The fight to bring music and a virtual assistant to every home intensified in November with the release of the Google Home system; the direct competitor from Amazon, known as the Echo, has been on the market since 2014.
The two systems both try to make your life safer, easier and more entertaining and they do it in different measures. You could say that Echo works harder, but Google Home knows you personally.
Right now, with a two-year head start, Echo can simply do more things with 3,000 installable apps that can order an Uber or a pizza. Google Home meanwhile can access your Android smartphone, Gmail account, calendar and with one command ("Good Morning") can tell you the weather, what you have planned for the day and what's in your email.
Both systems are voice activated and offer music streaming, including their own systems, Spotify, Pandora, and the like. Both systems are compatible with smart home systems, although the Echo works with more programs. For example, Google Home works with Nest; it works with "If This, Then That" (or IFTTT); SmartThings, and Phillips Hue; Amazon Echo works with all of those as well as Ecobee, Wink, Belken WeMo, Insteon, and others.
According to CNET, Google Home offers multi-room audio capability, which Echo currently cannot match. The Google Home system uses the search engine's power to answer questions and decipher context to answer future questions, as part of its voice capabilities.
The Google Home system notifies owners of significant developments with a beep; the Amazon Echo does not do this natively but can provide notifications after integration with other applications, like IFTTT. Owners of the new Google Home system can also customize the color of their system, while Amazon Echo owners cannot.
Forbes notes that the Amazon Echo has seven speakers, while Google Home has two.
Amazon Echo has been on the market since 2014, and as such, has more devices, applications and programs that it works with. Owners can even add items to their Amazon Wish lists and listen to audio books if they desire.
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