How does the latest smart speaker measure up to the competition? Our GH Institute took it for a test drive.
Google just fired its first shot in the smart speaker battle: Called Google Home ($129, store.google.com), the new device acts a lot like its key competitor, the Amazon Echo ($180, amazon.com). Our engineers in the Consumer Electronics and Engineering Lab in the Good Housekeeping Institute have been testing it out the past week, and noted some key differences between the two devices.
How It Looks
Google Home has a very sleek design and a little more flexibility when it comes to aesthetics than the Amazon Echo. The white speaker is about half the height of the Echo, and comes with interchangeable bases so you can make the color of the speaker match your home. The bases are sold separately, and come in six different fabric and metal options. Google Home uses touchpad controls on the top of the device to control it, unlike the Echo, which has buttons and a dial.
At the moment, there’s only one size available, but they’ll likely add other form factors like Amazon did with the Echo Dot, so you can add multiple Google Home devices around your house.
How It Works
The wake words — “Okay, Google” — tell Google Home that it’s time to perform. We felt the phrase is a bit garbled to say, and isn’t as seamless as the Amazon Echo’s wake word, which is just “Alexa”, plus your request. Google Home runs on Google Assistant, which is the digital assistant that runs on Android phones, so if you’ve been using “Okay, Google” for voice commands there, you might be more used to it.
If you do use Google Assistant on an Android device, Google Home will be able to tell exactly who you’re talking to (the phone or the speaker) because it picks up on the volume of your voice and senses which device is closer. Google Home is really easy to set up and use right out of the box, even if you’re not familiar with Google Assistant.
As you probably guessed, it uses Google as the default search engine. One feature we really liked is that you can “continue a conversation.” You can say, “Okay, Google. How far away is California?” and then “What about Pittsburgh?” and Google Home will reply each time, so you don’t have to to re-ask the question. This feature is really helpful when you’re trying to search for a restaurant and make reservations. Alexa, for the record, can’t hold a conversation.
You can use Google Home for tons of useful things around the house, such as setting timers (you can run multiple timers at once; on Alexa, you can only set one), checking the weather and playing music. Currently, there are only a few connected home devices that you can operate through your Google Home, like Philips Hue and Nest Learning Thermostat, but they’ll likely add more over the next few months.
The touch-pad controls are really easy to use and very responsive. All you have to do is touch the top of the speaker to play or pause a track, or scroll your finger in a circle to adjust the volume. You can also tell Google Assistant to change the volume. You can program Google Home to use one favorite music application, which you can’t do on the Amazon Echo. Google Home can also control your Chromecast, if you use that to stream music and TV shows.
Other Fun Stuff
Our engineers couldn’t get enough of Google Home’s trivia games. They’re available out of the box, so you don’t have to download any extras to enjoy the games, like you do the Amazon Echo. We think the games are a great way to pass time if you’re folding laundry, or need to entertain your kids without screen time. Google Home also has a bit of a sense of humor, which is appreciated. Because it uses Google, the opportunities are pretty much endless. You can ask Google Home to play animal sounds, translate foreign languages, and even beatbox. We’re excited to see what comes next for Google Home, and we hope there’s a lot. Okay, Google?
So, Which Do You Buy?
The Amazon Echo is still better in terms of functionality, but once Google Home supports more smart home products and adds features, it’ll be a great option in a sleek package.
