Google Home's AI Butler Could Challenge Amazon's Alexa

By Donna Bellevue , Apr 08, 2017 05:10 AM EDT

Google Home is the company's direct rival to Amazon's Echo smart speaker Alexa, which aims to provide a charming and practical functional fixture at home. It has just launched in the UK, and already early reviews of this multipurpose device all point to one single direction: a bright future. Acting as the modern home's AI butler, the product certainly paves the way for the company to show its chops in tech and its ability to perform as well as any other latest smart product currently in the market.

Available to be purchased from the company's store for £129, this ornamental-looking device is cheaper than Amazon's Alexa. Designed to provide users with long-term help around the house, it's important for this gadget to have the factors that would make homeowners readily satisfied with its overall value. In this way, three important factors should be considered for this review: design, feature, and Google Assistant.

According to Mirror Online, Google Home's short and squat design is a big plus compared to Amazon's Echo which is a little bulky and has the look of an electronic equipment. The Home speaker simply looks unassuming and clearly follows the concept of minimalistic style in design, effectively blending in with the home decor. Its sloping top is touch-sensitive and allows you to roll your finger around it to raise or lower the volume.

There's only one button on the entire device which is the mute option for the microphone if you feel more comfortable with it not listening to all your "Hey, Google" commands. According to The Independent, in terms of sound features, Home performs decently as a voice-controlled speaker and plays any songs on command with minimum fuss. However, with its volume and quality, it won't be able to replace a fully-functional hi-fi setup especially when you want the music to fill a large room.

With its superior Google Assistant, it has the stellar performance of Google's search engine, allowing you to ask complex questions in a very natural way. Plus you can ask follow-up questions which makes the command-speaker process much more like a conversation. In conclusion, the search giant built a decent and more affordable AI butler than its rival company, but it could still make its smart speaker better by enhancing the volume and giving Google Assistant a lot more skill set like Alexa.

Real Time Analytics