In our final tally, Google Assistant narrowly beat Alexa for the number of first-place endings, although both were tied in total points. Siri came in third overall.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri — that one best for you? As if handling our interpersonal relationships weren’t already hard enough, today we have to worry about talking to artificial individuals as well if we want to make the most of the finest wise home devices.
We tested all three virtual assistants — Alexa, Siri or Google Assistant — by asking them a series of queries and evaluating their smart home capacities, entertainment alternatives, ability to provide us instructions, shopping features and more.
- The best Wise light bulbs
- The best smart scales
While these three supporters offer lots of the same attributes, each has its own advantages and pitfalls. And, of course, all three are all evolving at a rapid clip.
After tallying the results, we found that Google Assistant is your best virtual helper, narrowly edging out Alexa. However, the finest Google Home compatible devices do not always top the best Alexa compatible devices nor the best HomeKit apparatus . Every house is different, so you’ll need to select which assistant is right for you. You may also use more than one, if you would like.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: General knowledge
Back in the”old days,” when I had a query, my parents would tell me to look it up. (Disclaimer: My parents were both librarians, so this wasn’t surprising. These days, you may simply ask a pc. Thus, we tasked each of the best digital assistants with replying a battery of 20 general-knowledge questions.
As in our previous shootout, Alexa only edged out Google Assistant, though the margin was thinner than before. Alexa took top honors mainly because it provided additional circumstance past the answer to this question. It failed on just a few questions: It couldn’t tell me that held the all time record for stolen bases in Major League Baseball (instead giving me the busy player with the most career stolen bases), and it named the present secretary-general of the U.N. when I inquired who the first person to hold that article was. However, the replies and understanding from the Alexa and Google Assistant were generally spot on, requiring small rephrasing and seldom forcing me to ask more than once.
Siri fared the worst in this section, though Apple employees have said this assistant was not designed to answer trivia questions. In about a quarter of those questions I’ve asked, Siri on the HomePod apologized and said it could not answer my question. In some other instances, it could not quite provide the information I needed (it gave me the current baseball year’s leaders in stolen bases) or reacted with useless advice; when asked exactly what Harry S. Truman’s middle name was, for instance, it”helpfully” answered,”I discovered Harry and S.”
In those instances, I often asked the same question, this time for my iPhone. The response was usually a list of search results, with the exclusion of identifying the first U.N. secretary-general (Trygve Lie), which Siri did via Wolfram Alpha. But, Siri continued to provide the very best info on last year’s American League Championship Series results, and when I asked about the length of the movie The Avengers, Siri was the sole assistant to request clarification regarding which of the numerous films in the Avengers franchise I supposed.
Google Assistant’s results were fairly close to those from Alexa. It generally gave solid, rapid answers with context, although Google’s AI failed to understand my question about why the sky was blue (which was especially perplexing in that Google Assistant appeared to answer in preceding shootouts). Google’s application was the only one to properly recognize the all time leader in stolen bases, Rickey Henderson. It even provided additional circumstance, providing the amount of steals he logged and imagining that he is the only player to ever cross the 1,000-stolen-bases mark.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: podcasts and Music
Music should be a strong suit for any wise assistant. Each of those three clearly integrates with its institution’s music solutions, and in some instances ties in with third party offerings also. Alexa adroitly managed a request to play the Rolling Stones'”Paint It Black” (because I register to Amazon’s Music Unlimited streaming agency ), as did Siri (as I have a subscription to Apple Music). And even though I don’t subscribe to any of the cover music services supported by the Google Assistant, it played”Paint it Black” and a playlist comprising other Rolling Stones songs on YouTube Music.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Supported music services
All 3 assistants responded to my request to play upbeat’80s songs along with West Coast jazz by providing up stations that matched these descriptions.
In relation to being able to find and play podcasts, each of three assistants have improved since our last comparison, although some still suffer. While all three assistants easily played the latest episodes of both”Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” And”The Incomparable” podcasts, Alexa struggled with the latest episode of the podcast”Dragon Friends,” instead playing a podcast on a similar subject.
All 3 assistants offer offer some form of multiroom audio performance, including producing groups of speakers via your smartphone. Alexa also supports audio playback from some audio providers to Sonos speakers, while Google Assistant can communicate with any Chromecast-connected speaker. Along with the HomePod has AirPlay 2 performance, so Siri can play audio on speakers through your house, in addition to via your Apple TV.
