Smart Displays are an entirely new product category for Google. Companies like JBL and LG have shown off upcoming devices, but Lenovo is first to actually release one. As such, we don’t really have much to compare this to.

Great display Decent-sounding speaker Google Assistant with visual responses Chromecast compatible

Design might be too "modern" for some Not all Google Home/Google Assistant speaker features are available Lack of Netflix support Responses can be delayed

Smart speakers are starting to gain traction, with Apple , Amazon and Google all vying for our attention. Adding a screen is the next logical step, and as well as producing its own Home Hub , Google has announced partnerships with several third parties to make Google Smart Displays -- LG, Lenovo,...

The Smart Display might be manufactured by Lenovo but it is Google through and through — and that’s awesome. We use its services for search, Chrome, Gmail, calendar appointments, YouTube, and much, much more.

Lenovo Smart Display is a fine first outing for Google’s Smart Display initiative, expanding Google Assistant immensely and granting it far more depth. That said, the visual Google Assistant could do with further development, and the speaker lacks far-field microphones.

Visual Google Assistant is awesome; Beautiful and intelligent design; Excellent audio and video quality; Google Duo calling a neat feature

Can go portrait only for Duo; Visual Google Assistant needs work; No far-field microphones

Using a Smart Display powered by Google has opened my eyes to all the things I was missing on a visual smart home device. Lenovo has created a nice looking product that resembles a tablet without all the unnecessary hook up and propping.

So-called smart speakers became the darling of every big tech company in the last three years, with Amazon, Google, and Apple all trying to push their digital assistants as a complementary and indispensable part of their locked-in ecosystems.

Display High-resolution, bright, quality screen; Design It looks good , and the bamboo is right at home in modern decor; Recipes The best cooking assistant I've ever had, the step-by-step verbal instructions make it a lot easier to whip something up at the end of the day.

Sound Gets loud enough, but quality doesn't compare to display-less smart speakers at the same price point. Don't buy it for the sound quality; Functionality differences Compared to using an Assistant-powered speaker, I've noticed some commands don't seem to work quite so well or as regularly,...

So what can you do with a display and camera-equipped Google Home smart device? Well, with a Google Assistant-enabled device like this, if you're familiar with how things work on Android, it's mostly similar.

Stylish; minimal; modern design; Excellent audio quality; Powered by Google Assistant; Punchy; crisp; large touch display

10-inch model is pricey; Some services not supported yet; No power off functionality

Let's return to the question posed at the beginning of this review: do you need the Google Assistant to have a screen, a face of sorts, that gives you tangible opportunities to interact with it?

Minimalist yet quirky design; Loud speakers; Physical mic-off and camera shutter toggles; Suggested followup commands make it easier to know what to say next; YouTube experience is actually not bad, thanks to Google's search capabilities; Good video calls with Google Duo.

Still no lexicon of acceptable commands and their functions; No way to see your YouTube subscription feed; Currently, Google Duo is the only program that supports portrait orientation; Sending messages isn't supported yet; Continued Conversation feature not yet supported on this device.

Remember the Google Assistant-powered smart display devices that Google and its partners first unveiled way back at CES? The first options are starting to arrive now for purchase. Lenovo’s Smart Display arrives tomorrow, July 27, to be exact, and we’ve been playing with one for about a week now...

If you plan on buying a smart display this year, go with Lenovo's stylish option. At CES 2018, Google announced a new product line in the form of smart displays powered by Google Assistant , and at the same time a select few companies announced they were planning on bringing to market their versions...