Google Home vs. Alexa: Pros and Cons

Innovative smart home technology fills the 21st-century. Using artificial intelligence, this technology connects by way of a network and can be remotely monitored, accessed, and controlled. One such invention is virtual assistants such as Google Home and Alexa. An ongoing trend in these times is to save time and reduce work. Virtual assistants accomplish those two goals. What is Google Home, and what is Alexa? Also, what are the pros and cons of Google Home vs. Alexa?

What is Google Home?

Google Home is part of Google’s smart speaker’s line. These speakers interact with Google Assistant, Google’s virtual assistant, and is reached through the Internet. Google’s smart speakers include Google Home, Google Home Max, and Google Nest Mini. All of these smart speakers differ in sound quality, price, and size.

Google Home listens to the environment you’re in, but it won’t respond to your commands until you begin with wake words “Ok, Google,” or “Hey, Google.”

You use Google Home powered by Google Assistance as a virtual assistant. Therefore, you can do things like asking for the time, the weather, searching the Web, checking your calendar, make a list, make a purchase, etc.

If you want to use Google to play music, Google uses Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube services. The user chooses one of such services as a default. However, you can access music from any service by asking for it by name.

Google Home can integrate with smart home devices, such as a smart lock. So you can ask the device to lock your home via a smart lock.

What is Alexa?

Amazon Echo is a line of smart speakers by the company Amazon. The speakers connect to the personal assistant service Alexa Voice Services or Alexa, which is voice-activated. You can activate the speaker by first saying “Alexa,” or you can change the command to “Amazon,” “Computer,” or “Echo.” Amazon chose “Alexa” in part because the word contains the letter “X,” which is hard to get confused with other words.

You use Amazon Echo powered by Alexa as a virtual assistant. Therefore, you can do things like asking it for the time, the weather, to buy stuff on Amazon, play music, to turn on the lights, to request an Uber, to link to a pizza place, to search the Web, to check your calendar, make a list, make a purchase, etc. Amazon calls these “skills.”

You can also do a wide range of skills, such as get movie showtimes, order pizza, pay bills with a Capital One app, get advice on pregnancy, track an Amazon package, etc.

Alexa can hook up with smart home devices, such as a smart lock. For example, you can say, “Alexa, goodnight,” which will shut off your lights, lock your door, set the alarm, set your coffee pot to turn on, etc. You can get more info from mimy blog.

What Are the Pros and Cons of Each Device?

Pros of Google Home?

1. No hands are needed.
2. The device can play music.
3. The device comes in three different types.
4. You can use Google Assistant through third-party smart speakers.
5. You can ask Google Assistant to play a TV show. Some TVs have Google Assistance built-in.
6. Google Assistant recognizes up to six distinct voices. Therefore, Google Assistance can offer personalized answers.
7. It has an attractive design.
8. It has access to Google’s search engine. So you can ask it a question as opposed to getting on a laptop, tablet, or phone to search Google.
9. It comes in more than one color, such as white, black, or blue.

Cons of Google Home?

1. It must remain plugged in at all times to work.
2. It cannot read or send messages.
3. The device does not have many control buttons.
4. It is a cloud-based service and can run into problems if there are problems with the cloud.

Pros of Alexa?

1. No hands are needed.
2. It connects with devices such as Fire TV and third-party apps.
3. It can be used in headphones and other devices.
4. It can be used with Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Spot, etc.
5. You can create your own “skills” with Alexa through Amazon Blueprints.

Cons of Alexa?

1. It needs the Internet to work.
2. It takes more than one day to update to new versions.
3. There can be potential problems with privacy regarding Echo private conversations.
4. It is a cloud-based service and can run into problems if there are problems with the cloud.
5. It must remain plugged in at all times to work.

Whether you choose Google Home or Alexa, these devices are designed to make your life easier. Study both devices and decide which one to choose