Google home vs Alexa

[Blackbird]

Is integration with isy, better with google home or alexa?

Edited July 5, 2019 by Blackbird

[larryllix]

I have 5-6 Alexa devices and 2-3 GH devices. I rarely use GH for HA purposes as I find their artificial intelligence attempts get in the way of understanding what to control.

eg. I have vocals for "red lights" in my Gathering room and "red bedroom lights" in my bedroom. If I say OK Google, turn on red bedroom lights GH will turn on both lights.
If I say turn off bedroom lights GH will respond with OK, turning off eight lights because it finds eight colours with "Bedroom" in the vocal spec. Google AI loves to make assumptions on your behalf. For HA that is not desirable.

Alexa doesn't do that and the vocal syntax freedom is much better.

For sound quality GH minis are much better than the old Echo Dots. For candid answers and other non-HA applications, GH minis are better but Amazon is working on that intensively and surprises us with less machine sounding answers occasionally.

[lilyoyo1]

15 minutes ago, larryllix said:

I have 5-6 Alexa devices and 2-3 GH devices. I rarely use GH for HA purposes as I find their artificial intelligence attempts get in the way of understanding what to control.

eg. I have vocals for "red lights" in my Gathering room and "red bedroom lights" in my bedroom. If I say OK Google, turn on red bedroom lights GH will turn on both lights.
If I say turn off bedroom lights GH will respond with OK, turning off eight lights because it finds eight colours with "Bedroom" in the vocal spec. Google AI loves to make assumptions on your behalf. For HA that is not desirable.

Alexa doesn't do that and the vocal syntax freedom is much better.

For sound quality GH minis are much better than the old Echo Dots. For candid answers and other non-HA applications, GH minis are better but Amazon is working on that intensively and surprises us with less machine sounding answers occasionally.

I agree with that assessment. I use both Both have their pros and cons. I'm not a fan of how google automatically groups lights in the same room together but I like their routines much better than Amazons.  

I'm actually in the process of swapping my google homes and echos with Sonos one's since they allow a user to use either one. Their google implementation is still new so its very limited but long term I like that I can have a single system for uniformity. The fact that they integrate together is even better since I use Sonos  as part of my whole house audio system

[apostolakisl]

1 hour ago, larryllix said:

I have 5-6 Alexa devices and 2-3 GH devices. I rarely use GH for HA purposes as I find their artificial intelligence attempts get in the way of understanding what to control.

eg. I have vocals for "red lights" in my Gathering room and "red bedroom lights" in my bedroom. If I say OK Google, turn on red bedroom lights GH will turn on both lights.
If I say turn off bedroom lights GH will respond with OK, turning off eight lights because it finds eight colours with "Bedroom" in the vocal spec. Google AI loves to make assumptions on your behalf. For HA that is not desirable.

Alexa doesn't do that and the vocal syntax freedom is much better.

For sound quality GH minis are much better than the old Echo Dots. For candid answers and other non-HA applications, GH minis are better but Amazon is working on that intensively and surprises us with less machine sounding answers occasionally.

Have you tried making "routines" instead.  They don't require special words like "turn off" or "lights".  They just follow the words you set.  I very much like google home for that, especially when controlling things that aren't getting "turned on" nor are "lights".  Also, I always have a google home in my pocket (my android phone of course).

Edited July 5, 2019 by apostolakisl

[larryllix]

32 minutes ago, apostolakisl said:

Have you tried making "routines" instead.  They don't require special words like "turn off" or "lights".  They just follow the words you set.  I very much like google home for that, especially when controlling things that aren't getting "turned on" nor are "lights".  Also, I always have a google home in my pocket (my android phone of course).

I use Alexa routines for custom responses and vocal output from Alexa speakers triggered from ISY. I haven't heard of routines from GH.
GH gave me so much anguish with accounts and confusion of my HA  vocals that I just quit using it after a few years, except for the odd question Alexa didn't seem to know the answer to but even that usage is disappearing.

[asbril]

40 minutes ago, apostolakisl said:

I very much like google home for that, especially when controlling things that aren't getting "turned on" nor are "lights"

I agree. I created GH short cuts to control my curtains. Now I just tell GH to open or close, no need for On or OFF.

[apostolakisl]

7 minutes ago, larryllix said:

I use Alexa routines for custom responses and vocal output from Alexa speakers triggered from ISY. I haven't heard of routines from GH.
GH gave me so much anguish with accounts and confusion of my HA  vocals that I just quit using it after a few years, except for the odd question Alexa didn't seem to know the answer to but even that usage is disappearing.

Funny, I didn't know about Alexa routines.  I'll have to look into that.  Google routines are set from the "Google Home" app.  From the home screen in google home app (the names they picked lend to confusion), just click the "routines" button, then "manage routines" at the bottom.  You can have a routine do other things besides control devices, like tell you the days weather or your expected commute time.

[larryllix]

I imagine both systems are mostly the same now.

Alexa routines allow you to trigger many things as well as put out vocals. All in all I try to avoid any smart things and prefer ISY to do everything.