But, both Google Assistant and Alexa also come built in to a number of third-party smart speakers; should you want Siri at a wise speaker, the only choice is to buy Apple’s HomePod.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Entertainment
Integration with home entertainment gear is among the coolest features of virtual assistants. With Alexa, now you can control your Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick or Fire TV Edition, such as by opening programs, jumping around in time, and playing and pausing. Google can additionally control playback Chromecast-connected devices, such as TVs with Chromecast built in. However, it provides just a few solutions, and you have to link a few of the apps through your smartphone first. Additionally, Alexa and Google Assistant can control apparatus employing a third party intermediary like Logitech’s Harmony Hub.
Amazon Fire TV and Alexa
Siri is in a peculiar position here. Thanks to some recent software upgrade, you may use Siri in your iPhone or the HomePod to control podcast and music playback on an Apple TV or other AirPlay speakers. But Siri can not handle any other functions, like turning the device off or on, launching apps, or playing videos.
The current field of Apple TVs has Siri built in through the remote, so that you can do much more, like jump around in a video, turn on captions and start programs. But it makes things less convenient if you have to find the distant, and Apple TV-based Siri offers no third party integration.
Continuing with the entertainment track, I tried to use the supporters to purchase movie tickets for Avengers: Endgame, which ended up being much more work on some of those programs than using a excellent old-fashioned web browser. Alexa provided the Atom Tickets ability, that was slow and a little awkward; the skill kicked me back out once I had to authorize using Amazon Pay but when I resumed after, Atom Tickets allow me to pick up where I left off, also it can handle theatres with reserved seats.
Siri on the HomePod couldn’t allow me to get those tickets, though in my iPhone, the assistant allow me to tap through some screens and eventually launch the Fandango program.
Google Assistant could also handle my requests to get showtimes in my local theaters, but it, too, finally sent me back to the telephone to complete my purchase through my choice of movie-ticket apps. Google’s approach is definitely an improvement on the state of the art, but we are still a little ways off from buying tickets entirely by voice.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Ordering food, making reservations and getting recipes
I tried a couple of queries related to purchasing meals, making reservations and receiving recipes. All three supporters supplied recommendations for a fantastic Indian restaurant in my neighborhood, such as varying details like address, rating and costs.
None of the assistants could put an order for Chinese food. At best, they provided a list of restaurants nearby; in the worst, as with Alexa, the helper tried to order packages of food from Amazon. (During my very first effort, Google, for some reason, seemed stuck on the Indian meals by a preceding petition — a bit puzzling, but when I tried later, the helper correctly gave me a list of Chinese restaurants.)
Making reservations at a restaurant worked through Alexa, though it required a bothersome multistep process occasionally, and Siri on the iPhone, which necessitated some interaction and the use of OpenTable. Google Home kicked me to the Assistant program on the telephone, and Siri about the HomePod just flat out refused the request
Google handed the”chocolate chip cookie recipe” test with flying colours, even walking through the recipe step-by-step. Alexa arrived second, offering multiple recipes, providing a list of components and offering me the choice to get the recipe at the Alexa app. Siri on the HomePod could not help me, and on the iPhone, Apple’s helper just kicked me into a web search.
Ordering Food standings: 1. Google Assistant; two. Siri/Alexa (tie)
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Online shopping
Purchasing things together with your voice sounds like it should be a fantastic feature, but in practice, it feels cumbersome. Alexa should have the benefit, thanks to its tight integration with Amazon. By default, Alexa appears to handle most buy requests by searching the Amazon catalogue for something fitting the query, then adding that to your Amazon cart, which may have unintended outcomes.
Alexa adroitly managed”order some more paper towels,” though if I asked to get a copy of Destiny two, the helper first added an art publication for the movie game, then an entirely unrelated book. Finally, once I given a copy of the video game for Xbox, Alexa included the limited variant of the first Destiny. I still had to finish my order in the Amazon app on my phone.
Google Assistant did about as well as Alexa in my evaluation, although the Google AI well offered to describe how online ordering worked before having me jump in. Not only was it able to include both paper towels along with a replica of Destiny 2 to my cart, but it also told me my order qualified for free shipping. But then, it stuck me in a loop of accepting terms of service, and I could finish the order only through the Google Assistant program.
Siri came in dead; around the HomePod, requesting paper towels got me nowhere, and when I asked for Destiny two, Siri said it could not look up books. My luck on the iPhone wasn’t any better.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Communications
From time to time, you’re tired of interacting with a robot and want to speak with a real individual. Fortunately, all three virtual assistants can place you in touch with your contacts.
