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Handled and activated through the Alexa app on smartphones, these can range from getting information on local transport times, or to activating voice-controlled games. Frankly, there's very little difference between the two right now. They're both very capable smart assistants that respond to voice commands and work well with many smart home devices. Read our full head-to-head below to get a better idea of the specifics.
In fairly typical Apple style, there’s only one model of theHomePod to choose from. You can just decide whether you want it to come in space grey or white. Either way it costs£279/$299 making it one of the more expensive options on the market. If you’re a die-hard Apple convert, you might not bat an eye at spending $349 on this gadget. If you're going for pure sonic superiority between the Echo and Google Home ranges however, opt for the Google Home Max.
Amazon Echo 4th Gen
That's a huge selection of lights, locks, cameras, thermostats, fans, garage door openers, and other home automation and security gadgets. If you install anything in your home with HomeKit on the box, you can control it with Siri, and that means you can control it with HomePod. There’s a lot to think about when buying a smart speaker, especially when they might set you back £300.
The white-and-gray Google Home features a touch-sensitive top with LED lights that indicate when the device is working. The petite, curvy device also sports a modular base, so you can swap out the default base for one that better suits your living space. The mute button is found on the back of the Home, and the top is touch-sensitive, so you can adjust the volume by sliding your finger across it.
Amazon Echo vs. Google Home: Which works best with your Apple products?
That means you can control smart home devices when you’re not home. If you use the Google Home app on your iPhone or Android phone to control smart home devices, then a Nest Audio is a natural choice. The Google Assistant also supports popular streaming services like Deezer, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube Music. By default, the Google Assistant will now play songs on YouTube music, which gives you access to millions of songs for free, but you’ll also have to listen to lots of ads. Or you can upgrade to YouTube Music Premium to get access to over 70 million songs ad-free. While you technically can have both Google and Alexa speakers together under one roof, we think that’s more fuss than it’s worth.
A smart speaker is a home for a voice assistant, like Siri on your iPhone or Google Assistant on Android. You can ask assistants to play a song, find information, set an alarm or carry out tasks by ‘talking’ to other smart home products. Not only does it allow you to use Siri for voice commands and interactions, but a HomePod Mini doubles as a HomeKit Hub.
Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod vs Google Nest: sound quality
Here's how the smart speakers that use them stack up against each other. Now it’s Apple’s turn, with theHomePod, which is actually more of a great speaker that currently lacks the smarts it needs to really compete. Here’s how these products stack up against one another in terms of design, features, and pricing. The HomePod is the speaker for any music aficionados who use Apple Music and want incredible sound quality. It also has ambient Siri integration, so you can give commands to Siri from anywhere in the room, and she will hear you.
The speakers themselves don't make that choice any easier, because both are quite good; the Echo has been our Editors' Choice winner for a long time, but the Nest Audio is a close runner-up. The Echo's bass is a bit better and Alexa can use multiple wake words, but the Nest Audio sounds quite clear and Google Assistant is easier to talk to thanks to more flexible natural language recognition. In the sub-$50 price range, the Echo Dot has a clear edge over the Nest Mini in audio quality, but even those two smaller speakers work well for what they are and offer the same choice between voice assistants. If you haven’t jumped into the smart speaker pool, it’s probably because it’s a tough decision.
The HomePod mini and the Echo Dot have very similar visual designs. They are both spherical smart speakers that weigh virtually the same. The HomePod mini is actually 0.2 inches smaller than the Echo Dot, but they both have the same 3.9-inch width.
If you are not a native speaker of the supported languages, you'll find Google Home's voice assistant to be more accommodating. Unlike Alexa which can accommodate 10 voiceprints, Google Assistant can be trained to recognize a maximum of 6 different voices which is typically enough for a small household. Budget smart speakers are at the heart of Google's fight for dominance as the best smart home system. With smart speakers like the Nest Mini and Home Mini, Google keeps the entry barrier for adopting the Google Home ecosystem as low as possible. Voice assistants are an integral part of what makes a smart home system exciting to use.
If you tap on that notification, it'll bring up the HomePod Mini settings and features. Or you can transfer music between the phone and the HomePod through AirPlay. These settings work for music, podcasts, or anything else you’re listening to.
YouTube Music lets you upload up to 100,000 of your own audio files to its cloud service and listen to them for free. Stepping down from those models, the Echo Dot has a bit of an edge over the Nest Mini, which has fairly weak bass and midrange. Of course, these smaller speakers are much more suitable for nightstands and desks than serving as a room's main audio device. Google’s largest and most powerful smart display is the best one we’ve tested for Google Assistant.
The HomePod does not have the ability to recognize different voices, nor can you attach more than one Apple ID to the device. That could be problematic in households with multiple users. For those with an iPhone, the portable speaker will use Siri as its assistant.
Think about how well existing Google services integrate with Apple products today and simply the Google Home connects those same services. Each of these smart speaker ranges are packed with the best features. If sound quality is a selling point for you, then we would recommend the HomePod Mini. Between these two devices, the HomePod Mini had a crisper sound and was a clear winner.
They serve as the nerve center for your smart home automation. Smart speakers anchor your smart device ecosystem, enabling your smart devices from different manufacturers to connect and interact with each other. In contrast, the Echo Dot has a single 1.6-inch front-firing speaker. At peak volumes, the Echo Dot has some distortion, but that's not surprising for a speaker that costs $50.
Its bass is well tuned, its mids and highs well defined, and its top volume levels loud without verging into highly distorted territory. There's no right or wrong approach really – Google's is simpler, but Alexa's encourages faster and broader development and support from third-parties. That's a tough question because they're both similar and we find it difficult to pick between the two.
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