Lenovo’s Smart Clock: When Less Is More

There’s not a lot of us who love waking up in the morning, unless it’s on a fun holiday where we can spend the early morning enjoying the sunrise in a beautiful location. The shrill sounds of our alarm clocks rarely do much to help the dreaded 5 or 6 a.m’s wake-up calls. 

But maybe smart clocks can contribute to somewhat more enjoyable mornings. 

Lenovo’s Smart Clock for example, is small enough to fit comfortably on a night stand and occupies less space than, say, a Nest Hub. If anything, it’s the same size as the Amazon Echo Spot, just that it has a rectangular shape instead. 

On the top, you can find the volume buttons, a mute switch for the microphones and an USB-A port that you can even charge your phone on. It features 10 different clock designs with their own customization options. 

It can adjust the brightness of the screen automatically according to the light in the room so it won’t distract you when you’re trying to fall asleep and it’s worth noting it also doesn’t feature a camera – that’s the last thing you’d want in your bedroom. 

The Smart Clock not only gives you time information  but also tells you how the weather will be for the day and displays a calendar, in addition to the basic controls for music and other smart home gadgets. 

However, it cannot play videos, just the feeds from Nest cameras. It also cannot display Google Photos images, so the most you can do with the touch screen is set the alarms.

Speaking of alarms, you have six different alarm sounds you can choose from, as well as a ‘sunrise alarm’ function that will make the screen brighter and brighter before the alarm sound goes off, easing you into waking up a bit more gently than just by sound alone. 

You can also set up the Assistant Good Morning routine to tell you all about the weather, your commute and the morning news after you’ve turned the alarm off.

Turning the alarm off can be achieved by either the touch screen, a tap on the top of the device or simply by saying ‘stop’. But if you’re into snoozing, you’ll have to make the effort of saying “Hey Google, snooze” or fumble around on the touch screen for the virtual button you have to use. Which, in itself, is an action that will most likely contribute to you waking up. 

So, if you were looking for another alternative to your phone alarm, the Smart Clock retails for $79,99.