The Lenovo Smart display is the first in an assault of Google Assistant-enabled devices set to hit the market this year. They will take on Amazon's Echo Show in a battle for smart home assistant technology, with not only a set of ears, but also a set of eyes and a display face to complete the experience.

Priced at $249.99 for a 10-inch version and $199.99 for an 8-inch variant, with identical hardware specs except for the display, these are a new breed of smart home devices that have the potential to give Google and its OEM partners a leg up on Amazon. Since they're part of the "Android Things" ecosystem, Android users will have direct access to their data and media on Google's many services that are coupled with Android.

And that tight coupling across platforms and services is one advantage Echo devices can't currently match...