JBL Link View Takes on the Echo Show with Google & YouTube

The JBL Link View with an 8-inch screen and the Google Assistant is a neat new smart display coming to take on the Amazon Echo Show. We’ve seen some cool tech at CES 2018, but a reoccurring trend is the Google Assistant. JBL’s Link View is basically a Google Home with a screen.

Smart Displays are smart speakers powered by the Google Assistant, like a Google Home, but they have a screen too. Delivering an experience customized for the Assistant, lots of tasks to automate things in your home, and of course enjoy content like video and YouTube.

The one major advantage products like the new JBL Link View or the Lenovo Smart Display have over the Echo Show, is YouTube. These are Google Assistant devices with access to all of Google’s services and products.

The JBL Link View only comes in one size, and that’s an 8-inch smart display. However, it’s in the middle of two powerful speakers. This means you’ll enjoy a good sound experience on top of all the Assistant features. To be specific, the Link View uses two 10 watt speakers and a passive radiator for a great audio experience.

As a comparison, most typical Bluetooth speakers have a single 10w speaker or just 10 watts of power total. This has two 10w speakers, so it should get plenty loud. So, not only does it have good sound and things like Chromecast music, but when you’re not listening to music you can interact with the screen.

The main thing to remember here is this is a smart display, not just a smart speaker. So while you’ll have all the commands of the Google Home, expect a lot of upcoming options and features that take advantage of the screen specifically. For now, here are a few use cases you can expect.

• Turning on smart lights
• Finding a nearby store and getting directions to it
• Watching the latest news or video on YouTube
• Search for and read or watch recipes
• Watch a Nest cam feed on the smart display
• Watch your front-door cam on the display from your kitchen
• Play a Google Trivia game
• and lots of other fun Google Now/Assistant tricks

There are loads of activities that you can do with the Google Assistant and there are special versions that use the screen. Our list above is a very small sample, and we expect the list to grow throughout 2018. In fact, Google just released a new website dedicated to everything you can do with the Google Assistant.

At the end of the day all you need to know is JBL just announced a new smart display and speaker that runs the Google Assistant. It has two powerful and loudspeakers, a crisp 8-inch screen perfect for watching YouTube, and a 5MP front-facing camera to do video calls with Skype or Google Duo.

This product is perfect for the living room or your Kitchen. Stream your Google Photos when the screen isn’t in use, then fire it up for videos, recipes, directions, weather, checking your calendar and more. JBL made sure to mention the material they used to finish the Link View is easy to clean. Which makes sense considering most buyers will put this in the kitchen.

In closing, we’re expecting availability sometime this summer and there’s no official word on pricing. We expect to learn more about both the price and release date in the near future.