for $99, hesitated, saw this and pulled the trigger.
Don't even know if I really need this but looks like a good deal. Father's day present for myself!
Can you install any Android App on it?
No
I'm intrigued; which App(s) were you wanting to install?
netflix
Just a door bell app.
Got this yesterday and used it last night:
It's pretty much a Google Home mini with a small screen.
Thanks for posting an informative review based on your purchase. These are sometimes missing from OzB posts.
Yeh, I replaced a Mini with this, was a little disappointed that the Mini actually sounds better, but it's passable for a bedside radio.
Definitely no issue with being too bright at night. You can tell it to turn off the display too if you don't want to see it at all.
Don't forget to put the vendor in the title :)