Advertisement

Google Home vs. Amazon Echo - The Best Smart Speaker to Buy on Black Friday

vivian michaels
Updated ·4 min read
0

The speaker is quite an early innovation and invention. However, its use is continuously progressing and growing over time. Many are the times we are told that speakers are output devices, but today you can't be more wrong. Speakers are being used to communicate and interactively converse with you, conduct searches and give you the desired output altogether. The advancements can be credited to the new era that incorporates the use of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has made it easier and more complex to define or state the specific function of a speaker without being faulted. The Amazon Echo and Google Home are some of the best and latest smart speakers. Here is more information about the two.

Shape and size

The smart speakers are designed in cylindrical shapes. This applies to both the Google Home and Amazon Echo. Google Home design and shape is quite homely and if put together with other things in a home, it is difficult to identify it as it assimilates and totally blends with the environment. It is also easy to set it up and begin use. You only need an app, Android or iOS and it's a go. Amazon Echo stands out as a speaker and requires its own stand. Its ability to blend in with the specific home environment is not that smooth. Setting it up requires you to have the Echo App from Amazon or a web browser. The device used must have an Android platform or OS 4.5.1.

Privacy

Privacy with the advancement in technology especially in the future of artificial intelligence is a hard thing to achieve. The presence of virtual assistants continuously poking through our information with the aim of being proactive and delivering the needed assistance at the right time doesn't help either. The speakers are same in regards to their connection to our Google and Amazon accounts. Their microphones are always ready to pick up information whenever it is being communicated to them. However, Google and Amazon have made the devices in a way that you have to activate and deactivate them when not in use, contributing to a bit of privacy. Google home, is activated with the phrase "Ok Google" while Amazon Echo is activated with the name "Alexa".

Functionality

The smart speakers have similar functionalities and features. They allow you as the user to stream videos especially music, listen to personal music collection and offer you total control in relation to the IoT or the internet of things. They support different IoT including Samsung SmartThings, Nest, IFTTT and Phillips Hue. In addition, with Google Chromecast and Amazons Echo Dot you can play audio using the different electronic devices at your disposal including home stereo, televisions, other existing audio speakers, etc. Google Chromecast streams video to the same, but Amazon Echo requires the Amazon Fire Stick and the Alexa Voice Remote to have the ability to stream videos.

Personal Assistants

Google is making news when it comes to personal assistants especially with the recently launched Google Pixel. In fact, Google Assistant is a tool that can be used across multiple devices with Android or the iOS systems. You can also add the Allo app to be able to interact with it via text. If you own the Google Pixel, you have an advantage as the assistant can the operated using both text and voice input. Furthermore, interacting with Google home via Google assistant is smooth without hiccups. Issuing a command is received with a prompt answer or with the required information. This is where Google beats Amazon Echo as its assistant can be used across devices while with Amazon Echo you have to learn to use a different assistant each time.

Amazon Echo also provides essential services with its assistant Alexa. However, its applications answers offered, and interactions are not as smooth as with the Google Home. You can use it for simple tasks such as ordering different products and items from Amazon. Furthermore, it is directly connected to your Amazon accounts, which makes it easy to make and receive orders. Amazon Echo has many third party elements that aim at assisting it to reach the Google home in terms of assistants.

Voice Recognition

It is the base on which the best of assistants operate on. High voice recognition sensitivity means that the results or answers issued will be as required. This is what Google Home with its Google Assistant represent. Google Home has a proper understanding of queries asked when compared to the Amazon Echo. This doesn't mean that Amazon Echo does not comprehend the questions asked but only that Google Home exceeds its capabilities.

Conclusion

The smart speakers are quite spectacular and unique devices. Therefore, when it comes to making a purchase decision, it is difficult to select one. You would rather purchase the two and have an experience of both. However, Google Home has indicated that it has more capabilities and benefits in relation to Amazon Echo. This Black Friday, the two will be up for grabs. It is essential that you make a decision now before the day expires and you are left out.