Home - Smart Speaker with Google Assistant - White/Slate

In the box there is the device itself, a power cord, and some papers like the quick start guide, etc. The set up was pretty straight forward. You plug it in, it will boot up and when its done booting it makes the same chime sound the Google Pixel does which I thought was a cool touch. You then have to install the Google Home app from either the play store, or Apples app store. For me this was from the play store. After installing the app you begin the set up. It will ask for various permissions for example location. The next step was a device search. It immediately located my Google Home device. It then sets up a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot while it connects. Once its connected it will do a connection test by chiming a sound from the Home. If you hear it you have connected successfully. It then asks you what room the device will be in. You have the standard options like Living room, etc. For me I scrolled all the way down and chose “other” and manually entered a room name. The next step was connecting to the same Wi-Fi network that your phone is on. For me it automatically had the correct SSID and password so I didnt have to enter it. In the box there is the device itself, a power cord, and some papers like the quick start guide, etc. The set up was pretty straight forward. You plug it in, it will boot up and when its done booting it makes the same chime sound the Google Pixel does which I thought was a cool touch. You then have to install the Google Home app from either the play store, or Apples app store. For me this was from the play store. After installing the app you begin the set up. It will ask for various permissions for example location. The next step was a device search. It immediately located my Google Home device. It then sets up a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot while it connects. Once its connected it will do a connection test by chiming a sound from the Home. If you hear it you have connected successfully. It then asks you what room the device will be in. You have the standard options like Living room, etc. For me I scrolled all the way down and chose “other” and manually entered a room name. The next step was connecting to the same Wi-Fi network that your phone is on. For me it automatically had the correct SSID and password so I didnt have to enter it. After that initial set up you then get to the “Meet your Google Assistant” steps. This was locating my address, selecting whether or not I wanted email notification, and choosing my music service. You have several music service options like Google play Music, Youtube, Spotify, and Pandora. In my case I used the Google play music. After this it went into an audible tutorial on just a few of the things it can do. For example giving you the weather, time, setting alarms. If you are bored it can also tell you jokes, read poetry, sing songs, and you can even play games with it such as trivia, mad libs, etc. These could really come in handy if your bored. During this step it also told me I had a free 6 month subscription to Youtube Red which I thought was pretty cool. One of the main things people will want to do with this of course is play music. It is very easy. You can choose specific songs, albums, or even just ask it to play random music from a certain genre. For example I said “OK Google, play me some dubstep”. It then played some dubstep from a google play music station. I was honestly surprised at how good music played from such a small device. The bass was much more than I expected. The highs, mids, and vocals are all very clear as well. In other words it sounded great. Another useful feature that I'm sure a lot of people will use it for is of course Google searches. It does this very well and because it is connected directly to Googles network it is very accurate, and can do a lot more than you might think. The searches are also contextual meaning you can ask it something, then continue with that topic without having to specify that topic again. For example you could ask it “How old is George Clooney”, then say “what are some of his movies” without having to say “What are some of George Clooneys movies”. It will know the subject you are already asking about. But you do have to say “OK Google” before each, it wont work if you just ask the question without first saying “OK Google”. This is of course so it wont always be talking when you are asking someone else near it a question. It has to be activated with “OK Google” or “Hey Google”. The device itself looks a lot like an air freshener. Its very small and can fit pretty much anywhere. It comes with a grey base, but this can be swapped out with optional bases that are different colors to match your houses theme if you want to. The top of the device is also a touch pad. You can use this to control music, adjust the volume, or start and stop searches with a tap. The microphone on it is very good as well. I was surprised at how it heard me perfectly. Even when it is playing loud music you can say “OK Google” to stop, pause, go to next or previous track, or even adjust the volume. It will also connect to any Chromecast devices you have. I dont have any at the moment, but it would for example connect to any external speaker system you had if it had Chromecast. You can then choose to play music from your speaker system instead of the Google Home device. It can also connect and control lights, and thermostats that are network connected. Our house doesn't have any of these yet, so I guess at the moment our house isn't “Smart” yet. But the Google Home is a step in that direction for sure. At the