Alexa vs Google Assistant 

Alexa vs Google Assistant – Overview

The latest innovations in technology bring new devices to make the technology world even better. If we talk about the present scenario, we all use smartphones and other smart devices powered by the latest technologies.

When it comes to smart devices, how can we forget smart voice assistants? Yes, the war between the popular virtual voice assistants is going on and we can’t decide which one is better for you. 

Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Google Assistant are the top-rated voice assistants among us. These voice assistants come as a default feature on many devices and smartphones.

Being the products from the world’s biggest giants, choosing between these two is a bit difficult task. 

To make things easier for you, we have compared these two voice assistants here. This article contains everything that you might want to know about Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Google Assistant voice assistants.

Our detailed Alexa vs Google Assistant guide will clear all the doubts and confusions that you may have between these virtual voice assistants. 

Before we jump on to the main comparison part, let us understand the actual meaning of Virtual Voice Assistant. 

What is Virtual Voice Assistant?

Virtual Voice Assistant is a new voice assisting technology invented for smartphones and smart home appliances. The technology recognizes voice, voice commands, languages, and more to do your tasks through connected smart devices.

The Virtual Voice Assistant uses the advanced algorithm to do a variety of tasks as per the voice commands by the users. Google brought its voice assistant first named Google Assistant. 

At present, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are the two most popular virtual voice assistants. With innovations in technology, these voice assistants are becoming more intelligent and smart at handling different tasks. 

These assistants serve several similar features to users. However, some unique functions make both these assistants different from each other. Let’s find out the key differences between these two voice assistants. 

Alexa Vs Google Assistant

1. Voice Recognition

When it comes to recognizing your voice commands, we have found that both Alexa and Google Assistant did pretty well.

They recognize your voice commands and respond to them promptly. The voice assistants are doing well with their respective smart speakers. 

You can customize the wake word on Amazon Alexa by using the Alexa app on your smartphone. You can enable this new wake word to every connected device manually using the Alexa app. 

On the other hand, there is no such feature available for Google Assistant users.

You have to use Hey Google or Ok, Google to wake the Assistant. However, there is no delay in recognizing and responding to your voice commands. 

Moreover, both assistants support continuous conversation, which means you don’t have to wake the assistant again and again.

Both assistants can recognize different voices. Alexa and Google Assistant can recognize voice commands from up to six persons at a time. 

2. Music and Podcasts

Over 75% of users use Voice Assistants for music and podcasts. Thankfully, Alexa and Google Assistant offer the best integration with top music and podcast apps.

The assistants are also compatible work with third-party music apps which you can enable using the Settings menu on your smartphone. 

If we compare the number of music services that these voice assistants support, then Alexa supports 11 music services including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, Spotify, Vevo, Tunein, Tidal, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio. 

On the other hand, Google Assistant supports 9 music services including Apple Music on iOS devices, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Google Music, YouTube Music, TuneIn, SiriusXM, Spotify, and Pandora. 

You can ask Alexa and Google Assistant to play your favorite tracks from your favorite music service. The assistant finds you the best track and plays it quickly as per your command. 

For podcast users, Amazon and Google both have improved their services to recognize podcasts. Alexa now lets you integrate with your Apple Podcast account. 

Amazon Alexa offers more features and integrations compared to Google’s Google Assistant. So here, Alexa is the winner! 

3. General Knowledge

Most of us ask some general knowledge questions to virtual assistants to get quick answers. We did the same with both the assistants and found out that both the assistants performed well. 

We asked a few general knowledge questions to both the assistants. What we found out here is Amazon’s Alexa is providing in-depth answers to the questions including the associated information.

However, Google Assistant lacks this feature. It only displays the answer with basic information. 

However, Google Assistant is responding quickly with the answers compared to Alexa Assistant.

Since Alexa is providing in-depth answers, it might take longer than Google Assistant to display the answer. 

4. Directions

We can ask the virtual voice assistant to show us the path using the default Map. Google Assistant has been offering this service since it was launched first.

We tried asking for the fastest route to get to the office. Google prompted quickly with the required result compared to Alexa. 

Google Assistant utilizes Google’s other services, including Google Maps, Google Street, Google Local Business, etc, to get you the best and fastest routes with the number of things that may come your way, including their contact numbers and addresses. 

Google Assistant also provides further information about public transportation, the timing, and more. While there is no such information provided by Alexa. Google Assistant wins here! 

5. Supported Languages

Google Assistant supports more languages than Alexa. The Google Assistant is available in English, French, Danish, Japanese, German, Italian, Polish, Hindi, and many other languages.

The service supports almost all the languages where the service is available. 

There are some limitations while using the language feature with Google Assistant. Some of the languages only support Smart Speakers and not displays.

Some languages may be restricted in some territories as per the government’s policies. 

Furthermore, Google’s Voice Assistant can recognize two different languages at a time. The built-in interpreter mode allows you to change the phrase to your desired language. 

On the other hand, Alexa supports fewer languages than Google Assistant. However, the service offers kind of the same features and functions as Google Assistant such as dual language mode, etc. 

6. Online Shopping

Did you know you can do a variety of things using voice assistants? Alexa and Google Assistant both support several online shopping apps that make your shopping free from hassle. 

You can ask Alexa and Google Assistant to order food online, book a hotel room, reserve a flight ticket, know about the recipes, etc.

When asked, both assistants provide the best recommendations on your screen, from which you can easily select the one that suits your needs. 

Google Assistant provides more curated results compared to Alexa assistant as it uses the other free-to-use services to find out and locate the shopping cart and restaurant details on the display. 

7. Basic Tasks

For basic tasks such as making phone calls, sending text messages to someone, or making video calls, both the assistants are doing well.

You can easily get in touch with your contacts by simply using your voice command. 

You can make voice calls and video calls and send text messages to your contacts using Alexa and google assistant.

All you have to do is just use the wake word to open and let the assistant hear your command. 

Over the passing of time, Alexa and Google Assistant are becoming smarter as they are now compatible with almost all third-party voice calling and video calling apps. 

Alexa has started supporting Skype to make voice calls and do other activities on the same with quick integration.

The same support is not available on Google Assistant. You can’t make voice calls on the Skype app using Google Assistant. This only feature makes Alexa a bit stronger here. 

8. Smart Home Appliances

We can now integrate our smart home devices with these voice assistants to make them work using your voice commands.

We can use Smart Speakers from Amazon and Google to integrate with other smart home appliances. 

Intesteringly, both Alexa and Google Assistant support a range of smart devices that we can install across our homes.

The assistants also support third-party products as they are now allowing quick integration with Alexa and Google Assistant. 

Google Assistant has some limitations while working with smart home devices compared to Alexa Assistant.

Alexa can let you do multiple tasks with the built-in app. However, Google Assistant requires you to set up the schedule or use your voice command. 

Alexa and Google Assistant – Final Verdict

As we can see, the differences between Alexa and Google Assistant are minimal. Both Alexa and Google Assistant have their fanbase which uses these services regularly. 

After going through the above comparison, we can see that Alexa is winning here in terms of performance and compatibility.

Alexa provides great integration and better communication features compared to Google Assistant. 

Both Assistants do pretty well with a knowledge base, language support, and other basic tasks.

If you love music, then Alexa is a good option; for online shopping and curated lists, Google Assistant is a good choice for you. 

You have to set out your priorities first before you can choose which Voice Assistant is right for you. Both assistants add new features and functions regularly.

We can expect smarter features from the assistants in the coming days! 

See Also

How to Connect Alexa to Wifi

Google Home vs Alexa

How to Set Up Google Home Mini