While the Amazon Echo and the Google Speaker have tons of amazing, futuristic, and just plain fun features, one thing that people focus on in their reviews is the quality of the speaker. There is good reason for that, though, since streaming music is a big business that is expected to grow even more in the coming years. Today, music lovers can already choose between – or subscribe to them all – Amazon music, iTunes, Spotify, and Pandora streaming services, as well as radio streaming from iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and XM Radio.
While many people will connect their smart home assistants to their home stereos, others will simply use the device itself as a speaker for entertainment. It’s easy to set up, easy to control, and has the streaming apps already connected. These smart speakers are definitely an upgrade from listening to your music on your laptop or your smartphone. Plus, voice control is obviously an easy way to playback, stop, and skip your music. Anything that gets my eyes off of a screen for a little while is alright in my book.
Better than a laptop; better than a smartphone speaker
- Speaker Quality: While these speakers are great options for homes and small spaces, they are really meant for more casual listening. In this space, right now, the Amazon Echo is the winner. Google Home may catch up soon, but for now it just isn’t as good overall.
- Options: While the Amazon Echo beats the Google Home in overall sound quality, it still doesn’t compare to a stereo speaker. Amazon has recognized this and offers options that Google doesn’t. Amazon sells a smaller version of the Echo, called the Dot, which is focused more on being a hub and less on being a speaker. Using this, you can connect your stereo and control it with you voice
- Ease of Control: It’s really no surprise that Google takes the lead here. Its smart technology is just more advanced – and smarter – than that of Amazon. The Google Home device is just better at context than the Amazon Echo right now.
- Looks: Though Amazon recently released a white version of its Echo – so now you can choose between white or black – the Google Home still wins in this category. It kind of looks like a gel air freshener, but it is working.
The other thing to consider is the price. The Google Home is going for $130, which is about $50 cheaper than the Amazon Echo, though the Amazon Dot at full price is only $50. Price shouldn’t really be too much of a factor when you are making your choice. If you want, you can buy a Google Home and an Amazon Dot for the same it would cost you to get an Amazon Echo and that way you’d have so choices on how to use your smart home digital assistants for your music streaming.
What does the future hold for this showdown? Well, Apple is likely to eventually get in on the game, and would use its Siri technology to power the device they release.
If you own both the Amazon Echo and the Google Home devices, try this fun loop:
Ever think about using Alexa for something a little more important…like Email? check out Newton for Alex!
Or for more information about the Google Home, read reviews and how they work here!
