Lenovo’s new $2,345 ThinkSmart View Plus is one part monitor, one part dedicated video conferencing display for Microsoft Teams. If you’re using it for the former, it acts like a standard all-in-one display. There’s a built-in 4K webcam (with support for auto-framing) above the 27-inch 1080p screen and a soundbar with two 5W speakers and four microphones below it. You can connect to the whole thing via USB-C, the connector of choice for a more civilized age.
But the ThinkSmart View is perhaps more interesting when used as a standalone video conferencing device. Lenovo’s spec sheet says it’s running Android and powered by a Qualcomm processor. It offers native access to “Teams chat, calendar, and files, while also enabling workers to join meetings through the device.” There’s no mention of support in Lenovo’s press release for other video conferencing solutions like Zoom or Google Meet, however.
It sounds functionally very similar to Lenovo’s previous ThinkSmart View but in the form factor of a computer monitor rather than a smart display — potentially making it far more flexible in offices.
Lenovo says the new monitor is designed for “hot desking, phone booths, executive desks and home office use cases,” but we think the first two of these are where it makes the most sense. It’s not hard to imagine a video conferencing phone booth that also doubles as an extra desk in an office, for example. Upon signing out, a user’s “personal information is removed from the device—minimizing security risks,” Lenovo’s press release reads.
Other features include, in Lenovo’s words, “a Microsoft whiteboard application” as well as support for a passive stylus pen for drawing. For physical ports, you get ethernet, HDMI, one DisplayPort input and one output, two USB-A connectors, one USB-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Lenovo says the ThinkSmart View Plus will be available in select markets in mid-2023.