Together with Alexa, you can call and send messages in audio or text into some other Alexa user on your contacts (including individuals who have only the smartphone program ); you can also call any phone number or some other contact whose telephone number you have on your own contacts. Standard text messages, however, work only if you have the Alexa app on an Android telephone. Once you’ve put it up, the telephone will even seem to come from the real phone number.
If you experience an Echo Show, you can even make video calls to other owners of Echo Shows or to people using the Alexa smartphone app. And Alexa provides an intercom feature which allows you broadcast a message to other Echo devices in your home.
Google Assistant also enables you to make calls to people on your contacts through the phone, though you have to configure it so that calls seem to come from your Google Voice amount, among your other phone’s amounts or an unlisted number. However, you can’t send text messages with Google Assistant without a workaround with IFTTT. Contrary to Alexa, Google Assistant can make international calls, if linked to a Google Fi accounts or Google Voice account that has credits.
About the HomePod, Siri enables you to make calls or send texts, although the interface for the latter could be somewhat convoluted if there’s more than 1 method of reaching the touch. Siri on the iPhone is more streamlined and lets you write mails, in addition to have mails and text messages read back to you personally. Apple’s AI also provides integration with third party messaging and calling for some programs, like Viber and WhatsApp. Siri can make international calls and is the sole helper that can place calls for emergency services.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Instructions
When you are ready to leave the house, you could be tempted to employ a virtual assistant to find your very best route.
Siri on the iPhone does quite well with directions. Not only can it give you a feeling of how much time it will take you to find someplace, but it can also supply you instructions and start GPS navigation. While Siri may get transit directions as well, it does a mediocre job of answering questions about traffic, since it simply kicks you to the iOS Maps program.
Siri on the HomePod may give you an estimate of time and a proposal of a significant path (via a particular highway, for example), but it can not send instructions to your phone, either mechanically or by request, which appears like a missed chance. It can not handle public-transit directions, either. When I inquired about visitors on the local interstate, nevertheless, Siri was fair about its own shortcomings and gave me information about overall traffic requirements.
Google Assistant was on peak of the heap here. Not only does this give good time estimates in most cases, but it was also the only one which may handle public transit at all (and its suggestions were reasonable). It also did the very best in providing me an summary of traffic conditions at the region, and it can send instructions to the Google Assistant app in my phone, in which it’s easy to start navigation from Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.
Alexa’s in the base in this region. The AI’s instructions to nearby spots were fair, but it was utterly unable to handle public transit. And when I asked about visitors on the local interstate, Alexa wanted to direct me into some street in British Columbia, some 2,500 miles away.
Worth noting: Each of three virtual assistants whiffed when I asked what time the next bus on my closest neighborhood route arrived.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Smart home
Smart house devices have become some of the most important areas for integration using virtual assistants; all three platforms have concentrated some time and attention on this. All three assistants work with a enormous breadth of connected products, and many third-party products operate with at least two, if not all three, platforms.
Among the most typical smart-home goods, the biggest exceptions might be Nest’s smart thermostat, which is not presently compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, and the Logitech Harmony Hub, which doesn’t work natively with HomeKit, either. (There’s third party applications called Homebridge that may help, but it’s not for the faint of heart.)
Smart home integration can seem near a wash: In most circumstances, you can find a competing product which will work with the platform in question. In every case, however, it’s wise to inspect Apple’s, Amazon’s and Google’s complete list of supported devices to see if yours works with the platform in question. Right now, Alexa and Google are about even, and Siri is pretty capable, even if it’s missing a couple of leading partners.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Availability
A voice assistant isn’t worth much if it does not work where you want it. In addition to its wide offerings, from the Dot into the Echo Plus, Amazon has the most third-party partners for Alexa, since you are able to purchase a more affordable speaker from the likes of Anker. Or, if you want better audio quality, you can buy the Sonos One, which includes Alexa and Google Assistant built-in. Even telephones like the Moto X, LG V35 and Moto G7 have Alexa. Amazon also provides a wise display, the Echo Show, that uses the screen for all from displaying timers to revealing videos to allowing users to make video calls.
Sonos One with Alexa
Google has released smaller versions of this Home, including a less costly device (the Mini) and one with better sound quality (the Max). Google is also working with third parties, and Google Assistant will be broadly available on smartphone platforms, such as Android and iOS, though features are somewhat limited on the latter.
Like Amazon, Google also provides a wise display, the Home Hub, also is adding another model, the Nest Hub Max, after this year; this version is going to get a bigger screen and feature a camera to get video-calling support. Google Assistant also works with a couple of third party smart displays, like the Lenovo Smart Screen .
