Steve Kovach November 03, 2016 at 02:20PM
After years of hype from the tech industry, we finally have a smart home product that actually makes sense.
WiFi speakers like Amazon's Echo and the new Google Home are brand-new types of computers, letting you do many of the same tasks you're used to on a smartphone with just your voice.
Both the Echo and Google Home are excellent products. But you can only pick one. So, which should you choose?
Let's break it down.
Audio quality
The most disappointing thing about Google Home's hardware is the sound quality. It tends to be high-pitched, which is annoying if you want to listen to anything with some bass.
The Echo has much better sound, including rich bass.
Neither speaker sounds amazing though. Luckily, both have options that let you connect them wirelessly to standard stereo systems. For Home, you can use the $35 Chromecast Audio. For Echo, you can use the $50 Echo Dot.
Winner: Amazon Echo
Accuracy
Both speakers have incredible voice recognition. It even works when music is playing or you're standing across the room.
Winner: Tie
Design
This one is subjective, but I think Google Home looks better than the Echo.
Yes, Home looks kind of like an Air Wick, but it's also more compact and has a more thoughtful design. The smaller size means it's easier to display, and the sloped top is a nice touch. Google could've just made a generic-looking canister, but Home has its own unique look that'll match your home's decor better. Plus, you can customize the design by swapping out the bottom speaker grill with different colors.
The Echo, on the other hand, isn't much to look at. It's just a plain black or white cylinder that gives off a cold, industrial vibe. The lights on top of the Echo are a nice touch, but other than that, it's not nearly as inviting as Home.
Winner: Google Home
Third-party apps and services
Both speakers can do a lot of great stuff out of the box, but things get even better when developers get to add their own apps and services.
So far, there are limited options on Google Home. You can sync it with popular music services like Spotify or Pandora. There's also Uber integration. But you won't find much more than that until more developers are able to build on Google Home.
Echo had over a year's head start on Google Home, and it has hundreds of "skills" from third parties ranging from Capital One to Domino's Pizza. It's definitely the stronger of the two ecosystems.
Winner: Amazon Echo
Intelligence
This is the most important category, and the one that really differentiates the two devices.
While both Google Home and Amazon Echo have plenty of smarts, Google has the advantage here because it's able to tap into the search giant's trove of knowledge and stitch together the various Google services you use like Gmail and Google calendar. All that is thanks to the company's new digital helper, Google Assistant, which is only a few weeks old and already much more impressive than Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri.
Echo can sync with your Google calendar and some other services, but it's simply not as refined as Google Assistant. And in the future, I'm more confident in Google's ability to make Assistant/Home smarter, faster than Amazon can make Alexa/Echo.
Winner: Google Home
Google Home has a slight edge
While both devices are essentially on par with each other, I think Google Home has a slight edge because of Google Assistant. You want these devices to be as smart as possible, and Google has always had the advantage when it comes to AI and machine learning.
Plus, at $129, Google Home is $50 cheaper than the Amazon Echo.
If you want to buy a connected speaker, check out Google Home first.
If you already have an Echo, keep it
Just because I think Google Home is better doesn't mean you should abandon your Echo if you already own one. It's still an incredible device. In fact, I plan on keeping my Echo instead of replacing it with a Google Home. It's that good.
SEE ALSO: The Google Home review
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Should you buy Google Home or the Amazon Echo? (GOOG, GOOGL, AMZN) from Business Insider: Steve Kovach
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