Google’s fancy new Google Home digital assistant is an intriguing little device. In a similar vein to the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, it’s your own little private butler of sorts, helping you manage your day-to-day activities and play music too. It’s already out in the US, but how can we get Google Home in the UK?
At the time of writing, Google has no plans to launch Google Home outside of the States. Fingers crossed we’ll see Google Home launch in the UK in the near future, in the same way our friends across the pond got Amazon’s Echo almost a year before we did. Hopefully, Google Home will launch in the UK in 2017.
News: Amazon Echo gets IFTTT support
Amazon’s Echo digital assistant has received full IFTTT support in the UK. Allowing you to set custom rules and settings for applications in order to perform a specific set of rules and tasks, you can now get a telling off whenever a fitness goal isn’t completed for instance, or your calendar updates every time you get a Gmail invite.
Lagging a little behind Alexa owners in the States, who have had this hacking ability for little over a year now, finally UK owners can take full advantage of Alexa’s capabilities. You’ll need to activate the Alexa skill, but you’re good to go once you’ve done that. Hack away!
Google Home has had IFTTT integration since the beginning, even if it did launch just under a year after its Amazon equivalent. That being said, here’s everything you need to know about Google Home, and how to get one in the UK.
How to get Google Home in the UK
Getting a Google Home device over to the UK at the moment is a little tricky and there’s no guarantee it’ll be anything more than an expensive ornament once it gets here. Even after going through all the trouble to get one in your home, it won’t really work as intended.
While Google’s own services such as Calendar, Drive and Gmail should technically work, other stuff like subscription-based YouTube Red for instance, isn’t even available in the UK yet. Pair that with the fact it might not recognise your British voice and you might have wasted your money. That being said, there is a way to get one sent to the UK.
If you’re lucky enough to have a relative who lives Stateside, you could ask nicely to ship one over. If not, there are a couple of services on offer that could help source a Google Home unit for you. Of course, you could always just get one from the Google Play Store yourself, although you’ll need a US address and a way to ship it over to your UK home.
While you wait for Google Home’s official UK release, here’s absolutely everything you need to know.
Google Home: UK Release date and price
Undercutting the Amazon Echo by $50, Home is a considerably cheaper option at $129. While there’s no word yet on a global release date, we do know you can pre-order Home right now in the US, and it’ll be in stores in the states on November 4.
Google Home: Everything you need to know
Cutting it short, Google Home is a Wi-Fi-enabled Bluetooth speaker powered by Google Assistant, which also uses Google’s own search engine too. It’s voice-powered, with only a capacitive touch panel on the top of the wonderfully dinky little device.
It should fit nice and snug on your bookshelf or on top of your chest of drawers without taking up too much space. It’s not as tall as the Echo but does have a slightly bigger footprint, though.
It’s got different customisable bottoms too, in various colours and finishes to match it up with your home décor. Underneath the swappable base you’ve got a fancy high-excursion speaker for audio playback. At the top you’ve got four LEDs, in Google colours, for interacting with it.
It looks a little bit like a large baby monitor, but for adults. You can ask it all sorts of stuff, from a morning schedule briefing, to phrase translations ahead of your holiday. I’ll be heading off to Rome soon, so “Where’s the pub?” in Italian would be something useful to learn.
There’s clearly a significant draw with Google Home compared to its Echo rival. Firstly, its main purpose isn’t really in driving e-commerce such as with Echo’s insistence on buying content through Amazon’s own services.
Another big appeal is that if you’re already invested in the Google architecture, what with Drive, Gmail, Play Music and Video, you’ll fit right in with Home. It syncs directly to your Google account, and can help manage pretty much any aspect of it, should you let it.
Home can connect to pretty much any wireless smart device in your home. You’ll be able to turn your lights on and off if you choose to connect it to Nest for instance, and can even set timers and alarms on any device that’s currently connected. You’ll be able to set it up with IFTTT, Samsung SmartThings and Phillips Hue too, for a super-connected home.
By far the most intriguing aspect is Home’s own audio-casting feature. Much like Amazon Echo’s connectivity with their Fire tablets, you’ll be able to stream music from any Android device, using it as a sort of visual hub to control your tunes. You can also stream video to your TV via YouTube and Netflix soon if you’re so inclined.
As with any always-listening device in your home, a couple of privacy concerns are flagged up. Google has made it clear, though, that it’ll only listen for things you actually give it permission to. Home can learn all sorts of details about you, your calendar, emails and family schedule, but only if you let it. Want to mute the mic? Just press the button on the front.
Google WiFi
There’s another Google router making its way to your homes soon too. Google WiFi, priced at $129, is significantly cheaper than Google’s other OnHub offerings. The fancy thing about Google WiFi is that it forms a sort of mesh network that links multiple routers together to cover your entire home. We’re already being heavily encouraged to take advantage of this, with a three-pack on sale for $299.
Network monitoring is easily the best feature about Google’s newest router. Google WiFi will constantly monitor for network congestion, moving devices to different channels for speedier performance. We’ve all suffered from major network congestion in the past and hopefully, this will be the end of it. You’ll also be able to control connected devices and WiFi settings, helping to remove the hassle of frequent router management.
The router comes with two Gigabit Ethernet ports for wired connectivity and supports Wireless AC1200 2×2 which can use multiple network channels simultaneously. As is the case with Google Home, we won’t be seeing Google WiFi make an appearance in the UK just yet, but expect it to launch in the US in November.
Google Home: Early verdict
It looks to be a pretty heated contest between both Google and Amazon in the digital voice assistant race. While the Echo has had a decent head start, without any proper competition, Home just might shake things up a little. As for who’ll be crowned the winner, we’ll have to wait and see until I get some more quality time with Home.
Considering we won’t be getting Google Home in the UK at the same time as our friends over the pond, Amazon has the crown for the time being, at least over here. Of course, we’ll be giving Google Home a proper test if and when it finally hits our shores so check back at Expert Reviews for our full review.
