Voice Assistant Disassembly: Amazon Echo Vs Google Home
This week Google released Google Home, a voice-activated smart device to compete with the surprisingly popular Amazon Echo. Both devices can play music, control lights, and answer questions with just your voice, but we wanted to see how Google’s new device can compare to the established competition.
Applicants
In 2014, Amazon introduced a voice-activated speaker that can answer questions, play music, and control other gadgets in your home. At the time, no one expected this, but it was a huge success: more than 3 million units were already sold , which is a lot for a device that no one had thought of before. Naturally, Google decided to step in and contribute to the party. Today we’ll cover both:
- Amazon Echo ($ 180): Amazon kicked off the trend towards using voice hubs with the Echo powered by Alexa’s voice assistant. This device comes with a set of seven microphones that allow it to hear commands from anywhere in the room it is in, even while music is playing. It also includes two speakers with a downward-firing configuration to project sound in all directions. If you don’t need speakers, you can get the much cheaper $ 50 Echo Dot, which can hear voice commands, but isn’t great for playing music unless it’s connected to external speakers. When Alexa is unable to answer a question on its own, it relies on Bing search results.
- Google Home ($ 130): The Google Smart Hub is a compact device with two microphones and four speakers. It’s powered by the new Google Assistant , which offers all the voice command capabilities you’ve used on your phone for years , as well as several new features like smart home control and Chromecast device control. While Google Home is cheaper than the Echo, there is unfortunately no cheaper expansion option like the Echo Dot yet, which means you may end up spending more money if you want to add devices to multiple rooms in your home.
While Amazon may have a head start, Google has been in the business of artificial intelligence and voice commands for years, so both devices are already pretty powerful. Of course, Amazon has already proven that it will regularly add new updates to the Echo, but we’ll have to wait and see if Google keeps that pace.
Update: A previous version of this article said the Echo Dot cannot play music. This is technically incorrect. The built-in speaker is for voice command feedback, and it can play music, but that’s just not good. If you want to play music with Echo Dot, you should still consider connecting it to something else.
Echo is a more natural conversation partner than Google Home
Neither Amazon Echo nor Google Home has a traditional screen (although both can connect to your phone), which means you’ll have to rely on less common ways to interact with it. Amazon has a slight edge over Google Home in this regard. The Echo and Echo Dot have a blue ring at the top that lights up when you say “Alexa” (the $ 130 Tap doesn’t have this feature; instead, you have to press a button to voice command). The slightly lighter blue section of the ring will indicate you when you speak, so you know he is listening as well as who he is listening to. On top of that, the Echo makes a small sound when it starts listening, so you know it’s working even when you’re not looking at the device.
In contrast, Google Home has a slanted top with a ring of colored lights that turn on when you say “Ok Google.” This design can be stylish, but in practice you can only see a visual cue that he is listening from certain angles. Moreover, when you start talking to him, Home does not make a sound. So, if you are behind the device or looking away from it, you do not know if the “Ok Google” trigger actually fired. On several occasions, I found myself completing a long vocal command completely before noticing that Home was not listening to me. This really disrupts the unhindered flow that hubs like this are aiming for. ( Update: As one reader pointed out, you can turn on sound in the Google Home app settings. It’s confusing in the Accessibility section, even though it’s a standard feedback feature on any other device.)
The hot word itself poses a bit of a problem for Google Home as well. Amazon impersonates its assistant in the form of a foggy character named Alex (if you wish, you can change the activation phrase to “Amazon” or “Echo” in the app). While this is a bit silly, it seems more natural to me to talk to a person named Alexa as if she were just sitting in my house. On the other hand, “Ok Google” is more syllable, doesn’t roll off the tongue very well, and it just feels weird to say the name of the company every time I want to get an answer. According to a little-known Google support document , you can also say “Hey Google,” which has the distinct advantage of not activating all other Google-based devices in your home. It’s a slight improvement, but it still doesn’t seem very natural. Alexa, Siri, and even Cortana have found that anthropomorphic characters are more natural conversationalists than name a company. It would be nice if Google gave its helper a name, or at least let users customize their trigger word.