moment it does have some limitations. For example when trying to make calls or send texts it will say “I cant do that YET”. The “YET” I am assuming means it will be able to soon. I'm sure with updates and time there will be a lot more this little device can do. But even now it is quite handy. The Google Home is great device that will smarten up any home. One of the main things people will want to do with this of course is play music. It is very easy. You can choose specific songs, albums, or even just ask it to play random music from a certain genre. For example I said “OK Google, play me some dubstep”. It then played some music from a google play music station. I was honestly surprised at how good music played from such a small device. The bass was much more than I expected. The highs, mids, and vocals are all very clear as well. In other words it sounded great. Another useful feature that Im sure a lot of people will use if of course google searches. It does this very well and because it is connected directly to Googles network it is very accurate, and can do a lot more than you might think. The searches are also contextual meaning you can ask it something, then continue with that topic without having to ask it again. For example you could ask it “How old is George Clooney”, then say “what are some of his movies” without having to say “What are some of George Clooneys movies”. It will know the subject you are already asking about. But you do have to say “OK Google” before each, it wont work if you just ask the question without first saying “OK Google”. The device itself looks a lot like an air freshener. Its very small and can fit pretty much anywhere. It comes with a grey base, but this can be swapped out with swappable bases that are different colors to match your houses theme if you want to. The top of the device is also a touch pad. You can use this to control music, adjust the volume, or start and stop searches with a tap. The microphone on it is very good as well. I was surprised at how it heard me perfectly. Even when it is playing loud music you can say “OK Google” to stop, pause, or even adjust the volume. It will also connect to any Chromecast devices you have. I dont have any at the moment, but it would for example connect to any external speaker system you had if it had Chromecast. You can then choose to play music from your speaker system instead of the Google Home device. It can also connect and control lights, and thermostats that are network connected. Our house doesnt have any of these yet, so I guess at the moment our house isn't “Smart” yet. But the Google Home is a step in that direction for sure. At the moment it does have some limitations. For example when trying to make calls or send texts it will say “I cant do that YET”. The “YET” I am assuming means it will be able to soon. Im sure with updates and time there will be a lot more this little device can do. But even now it is quite handy. The Google Home is great device that will smarten up any home.

Okay so the intelligence of Google Home and it's speaker quality are great. I am the kind of person that sees a speaker with a new feature and I have to try it. It is a running joke at work because I have a speaker for every room of my home and at my work desk. That said, Google Home makes working at home so much fun. When I first opened the box the setup was simple, quick and I got so enthralled with all the fun stuff it does that I realized two hours later I hadn't turned on a TV in the house. Prompt "Okay Google, sing to me", or "Okay Google, tell me a joke", some funny features to show your friends. Or the crystal ball feature is fun as well! The fun doesn't stop there though, it can hail a cab for me, tell me what traffic looks like, tell me the weather, and best of all recipes. My Google Home is in the kitchen and when I asked for a enchilada recipe and she knew the process of making them I was floored. So yeah... Christmas couldn't wait and I am glad that I added Google Home to my home and kitchen area. It is going to sit neatly on the counter and really bring life to our family gatherings this holiday season. I absolutely cannot wait to show everyone what Google Home can do with all the apps and features I haven't even tapped into.

The Google Home is a well built voice activated speaker that sounds pretty good and is useful for many things, specifically the Google Home is quite useful for setting alarms and timers, and I have been getting up in the morning more consistently than I had been before I received my Google Home. The Google Home is able to play at volume levels that are plenty sufficient for most situations. If you choose to buy a Google home, after connecting it to your internet connection, then it is best to download the Google Home app for Android or Apple, then locate and optimize all the settings to get the best experience using the Google Home. In the settings there is a setting called Accessibility, it allows you to turn on the option to play an audible sound, which indicates when you should speak your verbal request. This means that after you say OK GOOGLE, you will then hear an audible beep, so you will know exactly when to speak your request, without this Accessibility sound option turned on, it is necessary to be looking at the Google Home device when saying OK GOOGLE, so that you can see the lights on the top of the Google Home light up, of which the lights indicates that you should then speak your request. It is basically easier to say OK GOOGLE and hear an audible beep indicating when to speak your request, than it is to say OK GOOGLE and have to be looking at the device to see the visual indicator to know when