In recent years, the smart speaker they are playing an increasingly important role in people's daily lives, thanks also to the advent of smart devices that can be controlled via voice commands. The smart universe is expanding more and more and the more you advance in time, the more competition is. a classic example is given by the comparison between Google Home e Amazon Echo, which are the most used smart speakers at the moment.
But what is a smart speaker? Let's start immediately by clarifying what it is: Google Home and Amazon Echo, designed by Google and Amazon respectively, are devices capable of connecting to Wi-Fi, and through voice commands given by the user on duty they are able to perform tasks and answer questions. By communicating with Google Home you will interact with Google Assistant, in the case of Amazon Echo instead you will have to deal with Alexa: different voice assistants who share some characteristics and differ in others. Let us now assume that there is no winner, so we can't tell you which one is best. However, based on some characteristics, you may prefer to use one device rather than the other.
Alexa vs Google Assistant
The most important thing to determine right away which product might be right for you is to understand which voice assistant is right for you. There are several ways to understand this:
- The use you are going to make with the device: if you will use the speaker to listen to music, search online, control smart devices
- The ecosystem: the services and products you use on a daily basis are essential for choosing the device to use. In fact, for example, if you did a lot of searches with Google or used its services, choosing Google Home would make more sense. On the other hand, if you use a lot of Amazon and its services (such as Prime video or Amazon Music) and want to know the details of a shipment in real time, then an Echo product is the most suitable.
Functionality
Thanks to the use of voice assistants, it is possible to perform various functions using the voice commands. As you well know, thanks to Alexa and Google Assistant it is possible:
- Request weather news
- Learn the latest news from the news
- Manage commitments
- Set timers and alarms
- Listen to music
These, then, are activities that can be done with both voice assistants. The difference, however, lies in the services used. In fact, if Google can rely on its own strength to carry out searches, Alexa relies on other search engines. On the other hand, Amazon's home voice assistant is more reliable when it comes to shopping, including news and product search within the largest ecommerce service in the world.
Voice assistance and intelligence
As previously mentioned, with regard to vocal assistance, some clarifications must be made:
- With regard to the search, Google has an advantage as its search engine is unrivaled; Alexa, in this case, relies on other search engines such as Bing
- On the requests of products or information on certain items, Alexa definitely has the upper hand for obvious reasons, as it exploits the potential of Amazon
- Talking about the conversazione, Alexa has a voice that appears more natural and knows how to recognize our voice more accurately. On the other hand, Google is able to better understand our requests, even if they are not very precise. With Alexa, on the other hand, you have to use a language accurate and be careful of Pronounce used
- Even in the case of a greater number of users, Google Assistant offers a better experience than Alexa, which could create some problems when using it. The Amazon home voice assistant, however, does provide a very useful feature called under item mode, which allows the user to interact with the device even whispering
Smart home e domotica
What about home automation, then? In this field, the two assistants work very well and offer a very similar experience, although there are some differences. The Amazon home voice assistant, in fact, plays an important role when it comes to smart home, thanks to continuous updates and the introduction of new features.
- Google Assistant makes certain actions connecting to smart devices
- Alexa, on the other hand, has the skills, that is, functions that can be activated that allow you to perform various operations (especially with smart devices). The skills are constantly updated by developers and are the reason why many people prefer to use the Amazon home assistant
Technical specifications of the devices
After doing a general comparison on the features (mostly on the software side), we can continue with the list of all the features of the devices, which could prove to be more or less fundamental in the purchase of the smart speaker.
All devices
Both Amazon and Goggle provide a vast catalog of products to choose from according to your needs.
From Google we can find:
- Nest Mini: very small but functional loudspeaker, to be controlled only with the voice
- Nest audio: speaker characterized by larger dimensions and a very powerful sound
- Nest Hub: smart speaker also equipped with a touchscreen display, able to show different contents such as photos from the gallery or videos on YouTube
- Google Home Mini: device very similar to Nest Mini (it has one less microphone), adaptable to any room given its elegance
If you want to learn more about the specifications of the Google home devices you can easily go inside the official page dedicated to the comparison of devices.
For Amazon, the list of devices is certainly longer:
- Echo Dot - 3rd generation: the best-selling and loved smart speaker of the Amazon line, it allows you to perform numerous operations such as listening to music, setting timers and updating the user with the latest news
- Echo Dot - 4rd generation: the new design of the Amazon home device, revolutionized compared to the previous version
- Echo Show 5/8/10: smart speaker also equipped with a touchscreen of variable size (from 5 to 10 inches depending on the model) which allows you to make, in addition to the classic operations, also calls and video calls with friends and relatives who in turn have a compatible Echo device or the Alexa app
- Echo - 4th generation: thanks to the new look and new audio features, this device presents itself as a complete and reliable smart speaker, adaptable to any environment
- Echo Studio: the most complete device of the whole range, consisting of 5 speakers that offer the user a sensational audio experience
- Echo Spot: compact smart speaker equipped with a screen, capable of adapting to any type of environment and performing all the classic operations we have talked about so far.
Design
Speaking of design, the choice must be made purely according to your preferences. In fact, both devices can be combined with any type of environment and room, guaranteeing elegance and refined colors. What is certain is that, depending on the type of device you take, the shape and color will be different. It will therefore be essential to carefully choose the device suitable for your room so that you are satisfied with the purchase.
Audio
As far as the 'audioInstead, some clarifications need to be made:
- If you need a device from superlative audio quality you don't have to turn to these two smart speakers: in fact, the audio quality is certainly good, but not at the level of the best speakers around. However, you can still pair the Google / Amazon home device with a speaker via Bluetooth
- On the contrary, if you want to take advantage of the devices to simply listen to the music, you can easily rely on these speakers with good audio quality
- The differences between the two devices are not so significant as to prefer choosing one over the other. Sure, if you want to be picky, you could say that the Google Home has deeper bass, but on the other hand, the Amazon Echo has the upper hand when it comes to audio quality.
Conclusions
Then? Who is the winner between Google Home and Echo Dot? As anticipated at the beginning of the article, the choice depends on the use of ecosystems and on one's needs.
Before buying the right device for you, you will first need to choose which one voice assistant favorite!
If you are going to:
- fully use the Google ecosystem
- use the smart speaker for research and news
- have a conversation that is as natural as possible
Then you will have to choose Google Assistant, and consequently Google Home.
On the contrary, if you prefer:
- a better home automation experience
- a device that helps you in shopping
- a device integrated perfectly with Amazon's services
- a more versatile device
Then you will have to opt for the devices of the range Echo from Amazon.
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