APPS & BOTS
Apple’s Siri might have officially been the first digital assistant, but recently it’s been left in the dust. As much as we love Apple, Siri has always been a little wonky, although there are rumors of Apple trying to get back in the game. So what’s in the market for digital assistants? The two biggest competitors right now are Amazon’s Echo (also known as Alexa) and Google’s Google Home. Here at The News we’ll rank them and tell you how they match up against each other.
Both of them are great devices and highly futuristic (which brings us one step closer to being in the world of iRobot, but that’s another story). We’re going to sum up what we consider to be the most important features to help you make the decision.
Price: In terms of price Google Home is the winner at $130 dollars to Amazon’s $180.
Waking Up: This one goes to Amazon as it’s easier to call out one word (Alexa, Echo, Computer or Amazon are all the possibilities) than having to go Ok Google or Hey Google every time you want to activate it.
Music Streaming: It’s a tie. Both of them include their own services (like Prime Music or Google Play).
Is it customizable? Google’s is and the Echo isn’t, so the point goes to Google.
Does it have an output to stereo feature? Another tie as both can achieve this.
How is the personal assistant? You can do more things with the Home than with Echo, but as always it depends on what exactly you are looking for. If you want to make a shopping list, check on a flight or track a package both can do it, but the Home can also check Google.
Special Features: This again depends on your preference, but it seems Alexa and their ever-growing skills takes the lead.
They both have their advantages and disadvantages. The Echo understands better, but with the Home can be trained to recognize multiple family members’ voices and to tell them apart. At the moment, this gives Google a slight lead, although all of them are improving as time goes on. You know what they say, nothing makes a project better than a little competition.