Amazon Echo vs. Google Home — Which Is Best for You?

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If you’re looking for a smart speaker for your home, you may be wondering whether Amazon Echo or Google Home is your best choice. The decision may be even more difficult now as new features are being added to both.

Some helpful skills have been added as these two major tech companies battle each other in the smart speaker arena. Many of these changes have been in response to the competition between the two devices.

The more you know, the more informed your decision will be. Whether you’re looking for a gift for others or considering a smart speaker for yourself, this comparison may help you see the advantages of each smart speaker.

About the Smart Speakers

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo was the first smart speaker, launched in in June 2015 with Alexa as the digital assistant. Over the years, Alexa’s skills have increased to over 15,000 making her much more useful than before. This year the second generation Echo was introduced, along with the Echo Show that has a screen.

Other Echo devices include Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Look and the upcoming Echo Spot.

Learn more about the latest Echo devices at Amazon Expands Alexa with More Devices and Skills.

The base price for a second generation Amazon Echo is $99.99. Look for sale prices available during the holiday season.

Google Home

Google Home, with the Google Assistant digital assistant, was introduced November 2016 and updated this year. Google also launched Google Home Mini, a smaller speaker at a lower price, and Google Home Max, a bigger speaker for music fans.

See => Google Announces New Phones, Laptop, Speakers, and Much More for more information about Google Home and Google Mini.

The base price for a Google Home speaker is $129, though sale prices may be available during the holidays.

[note]Want Google Assistant for your older Android phone or tablet? Good news, Google announced yesterday that Google Assistant will be coming to devices running older versions of Android. Learn more at the Google Blog post The Google Assistant: coming to tablets and more Android phones. [/note]

What About Apple’s HomePod?

Note that Apple’s HomePod smart speaker using Siri was initially supposed to be launched this month. But a few weeks ago, Apple announced its delay until next year. “We can’t wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple’s breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it’s ready for our customers. We’ll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018.”

Skills and Actions

What can a smart speaker do? Plenty.

Smart speakers can be a source of information, providing search results, weather and traffic updates, calendar updates, unit conversions, and more. They can play music directly from music services and connect with your phone using Bluetooth. They can also connect to your streaming video players to control them using your voice commands.

Amazon Echo

Amazon Echo, with its multi-year head start over Google Home, has over 15,000 skills. Each Friday, Amazon announces new skills for Alexa, so expect that number to keep increasing.

Use skills in categories such as weather, connected car, education & reference, food & drink, health & fitness, and smart home.

Ask Alexa what she can do, ask her to play music, or ask her to help you relax. She can guide you to the skills that are most useful to you.

Learn more at => What Can Alexa Do? Here’s a New Way to Discover Her Skills.

Google Home

Google Home has dozens of actions you can do with Google Assistant, including playing music, controlling compatible smart home devices, controlling Chromecast, sending information to your phone, checking your Google calendar, playing games, and using third-party apps.

Check out Android Authority, The complete list of services with Google Home support (Updated).

Home Decor

If you like your tech to be decorative, the good news is that you have more options than ever for the look of your smart speakers.

Amazon Echo

For the original Echo, Amazon followed Henry Ford’s famous quote about the Model T, “You can have any color as long as it’s black.” But the second generation Echo comes in seven different colors with fabric, wood and other finishes, including the limited edition Red.

You can also get a shell for the second generation Echo if you want to change its look. Echo Shells come in six different colors and materials, and begin at $19.99.

Google Home

Currently, Google Home has seven different color and material options. Google Home also has interchangeable bases so you don’t have to buy a new unit if you want to change the color scheme of your room.

 

The base price for a Google Home base is $20.

Playing Music

These smart speakers are, well, speakers, so they can also bring music into your home. Both speakers can connect to your phone, tablet and computer using Bluetooth so can play music from those devices.

But to make them smart speakers, you need to use one of the partner music services. That way you can use your voice to control what’s playing.

You can ask for music by title, artist, genre and more. Use your voice to play, pause, skip to the next song, and shuffle the songs.

If you subscribe to a music service supported by one of these smart speakers, that may help make your choice between the two much easier.

Amazon Echo

Amazon has two native music services that work with the Echo: Prime Music and Amazon Music Unlimited. Prime Music has two million songs and is a benefit for Prime members. Amazon Music Unlimited has over 40 million songs available for streaming and is available for with a paid subscription.

Amazon recently announced that Amazon Music Unlimited is now available in 28 additional countries.

In addition to Amazon music services, Echo works with Pandora, TuneIn, SiriusXM and iHeart Radio.

Google Home

Google Home works with music services Google Play Music, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube Red. Both the free and premium services are supported for Google Play Music, Pandora and Spotify.

Find out more about using Google Home with music at the Google Home Music help page.

Linking Speakers

With smart speakers, you can create a whole-house audio system, without needing to run wires through your walls.

Amazon Echo

Amazon updated Echo speakers this summer with Multi-Room Music so you can create groups of speakers. With a group, you can play the same song on Echo speakers throughout your house. The music will sync with the speakers in the group so you can move room to room listening to the same song.

