Lenovo will release speakers that look and work pretty much like Amazon's widely popular Echo device. Like the Echo, Lenovo's Smart Assistant works through the voice-based virtual assistant Alexa, which can perform a variety of tasks.
Lenovo worked with Amazon to have Alexa built into the Smart Assistant, according to The Verge. Alexa is the most important of many similarities between the Lenovo Smart Assistant and the Amazon Echo. The virtual assistant can listen to and follow commands such as playing music and turning lights on and off.
However, the Smart Assistant and the Echo have notable differences as well. Lenovo, for one, offers the Smart Assistant in light colors of green, orange, and gray. Its mic protrudes from the top, unlike the Echo's, which lies flat. The Smart Assistant also has eight far-field mics compared to the Echo's seven, allowing it to hear instructions from all angles and longer distances.
One big advantage of the Smart Assistant over the Echo and Google Home is its audio quality. Lenovo offers premium sound through a Harman Kardon edition of the speaker. The Verge notes that although they are all voice-control devices, the Echo and Home are actually not good speakers.
Alexa is expected to be present in a variety of gadgets on display at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Amazon has been expanding its reach in the smart home market by allowing other hardware companies to integrate Alexa into their devices, Fortune reports.
Aside from Lenovo's Smart Assistant, other brands will use or are already using Alexa. GE Lighting will have Alexa in its table lamp brand called The C, while Jam already has it for the Jam Voice smart home system.
Lenovo's Smart Assistant will go on sale in May for $130. The model with Harman Kardon will have a $180 price tag.
