Winter time: take the leap with Lenovo's Smart Clock Essential -

20 Minutes

  • The change to winter time is on the night of Saturday 24 October to Sunday 25 October: at 3 a.m., it will be 2 a.m.

  • With its Smart Clock Essential, it's impossible to miss the mark: Lenovo's smart alarm clock features Google Assistant and will allow you to program your alarms by voice and more.

  • At 59 euros, it is a practical and customizable tool, but its screen cannot be used as a viewer.

Before the hour, it is not the hour, after the hour, it is no longer the hour.

During the night from Saturday to Sunday, we will switch to winter time by moving the hands of our watches and other clocks back by one hour.

At 3 o'clock it will be 2 o'clock.

The Lenovo Smart Clock Essential alarm clock will do this on its own, just like any smartphone.

But even more: integrating Google Assistant, this smart alarm clock offers endless possibilities for day and night.

Lenovo's Smart Clock Essential launched at 59 euros.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Big numbers clearly visible

He is sweet.

Out of the box, the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential has a nice face.

Small (6.4 x 12.1 x 8.3 cm), it features a 4 '' / 10.16 cm LED screen on the front.

Enough to find a little place for him on our bedside tables.

Once connected to the mains, you need to associate it with the Google Home application for smartphones.

As long as you have a correct WiFi network, the operation takes three minutes.

And he's ready.

We are seduced by its particularly visible large numbers.

But impossible to change the display, as was the case with Lenovo's previous alarm clock (the Smart Clock Galet) which offered several types of screens.

A night light that reassures

New however: an LED night light located just at the back of the device.

This automatically lights up when a programmed alarm goes off and it is dark in the room.

Three intensities are possible.

The pilot can also turn on and off on demand.

The initiative is interesting but stops halfway.

Focusing everything on voice control, the operation of this night light must go through Google Assistant: "OK Google, turn the night light on / off".

The night light on the back of the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Not always practical if, for example, you want to light it in the bedroom of a child who is already asleep ... We would also have liked this nightlight not to be only white, but that we could choose the color so that the alarm clock blends more harmoniously into the decor of a room.

It is also on the back of the alarm clock that we find the button to mute the two microphones of the Smart Clock Essential, as well as a USB port for charging a smartphone.

Well seen.

On the back of the Smart Clock Essential, a button to deactivate the microphones and a USB port to charge a smartphone.

- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES

Google Assistant to program yourself

For its part, the alarm can be set vocally or manually.

The first option is this time simpler, since it suffices to ask Google on what day and at what time you want to be woken up.

"OK, Google: set an alarm Tuesday at 6:30 am".

And there is nothing else to do.

More complicated to program (moreover, we failed): “OK Google, wake me up tomorrow at 10 am with Deezer”.

What we can be vicious, sometimes ...

The numbers on the front of the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential are easy to read.

- LENOVO

By tapping the surface of the alarm clock, the classic and beneficial

Snooze

function is activated

for an alarm reminder 10 minutes later.

Routines can obviously be established as long as one is equipped with Google Assistant compatible devices: light bulbs, coffee maker, radiators, etc. Integrating a speaker, the Smart Clock Essential finally acts as a mini-speaker, but small in size. the device requires, it should not be asked too much.

Enough to listen to the news when you wake up, a podcast at bedtime, and leave a musical background while falling asleep.

Bluetooth can be activated by voice to play music from a smartphone.

Minimalist screen

On arrival, the Smart Clock Essential can be an essential aide-de-camp.

You can also imagine the appliance in a kitchen, but its noise level could quickly be muffled by that of a cooker hood or a microwave oven in action.

We see it more in a bathroom.

Or on a corner of the office so as not to miss the curfew.

At 59 euros, its quality / price ratio pleads in its favor, even if its screen can not be used for anything other than to display the time.

To have more and watch series and videos before sleeping, the Amazon Echo Show 5 (with a 5.5 '' / 13.97 cm screen) offers this possibility for only ten euros more.

For a larger screen, you can invest in the Google Nest Hub (8 '' / 20.32 cm), the price of which has just fallen from 129 euros to 89 euros.

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