I do love a gadget and for the last week or so I’ve had this high tech loveliness to play with.

As a family we love to cook, my teenager is studying food and catering with a view to being a chef so we do spend a lot of time in the kitchen, which is where we decided the Lenovo Smart Display would live.

However, it has spent time elsewhere for instance I love it on my desk playing my photos, but I’ll come back to that.

Google Assistant

First I need to introduce you to the Google Assistant. This is the magic that enables the Lenovo Smart Display to communicate with you, and then carryout your requests, there are over a million actions that she can do for you; she listens and acts on your words and the more you use her, the more she learns.

There’s over 5,000 smart home products that you can link to the Lenovo Smart Display that will address almost anything you can think of – from controlling the heating at home to turning on your coffee machine. Everyone will find different uses for their own smart display, so out of consideration of the vast opportunities that this device offers, the focus of this review is how some of the free options have made our family life easier, that’s before I’ve bought any of the optional add-ons.

“Hey Google, play Tasty videos” 

The official line from Lenovo is that you can experience hands-free living which very much appealed to me. Before Lenovo I would use the iPad in the kitchen, mine has a magnetic case that turns into a stand which is theoretically useful, but when you’re following a recipe on YouTube and your hands are messy, you’re stuck when using a knuckle or an elbow to pause or rewind, and frankly it’s disastrous when a dollop of something ends up smeared on the screen or worse, the iPad falls over. It can be really very frustrating.

But the Lenovo’s hands free experience has been both time and sanity saving because using a bare knuckle is now a thing of the past. “Hey Google, play Tasty videos”, “Hey Google, Pause” “Hey Google, rewind 10 seconds”. This is totally the future of home cooking and it’s life changing.

“Hey Google, play my photos”

As I suggested before, the Lenovo has moved around the house somewhat, although its main use for us is in the kitchen, it’s been so lovely to have on my desk as a digital photo frame. For about a year now, my phone’s photos automatically upload to Google Photos (a great app to have if you don’t already have it. It’s free and has unlimited storage; marvellous.) It doesn’t take long to link the Lenovo to your Google account, and then to set up the ambient settings (see below) so that your chosen photo albums are displayed like a slideshow when you’re not using it – much like a screensaver.

As well as ambient mode, you can specify which photo album to play on demand, we were at Alton Towers last week so it’s been fun playing just those photos. It cleverly uses voice match recognition so she knows when I’m asking for my specific photos, or when another family member is asking for theirs.

I currently have the Lenovo on Ambient mode on my office desk so it’s showing a slide show of all my photos. It makes a lovely talking point when friends come over, and this morning I realised my son has been taking selfies of him and the dog over the weekend on my phone, which I did’t know until they appeared on the display just now. How fab is that? It’s really lovely to have your photos on a permanent slideshow on your desk. For me, it’s worth it’s weight just for that.

On a technical note, the HD screen is incredible quality, available in two sizes, mine is the 8-inch HD (1280 x 800) with a grey finish but there’s a slightly larger 10-inch version with an FHD (1920 x 1200) screen and Bamboo finish. You can seamlessly turn the display from landscape to portrait as using it, it’s happy to show your stuff either way.

“Hey Google, Play chart music”

This is fun, it’s like watching MTV. Great in the kitchen for those times when you know what you’re doing and don’t need a recipe to follow, or you just want company when everyone’s out, or when you’re working from home and you’ve had enough of the News on tv.

You can also just play some background music. Ask for your chosen music genre and she’ll present you with the latest playlists from Google Play™ Music and Spotify™.  You can choose to pay additional subscriptions to get it ad-free but I haven’t found the free option intrusive at all. It has a 10W full-range and Dual passive radiator that expands the low-end bass range, yes that’s technical but it’s what produces the clear, natural, balanced sound which can be really loud too if you need it.

“Hey Google play Olly Murs and show my photos”

This was me challenging Lenovo to multi-task, “ok” she says and starts filling my kitchen with “Troublemaker” while showing my photos too. I love this and it’s become a daily task that I ask for, although other artists are available… 

“Hey Google, What’s my day like?”

If you haven’t yet set up your calendar she’ll start by telling you the local weather and latest news but then she’ll prompt you to customise your morning routine (see below) which will then include your saved diary entries, and those of your family – depending on how you choose to customise. Again, it uses voice recognition to show the relevant daily routine for whoever has asked. Should you, unlike me, travel to work she can give you traffic updates. All really useful as you’re rushing around, getting the family breakfasted and ready for school.

“Hey Google, call Auntie Kate”

Yep, it links up to your phone and will call either your contacts, or a number you speak out. You can then use video call, if your caller’s device will allow it. For this, having the device in the portrait position makes for a great close up chat.

