Amazon Echo, Apple HomePod or Google Home
Amazon Echo, Apple Homepod or Google Home. Choosing the Best Smart Speaker for You
Amazon’s echo , Apple’s homepod, and the Google Home are devices housing intelligent virtual assistants and have been around for a while, and for good reason. Each of these AI home assistants make life easier for you and your family.
Year after year artificial intelligence is getting smarter and smarter, with recent updates helping to improve it’s usability; updates such as continued conversation with Amazon’s Alexa without having to repeat its name “Alexa” everytime when asking it questions, Siri recognizing more than one users when talking to it and Google assistant employing the use of a human-sounding voice AI to assist you with booking appointments, reservations and more.
Before we list out the Pros and Cons of getting one of these devices, we need to know what an intelligent virtual assistant is? Differences between the top three smart speakers Amazon’s echo, Apple’s homepod and the Google home devices based on size comparison, features, price, ecosystem integration, privacy and new updates.
What is an Intelligent Virtual Assistant?
An intelligent virtual assistant is a programmed entity coded in software which interacts and converses with humans in a human-like manner. It’s an interactive voice controlled assistant which utilizes modern artificial intelligence to deliver responses and has the ability to converse with users. Examples are Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Google assistant and so on.
After knowing what an intelligent virtual assistant is, it’s important to know the differences between the various smart home speakers. Below are the different categories used to differentiate the three devices, this helps you to choose the best smart home speaker based on what you require or need in a smart home speaker
1. Size Comparison
When buying a smart speaker it’s necessary to know the size of the speaker you are getting, that is if what you want is a small speaker that doesn’t take up much space in the house you might want to go for the echo or google home, as they are the smallest of the lot, while the homepod demands some planning, due to the relative space it occupies.
2. Features
Smart speakers shouldn’t just be for controlling your home. They should able be able to interact with everything digital you do. With the Google Home, Amazon Echo, or Apple HomePod you can do things like check weather, set reminders, alarms, and so on and all three support voice calls, while the echo has features like integration into Amazon’s shopping services, tracking your packages and ability to read you books, Google Home has access to search and deliver requests for you via Chromecast, Chromebook and has the ability to support multiple Google Home devices tailoring your commands based on previous data searched, the Homepod system supports only Apple products and Apple music platforms while echo and google home currently offer more choice for both music streaming services and compatible smart home products.
3. Price
When choosing the best smart speaker for you, it’s improtant to know the price of the speaker you want, so as to not spend more than your budget. Out of the three devices, Apple’s homepod is the most expensive while Amazon’s second generation echo and Google home both costs around the same price.
4. Ecosystem Integration
This is a feature that you should look out for when buying a smart speaker, as this means your smart home speaker will be able to control a wide range of smart devices, from your TVs to your washing machines, vaccums and so on. The Amazon Echo works with nearly as many devices as the Google Home, working with your voice and without much difference in how you interact. While because of Apple’s restricted ecosystem, the Homepod isn’t as compatible with many smart devices as the Google Home or the Echo.
5. Privacy
When looking to choose a smart speaker, you might want to go for one in which your privacy is secured depending on if you wish to keep your data private. Google and Amazon log the data from any requests made and link them to your online accounts on both the Echo and Google Home speakers. This data is stored on both Amazon’s and Google ‘s servers respectively, which can be used to tailor your next request, and also is available to anyone who uses your smart speaker. While the HomePod doesn’t do this your Siri data is encrypted and private, and isn’t linked to your Apple account either. If you want a smart speaker that can keep your data private, the HomePod is a great choice.
6. New Updates
With the new updates added to Google, Amazon and Apple assistants it’s necessary to know about the new updates present in the smart speaker you wish to get. This year Amazon recently updated Alexa to be able to handle more than one related request, without having to say ‘Alexa’ multiple times and also increased it’s natural language vocabulary. Google recently updated it’s assistant to sound more human like and Siri is getting an update that will allow multiple users on its Homepod speaker.
After listing all the above features we can now list out the pros and cons of each smart speaker; this will further help us to make the right choice when choosing a smart speaker.
Amazon Echo
Pros
- Small size
- Supports multiple smart home devices
- Relatively cheap
- Supports multiple online platforms
- Wide range of skills
Cons
- Command prompt is repetitive
- Data is not secure
Apple Homepod
Pros
- Supports all Apple connected Devices
- Data privacy is secured
- Supports all Apple online platforms
Cons
- Locked only to Apple platforms and devices
- Siri request skills are limited
- Expensive
Google Home
Pros
- Relatively cheap
- Wide range of skills
- Small size
- Supports multiple online platforms and users
- Supports a wide array of smart devices
Cons
- Data privacy is absent
Conclusion
After listing the above features, the pros and cons of each smart speaker. Getting a smart speaker for your home depends on the features you seek in a smart speaker if what you seek is a wide variety of skills, with a broad range of support for your smart home devices with deep Google integration you can go for the Google Home, if what you want is a small smart speaker with access to your Amazon account and audible books and integration with your smart device you can go for the Echo. If what you care about is your privacy and integration with your Apple products, the Apple homepod should be your choice, but it comes at a cost higher than the rest.
Check out the Latest Price for the Amazon Echo Dot: https://amzn.to/2OyejuW