Note that Multi-Room Music only works with supported music services such as Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn and iHeart Radio.

Learn more at Amazon Multi-Room Music Syncs Songs on Multiple Echo Speakers.

Google Home

Google Home also lets you create groups with multiple devices to play music throughout your home. You can also add Chromecast audio devices to the group as well for more music options.

Learn how to set up a group for your Google Home and Chromecast audio devices at the Google Help page: Create groups for Google Home devices and speakers.

Voice Identification

If you live with other people, you may want a smart speaker that learns your voice to know who you are. That way, when you speak commands, your smart speaker will be smart enough to provide you with a personal response.

Google Home

When Google announced the updates to Google Assistant in October, they included Voice Match. This feature lets you teach Google Assistant to recognize your voice. This way, it can respond personally to requests such as, “What’s on my calendar for today?”

Amazon Echo

Amazon responded quickly with a voice identification feature for Alexa a few weeks after Google announced Voice Match. Now you can set up Voice Profiles on Alexa so she will give personal responses based on who is asking the question.

Check out => How to Get Amazon Alexa to Recognize Your Voice for Personal Responses.

Screen Time

If you prefer to see answers to your questions, as well as hear them, you may want a smart speaker with a screen.

Amazon Echo Show

Echo Show with its screen display may be your best (and only) option for now, if you’re looking for a smart speaker that comes with a screen. With Echo Show, you can read recipes, watch videos and see song lyrics as music is playing from one of Amazon’s music services.

See => Echo Show Review – How a Screen Makes Alexa More Useful to learn more about Echo Show.

Echo Spot is a smaller version of Echo Show with a small, round screen. Spot is available for pre-order from Amazon in black or white for $129.99 with shipping on December 19.

This video from Amazon introduces Echo Spot:

Google Home

As of now, Google Home does not have a smart speaker with a screen.

Controlling Video Streaming Devices

No need to hunt for the remote hiding in your sofa cushions. With smart speakers you can control your video streaming devices.

Amazon Echo and Fire TV

You can also use Alexa on your Echo device to control your Fire TV video streaming device. Speak commands to your Fire TV, find videos to watch and more.

Learn how to pair your Fire TV with your Echo at the Amazon Help page: Use Your Alexa Device to Control Your Fire TV.

Google Home and Chromecast

Google Home can control Chromecast streaming video player. Connect your Google Home to your Chromecast and you can use voice commands to see answers to your questions on your TV.

Find out how to use Google Home with Chromecast at the Google Home Help page Play TV shows & movies using Google Home.

Let’s Play Games!

While Echo and Google Home may be helpful sources of information, they also can be fun!

Amazon Echo

Echo currently has 6201 games you can play using Alexa. Find them at the Alexa Games and Trivia Skills page. Choose from games you can play alone or with others, such as Jeopardy, Song Quiz, and Stranger Things Trivia.

Amazon Echo Buttons

Earlier this month, Amazon launched Echo Buttons to make Alexa games more fun and more like a TV quiz show. They connect to the Echo and work as game buzzers so you can compete with others to be the first to answer.

This video introduces Echo Buttons:

https://youtu.be/tfVTTG5cedQ

Echo Buttons come in packages of two for $19.95. Each Echo can pair with up to four Buttons. Amazon is accepting pre-orders now for Echo Buttons with shipping expected on December 19.

Google Home

Google recently launched Family Link on Google Home, with games that are designed for fun for the family. This video shows how much fun you can have with Family Link games on Google Home:

https://youtu.be/PVgFBcjBpMY

According to the Google Home blog, Google Assistant has over 50 new games you can play with your family using Google Home.

Lost Feature

Goodbye, YouTube. When Echo Show first launched this summer, watching YouTube videos was a skill. You could ask Alexa to play YouTube videos and watch them on the Show screen. Show would even feature YouTube videos on its home screen.

But just before its announcement of Google Home going on sale, Google pulled the YouTube skill from Echo Show, saying it violated YouTube’s terms of service.

Amazon made YouTube available on the Echo Show by using the YouTube website. But Google announced earlier this month that again YouTube would be removed from the Echo Show.

Whether YouTube returns to the Show is unknown. But you can still watch videos from Amazon Prime Videos on the Show.

See, Tech Crunch, Google is pulling YouTube from Echo Show and Fire TV, as feud with Amazon continues.

Which Smart Speaker Is Best for You?

This comparison of the relative features of the two smart speakers may make the decision of which one to get easy. But which one is best for you depends on how you will use the speaker.

If you use Amazon a lot, are a Prime member, and have a Fire TV, then the Echo may be a great choice for you.If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, then the Echo will be of less use to you.

If you use an Android phone, subscribe to Google Play Music and own a Chromecast, Google Home would be a great choice for you.

Your Thoughts

Have you been trying to decide between Amazon Echo and Google Home? Which factors are the most important to you? Which one seems to be a better fit for you?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!