I set up the Smart Clock Essential next to my original model, hoping to replace it fully. It’s covered in a neutral grey mesh fabric, about the size of a soda can, and includes four rubberized buttons on the top: volume up and down, play/pause, and alarm. Speaking to the clock with the “Hey Google” activation phrase unlocks pretty much all of the same features as the Nest Home Mini or Google Home Mini, with the associated information delivery and music streaming.
There’s a manual switch for the microphone on the back if you want to disable its voice features, and a USB-A port for charging your phone (still apparently limited to the standard 5V-1.5A output). You set it up with the Google Home app on your phone. You can activate this via voice or with a long-press of one of the hardware buttons.Īside from all that, this gadget is a Google Assistant smart speaker, with capabilities more or less identical to the Nest Home Mini. On the rear of the device, circling the back of the speaker section in off-white plastic, is an LED light.
There’s one new feature for the Essential: a built-in night light. That’s about it in terms of its physical features. And that’s pretty much all it is: the clock can display the local weather (provided via Google), and you can manually set an alarm via its top buttons. The Smart Clock Essential looks like a copy of the Smart Clock, except that the touchscreen has been replaced with an old-fashioned non-interactive LCD, like I’ve seen in most alarm clocks since I was born. Its easy-to-read clock display is undermined by an inability to easily set brightness-ditto for its one new feature, the built-in night light.īetween that and a relatively high price, which is higher than the Smart Clock often goes for on sale, there’s very little to recommend the Essential over the original … or even a standard LCD alarm clock. The Essential is both less capable and harder to use than the original Smart Clock.