to speak your request. The Google Home app has the option to add your home address, which is necessary for the Google Assistant to provide your weather requests, as the Google Home needs to know the location of the weather that you are desiring. The Google Home app allows you to set a desired music playback source, and also allows you to create a list of your desired news sources, allowing you to customize the news that you can hear playing through the Google Home. Newer versions of the Android operating system have the built in options of allowing the Google Assistant to be always listening, so that you to say OK GOOGLE, and then you can make a verbal request, the same way that the Google Home does, but using the Google Home device is a much better experience. The two microphones on the Google Home pick up your voice noticeably better than the microphone on a smart phone. The Google Chrome web browser has apps and extensions that can be installed, which add interactivity with your Google Home device. Do a Google search for Chrome Web Store, and it will bring up the website where you can search for and install the available Google Apps and Extensions. The Google Keep App for Google Chrome, allows you to create a shopping list that can be used with the Google Home Assistant, just create a shopping list in the Google Keep app, then ask the Google Home Assistant: What is my shopping list, then the Assistant will verbally remind you of all the things on your shopping list. The Google Keep app can also be found on the Google Play store and can be installed on Android smart phones, allowing you to create shopping lists the same way. The Google Calendar extension for Google Chrome, allows you to quickly add calendar entries, then you can ask the Google Home Assistant: What is on my calendar, and the Assistant will verbally remind you of every calendar entry that you added for each day. The Google Cast extension for Google Chrome, allows you to see which song Pandora is playing, this extension allows you to pause music playback and also adjust the volume level, all of this from the Google Chrome browser. Below is a list of verbal requests that the Google Home can be used for: What time is it Set an alarm for 7 am, Set a timer for 30 minutes (Multiple timers and alarms can be set) Stop alarm, Stop timer, Stop all timers, Stop all alarms What is today’s weather (Your local weather will be read if your address has been set) What the weather in Ventura, California ( Any city and state can be requested) What is the humidity (Your local humidity will be read if your address has been set) Is Wal-Mart open, Is Best Buy open, Is Jack in the box open, etc.. What is on my calendar (Calendar events must be added first in Google Calendar) Add orange juice to my shopping list, Add bananas to my shopping list, etc. What is my shopping list Play music, Pause music (Music will play from your chosen default music source) Play Google Play music (Use this if Pandora is default music source) Play Pandora music (Use this if Google Play Music is default music source) Play news, Pause news (News will play from your chosen list of news sources) Turn up the volume, Turn down the volume Volume level 4, Volume level 6, Volume level 3, etc.. (Volume levels 1 - 10) What is the volume The Google Home voice activated smart speaker, allows adding Philips Hue lighting control, it is necessary to synchronize the Google Home device with the Philip Hue bridge, this synchronizing is done in the settings of the Google Home app on an Android or Apple device, once this is setup, all of the following can be done with the Philips Hue lighting. Turn lights on 10 percent, Turn lights on 50 percent, Turn lights light blue (Daylight), Turn lights white (Warm white), Turn lights red (Great for movie lighting, or night lights), Dim lights, Turn lights on 100 percent, Turn lights off. The Google Home has a really nice power supply, which has a silicone strap that wraps around the cord. A quality power supply always adds to making an electronic device have a luxury feel to it. My overall opinion of the Google Home Assistant, is that owning and using the Google Home has made life more convenient.

I was not a fan of a voice control before, but this have a potential of changing that! My family spent a whole evening talking to it, asking various things, it was real fun! Goole Home device is a size of a big coffee mug, with a detachable base (Google will start selling those bases as accessories in different colors very soon), base is magnetically attached to the device and could be pulled off by twisting it or just yanking it down. 3x2" speakers and hiding underneath along with a micro USB port that is currently not used for anything (I suspect micro USB is for service purposes only), no other ports are present. DC power port is at the bottom and Google Home comes with it's own DC power supply compatible with 110-240V input and giving 16.5 VDC out at 2 Amps. Google Home can't be powered by the USB. Power cord is 70" long and comes with a soft rubber strap to keep it organized. Top surface is touch sensitive and has a ring of 12 multi colored LEDs to indicate the device status, mute button along with a small power LED is at the back of the device. To start interacting with the Google Home - first thing you'll need is to pair it, it's a straightforward process, all you need is a phone or tablet (iOS or Android) with Google Home app running, everything is done from inside the app, you won't need to hop on different WiFi network or anything like that, I believe app is communicating with the Google Home via Bluetooth at the setup time (since the WiFi credentials are not yet