What’s the best smart home gadget? Amazon Echo vs Google Home vs Apple HomePod

Are you trying to work out which smart device to buy? It’s worthwhile doing some research beforehand to weigh up the pros and cons before investing in a new gadget.

There’s currently three main personal assistant smart speakers on the market and we’ve decided to make a clear breakdown of the differences and the pros and cons for each device.

Amazon Echo £149.99

Amazon Echo Pros

• 360 omni-directional audio with far-field voice recognition
• Very good speech recognition. Doesn’t seem to have issues identifying what you’re saying when you’re speaking to Alexa and giving commands.
• Easy and straightforward to use. No need to get tangled up reading instructions, simply set up and go
• Wide range of skills available from exercises, listening to music and news/sport/ weather updates to playing games and reading audio books
• Modern design available in black or white
• Good price, not as expensive as the Apple HomePod.
• Connects with your Amazon account allowing you to add items to your Amazon shopping basket
• Amazon are constantly adding new features and skills to the Echo – currently over 10,000 skills!
• Able to control lights, thermostats and switches.

Amazon Echo Cons

• Some have said when set to very high volume there is some sound distortion
• The price may not be within everyone’s budget however there is also the Amazon Echo Dot which is one third of the price costing £49.99 in comparison to the Echo which is £149.99
• To take advantage of all of the smart features you’ll need to ensure you have the correct smart equipment in your home

Google Home £129

Google Home Pros

• The Google Home is the cheapest in comparison to the Amazon Echo and Apple HomePod
• Better audio quality compared to the Amazon Echo
• Capable of answering more detailed questions, something which the Echo can struggle with at times.
• Colour customisable base

Google Home Cons

• Currently only compatible with 3 types of smart home devices (Philips Hue, Smart Things and Nest)
• Sometimes plays adverts prior to news updates
• The little lights on the top of the base make it not as distinguishable if it’s picked up on you talking to it, whereas the Amazon Echo’s bright blue ring stands out no matter how far away you’re standing.

Apple HomePod

The Apple HomePod is set to launch in December. Here’s some information based on what we know so far:

• Apple’s main focus is on the HomePod being a high quality music speaker
• The cost is on the higher end of the scale at $349 which works out to be approximately £270 but we should expect this to be the usual conversion £349
• The HomePod has a basic, simple design.
• Automatically detects the spaces within, uses this info to adjust the audio to balance it and take full advantage of the environment to create spacious sound.
• Works with Apple music subscription