Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Spot: Features and differences with Google Home
The Amazon Echo speakers come in three versions for their arrival in France, including an entry-level speaker that is the closest equivalent to the Google Home Mini. The Amazon Echo speaker range available in the United States, for example, is still much more complete: Amazon Tap, Echo Look, Echo Show, Echo Plus…
Amazon Echo Dot: miniature entry-level speaker
It is the Amazon speaker that will undoubtedly end up in most homes: the Amazon Echo Dot. In fact, this is a miniature version of the connected loudspeaker shaped like a small pebble and sold for just a few tens of euros. The idea is to place this connected speaker in the bathroom or bedroom and make the connected speaker accessible to as many people as possible.
The Amazon Echo Dot has the same features as the Amazon Echo, but inevitably suffers from lower audio quality. It is the equivalent of a Google Home Mini.
Amazon Echo: Google Home before Google Home
Amazon Echo is the first smart speaker to hit the market. It has preceded Google Home by at least two years since its launch in November 2014. It quickly conquered the American market before being released in Great Britain (September 2016) and Germany (October 2016). It offers very similar features to Google Home.
Amazon Echo can indeed:
- Interact with voice via Alexa assistant
- Play music
- make a list
- Set alarms
- Play podcasts
- Play audiobooks
- Provide real-time information: news, weather, traffic information
- Check connected objects (Philips Hue, Netatmo, Legrand, TP-Link, Tado, Logi, Ring, etc.)
As a bonus, you can learn new skills or Skills which allows him to do more. These Skills It can be added from the Amazon site section Alexa Skills. 200 Skills third parties will be available at launch. You can also create new Skills.
The Amazon Echo’s selling point is above all its sound quality and its very advanced voice recognition system. It has 7 microphones to understand your orders even in noisy environments. As a bonus, it’s equipped with a Dolby digital compatible sound system. You can refer to Romain’s Amazon Echo test for more details.
Amazon Echo Spot: speaker with display
The Amazon Echo Spot is designed to sit on a nightstand. In addition to the features of Amazon Echo, its touch screen displays time, weather, traffic information, etc. can view information. The screen also lets you interact with Alexa without telling her everything. A camera also allows the set to make video calls. Still, the sound quality isn’t as good as on the Amazon Echo. This speaker with screen is original and has no equivalent from Google yet.
Amazon Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Spot: price and release date
Price for three Amazon Echos to usually see in France:
- Amazon Echo: 99.99 €
- Amazon Echo Dot: €129.99
- Amazon Echo Dot: €59,99
Amazon has a very aggressive pricing policy for the first steps of its speaker in France. Three Amazon Echos are already available for pre-order at half price (-50%). We don’t know if Amazon will continue this promotion for a long time, which brings the price of the speakers to €49.99 for the Echo, €64.99 for the Echo Spot and €29.99 for the Echo Dot, respectively. Pre-orders begin on June 6, 2018, with the official release date set for June 13, 2018.
Alexa vs Siri vs Google Assistant: How good is Amazon’s voice assistant?
Amazon took the time to adapt Alexa to the French version, a language the assistant had never spoken before. Without a VF speaker at hand, it’s hard to judge the quality of voice recognition right now. However, the “intelligence” and “proficiency” of voice assistants have already been studied, and therefore we can compare Alexa with Siri and Google Assistant in this respect.
Alexa has benefited from many improvements lately: more artificial intelligence, the ability to interpret your commands by analyzing the history of your questions. Colleagues from Toms Guide show in one study that Alexa is at the Google Assistant level for general culture questions. One area where Siri is still pretty bad right now. It’s also especially good for online shopping (predictably).
Alexa is better than Google Assistant for making free calls and sending messages to other Alexa users (including smartphones). It is also the most compatible helper with connected objects on the market. In addition, its biggest plus compared to Siri and Google Assistant is, Skills this allows it to gain new functions. Overall, most of the tests we read put Google Assistant in the top spot among voice assistants, followed closely by Alexa, Siri, and second place.
A little extra from Amazon Alexa: the firm leaves its choice “shebang”The word that activates Alexa: your choice Alexa, Computer Where Echo.
What do you think of Amazon Echo speakers? Are you tempted by any of these? Share your views in the comments!
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