Alexa and Google Home are head to head in the Artificial Intelligence Sphere. Which should you get your tech enthusiastic family member for Christmas?
Price:
Google Home currently retails online for $129-$135. The Amazon Echo retails for around $180, but comes with the cheaper alternative of the Echo Dot at $50. In terms of accessibility, Amazon wins this round. With the more affordable option, Christmas Shoppers can now purchase an Echo Dot for the favorite teenage techie nephew without feeling guilty. Amazon: 1, Google: 0.
Development:
Because Amazon's Alexa has been around longer, Amazon has a strong Alexa Development Tool Kit and Skills in play. In fact, Amazon has been hosting Alexa hackathons and is offering free Alexa and Echo dots to developers who make 5 functional Alexa Skills and publish them on the Alexa site. Because Google Home is still new, its development potential is still questionable. Google is also not giving out Homes to enthusiastic developers. Amazon wins the development round. Amazon: 2, Google: 0.
Shopping Experience:
One thing Google Home has that Amazon lacks is a Brick-and-Mortar store. I visited the Google Home store in SoHo in New York City and was blown away by the trendiness of the store. First impressions were that it was a Scandinavian interior design store. The Google Home store also has top quality assistants ready to answer questions and help interested shoppers --top quality customer experience. You can pick up an Amazon Alexa to play with at Best Buy or Target, but it's not the same as having your personal Google Home assistant teach you how the Home will change your life. Amazon, where is your lo-fidelity Pixel room and giant Photo Globe? Amazon: 2, Google: 1.
Design:
Amazon's Alexa is black, sleek, and sexy. Echo is small, cute, but also exudes the same cool factor that Alexa offers. In fact, because of size, Echo might be aimed at a younger, trendier crowd than Alexa. On the other hand, Google Home looks like it belongs in your home. Google Home is comfortable, looks like a lamp, and includes customizable colors. Depending on taste, both Google and Amazon's products are designed well. Amazon: 3, Google: 2.
Audio Functionality:
Amazon Alexa can link to your Spotify account and play music. Google Home can play music from Youtube videos. Both Alexa and Google Home can connect to your speakers. Being linked to both Spotify and Youtube come with issues. Alexa can only stream certain music and can only play 30-second samples of certain artists' songs. Youtube pauses/shuts off and eats up the user's data because of the video function. But Spotify is the lesser evil because users may pay for a Spotify account and already have personalized playlists to play through Alexa. Amazon: 4, Google 2.
Ultimately, Google Home is a great competitor to Alexa but Alexa still takes it away (4-2). If Google offers a smaller, cheaper version of Google Home that may appeal to a wider audience, Google may give Alexa a run for her money. But for now, Alexa is the younger, trendier, audio-friendly developer's dream.