Google Home vs Amazon Echo: Which is better?

Google plans to launch Google Home later this year. Like the Amazon Echo, Google Home is a connected smart speaker controlled through voice commands and largely intended to serve as the central hub of an increasingly digital smart home. In time, multiple digital personal assistants could flourish, but consumers have limited spending power and only so much table space.

When it comes to answering questions, Google has had a lot of practice. Each day, it handles billions of search queries, and it has done so for many years. Most of these are conducted through text, but voice plays an increasingly vital role. If you own an Android device, there's a good chance you've talked to Google before. About 20% of the time, Android users turn to voice dictation when they want to search the web.

The Amazon Echo integrates well with Amazon's services. It can reorder physical items from your shopping list, for example, or play a song from Prime Music. It can read you an Audible audiobook or track a package that's on its way to your doorstep.Unsurprisingly, the same will be true for Google Home. Amazon's services are tremendous, but Google's appear to be a more compelling fit for the product category. By leveraging Google Calendar, for example, Google Home can adjust your schedule. With YouTube, it can provide video. And with Google Maps, it can make route recommendations. The Amazon Echo can provide traffic updates and create new events on your Google Calendar, but it lacks the tight integration that may make Google Home more compelling.

Google has said Home will integrate with third-party apps and popular smart-home devices, but its most compelling integration may lie with its own streaming dongle, Chromecast. To date, Google has sold 25 million Chromecasts, and it could sell many more if Google Home is a success. By attaching Chromecasts to televisions and speakers, Google Home will be able to control all entertainment throughout the house. YouTube videos can start playing on a nearby television -- speakers in specific rooms can be instructed to play a particular song.