Both the Amazon Alexa speaker and the Google Home speaker are capable smart home devices with their own strengths and weaknesses. The Alexa speaker excels in sound quality and voice recognition, while the Google Home speaker shines with its Google service integration and information access. Consider your priorities and ecosystem when choosing between the two.
| Attribute | Amazon Alexa speaker | Google Home speaker |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Amazon Alexa speaker | Google Home speaker |
| Voice assistant compatibility | Amazon Alexa | Google Assistant |
| Sound quality | Up-firing 3", neodymium woofer and two front-firing 7/8") tweeters | Not available |
| Smart home integration | Compatible with WeMo, Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Wink, Insteon, Nest, and ecobee | Supports a wide range of smart home devices from various brands, including lights, thermostats, security cameras, and more |
| Multi-room audio support | Alexa Multi-Room Music | Yes |
| Microphone | Seven multi-directional microphones | Lights up when it hears you |
| Connectivity | Dual band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), Bluetooth | 802.11b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth |
| Third-party app support | Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, and Audible | Actions (like Skills for Amazon's Alexa speakers) |
| Price | Not available | $99 (Nest Audio), OG Home was $129 |
| Ratings | Sound Quality: Exceptional sound quality, encompassing impressive bass and high volume capabilities. | Common Sense Education gave the Google Home a 75/100 |
| Pros | Voice-controlled assistant capable of performing various tasks, Full, spacious sound, Controls lights, switches, and thermostats with compatible smart home devices, Audio playback on multiple speakers at once, Far-field voice recognition, Easy setup, Hands-free control of popular streaming services | Accurately answers almost any question, Loaded with cool features that allow it to make calls, control your smart home, help out in the kitchen and more, Sounds pretty good when playing music and can control your TV, Seamless integration and voice control for a connected and convenient smart home experience, Supports multi-room audio, Hands-free convenience, Voice-controlled automation, Access to a wealth of information, Seamless integration with other Google services, Ability to control smart home devices with simple voice commands, Easy to set up, New-look is better to fit anywhere in your home w/ a pleasing aesthetic, Clear and accurate reproduction of your favorite tunes, Versatile choice suitable for listening to music at home, Offers many cool features to make the most of the experience, Built-in Google Assistant allows voice activation for hands-free control |
| Cons | Does not natively support multiroom for third party skills, Some users experienced connectivity issues | Struggles to pick up voice if playing music at the same time at high volume, Processes and stores voice recordings, raising privacy concerns, Limited to one account, Casting only a couple apps (ie: YouTube and Google Music) and limited Google service interaction (can't take notes or read messages), Occasional misinterpretation of voice commands, Limited support for regional accents and languages, Inability to perform certain tasks that require visual interfaces, like browsing the web or viewing images |
| User feedback (positive) | [] | ["Amazing sound quality", "Easy to use", "Good Google Assistant integration"] |
| User feedback (negative) | [] | [] |