Google answers questions better, Alexa does better
Google has a long history with powerful voice commands , so you’d expect Google Home to wipe out the Echo right out of the box. However, Home is actually a little disappointing in some areas. You can’t set reminders with it, although you can do everything from Allo to Inbox. If you ask for directions, Home won’t be able to provide them, but will tell you how long it will take to get there. When I asked what time “Doctor Strange plays at the nearby AMC Parkway Pointe,” he replied, “Doctor Strange plays at AMC Parkway Pointe 15.” Actual session scheduling is not yet supported.
Perhaps most frustrating is that Google Home can read your Google Calendar but can’t add anything to it yet. Presumably this is because Google Home currently only supports one account, so it won’t let anyone in your house add anything to your calendar, but then why let everyone in the house access that information to begin with? You can block all personal information in your Google account from appearing in search results on the homepage if you want to maintain your privacy. Since this parameter exists, there seems to be no reason to block event generation.
Where Home fails, Echo usually fills in the blanks. If you ask Alexa to set a reminder for you, she will add the item to your to-do list (which is not quite the same, but indicates that you should do something, not nothing). If you ask for directions, it won’t read them out, but it will send the address of the place you’re looking for to the Alexa app. If you ask the movie schedule, she will recount it in almost tedious detail until you ask her to stop. Echo can also add events to your Google Calendar if you hook it up in the Alexa app, which is just a kick-ass for Google Home users.
Echo is also great for those who shop regularly on Amazon. You can add items to your cart using your voice. If Alexa can find an exact match for the item you are looking for, it will add it directly, but if you say something more general like “add cat food”, you will be prompted to select the specific item next time. enter your shopping cart on Amazon. If you have 1-click checkout enabled, you can even buy some items directly from Echo. This is an impressively streamlined process that will only help your already out of control shopping habit.
Google still has some advantages over the Echo. When it comes to answering questions, Home can handle a lot more than Alexa because it’s backed by Google. You can request information on medications , cocktail recipes and more, for which Google has flashcards . The most amazing thing for me happened while playing Skyrim. I asked, “Where can I find ebony ingots in Skyrim,” not really expecting an answer. Instead, Google pulled a helpful answer from Skyrim’s Wikia page , proving how vast its Knowledge Network is in comparison to the competition. Google is in a different league for answers.
In practice, the My Day feature lets you check the weather, traffic congestion, calendar events and news podcasts by simply saying good morning. The house can also understand the context of several questions. For example, if I ask, “How tall is Jeff Goldblum?” and then ask, “How old is he?” Google understands that I’m still talking about Jeff Goldblum. It can also translate sentences into other languages, control Chromecast devices, get recipes (which Echo can only do with third-party apps), and has some fun built-in games (say I’m lucky and Google will run a game show-style quiz).
These features make your Google Home experience more enjoyable, making only those useful features that are missing even more obvious. Once Google catches up and adds some of the features you’d expect it already has, it’ll probably be a lot smoother than the Echo. However, it looks like Google could spend less time on fun, silly features and more on practical things like reminders and adding calendar events.
Both have great speakers and microphones, but don’t turn Google Home too loud
Google Home and Amazon Echo can hear your voice commands from across the room. This is especially impressive for the home, as Google does the same job with two microphones as Alexa does with seven. However, this performance is highly dependent on where you place it in the room. The Echo has a little more flexibility as its circular design means you can place it anywhere and use it from any direction, but Home works best when it’s to the side of the room, so it’s easier for you to see the display from above.
For listening to music, the Echo displaces Home again, but only slightly. At medium volume, both speakers produce clear sound, although the Home has slightly fuller bass. The difference is noticeable if you’re looking for it, but not significant. However, when you set the Google Home volume too high, the sound becomes clear and drowns out the higher tones. Luckily, the volume needs to be pretty high before this becomes an issue, but if you want to play music at a loud party, you’re better off using the Echo.
Both devices perfectly respond to voice commands, even during music playback. At normal conversation volume – even when music was playing louder than my own voice – I found the Echo picked up my commands slightly better than Home, but only so. This was also a controversial issue, because when the music is loud, the natural instinct is to scream over it. If I raised my voice even a little, both speakers perfectly responded to my commands.
