Amazon Echo vs. Google Nest: Which Smart Speaker Is Best?

The Amazon Echo and Google Nest ( once Google Home ) are n’t just speakers, they ‘re platforms. While their physical hardware does n’t get update very much, the services that power them—Alexa and Google Assistant—are in a constant express of change. A smart speaker is by and large a gateway to a voice adjunct ecosystem. When you choose an Echo or a Nest, you ‘re choosing a side—whether to voice-enable your home with Alexa or Google Assistant. The Echo has been our Editors ‘ Choice achiever for a long time, and it still has a few advantages, like being able to use multiple aftermath words. Alexa has lagged behind a bit in natural terminology understand, though, and the Nest Audio is easier to talk to without remembering specific syntax. But which smart speaker is justly for you ? Let ‘s break down the most important aspects to help you decide .

Alexa vs. Google Assistant

Both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have developed into excellent voice assistants, and nowadays largely function very alike to each other. Either adjunct can answer questions, control smart home devices, and even check your calendar and e-mail ( unless you use G Suite for your study schedule and mail ; Google Assistant calm does n’t work with it ). Alexa has an border with third-party functionality, thanks to thousands of different skills that can do everything from order pizza to read a bedtime report. It tends to require very specific syntax, though, specially when activating and using most of those skills. It makes Alexa a snatch hard to talk to unless you get used to phrasing requests how Alexa wants to receive them. Google Assistant does n’t have about a many third-party plug-ins, but it ‘s much easier to talk to. It can understand different requests more easily than Alexa, and that ‘s identical appeal. PCMag ‘s Angela Moscaritolo illustrated this point in her revue of the second-gen Nest hub : “ At night, I just say, ‘Hey Google, turn off my bedroom lights, ‘ and the room goes dark, ” she wrote. “ When I give Alexa that same command, the virtual assistant responds with, ‘A few things share the name ‘my bedroom lights, ‘ which one did you want ? ‘ When I say, ‘All of them, ‘ Alexa asks, ‘Did you mean my home ? ‘ After this I reply, ‘Yes, ‘ before Alexa says, ‘OK, ‘ and does nothing. ” Alexa leans heavily on Wikipedia for general cognition queries, while Google ‘s search is more comprehensive. One sphere Alexa beats Google, predictably, is shopping-related queries—Alexa truly wants to help you buy things from Amazon .

Both can do things like spell words, set timers, and read you the news. Google Assistant is more colloquial : It will frequently remember what you were talking about or let you carry ideas throughout a conversation. For example, if you ask, “ Who was the leading actor in Taken ?, ” you can follow up with, “ What other movies was he in ? ” The Echo has multiple wake island news options, but only one female spokesperson. You can alert it with “ Alexa, ” “ Amazon, ” “ Echo, ” or “ Computer. ” The Google Home merely has one wake island word option, “ Hey Google, ” but it has both male and female voices .

Which Smart Speaker Will Look Best In Your Home?

Do you like spheres, or do you like rounded rectangles ? The Echo and smaller Echo Dot are orb after their most late redesign, abandoning the cylinder shape of the by. The Echo Dot besides has a interpretation with a built-in clock, which both looks nice and is very utilitarian. The Nest Audio, meanwhile, is shaped vaguely like a pillow stand on its end, while the bantam Nest Mini is more like a puck. Whether you have light or colored interior decoration, either speaker line will have something complementary. The Echo and Echo Dot are both available in black, amobarbital sodium, or white versions ; the Nest Audio comes in black, blue, green, salmon, or whiten, while the Nest Mini has bootleg, blue, salmon, and ashen models. The larger Echo Studio is the most limited, style-wise. The keg-shaped chic speaker entirely comes in a grey black .

How Do Smart Speakers Sound?

The discontinued Google Home Max was well the loudest first-party ache speaker out there, but it ‘s nobelium longer available. now, the Echo Studio is by far the strongest in terms of audio quality, with mighty audio and the ability to fill a board with directional sound thanks to its lean drivers. For the midrange models, the Echo and Nest Audio sound similar, with by and large good audio quality that can well fill a board. The Nest Audio lacks a bit of sea bass, while the Echo does n’t have much soprano delicacy, but both still offer high-quality sound considering their size and price. Stepping down from those models, the Echo Dot has a bit of an boundary over the Nest Mini, which has fairly decrepit sea bass and midrange. Of naturally, these smaller speakers are much more desirable for nightstands and desks than serving as a room ‘s independent sound recording device.

Both platforms support iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, and TuneIn. The Echo besides supports Amazon Music, while the Nests have YouTube Music. Of path, you can besides connect your call to any of these speakers via Bluetooth and stream whatever you want directly .

Smart Home Integration

The bright home brand break between Alexa and Google Assistant has closed, and about all major third-party fresh home device manufacturers work with both. however, Blink and Ring are owned by Amazon, so their devices lone work with Alexa. While Nest is owned by Google, Nest thermostats and cameras still work with Alexa. Both Alexa and Google Assistant let you combine your devices into rooms, so you can say commands like, “ turn on the living room lights. ” They both besides documentation Routines, which let you combine multiple actions into one control. The Echo and Nest speakers both link up to TVs using their associated pour sticks. If you buy a Chromecast or a Fire television Stick, you can tell them to open Hulu or play a usher. several ache TVs, including models from Roku, can be set up to be immediately controlled by either voice assistant .

The Best Smart Speaker

Both voice assistants are neck-and-neck, though we find google Assistant to have a flimsy edge thanks to its better natural language recognition. It does n’t have the act of third-party skills Alexa does, but it ‘s silent robust, and easier to talk to. For arrant audio, Amazon has superior sound with its larger and smaller speaker options, as the Echo Dot sounds better than the Nest Mini, and the Echo Studio no long has any contest from Google in the form of the Home Max. The midrange speakers, the Echo and the Nest Audio, are similar adequate that we put them on equal foothold. The best chic speaker for you ultimately depends on what you plan to use it for. If you want a voice assistant that ‘s easy to talk to, a Nest speaker will be good. If you want the best sound timbre, go with an Echo. And, of run, any smart home devices you already use should be factored into your decision. ultimately, if it ‘s a smart display you ‘re after, head over to our report on the Amazon Echo Show vs. Google Nest Hub .

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