Table of Content
- Get a Nest Audio if you…
- Second Chance: Win a FREE Sonos Arc Soundbar + Installation
- Amazon Alexa vs. Google Home: Verdict
- Amazon Alexa vs. Google Home vs. Apple HomeKit: What's the Best Smart Home System?
- Which voice control system should you buy for your home: Google Home or Amazon Echo Dot?
- Amazon Echo vs Google Home: price
Since both devices essentially offer the same controls, we’re calling this one a tie. If you're looking for a small Echo speaker, your best best then is the Echo Spot, which despite its size, offers a richer sound. The screen, however, massively increases its expense, so bear that in mind – if you don't want a screen, the Echo Dot with Clock is an attractive option. With Google Assistant, your Google Home can control your Philips Hue lightbulbs, Honeywell thermostat, Nest security camera, and smart TV (as long as it's compatible).
Regardless, given that the Apple TV costs at least $150, the Google Home and $35 Chromecast streamer will remain the most cost-effective way of bringing voice control to your TV. If you've already bought into the Apple ecosystem of products, an Apple HomePod Mini makes a lot of sense. The Google Nest Audio provides an upgraded listening experience compared to the Mini. But we still think it’s only good for casual listening and background music rather than a top speaker in its own right.
Get a Nest Audio if you…
The Google Assistant is the best smart assistant for getting directions. Siri and Alexa can handle the basics when it comes to directions or how long the drive will be. However, the Google Assistant will offer you more helpful information, such as traffic conditions and directions for public transit. In that same test, Siri was only able to answer 83% of questions correctly. However, Siri actually beat the Google Assistant when it came to commands, such as sending a text message, playing music, adding a meeting to your calendar, and more.
Some of the links on our site are from our partners who compensate us. "At night, I just say, 'Hey Google, turn off my bedroom lights,' and the room goes dark," she wrote. Direct Actions are for straightforward tasks, such as turning on a light in the bedroom or playing a song from YouTube. More complicated Conversational Actions require some back and forth between you and Google Assistant. For example, you might want to set your Nest Thermostat to an absolute temperature for X number of minutes.
Second Chance: Win a FREE Sonos Arc Soundbar + Installation
The Google Assistant currently works with over 50,000 smart home devices, according to Google. But while the Google Assistant only works with about one-third as many smart devices as Alexa, that number has been growing rapidly. Siri can only play music from Apple Music, which currently has over 70 million songs. Otherwise, you can only play music that is already in your Apple device’s library, including iTunes purchases.
You just ask Alexa to discover them, though you’ll still have to link your account. The number of devices that work with Alexa now number in the thousands, with more on the way. It’s clear that context and personal preference is a huge factor here so if you’re a regular Macworld reader using lots of Apple devices daily then the Homepod with Siri is an obvious choice.
Amazon Alexa vs. Google Home: Verdict
Choosing a smart speaker isn’t just about picking a model with the best sound quality or the color that matches your living room. Smart speakers also have major smart home control properties and can play nicely with some music services, streaming TV channels , or home security systems. The best smart speaker for you ultimately depends on what you plan to use it for.
If you want to see the best smart home devices that work with Alexa, check out our article here. You can also use AirPlay to stream music from any other service from your iPhone to your HomePod smart speakers. However, that means you won’t be able to ask Siri to change the song or turn the volume up. The discontinued Google Home Max was easily the loudest first-party smart speaker out there, but it's no longer available.
Amazon Alexa vs. Google Home vs. Apple HomeKit: What's the Best Smart Home System?
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.
It has a clear screen, a built-in camera and we were impressed that its facial recognition means it can personalise the reminders and messages you see when you look at the screen. Google’s answer to the Echo Dot, this is a small and discreet speaker that’s affordable and capable of handling all your requests. We’d recommend this for a hallway side table or tabletop as it’s not going to deliver booming sound for music but is still ideal for your voice requests. HomePod's release will have a profound effect on the smart speaker market.
Google Assistant also leverages Google’s search expertise — it can answer questions about all kinds of topics, thanks largely to Google’s Knowledge graph. The Google Assistant and Siri are also very popular smart assistants because they come built into most new Android and Apple devices. However, Google’s Nest and Apple’s HomePod smart speakers don’t work with nearly as many smart home devices as Alexa. While we haven’t mentioned it much here, Apple’s HomeKit is the other major player in the world of smart home platforms. This is the ideal pick if you want to control your smart home from your iPhone or iPad, and it works with a fair few third-party devices along with the Apple 4K TV and HomePod Mini.
I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. Then there are the devices that are only supported by one or two systems, but not all three. One particular standout there is the Nest range of products, which includes thermostats, security cameras, and so on.
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 try to ask “Alexa, turn on the lights and tell me what the weather forecast is for tomorrow”, you’ll find that it’ll only deal with one of the things you’ve asked. Better still, the device is equipped to analyze a room’s acoustics to adjust the sound based on its location. In doing so, the device directs the music in an optimal direction.
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.
This process works on any Chromecast-connected device, including televisions. If you have a ton of HomeKit devices, you will be happy to know that HomePod will act as a hub. You won’t find some big names like Nest or Belkin Wemo, at least not yet. But you can use HomePod to control your August, Philips Hue, ecobee and Honeywell gadgets. Once the Home and all correlating devices are fully mapped, you can make very specific requests. Ask Home to “Play Santo and Johnny in the living room,” for instance, and the device will have Sleep Walkplaying in no time.
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