Mustang65 Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 As I look at all the Voice Control products on the market it gets to be a big blur as to which one I should purchase. Some of the products are: Amazon Echo, Dot, Google Home Mini, Apple Home Pad... (add others that you may have). - Does anyone have more than one type working together? I probably would look at the first real question which is, Which one is the easiest to work with as far as interfacing with ISY. - Which is the easiest to program overall (TV, Music, …) - Which one responds to your voice(s) commands best/worst. I know the Apple HomePad is not rated very good at this (current model) - Best features - Issues Thanks
larryllix Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 I have five Amazon Dots, one Amazon Echo, one ecobee4, and three Google Home Minis. Sound quality I find the GH minis have a very nice soft but clear sound. The Echoes are very clear for voice and the Echo too bassy and muffled for good voice recognition. ecobee4 sucks but clear enough. For music the GH minis would be best, Echo next, Dots poor, and ecobee4 pathetic. Looks GH minis have a very nice look with their cloth covered all round cornered flattened spherical cases. Dots look like hockey pucks and are not very attractive. Echo is OK but gets fairly large. Personality GH are the best with candid responses, Amazon products have taken a much more serious approach and do not joke around much. Voice recognition All have excellent voice recognition. If there are other sounds in the room they all have trouble with word confusion, about the same. Home automation integration This is only via ISY Portal as I do not use any of them via other cloud to cloud skills/services. There are other ways to control things without ISY. I do not use those methods. With the ISY Portal integrations is easy and has lots of options. Amazon products, quite good. They seem to understand multiple word descriptions quite easily but will ask for clarifications if one word was not clear. GH minis. By comparison, really crappy. They appear to only understand two words in any device phrase. Google likes to apply their AI to these devices, making assumptions of what you intended. If you say to turn on XXX Lights you may get every device in your home that has lights in it's name and it will tell you that..."Turning on 19 devices". Turn off Bedroom lights gets me "Turning off 9 devices" as every coloured scheme I use has "Bedroom" in it's name. GH assumptions are great when asking for Internet information but not for HA. YMMV. Connections GH Minis will connect with 5GHz or 2.4GHz. Amazon also 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. ecobee4 2.4GHz only. Notes These devices are geared for distant voice recognition and I find they suck when you stand right in front of them. They one behind me 30 feet away usually answers, surprisingly. ecobee4 units have some crippled comm functions (dial phones and others) and it will tell you they are not implemented (yet). EDIT: Corrected connect speed.
Bumbershoot Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 12 hours ago, larryllix said: Connections GH Minis will connect with 5GHz or 2.4GHz. Amazon and ecobee4 products 2.4GHz only. Small correction: Amazon Echo Dot's connect 5GHz networks just fine.
dbuss Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 35 minutes ago, Bumbershoot said: Small correction: Amazon Echo Dot's connect 5GHz networks just fine. My Echos, Dots and Shows will connect to either 2.4 or 5GHz.
larryllix Posted June 3, 2018 Posted June 3, 2018 On 6/3/2018 at 10:58 AM, dbuss said: My Echos, Dots and Shows will connect to either 2.4 or 5GHz. Thanks both! Mine are all connected 5GHz. Correcting post. Just the ecobee4 is 2.4GHz only.
Mustang65 Posted July 15, 2018 Author Posted July 15, 2018 Well, Amazon is having their big sale day and a half, so I am getting ready to purchase a Echo Plus with built-in Smart Home Hub and maybe an Echo Dot or 2. That is of course the "PRICE IS RIGHT"!!! Not sure if the Echo Plus with built-in Smart Home Hub has a Version 2.
Mustang65 Posted July 18, 2018 Author Posted July 18, 2018 Well, I got caught in the Amazon Prime day, purchased (2) - Echo Plus with built-in Hub – Black (1) - Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD and Alexa Voice Remote (Pendant Design) | Streaming Media Player (2) - of Echo Dot (2nd Generation) - Smart speaker with Alexa - Black I figured I would be a nice guy and give my son one of the Echo Plus with built in hub.
Scottmichaelj Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 Well, I got caught in the Amazon Prime day, purchased (2) - Echo Plus with built-in Hub – Black (1) - Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD and Alexa Voice Remote (Pendant Design) | Streaming Media Player (2) - of Echo Dot (2nd Generation) - Smart speaker with Alexa - Black I figured I would be a nice guy and give my son one of the Echo Plus with built in hub. Don’t feel bad, your not alone. I got the newest SONOS: ONE on PRIME Day to play with and test to see if it work well in my new home.
asbril Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 On 6/2/2018 at 10:17 PM, larryllix said: Turn off Bedroom lights I use "Master" such as "Master Fan", Master Sconces" , "Living Ceiling" etc and have no issue with GH voice control.
larryllix Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 1 hour ago, Scottmichaelj said: Don’t feel bad, your not alone. I got the newest SONOS: ONE on PRIME Day to play with and test to see if it work well in my new home. Yeah, I sent that one to my son as he is a big Sonos freak and now uses Alexa. I doubt he got the BBM message in time as he is currently in the wild right now.
Teken Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 Larry summed it up pretty good in terms of comparisons and pros vs cons. All of them are still lacking in proactive voice announcements and hence Julie U.S. will continue to lead the way for me for notification. Once these companies support two way voice announcements / feedback the game will change. Having the ability to query Alexa is great too if you set her up to know the different environmental metrics like I have. That is currently my bridge gap until native 2 way voice is implemented . . .
MWareman Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 Don’t feel bad, your not alone. I got the newest SONOS: ONE on PRIME Day to play with and test to see if it work well in my new home. How much of a discount? SONOS rarely sells cheaper....
Scottmichaelj Posted July 18, 2018 Posted July 18, 2018 40 minutes ago, MWareman said: How much of a discount? SONOS rarely sells cheaper.... $199.99 For the SONOS: ONE that came with a $50 Amazon Gift Card ? FWIW I can buy SONOS products directly as a reseller too, however this was a better deal for this SKU. EDIT: https://9to5toys.com/2018/07/15/sonos-airplay-2-sale/ - Still available from Lowes at $180 till 09/08/18 (at least that what the site shows but I can't find any for local pickup around my zip code)
MWareman Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Ahh, the gift card “discount”.... That way they are still selling at the regular price... Still, pretty good though...
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