Lenovo announces a $2,345 FHD smart display for video calls - Ars Technica

From the Facebook Portal videoconferencing display and Amazon Echo Show 15 to Samsung's series of desktop-sized smart monitors, companies have been trying to find a purpose that sticks.

It attempts to find a niche for smart displays for business purposes but does so with a limiting focus on Microsoft Teams.

The real cost is coming from the display's octa-core Qualcomm QCS8250 SoC that gives the ThinkView Plus Wi-Fi 6 support and enables it to run Teams, including accessing calendars, chat, and files, on an unspecified version of Android sans computer (the display's predecessor uses Android Open Source Project 8.1).

There's also an integrated 4K infrared and RGB camera that taps the SoC to run AI-based features, like auto-framing and automatic image-quality adjustments.

It was one of the first so-called Microsoft Teams displays, which Microsoft describes as all-in-ones dedicated to Teams with exclusive features, like the ability to use "always-on and glanceable displays to see important activities and notifications without context-switching on [users'] primary work device," hands-free Cortana, and the ability to leave a lock screen note, video, or audio.

Lenovo's ThinkView Plus will also have to contend with other displays with integrated webcams, including the Dell UltraSharp U3223QZ, which has 4K resolution, a 4K camera, and, as we learned during testing, a quality IPS Black panel.