Google Home versus Amazon Echo

So now that I have both a Google Home and Amazon Echo sitting side by side, I thought people would be interested in a comparison.

Note this is based on a few weeks with the Amazon Echo and about two hours with the Google Home!

Out of the box Google Home works really well in Ireland out of the box. Over all much better then the Amazon Echo does for the built in features.

Spotify:
Google Home works great, just have to say, "play music", "play U2", "play rock", etc. No need to add "on spotify" like you do on the Echo. Also in brief testing, it feels like it finds and plays playlists that you don't quite say the name correctly. For instance if I say "play UK top 50" it knows I meant the "Topsify Top 50 UK" playlist that I follow.

Tunein:
This is the major win for Google Home for those interested in Radio. It just works, where as Amazon Echos voice control is badly broken. On GH I just can say "play RTE 2fm" "play Newstalk" "play BBC Radio 1", etc. all work well and even no need to say "on tuneine". By comparison most of these don't work well or at all on Amazon Echo.

Weather:
You can just say "what is the weather like", "how hot is it", "do I need an umbrella" on GH. No need to specify "in Dublin" like you do on Amazon Echo. Not a massive difference, but slightly nicer.

Directions:
You can easily set your home and work address on GH and ask:
"what is my commute like" or "how long will it take to get to work" and it gives you exactly the same result Google Maps gives

Even better you can also say:
"what is my commute like by walking/cycling/public transport" and yes it gives the same result for each, great. I just wish they gave you a way to change the default from car to one of the others.

You can also ask it:
"how long will it take to get to O'Connel Street, Dublin [by walking/cycling/public transport]" and you get the expected google maps results.

You can even ask it:
"how long will it take to get to Patricks Street Cork from O'Connell Street, Dublin" and yes it gives the expected result.

Most of the above won't work on Amazon Echo as it uses the weak Microsoft Bing Maps service which is very poor in Ireland.

Home Automation:
Clear win from Amazon Echo here for the moment. GH currently only supports Nest, Philips Hue and Smarthings HA ecosystems. Amazon Echo supports all those, plus Belkin smat plugs, Netatmo/Hive/Tado Thermostats and many others.

Having said that, having played with Philips Hue on GH, it seems to work better and smother then Amazon Echo.

Also GH supports IFTTT out of the box, while it isn't currently working in UK and Ireland Echo's. On the other hand Amazon Echo works with the excellent Yonomi service, which GH currently doesn't support.

Cost and Dots:
One major difference is that while Google Home is equivalent to Amazon Echo, Google currently has no equivalent to the much cheaper Amazon Echo Dot. Google Home can play out of speakers using Chromecast Audio, but that involves extra cost and of course it doesn't give you voice control in other rooms.

So lets say you want to put smart voice control in three rooms, you would be looking at 140 x 3 GH's + 40 x 3 chromecast audio for a total cost of 540! Where as you would be looking at about 150 for 3 dots. Big difference there.

Google badly need a Dot equivalent, maybe just an updated Chromecast audio with mics to pick up voice commands and a small speaker. That seems quite possible as based on tear downs, it seems Goggle Home uses all the same parts as Chromecast, just with speakers and a DAC added.

Names:
GH's is activated by "OK Google" or "Hey Google", which is sort of harder to say and sounds impersonal. Echo is activated by "Alexa" or "echo" which are much easier to say and more personal IMO.

Interactivity:
With GH you an ask a stream of questions and it understands the context based on the last question. For instance you can ask: "who is the president of the US", "who is his wife" "what are his chidrens names".

Echo can't do that, you have to say "who is the president of the US" and then you would have to specify his name for further questions "who is Barack Obamas wife", etc.

It is a small thing, but it is nice and makes GH feel more natural.

Summary:
I think both are excellent devices with pros and cons. I'm glad to have both and use each side by side based on their strengths. However as it stands, I feel Google Home is probably better for Irish people as it's core functionality works better in Ireland out of the box, if you are looking for just one device in one room and in particular if you plan to listen to radio a lot on it.

If you are more interested in Home Automation and plan to get a couple for a couple of rooms, then the dots are way cheaper and support more HA ecosystems.

I suspect both will improve over time. However I have a hunch that Google Home might improve faster. GH's weakness is lack of support of apps and ecosystems. But GH just launched and I'm certain that developers and makers of HA tech will rush to add support to GH. The only question is will Google allow support for competing thermostats like Netatmo when they have their own Nest Thermostat. On the other hand Amazons weaknesses are largely related to bugs in Ireland and given how poor Amazons support for Ireland is in general, I'm less certain that they will be fixed soon. Specially due to their reliance on Microsoft Bing which is very poor in Ireland.

Google Home while supporting less apps and ecosystems and being more expensive, it also feels a lot more polished and works better in Ireland.