Google Home vs Amazon Echo?

[cr6]

It'll be a long time until Home catches up to Echo. An almost 2 year head start is pretty significant. But if anyone can do it, the Googs can.

S5 tap'n

 

[Sajo]

It'll be a long time until Home catches up to Echo. An almost 2 year head start is pretty significant. But if anyone can do it, the Googs can.

S5 tap'n

I'm sure it will lag behind in functionality for a while; like you said Amazon has already had 2 years to work on theirs. Will see how it works around 9 November.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

Just got the update to the Chromecast app and it is now called Home; with a new logo and all. Hopefully this means the actual Home units will be shipping soon.

Wow. They must know you're getting the device. Mine just updated to Home today.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Efin]

The Echos work off the same system, the only thing they won't do is work on the same BT speaker, but that programming will change.
Love the Amazon music for $4.
Was going to pay for Pandora premium until I got to info on my Prime account.

Sent from my New Note 7

 

[Rowlette]

I also added the $3.99 monthly Amazon Unlimited for Echo.

Laughter is the key to happiness

 

[Rowlette]

I changed it to $79.00 a year which comes out to $6.5833 which now includes all my devices 3 FireTVs, PCs, 3 Alexa devices, 3 Smart Phones, 3 Tables after the 1st month Free. I learned that the $3.99($47.88) is only good for just one Echo device after the Free Trial. Simple math ($79.00-$47.88) so for another $31.12 I can listen to Amazon Unlimited on any my devices which for that little bit of difference it is worth it to me just for the convenience. I will enjoy the Music in the Jeep with the Note since it is the only vehicle that doesn't have SiriusXM lifetime.

Laughter is the key to happiness

 

[Sajo]

Here is what I have so far for comparison. The list of commands is very similar between the 2 devices from what I have found on-line. Echo users feel free to correct me if any of this is wrong.

** Things that they both do (or probably do) very well:

Have excellent active listening mics, even in noisy rooms
Answer basic questions very well / search for information (what’s the weather? Math questions, check sports scores, etc.)
Play music via voice commands. Pause, restart, skip, change volume all with voice commands.
Also incorporates physical pause /play / volume controls
Decent sound quality from a relatively small device
Set timers and set alarms via voice command
Add items to your default shopping list
Request word translations
Play simple “easter egg” games
Control smart home devices

** Things that the Echo can do that Home cannot do (to the best of my knowledge):

Multi-user support. The Home currently only recognizes the calendar, shopping list, playlists, etc. for the main user that set it up with the Home app.

Add additional speakers for multi-room music. Google says you can connect multiple Home devices together in separate rooms, but that's expensive. No “Dot” style devices yet.

Order items directly from Amazon, and track packages via voice commands.

Offer a remote for audio controls when out of voice range.

** Things that may be unique to the Google Home (to the best of my knowledge):

My Day. Say OK Google (or Hey Google)…tell me about my day and she will read top stories from the news service of your choice, list calendar events and reminders, list the current weather and forecast and commute to work information.

Cast a song to any connected Chromecast music device via voice command.

Cast a You Tube video to any connected Chromecast device via voice command.

** Things that I hope Google fixes or releases soon:

Multi-user support. It’s a connected home device so it needs to be able to recognize multiple family members and read their calendar, play their playlists, etc.

Release small, inexpensive connected speakers so you can have mutli-room support.

When casting a song to a Chromecast music device, be able to hear the music on both devices simultaneously. Currently when you cast from Home to a Chromecast the song stops playing on the Home. I want to be able to hear it in both rooms at once.

Read shared calendar events out loud. Currently, Home will only read the main calendar for the user that setup the device. I have a shared “family” calendar full of family appointments and it should be able to read those also.

 

[Sajo]

Here is someone having a little fun with an Echo and a Home, getting them to talk to each other.

 

[duxdad]

I just returned my Google Home to Best Buy as it is unable to play songs in your uploaded library. Will play "play Lists" but not individual songs or albums. Seems like a half finished device.

 

[Sajo]

I just returned my Google Home to Best Buy as it is unable to play songs in your uploaded library. Will play "play Lists" but not individual songs or albums. Seems like a half finished device.

Mine plays individual songs that I have stored in my cloud library.

 

[duxdad]

All my music is in Google music cloud. If I asked Home to play and song or album it said could not find then played something close from Google music service. I spent considerable time with Home support and they confirmed. Additionally there are several thread on the Home support page confirming the problem. Got a good deal with Visa checkout $75, hated to return but I did

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[Sajo]

All my music is in Google music cloud. If I asked Home to play and song or album it said could not find then played something close from Google music service. I spent considerable time with Home support and they confirmed. Additionally there are several thread on the Home support page confirming the problem. Got a good deal with Visa checkout $75, hated to return but I did

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

I assume the song you asked it to play did not exist in the Google Play Music library? It should have played from there if it can't see our personal library?

This was my experience: I pre ordered the new Metallica CD and it arrived in the mail the day before it was released to stores, and was not in the Play Music library yet. I wanted to play a song for my wife in our Home and it said "song morning your cloud library"....or something similar to that. So I ripped it to my laptop and loaded it to my Google Cloud Library. Then asked Home to play the same song and she did.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Sajo]

All my music is in Google music cloud. If I asked Home to play and song or album it said could not find then played something close from Google music service. I spent considerable time with Home support and they confirmed. Additionally there are several thread on the Home support page confirming the problem. Got a good deal with Visa checkout $75, hated to return but I did

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Now I see why it worked for me. From the Home support forum, the one I believe you mentioned:

*** Home can play a song you ask for, however you have to have a Google Play Music premium subscription to hear specific songs, albums, and artists. If you don't have a premium subscription, you will hear a station of songs inspired by or similar to the songs/albums/artists you selected.

Unfortunately the ability to play uploaded or purchased content from your library isn't available just yet! ***


I do have a monthly Family paid subscription to Play Music, so that's why it played a sing from my library. They definitely are not advertising that aspect. Hope they update the software soon so it can play any song from a personal library.



Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[cr6]

Home doesn't allow you to play songs from Pandora, iHeart, TuneIn, Amazon, etc?


S5 tap'n

 

[Sajo]

Home doesn't allow you to play songs from Pandora, iHeart, TuneIn, Amazon, etc?


S5 tap'n

Here are the current choices to select for the Home preferred music service:

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk