Smart home assistant devices are on the rise, and with voice recognition technology, things have become all the more convenient for urban dwellers to manage mundane tasks on the go. Lets have a look at the The Updated Comparison of Alexa and Google Smart Home:-
As internet penetration increases all over the world and the emergence of the Internet of Things become more common, people nowadays are looking forward to effective home automation. Both Alexa from Amazon and Google Smart Home are great choices in that category;some particular features and facets could make people beg to differ.
According to a recent study by Tech Jury, global smart home purchases have surpassed the 475 million mark by 2020 and by 2023, 53.9% of US homes will have smart home industry automation.
Moreover, 31% of US broadband household own a smart speaker, with 118 million people in the US engaging in some form of voice search activity at least monthly. Furthermore, smart speaker penetration will grow by 55% by the year 2022, while households will spend $19.4 billion to acquire smart security systems. The Updated Comparison of Alexa and Google Smart Home.
In light of this information, let’s take a quick look at an updated comparison of Alexa and Google Smart Home:
Table of Contents
1. Concerns about User Privacy
To be quite honest, neither Amazon nor Google offer a shining example when it comes to user privacy. The big techs make tons of money by gathering user data as unbeknownst to the majority. These days, the most valuable thing is customer data, of which bigger establishments and marketing enterprises are willing to invest millions of dollars.
This case is similar toApple’s Siri case as well, where both Google and Apple protect your recordings by default. However, Amazon is the only major voice assistant developer that comes with the option of not allowing employees to listen to your voice recording. Nevertheless, it would be best if you still opted out of this option in the settings explicitly. So, in this case, we all whose data is being monetized are at a loss.
2. Ecosystems Do Vary
If you are looking for a voice assistant at home, you would definitely be interested in building ecosystems around the main device that can help you accomplish greater home automation. It is all about interconnectivity, compatibility, and interactivity that can make things more convenient for you to manage just using your voice’s power. Here is a breakdown of whose side you are choosing:
- Google’s first-party devices include the likes of three sizes of Google Home speakers, Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max smart displays, the Chromecast, and pretty much every Android phone.
- Amazon offers the Alexa-enabled tablets, the Echo Plus with a Zigbee hub, medium-size Echo, small Echo Dot. These are three sizes of smart displays from the Echo Spot to the Echo Show 5, to name a few.
3. Hardware
The Amazon Echo and Google Home aren’t simply just speakers. They are made to work as platforms. Hence, when it comes to hardware, you can expect that it doesn’t get updated quite as often as the software. Here is a quick comparison of the Google’s Nest Mini (2nd Generation) and the Amazon Echo Flex, both of which were released in 2019:
- Amazon Echo Flex – Fire OS 5.3.3 or later, Android 5.1 or later, iOS 11.0 or later, microphone mute, 1 x 1/8″/3.5 mm audio output, 1 USB Type-A, A2DP & ADVRCP supported Bluetooth profiles, Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz. Dimension 2.83″ x 2.64″ x 2.05″ and weight of 5.3 Oz.
- Google Next Mini – Synaptics AS-370 1.4GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53, Bluetooth 5.0. Dimension 3.85″ x 1.65″ and weight of 6.3 Oz.
4. Intelligent Software
Today we are living in an era where both Amazon and Google have made incredible changes to make their products well rounded. Not only have they honed their software skills, but they have also cleared the mess of the previous generations of smart home devices. Here is how they are battling it out:
- Google is now more focused on Google Assistant and shutting down the Nest program; however, it didn’t go well as users found they were unable to connect with popular third-party services, including IFTTT.
- Amazon has included Zigbee support; however, other than it isn’t doing much to support market expansion. However, Alexa’s one API enables any hardware vendor to create Alexa-compatible products.
5. Looks, Do Matter
There are those who go for the looks, and in the end, the aesthetical appeal of the product gets them finally. There is no doubt that attractive things do get the most of our attention; hence in this comparison, I also decided to compare these two smart speaker devices based on their presence and appearances.
- The latest Amazon Echo comes with several removable fabric and wood covers with neutral colors. The top of the Echo has a volume ring that lights up whenever Alexa is activated.
- Google Home goes for bolder colors and a metallic look. The device itself comes in white with swappable fabric and metal bases. These metal bases are available in seven colors. The LEDs light up in four colors when it’s listening.
6. Prices
For many users out there, the deal-breaker or the deal maker can be the price point. If you are a budgeted user who wants convenience at an affordable price, then the label on the tag does matter. Here is a quick comparison for all you out there:
- The all-new Amazon Echo 4th generation is here, and you can get it from anywhere around $79.99 to $99.99 with a much spherical shape.
- You can find the latest Nest Audio at the Google Store starting from $79.99, while the Google Home Max goes for $299, offering the highest quality of sound, deep bass, and plenty of volume for a party.
7. Smart Home Integration
By the end of the day, we can all set things aside and focus entirely on how these two home assistants can actually help in your smart home integration. Here is a quick summary for both to let you decide:
- Amazon owns both Blink and Ring, and this means Alexa is the only preferable choice.
- Google owns Nest, and pretty soon, Nest devices will no longer feature Alexa compatibility.
Both the devices offer you the ability to control and combine multiple actions into one command, add devices, and support routines. Plus, both Echo and Google Home can link to your TV using associated streaming sticks. So if you are a student opting for the best essay writing service, the choice can be a tad bit difficult as the gap between the two is quite narrow and making a decision is quite difficult.
8. The Sound
Audiophile is basically a person. The one who is particular about high-fidelity sound reproduction. They seek to reproduce the sound of a live musical performance, typically in a room with good acoustics. So if you are anywhere near that definition, there is no question that the quality of sound does become a priority for you.
Not downplaying the Echo in any way, but the Google Home does offer a much richer and better-rounded sound. Nevertheless, it is important to know that both devices also offer you support for iHeartRadio, Spotify, TuneIn, and Pandora.
While the Echo supports Amazon Music, the Google Home supports Google Play Music and YouTube Red. On the other hand, the Echo has a 3.5mm out jack to connect to a more powerful speaker, while the Google Home doesn’t offer such a function.
9. Voice Control
Let’s talk about the feature that gets you to use and controlling both the products, which is none other than the voice control itself. The Echo offers a female voice, and to alert her, you can go with “Alexa“, “Amazon”, “Echo” or even “Computer”. Whereas Google Home offers only one wake word option:”Hey Google, ” it offers both male and female voices.
Conclusion
The power to control your devices through the use of your voice is still quite enthralling to most of us and gives off the feel of being in command of your house. No wonder people have fallen in love with smart speakers ever since they emerged, and both Google Smart Home and Alexa are great contenders.
Hopefully this post was able to offer you some meaningful insights as to how do they compare across various features and facets to help you make an informed decision. Cheers, and all the best for your future endeavors. The Updated Comparison of Alexa and Google Smart Home.