Personal digital assistants are all the rage in 2017. These AI companions are everything you want in a helpful little butler - they’ll tell you the best route to work, let you know whether you’ll need an umbrella on your travels, or tell you a cheesy joke to cheer you up. They’re an essential part of the modern household; with Google Home, Amazon Echo and Apple’s upcoming HomePod being the most popular. But, which is the best smart speaker for you in 2017?
Before we begin, I’ll have to reiterate that the latter hasn’t launched yet. Apple’s Siri in a box is still to show up in UK shops, having been announced earlier this year at the Californian firm’s annual WWDC tech conference. I’ll still be comparing it with those other two digital assistants that are currently on sale, but just bear in mind that you’ll have to wait until the end of the year to pick one up for yourself.
All that being said, let’s pit Google Home, Amazon Echo and Apple Homepod in a head-to-head battle, to find out which smart speaker is worth your hard-earned cash in 2017.
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Price
Before we dive into this handbags at dawn-style versus, it’s worth mentioning the price before we delve into any of their specifics. And, it’s not quite as straightforward as you might think.
Right off the bat, Apple’s HomePod is the most expensive. Initially launching for $349 (UK price still to be confirmed) you’ll have to fork out a significant chunk extra if you’re more invested in Apple’s Siri-based architecture.
Home and Echo meanwhile, undercut each other in different ways. While Google Home is the cheaper of the two at £130 compared to Echo’s £150, there’s the Amazon Echo Dot to contend with: a cheaper, but speakerless assistant for just £50.
Winner: Google Home and Amazon Echo
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Design
For a bunch of products that -essentially - all do the same thing, their looks couldn’t be any different.
Amazon’s Echo looks like a big black monolith. It’s much taller than the other two, but skinny enough to fit on your shelf without taking up too much space. It lights up when you speak to it - and it’s hardly the most inconspicuous of the bunch. Think that black monolith the apes scream at in 2001: A Space Odyssey and you’ll get the right idea.
Google Home blends in a little more with your home decor. It looks like one of those motion-activated air fresheners for starters, and looks great in any room you put it in. You can also pick up different coloured bases for an extra fee, in either fabric or metal - to blend it into your family home even more.
HomePod looks like an Apple-fied version of the UE WonderBoom Bluetooth speaker we looked at recently. Its mesh-covered exterior is perhaps a touch bland, but it is in keeping with Apple’s minimalism I suppose.
Winner: Google Home
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Functionality
The best thing about these cloud-based digital butlers is that they’re constantly learning. Voice recognition is always getting better, and I’ve found Google Home to be much more adept at picking up my thick Lincolnshire accent. Google Assistant accurately played any song I asked her to, while Echo would often take a few goes to get it right.
Google Home also - obviously - has Google’s own search engine at its metaphorical fingertips. Ask it what the best budget smartphone is, and it’ll read out all entries in our best budget phone list for instance. Echo isn’t quite so swish, and was frequently stumped by the most basic of questions.
Winner: Google Home
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Services
All these smart speakers have a long list of services to take advantage of - and that list is constantly growing. The Echo for instance, is your best bet if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber, as you can order doodads on its storefront and listen to your favourite tunes on Amazon Music Unlimited.
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Likewise, if you’re a Google fan, Google Home can be paired with your Chromecast - ordering it to play specific YouTube videos or start your Netflix binges. If you’ve purchased films via Google Play, or are one of the few people signed up to Google Play Music, this’ll be right up your street.
Oh, and like Apple’s HomePod - both speakers include IFTTT support, perfect for these super-connected homes we find ourselves in.
Winner: Google Home
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Sound quality
While i’m yet to properly give the HomePod a run for its money, I can award the Echo with the sound quality crown. Google Home is just a little too bass-heavy for my tastes, offering a duller and less clear sound overall. Echo strikes the perfect balance - it’s neither too warm or too boomy in rock and pop songs, voices are clear and intelligible, and music sounds pleasingly crisp.
It’s worth mentioning too, that while Echo can be paired to any Apple or Android smartphone with Bluetooth for casting, Google Home cannot. Sure, you can stream Google Home to a Chromecast Audio, but this is much more fiddly.
Winner: Amazon Echo
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Easter eggs
Okay, so you’ve heard how impressive these little butlers are, but there’s one thing you’re still asking about: what silly things do they do?
Well, both Google Home and Amazon Echo have their own little quirky features - order them to tell you a joke, and they’ll likely tell you the cheesiest joke in their library. Google Home’s easter eggs and fun little extras are slightly more wide-ranging, though.
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You can play an interactive quiz with your friends (drawing trivia from Google’s own search engine), tell her to flip a coin, or have her predict your future via some sort of cloud-based crystal ball. It’s all a little silly, yes, but this’ll be the first thing you do when you show Home off to your friends. I guarantee it.
Winner: Google Home
Google Home vs Amazon Echo vs Apple HomePod: Verdict
Tallying up the scores, it’s clear that Google Home comes out on top. Obviously, considering I’ve spent no more than five minutes with it, HomePod didn’t win any category - but i’ll update this versus as and when we get Apple’s Siri-powered speaker in for review.
In the end, the perfect smart speaker for you largely boils down to personal preference. Depending on which service you’re already heavily-invested in, be it Google’s suite of apps or that Amazon Prime subscription you’re paying for, I recommend picking up the digital assistant that you can take the most advantage of. After all, it’ll be rendered nothing more than an expensive paperweight otherwise, and we don’t want that.
This head-to-head is frequently being updated as and when new features become available, so be sure to check back often.