Lenovo's Smart Assistant uses Amazon's Alexa to control your home
Lenovo is getting into the smart home market with its new Lenovo Smart Assistant. Available in May for $129, the Smart Assistant is powered by Amazon’s Alexa voice system, meaning it works exactly like Amazon’s own Echo and with all compatible devices.
Naturally, the Smart Assistant looks a lot like Amazon’s Echo thanks to its slim, cylindrical design. Lenovo’s offering, however, is $50 less than Amazon’s full-size Echo and has more far-field microphones, meaning it should be able to recognize your commands more accurately from a greater distance than the Echo.
The Smart Assistant also features a 5-watt tweeter and 10-watt subwoofer, so music should loud and clear.
The standard version of the Smart Assistant will be available with a white top section and your choice of either an orange, silver or blue mesh base.
A premium version of the Smart Assistant decked out with Harman Kardon speakers will be available in all black and cost $179.
Lenovo’s Smart Assistant isn’t the first non-Amazon product to use Alexa. Ford (F) is currently working on three models that use Alexa. Smartwatches, speakers and a handful of other devices also currently use Amazon’s Alexa. There’s also the weird Triby that’s supposed to stick to your fridge, though it didn’t quite do the trick.
Lenovo is hoping consumers will choose its take on the Echo thanks to its lower price point, though the company certainly faces an uphill battle when it comes to brand recognition. While Amazon (AMZN) already offers its low-cost Echo Dot, which will only set you back $49.99, it doesn’t have the kind of powerful speakers found on the full-size Echo.
However, the Chinese tech giant doesn’t just have Amazon to contend with/ Google’s Home device (GOOG, GOOGL) offers similar functionality, though doesn’t yet provide the kind of large-scale compatibility with smart home gadgets that Alexa does.
We’ll have more about the Lenovo Smart Assistant when we get our hands on it in the coming months.
More of Yahoo Finance’s coverage of CES:
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The Norton Core is a beautiful Wi-FI router that protects your digital home
Samsung’s Family Hub 2.0 is a refrigerator you can talk to
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Email Daniel at dhowley@yahoo-inc.com; follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