With only minor differences between the hardware capabilities of both hubs, it’s easy to say that their hardware is about the same, except for one thing: Google Home is $ 50 cheaper than the Echo. This is a significant discount for the subtle difference in performance. If you plan on playing a lot of loud music, or want to place your device in the center of the room, the extra expense might pay off, but otherwise the Home hardware is 99% as good as the Echo with $ 50 less. …
Echo can control most smart home gadgets, but Google Home can control your Chromecast
If you have smart home gadgets, including Samsung SmartThings , Nest devices or Philips Hue , Echo and Google Home fixtures , this is the best way to control them. If you have any other than those of these three smart device companies, Google Home can’t do anything with them directly yet (although there are workarounds we’ll talk about in a bit). Since Amazon has been working on the Echo for over two years, it can control products like the Logitech Harmony , WeMo smart devices, and more . Depending on what you have, you might lean towards Echo.
However, Google Home has one major advantage: it can control your Chromecast. You can ask Home to play a specific show, or open the app on the Chromecast, and it will download automatically. If something is already playing, you can pause, stop, or skip with your voice. Echo is currently unable to do this.
Given that the Chromecast is wildly popular (arguably more popular than any other smart home gadget), it’s hard to determine which one is better overall. On the one hand, Echo now supports a lot more devices than Google Home. On the other hand, the likelihood that you have a Chromecast is higher than any smart home device. Until Google catches up with you, you should take a look at the specific needs of your home.
Both devices support IFTTT, which is all the third party support you need.
Alexa has two years of third-party support, so you can do more with it than you can with Google Home. You can view third party Alexa apps (called Skills) on the new Amazon store page here . While some Skills add useful features like calling a taxi with Uber (which Google Home can do out of the box) or figuring out how to make a cocktail with a Mixologist , most are junk. For example, some of the most highly rated Skills include an 8-ball magic app and a pick-line generator (right?). Of course, while Echo only has a few useful skills, Google Home doesn’t have a comparable Amazon store add-on so it still has the edge.
If you really want to customize your voice hub, you’d better take a look at IFTTT , which both Echo and Google Home support (via their Alexa and Google Assistant channels , respectively). IFTTT lets you create automated recipes ( or applets ) that run when custom voice commands are used on any device. For example, I have set up a recipe to turn off all Philips Hue lamps in my house except the bedroom lights when I tell any hub to “go to bed.”
IFTTT connects to hundreds of services, so even if Google Home doesn’t support third-party apps directly, it still kind of does. However, Alexa’s IFTTT channel has a dozen or so more specific triggers than Google’s. For example, you can set the lights to flash every time a timer set with Alexa goes off , or you can add all the songs that Echo plays to a spreadsheet . The Google Assistant channel can only be activated when you say certain phrases. However, Google feed also supports empty variables, so you can create more complex commands. For example, you can say “ Tell Slack I’m late, ” and he will know that “Tell Slack that” is the trigger, and “I’m late” is the message he should send.
Verdict: Google Home has a more promising future, Echo has a better present
Many of the advantages Amazon Echo has over Google Home boils down to the fact that Google’s product is still new. In all areas where the two products overlap, Google is doing it slightly better or cheaper. Home is $ 50 less, has great speakers, can control your Chromecast, and has access to an impressive array of voice commands and Google search results.
However, the Echo has experience. It can control almost every smart home gadget known to man (but not a Chromecast), it has thousands of third-party skills to add new features (even if most of them suck), and it has really high quality speakers (if only you buy more cheap Echos that have no speakers at all). Right now, Amazon’s full package looks a little better than Google’s, but it is unknown if it will stay that way. Especially until we figure out if this is a real long-term product line for Google or another side project that will be dropped in a couple of years.
If you work in the Google ecosystem and are willing to take the risk that the future will be even better than the present (or if you want to save $ 50), then Google Home is your best bet. However, if you already have a few smart home gadgets that you need to manage now, or if you want to add a cheaper Echo Dot to multiple rooms in your home, Amazon will help you.