In the present time of technology you should have a “Smart Speaker” in your home.
The question is which one to adopt. Amazon’s Echo (Alexa) or the Google Home (Google Assistant)?
The Amazon Echo, a $180 Wi-Fi-connected speaker with a built-in voice assistant called Alexa, has been a mega-hit since its launch.
The $130 Google Home do a lot of the work same like the Echo does, with the same female voice. The woman who lives inside a device is called Google Assistant. Her responsiveness was nimble, smart, and funny, but there was still a big gap with Alexa for some basic tasks and third-party apps, or skills.
Despite Google’s years of amassing information about us from searches, emails, maps, chats, and more, the Assistant isn’t as helpful as it sounds. Among the many IT (information technology) companies, Google seems to be able to develop artificial intelligence (AI) on par with science fiction movies. But for now, choose which robot should be your best friend based on your application. It’s also important to be a company that you can feel comfortable installing a microphone in your home.
Knowledge Showdown: Google Home Wins
After asking Home and Echo a question and competing for the answer, Google won. However, there is no significant difference. All correctly answered the 25th President of the United States (McKinley), the capital of Zimbabwe (Harare), and the year of the release of the movie “Pretty Woman” (1990). They also knew basic questions like setting timers, weather forecasts, current time, etc.
For the more outrageous question (What is the average age of monkeys?), Google Assistant beats Alexa. Also, the assistant gave me concrete answers about my schedule and travel plans.
But if Google can build self-driving cars, why can’t Home set simple reminders? why can’t i send an email? Why can’t I link with multiple Google accounts? why can’t i call Google says it will bring more features to Home over time.
DJ Showdown: Draw
The best thing about these speakers so far is the music control. It’s like having your own radio DJ. The both assistants are very smart for playing songs. You can ask these assistants to play your favourite songs or random songs with a specific category.
In addition to the flat-rate music distribution services provided by each company, both are linked with “Spotify” and “Pandora”.
Both of them understood my commands from opposite corners of the room. Google had a slightly better range in my testing, responding more quickly and consistently to requests from a room about 10 meters away.
Google can also operate multiple rooms. I said, “Okay, Google, play Beyoncé in every room,” and he played Beyoncé in every room with Google Home speakers. You can also operate “Chromecast” connected to TVs and speakers. The Echo doesn’t have a similar feature, but the $50 Dot lets you connect Alexa to third-party Bluetooth speakers and hi-fi systems.
However, I prefer the Echo’s richer sound quality and the blue light that indicates Alexa is listening to my commands, so the game ended in a draw. Google’s colorful LED (light-emitting diode) lights are hard to see from a distance.
Personal Robot Showdown: Amazon Echo Wins
Apps and services separate our computers and smartphones from those of others. The games, cooking, and fitness apps installed on my iPhone and your phone are probably different. Google has yet to open up Home to third parties, so the Echo wins when it comes to personal robots.
As for the “skills” in the Alexa app for iPhone and Android, it depends on the app you choose. As for the Twitter skill, Alexa could read my feed aloud. She also gave me breaking news from The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio.
Butler Showdown: Amazon Echo Wins
These assistants are the best smart home devices on the market, but they’re also the best remote controls for lights, thermostats and other appliances.
When combined Amazon’s Echo with Philips’ LED lighting “Hue”, the lighting can be controlled by voice. In my case, I could tell the lights to turn off the lights in the kitchen, and I didn’t have to keep the speakers near the lights.
Amazon is leading the way here as well. Alexa has the skills of most market-leading smart home devices and can operate a wide variety of products. At present, Google is only compatible with temperature controllers developed by Alphabet Inc.’s Nest Labs, Philips’ Hue, and Samsung Electronics application “SmartThings.”
Privacy Showdown: Undecided
These speakers are a lot of fun to use, but having an always-on mic in your home is creepy. And even more so when you’re connected to a giant company’s servers, recording all your orders.
Some people absolutely hate having their data collected automatically, while others don’t really care. Those in between should take note of how these talking speakers work and what data they collect.
The microphones are always listening, but only when you say “Okay Google” or “Alexa” they record and connect to the companies’ servers. These cue words are immediately sent to the cloud.
Both Amazon and Google keep logs of all requests along with user voice recordings. They’re encrypted and stored on each company’s servers, but you can choose to delete them (either in the speaker’s smartphone app or, in Google’s case, on the My Activity webpage). Both speakers also have physical mute buttons. As for the threat of hacking, Google says it employs advanced security technology to protect the home’s system software and encrypts all communications sent and received on the home. Amazon says it uses encryption to protect sensitive communications.
Google is also an advertising company, so it collects Assistant question data just like any other web search. There are currently no voice ads on the Home itself, but that could change. Amazon says it doesn’t use it to target product ads, except for shopping-related questions.
As with any high-tech device, specs are no longer the deciding factor in choosing a device. The point is compatibility with other devices and services used in daily life, and how much personal data is protected.
