The technology depicted in science fiction movies is becoming a reality every day. From slim TVs to wireless charging smartphones to artificial intelligence and many more, we cannot imagine our lives without them. However, in recent years one type of technology has become very popular around the world, not in the professional space but the home – voice assistants.
The three titans of technology have presented their aces to sweep this estimated $15 billion market, Google with “Google Assistant”, Amazon with “Alexa” and Apple with “Siri”, and who knows if many more will emerge shortly.
You know that at Roll and Feel, we like comparisons, for example, we already told you about the differences between Chromecast and Apple TV. Today we will look at these voice-controlled assistants: let’s understand their origin, purpose, and which is the best voice assistant.
Voice assistants, also called intelligent personal assistants or connected speakers, are types of products marketed by Apple, Amazon, and Google and are based on natural language speech recognition, using human voice recognition. They allow a search to be performed by a voice command entered by the user, as well as the retrieval of information by voice synthesis.
If you want to set up a smart home, you’re going to have to choose a smart assistant. Once you choose a smart assistant, you can use it to control compatible smart home devices (such as smart lights and thermostats) with the app or with voice commands. You can also ask your smart assistant questions for web searching, play music, make phone calls, and more.
Currently, the top three virtual assistants are Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri. But which smart assistant is best for you? Here are the differences between Alexa vs. Google and Siri, so you can make the right choice for your smart home.
Google Assistant was created by Google in 2016. It debuted as part of Google’s messaging app “Allo” and Google’s voice-activated speakers. Later, in May 2017, it was the beginning when Google Assistant was integrated with third-party Android smartphones. Google Assistant was launched as a standalone app on the iOS operating system.
Google Assistant was designed to be a conversational voice assistant and provide a two-way experience for users around the world. Google Assistant is activated with a simple “Ok Google” and is widely used on multiple devices such as phones, smart speakers, computers, etc. Having the most significant market share in the phone operating system, Google Assistant can be the smartest because it has much more data to analyze and improve.
Amazon’s artificial intelligence assistant is called Alexa. It is a cloud-based assistant that assists you wherever you have a smart device and an internet connection. Alexa is easy to operate with user-friendly options. It can play any music, old or new, or operate smart electronic devices.
It was launched in 2014 along with the Amazon Echo Device, a smart speaker. If we talk about its abilities, then it can search the web answer questions, order Amazon products, play music and act as a hub for compatible mobile devices, all through voice commands. It is the brains behind the entire Amazon Echo family of devices.
You can wake it up by saying “Alexa”. You can have news updates and other information at your fingertips in seconds with simple voice commands. Alexa makes life more convenient for its users by pulling information and services from all Amazon services.
Alexa is always listening to what you say. Or, put another way, your Alexa smart speaker’s microphone is always on (at least by default) and listening for your wake-up call.
One of the unique voice assistants was first created by the Stanford Research Institute as an app in February 2010. Two months later, Siri was acquired by Apple. Then came the day in 2011 when Scott Forstall took to the iPhone launch stage to introduce Siri to the world. And Siri was integrated into the iPhone 4S as an exclusive new feature.
Siri was first offered as a standalone app for iOS users. At first, Siri’s capabilities were limited to primary and minimal functions such as searching for files and making calls, sending messages and checking for weather updates, and a little more. But over time, Apple has expanded it and integrated it closely with third-party applications. It uses NLP (natural language processing) and provides relevant assistance.
Google or Siri or Alexa – it’s hard to decide a winner in the battle between Alexa vs Siri vs Google! So to declare a winner, let’s dig a little deeper into their features.
What do they do? And how these voice bots are continuously evolving in this highly competitive and dominant market.
The battle begins – Alexa vs. Siri vs. Google Assistant
When it comes to Alexa vs. Siri vs. Google, they can all answer people’s queries, but the difference is in the levels of accuracy. So the main question that arises is how accurate are they?
Recently, research has been conducted to see who is superior between Alexa, Siri, and Google and how well they can answer a user’s query. Google Assistant answers 88% of queries correctly, Siri 75%, and Alexa answers 72.5% of problems. You can see that Google Assistant came out on top by these numbers, but it’s not over yet.
With only one feature, a voice assistant cannot be an ideal choice. We want our voice assistants to be charming, fun and have personalities. So if it were Alexa versus Siri, Siri is more witty and conversational, which is why people tend to love interacting with her.
Play music! One of the most given commands to any smart speaker or voice assistant outside of Alexa vs. Siri vs. Google Assistant is to play music. Also, the ability of voice assistants to play music is an attractive feature, and people are falling in love with it.
It can take you from the modern age to old retro music or anything you want with just a command. Speaking of Alexa, it plays music directly from Amazon Music. But surprisingly, it is compatible with other music platforms like Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora, and more.
Whereas Google Assistant plays music from third-party apps, mainly Spotify, and surprisingly does not support Google Play.
On the other hand, in the battle between Alexa vs. Siri, Siri is lacking here because you’ll need an Apple Music membership. So the winner is Alexa when it comes to playing music with the best compatibility.
Being in a technological age, shopping and ordering goods and services is relatively easy and instant nowadays. Moreover, it will be more fun when you don’t have to navigate websites and multiple pages altogether. This competition is more between Alexa and Google. As we already know, Amazon is the largest online retailer, which has almost everything you need, from fashion to everyday appliances; well, the Amazon logo says A, to Z for that reason.
As Alexa is an Amazon product, it has the advantage of allowing users to find and buy products instantly with a single command. It helps users get a seamless experience and can be done from the comfort of their homes. It’s like telling a real person your shopping list.
While Google’s assistant is also quite useful when it comes to navigating, recommending, and guiding during online shopping. In the case of Siri, it is not yet developed enough to handle online shopping.
So, by now, you know what it takes to be an ideal voice assistant. These were checklists of some main features by which an intelligent voice assistant should be judged.
Now you know which one is the most suitable and intelligent for your needs. We all interact with them every day.
Tell us who has won according to you: Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
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