Lenovo has announced new smart tablets that work both as standard Android tablets and smart home displays. The company has taken the power of Android and Google Assistant to create the new Yoga Smart Tab and the Lenovo Smart Tab M8. 

These devices are compact and capable media tablets that now double as hands-free voice-activated smart home hubs. When you're not using them to browse the web or binge some Netflix, you can dock them and treat them like Google Home. This isn't the first time Lenovo has released such a product, they did it earlier this year with the M10 and P10 smart tablets. But these new and improved devices are potentially a great alternative to a standard voice assistant speaker or smart home display. 

Lenovo Smart Tab M8 

The new Lenovo Smart Tab M8 makes use of Google Assistant's Ambient Mode to transform the tablet into a smart home assistant with a display when you're not using it.

The accompanying dock means your tablet never runs out of charge and can be in "always-on" mode, plus you'll always know where it is. This system means you can transform your tablet into a much more useful smart home hub. 

The Lenovo Smart M8 boasts a decent spec too, with a Quad-Core 2.0 GHz processor, an 8-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display, 5MP rear and 2MP front-facing cameras, dual microphone arrays with far-field voice recognition and dual speakers with Dolby Atmos capabilities. 

It's powerful enough to run online games, stream videos and has multiple user account options so the whole family can gain access and make use of the smart display features. 

The new Lenovo Smart Tab M8 will be available from October for £119/$119.99 .

Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab

While the Smart Tab M8 is being pitched as an affordable tablet that doubles as a smart home hub, the Yoga Smart Tab is described as an ultimate media tablet with smart home hub intelligence. 

This is the intended successor for the Yoga Tab 3 but with top-of-the-line audio, video and more. 

A premium tablet that's enhanced with Google Assistant's Ambient Mode. A built-in kickstand means you can use the Yoga Smart Tab anywhere and everywhere.

Unlike the M8, this tablet doesn't need to be docked to work as a smart home display. Position it wherever you want and use Google Assistant to get the help you need. This new tablet also boasts three digital microphones with 360-degree far-field voice recognition so it should be able to hear you wherever you are in the room. 

The Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab has a 10.1-inch 1920 x 1200 IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 Octa-Core processor, two 2W dual speakers, 4GB RAM, a Micro Sim and MicroSD card slot and 8MP rear-facing and 5MP front-facing cameras. Add to that up to 11 hours of battery life and a simple face unlock system and the Yoga Smart Tab is bound to improve your life. 

This tablet is built with a mix of metal and aluminium and is IP52 rated. It's designed to be viewed from multiple angles and to provide a high-quality experience with dual JBL Hi-Fi speakers and Dolby Atmos capabilities. 

The new Lenovo Yoga Smart Tab will be available from September for £249/$249.99.