Best voice assistant: Alexa vs Google vs Siri, which one to choose?

Best voice assistant, which one should I choose?

What is the best voice assistant among Alexa, Google and Siri? All three have long since entered our lives, in different ways and sometimes unwittingly. Even the most reluctant have become accustomed to chatting with them, asking them the curiosity of the day or the correct recipe for apple pie. But what’s behind a virtual assistant? And why should we prefer one over the other? Who is the cutest of the three? And the most talkative? Let’s find out together.

Voice assistant: what is it?

Voice or virtual assistants are advanced platforms based on artificial intelligence algorithms. They allow us to interact with them through voice commands and their operation is made possible by advanced mechanisms of machine learning (automatic learning, algorithms that learn and improve themselves day after day, simply by “working”).

Few people know that the first virtual assistant implementation dates back to 1952 with Audrey, a device capable of recognizing single spoken digits. About 10 years later IBM I introduce instead Shoeboxa computer that responded to voice commands to solve basic mathematical operations.

Voice Assistant: What can you do?

The avirtual servers that we are going to analyze, that is Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri, have assumed importance and greater usefulness when we started to find them inside smart speakers. In fact, Google Assistant and Siri have existed for some time but their use was initially relegated only to owners of Android / Apple smartphones with actions limited to individual devices. Since they have been inserted into smart speakers, or smart speakers, they have taken on a whole different role in our lives. Now we can ask them for any kind of information or curiosity, we can start playing our favorite music playlists or a video, voice games, podcasts or, now a fundamental element, manage home automation.

In fact, an ever-expanding ecosystem of products was born around them. In fact, today we can connect any smart device to these assistants: lights, air conditioners, shutters and so on and so forth. All this in a few clicks

Alexa, Google and Siri: let’s get to know them better

Three names for three personalities and for three different ways of working.

Google Assistant

Google he bases his knowledge on the most important and complete search engine in the world. It goes without saying that asking him for information is equivalent to typing it into our browsers. Obviously the accuracy of the answers is not comparable to a display on the PC screen, but there is still a good chance that the answer will satisfy us: just don’t overdo the difficulty of the questions.

His voice is sometimes a bit cold, regardless of the choice of a masculine or feminine tone: it is in the articulation of the words that we notice the lack of naturalness. But Google Assistant compensates with sympathy. Well yes, unlike the other voice assistants, the one of the Mountain View giant is undoubtedly the nicest. He never takes himself too seriously and always has a joke ready.

To recall it you need two magic words: Hey Google! or Ok Google! But be careful, it is the same expression that also activates it on smartphones so it could understand that it has a double activation but not a double response. In fact, Google Assistant always prefers the smart speaker where available.

Then we have another undeniable advantage: a vast ecosystem of products that interact with the voice assistant, including the same Chromecast.

Finally, it is possible to create multiple voice profiles when the whole family uses it: Google Assistant will thus be able to recognize voices and respond in a personalized way to different members.

Amazon Alexa

Alexa draws its information from the Bing search engine and from Amazon itself. It is in fact able to communicate news related to your Amazon account, such as shipments in transit, in delivery and products in the cart. You can even place orders with a simple voice request.

Her voice is exclusively feminine but more natural. It is also more natural to ask her because you just need to say her name without other additional words. Alternatively, you can replace the word “Alexa” with “Computer“,”Echo“, or “Amazon“.

Also in this case we have the recognition of the different voice profiles so as to personalize the experience of each single member of the family.

As an Alexa function? Alexa appears more responsive than Google to calls, and its operation with the ecosystem of smart products available is based on the so-called Skill.

The Skills are the “ability”That Alexa must learn to be able to connect to smart objects or to be able to take advantage of a service (for example playing one podcast in particular).

A little note about Alexa’s performance: every now and then he ignores you. Or rather, when he doesn’t know the answer he will make a very short sound without saying a word. In short, is the gnorri.

Apple Siri

Siri was born in 2014 and for years remains an exclusive of the smartphone owners of the bitten apple. Only recently did she enter our homes thanks to him HomePodthe smart speakers of Apple. However Siri continues to remain mainly optimized for the functions connected to the smartphone area instead of those of home automation.

The ecosystem of products that can be connected to it thanks to Apple HomeKit it is still limited compared to the “colleagues” I told you about earlier. In addition, Italy HomePods are not yet officially on sale but, if you crave it, you could always buy it abroad. However, be aware that the only supported language is English.

Siri’s voice has undergone constant changes in recent years. Over time she has become more human and pleasant to the point of doubling: now we can choose between the female variant – the historical one – and a new male version.In both cases, to call her the voice assistant, just say Hey, Siri.
Too bad that on the iPhone Siri is not too responsive.

Here is a small comparison table that lists the main functions you can perform with smart voice assistants, and who can do what.

Best voice assistant: which one to choose?

The inevitable choice for the best voice assistant is currently between the first two: Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. As for the ecosystem that can be connected to them, they are practically on a par, which does not make the smart home a determining factor in the choice.

Instead, you should consider what other devices from the same family you have at home, such as an Amazon Fire Stick TV, a Google Chromecasta Google Nest or an Amazon Ring Video Doorbell. This will help you to rely on a system that is already functioning and present in your home.

The other decision you need to make is which aspect to favor and prefer between:

• Best web search and accurate answer results: Google Assistant
• Immediacy of the recall command: Amazon Alexa
• Utility in order tracking and control: Amazon Alexa
• Sympathy: Google Assistant
• Aesthetics: this is just personal taste, you will have to rely on the appearance of the existing smart speakers