Sent using Tapatalk

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, larryllix said:

I imagine both systems are mostly the same now.

Alexa routines allow you to trigger many things as well as put out vocals. All in all I try to avoid any smart things and prefer ISY to do everything.

Sent using Tapatalk
 

Same here. The couple routines I do have set up is simply for syntax and they run the programs that I need them to run. 

[timmy88]

I don't know because I can't fully configure my Google assistant

Edited February 10, 2020 by timmy88

[trevorst]

It does very much depend on what you want to do. I have GH in every room, displays in three main rooms and either the original GH units or minis in all the others. I also have 3 Alexa units deployed. I use the Google Home for all lights, TV and controlling state etc. I also use Google for whole house Audio as it much better than echo units. There is no delay between speakers in my house even though I have 10 deployed through out the house, if there was any delay you can compensate for it in the app. 

Like others I prefer the routines in GH and use them in conjunction with  programs in the ISY to control media lights etc. The only things I use Alexa for is to verbally let me know if someone is approaching the house and as an intercom between the three main rooms my wife and I use. The bottom line is I find GH easy to work with to get the results I want.

Edited February 13, 2020 by trevorst

[sanders2222]

On 2/10/2020 at 12:53 AM, timmy88 said:

I don't know because I can't fully configure my Google assistant

Once configured, GH is tops - - mainly because my wife likes GH over Alexa. 

Now if Amazon introduces the 'Silver' . . .?

https://youtu.be/YvT_gqs5ETk

[asbril]

1 hour ago, SmartEchoGuide said:

isn’t the only time Amazon is listening to you.

Indeed....... Apparently people at Amazon listen to your conversations all the time ?

I find that Echo's reaction time to ISY commands is a tiny bit faster than GH, but on the other hand I make extensive use of the AVRemote nodeserver that works with GH and not Alexa.

[lilyoyo1]

52 minutes ago, asbril said:

Indeed....... Apparently people at Amazon listen to your conversations all the time ?

I find that Echo's reaction time to ISY commands is a tiny bit faster than GH, but on the other hand I make extensive use of the AVRemote nodeserver that works with GH and not Alexa.

I think that's a spammer. Be careful

[larryllix]

Indeed....... Apparently people at Amazon listen to your conversations all the time 
I find that Echo's reaction time to ISY commands is a tiny bit faster than GH, but on the other hand I make extensive use of the AVRemote nodeserver that works with GH and not Alexa.

I hear GH uses facial recognition too.

Sent using Tapatalk

[trevorst]

Then I would scare the hell out of them?

[asbril]

On 3/9/2020 at 3:53 PM, trevorst said:

Then I would scare the hell out of them?

Halloween ?

[sanders2222]

On 7/5/2019 at 5:40 AM, larryllix said:

For sound quality GH minis are much better than the old Echo Dots. For candid answers and other non-HA applications, GH minis are better ...

I've had both for a couple years now (at different houses).  I'm in the GH camp & considering abandoning Alex altogether.  Alexa's sound seems muffled... did she say "53 degrees" or "63 degrees".  On Alexa they sound EXACTLY the same. 

Yet GH is clear, sharp and easily understood.  Sound quality is way better. Plus you have the ability to choose between a number of "Voices". 

As for searching outside HA, GH is also superior.  Alexa's answers remind of the typical Siri response:  "I found this on the web!"

I also like the Routines in GH too. Admittedly you may not need as many with Alexa for HA, but they are easily set up on either device.

[larryllix]

On 10/29/2020 at 2:49 PM, sanders2222 said:

I've had both for a couple years now (at different houses).  I'm in the GH camp & considering abandoning Alex altogether.  Alexa's sound seems muffled... did she say "53 degrees" or "63 degrees".  On Alexa they sound EXACTLY the same. 

Yet GH is clear, sharp and easily understood.  Sound quality is way better. Plus you have the ability to choose between a number of "Voices". 

As for searching outside HA, GH is also superior.  Alexa's answers remind of the typical Siri response:  "I found this on the web!"

I also like the Routines in GH too. Admittedly you may not need as many with Alexa for HA, but they are easily set up on either device.

I am the opposite. GH always had better sound but the Gen 3 Alexa's have good sound for music also now. However the Alexa Gen 3 Dots are hard to understand, unlike the Dot Gen 1 and 2 that were very clear.

I have both but Alexa won out, due to GH making assumptions and turning things on/off that I didn't ask for. Alexa will ask for clarification before turning on random appliances. When asked to turn the bedroom light GH would issue 9 different commands each time, attempting to turn off red, green, blue, yellow, ..... RGBW LED strips. Alexa would only turn exactly what was defined and not make guesses.

For look-up purposes GH yoost to be much better, but this has been improved in Alexa boxes now, and I think it surpasses GH usefulness. The race is constant like INtel and AMD. However GH will answer some fun but questionable phrase definitions that Alexa will refuse to answer.

Edited October 31, 2020 by larryllix