“Hey Google, play HIIT workouts”

We have an exercise bike and a cross trainer and doing high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts where you have to pedal like crazy for 20 seconds then softly for 40 seconds is really good for improving fitness. But having to time yourself for 20 seconds, then 40 seconds is achievable for maybe the first minute, after which tiredness kicks in and your in-head counting goes to pot. The Lenovo has been a great fitness companion – she gave me a video to follow in real time which meant I could pause or rewind, or find another without getting off. It genuinely makes a work out more interesting, and watching it on the screen makes you feel like you’re in a class therefore it’s motivating, and dare I say it, enjoyable.

YouTube, the underrated how-to guide

For me, YouTube has become the greatest thing since sliced bread, anything you could possibly need to know is on there. You can look for anything from how to fix a leaky tap to how to pronounce sausage with a New York accent. Funny ‘cause it’s true… when rehearsing for a play at school, my son and his friends needed to know how to pronounce sausage with a New York accent, and unbelievably YouTube came up trumps. So as you’re sat at your desk, you can just pipe up with a “Hey Google,” question and it’ll bring you what you need to know.

Just this week, my teenager was doing Maths homework, he asked “Hey Google show me a video explaining compound interest”. And because of the large choice available on YouTube, a list appeared on screen for him to scroll through, and tap the one he wanted. We both learnt about compound interest that day…

The Google Home App 

Here’s some tips to get started. The first thing to do is get your device connected to your Google account, which is made super easy with the Google Home app. It’s very self explanatory and guides you easily through the process. There was some small confusion as Netflix appeared to be linkable on the app but the App is for all Google Home devices – including Chromecast which is how you would link to streaming services such as Netflix and All4. It is not currently possible to watch streaming services on this type of smart device, but I imagine it will come in time.

Linking Services 

To get the most our of your Lenovo with Google Assistant you’ll need to link your media accounts and any music or video services. I would recommend completing this process during initial setup:

To link to Google Photos: 

  • Open Google Home app
  • Tap the settings icon 
  • Choose Videos and photos from the options.
  • Enable Google Photos.

Ambient Mode

When not in use, the Lenovo Smart Display can showcase either Google curated images, personal photos, or clock faces.

Follow these steps to enable your Google photos to display when in ambient mode: 

  • Open the Google Home app and tap on your specific device to edit its settings.
  • Open the Device Settings page by tapping the cog icon in the top right of the screen.
  • Scroll down and tap on photo frame.
  • Tap on the albums you wish to display in Ambient mode.

Navigating the Home Screen 

To wake up your Lenovo from ambient mode, you can simply tap on the screen to open up the Home Screen. You can use gestures on the display as well as voice commands. 

Using Gestures 

  • Tap or scroll – You can navigate from screen to screen just like you would on another device in cases in which you don’t want to use your voice. 
  • Swipe right from left edge – Return to previous display card. 
  • Swipe up from bottom edge – Open settings panel for brightness, volume, do not disturb, and power controls. 

Alternative Voice Commands 

To go back to the home screen, or to the previous page we found it easier to just say “Hey Google, go home”, “Hey Google, go back”, “Hey Google, stop”.

Using the Google Assistant to Get Answers 

Asking mundane questions is so life-enriching, ask things like Hey Google, What’s the time? What’s the weather like? Here’s some other great things to ask from across the room, especially if like me you’ve left your glasses elsewhere.

  • “Hey Google, what’s the capital of Peru?” 
  • “Hey Google, what’s the weather like today?” 
  • “Hey Google, play the news.” 
  • “Hey Google, what’s on my agenda?” 
  • “Hey Google, set a timer for 6 minutes.” 
  • “Hey Google, add eggs to my shopping list” 
  • “Hey Google, where’s the nearest supermarket.” 
  • “Hey Google, show me halloumi recipes” 
  • “Hey Google, play relaxing music.” 
  • “Hey Google, show me videos on how to make scrambled eggs.” 
  • “Hey Google, show me my photos from Christmas 2018”
  • “Hey Google, tell me a joke” 
  • “Hey Google, turn down the temperature.” 
  • “Hey Google, turn off the office light.” 
  • “Hey Google, call <work>.”

Setting up Routines 

To simplify tasks, the Google Home App also offers a feature called Routines. Routines allow you to string together multiple actions based on a single query. There are several ready-made routines already built into the app. Try them out:

  • Open Google Home app
  • Tap the settings icon
  • Scroll down to More Settings
  • Tap on the Assistant Tab and scroll down to Routines.
  • Edit or create new Routines as desired.

Where to buy: Currently priced at £159, available from lenovo.com