Apple, however, has widely spread its virtual helper to all of the company’s apparatus, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Mac. The company has just a single clever speaker, the HomePod, that sounds great but is restricted in what it could do with Siri, and Apple does not offer a smart screen. (Though Siri on iOS apparatus clearly has a display at its disposal.)
The one location where Siri does rule is inaccessibility by state. Apple’s voice helper can be found in more than 30 countries and 20 languages — and, in some instances, several distinct dialects. (It is worth noting that not all of Siri’s features can be found in every region.)
The Google Home and the Google Home Mini, by comparison, can be found in only 20 countries and may speak only English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Japanese and Dutch. But, Google Assistant does support a number of versions of some of those languages. (The Google Home Hub and Google Home Max are offered in fewer states and support fewer languages.) Alexa can handle only English (U.S. and U.K.) and German, even although the assistant is offered in many countries.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Voice recogintion
Reliability is essential for any type of helper, virtual or not. I kept track of how frequently I had to replicate myself rephrase a query for a helper to receive it. All three assistants did pretty well, sometimes requiring a repeated or rephrased query but generally answering requests immediately and to the best of the devices’ skills.
Obviously, it can be very confusing if you have several individuals in a family, and each assistant tries to tackle this issue in its own manner. Both Google Home and Amazon Echo currently offer you multiple voice profiles, so you can train the device to recognize your particular voice and supply some amount of personalized response according to this.
Google’s Voice Match is the most complex of these strategies, offering personalized calendars, calendars, payments, photographs and more; you can even set your own default media services. But, I haven’t infrequently encountered problems with it recognizing my voice and refusing to give me access to my advice before I’ve retrained my Voice Match. Alexa, meanwhile, currently offers just personalized shopping, calling and a few media options.
Apple has taken a slightly different strategy with Siri: Once you activate the capability to utilize the”Hey, Siri” wake phrase on an iOS device, you have to train Siri to recognize only your own voice. That prevents this helper from providing your personal information to someone else and averts the assistant responding on, state, both the iPhone and iPad.
But, Siri on the HomePod will supersede this attribute, responding to some”Hey, Siri” petition if it’s in range, unless you are actively using your iPhone. Plus it does not have any sort of multiperson features, which sends Siri into the base of the standings here.
Alexa and Google Assistant have two voice-related features worth noting: First, both have an optional”followup” mode, where they remain active for a couple of seconds after answering your query, which means it is possible to issue another command without even saying the aftermath word again. This mode is off by default in both cases, as it may lead to some false positives. Second, both can understand”and” both in orders and in things, which means it is possible to say”turn off the lights at work and turn on the lights in the living room” or”add milk and bananas to my shopping list” with no say, getting one item tagged”peanuts and milk.”
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Extendability
Built-in features are all well and good, but sometimes you really wish to bring a feature that isn’t part of the package. In that case, you may need to turn to another party, and such platforms differ considerably in this area.
Alexa has over 70,000 third-party abilities . Not all these are excellent, but odds are you can find something to meet your needs. And if you can not, you could always produce some fundamental integrations with the IFTTT net service or produce your own simple routines via the Alexa app. The business also supplies templates for some basic apps, such as game shows and information for houseguests, through its own new Alexa designs feature.
Google has taken another tack with what it has dubbed action. Even the Google Assistant asserts it features over a million of those , but they basically include all probable inquiries from both first- and third party offerings, so it’s hard to make a straight comparison with Alexa’s library. Google also provides the best integration using IFTTT, letting you create custom actions without any real knowledge of programming.
Apple provides a few different ways for third-party apps to utilize Siri; one is a little couple of apps that Apple has accepted in particular categories, such as calling and messaging, ride-hailing, sending cash, and creating to-do lists. But Apple has also expanded Siri customization for consumers at the past year with the addition of Siri Shortcuts, allowing people create customized phrases that they can speak to activate actions in harmonious first- and third-party apps.
Alexa vs. Google Assistant vs. Siri: Verdict
In our last counts, Google Assistant and Alexa tied for the most total points, but Google narrowly edged out Alexa at the amount of all first-place finishes. Siri, meanwhile, landed in third place in both measurements, although it was just marginally behind on overall points. Overall, all of the digital assistants were more capable than in previous editions of the shootout, showing improvements throughout the business.
Each helper received 3 points for first place in a category, two points for second and one point for third.
There’s still no one-size-fits-all winner one of voice assistants. Your best choice is the one that succeeds at the groups most important to you and works together with the devices you want, at the ecosystem you utilize. With the rapid rate of innovation in all these technologies, it’s hard to go wrong by spending time with any of these voice supporters — even if not one of them knows when exactly my bus will get here.
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