known to it). You will be prompted to pick a Google Account you want the device linked to, then pick a source of the Music (out of: Google Play Music, Pandora (free account is OK), Spotify (paid account needed) or YouTube music (paid account needed)) and a source of News. Google Home would also look for any Chromecast devices on your network and will be able to pair to them (unfortunately it does not work with Android TVs yet). Now - the main thing - talking to it! To attract it's attention you could say "Hey, Google" or "OK, Google", it's pretty sensitive as I could talk to it from any corner of my 600sq ft living room and it could understand me perfectly. Alternatively - just hold your finger on top surface until 4 lights appear and say your command. Every command you say will be listed in the history inside of the Google Home app, you could even play your command back (so you know who said it!) and sometimes even look at the details of the answer such as URL it used to pull the recipe from. Google Home will keep a context of some commands like you could say "OK, Google, Who is Mr X?" and then "OK, Google, when was he born?" and it will know you asking about "Mr X" again! However if you ask "What's on my shopping list?" and then "Add potatoes" - it won't get it, it would read you some potatoes recipe instead. I'm hoping this will be improved soon! Speaking of shopping lists - you'll find it in the Google Keep app on your phone. Other things you can ask - weather, time, setting timers (you can set different timers for different things like 5 minutes for "potatoes", 3 minutes for "steak", etc), translations of different words and phrases to different languages. Sometimes "Home" will surprise you - like saying "Good Morning" will get you - current time, weather forecast for today and a news report from the news sources you've configured. However - it can's set reminders yet, hope that is coming! Music - "Home" will play music from the internet source you've configured and it could cast it to any chromecast enabled speakers you have. There is no direct audio output or ability to pair a bluetooth speaker directly to the Home device. Internal speakers of the "Home" put our pretty good sound for their size. Videos - anything you ask will be looked up on youtube and "casted" to Chromecast devices you have, it does not support Android TV yet, nor Roku or Apple TV devices. Smart Home integration - right now "Home" can control Nest thermostats, SmartThings and Philips Hue devices. I've tried Nest integration and it works flawlessly - you can ask what is the current temperature in the room, set the thermostat setpoints (even if you keep your Nest in Heat-Cool mode!). Unfortunately my home automation system (ISY) is not yet supported by the "Home" directly, but IFTTT is here to help! I was able to use "Google Assistant" channel combined with a "Maker" channel to control lights in my home no problem. I'm real excited about the possibilities this opens! Just be mindful about the security - don't let it disarm your alarm, unlock your smart locks or anything that could be used to gain unauthorized access. Another point - if you keep your "Home" near your home phone - someone could call it and once it goes to automatic answering - tell your Google Home to do anything. Few things to improve: multiple Google Accounts support (like maybe home and work, or different family members accounts), maybe add Exchange and iCloud account support as well (I use Office 365 at work and unfortunately "Home" can't access it), more device integration (Andorid TVs, Roku, etc) and open developer API of course! Overall - it's a wonderful start by Google! "Home" is a very capable device on it's 1st day and would only improve in the future!

I'm a fan of the Amazon Echo and other digital assistants so when I was able to test out Google's new voice-activated assistant, Google Home, I was more than happy to do so. The Google Home is a voice-activated speaker that uses the Google Assistant to do things. It's about the size of a desktop Bluetooth speaker and it gives you the opportunity to control certain aspects of your home and daily life. The body of the device is designed to blend in with your regular home decor. It looks modern and works well with varying styles of interior design. The Google Home is first and foremost a speaker. As such, it's equipped with a microphone and play/pause and volume control. The basic speker controls are integrated into the touch surface on the top of the speaker. Because it’s voice activated, you can also control Google Home by talking to it. Commands like, “Play Pandora Radio,” will enable the music player on the device. Even though I’m more of an Apple user, I really appreciate Google’s self-integration with devices like the Home. For one thing, the search is blazing fast. I used to have a virtual assistant called UBI, which pre-dated the other voice assistants like Google Home and Alexa. The search function worked on it, but it was slow - sometimes taking a solid minute to speak the answer back. Google Home responds within about 3 seconds whereas Siri on my iPhone 7 took about 7 seconds to tell me a response. All of Google Home’s functions are quick and precise. Another test we ran was to request that Siri and Google Home both turn on Hue lights in a specific room of our home. Again Home was faster. When asked, “Turn on the Living Room lights,” Siri took approximately 3.6 seconds to respond while Google Home only took about 3 seconds. What’s remarkable about this to me is that the two devices are running on the exact same network. Set-up of the device is very easy. You plug it into power and then follow the instructions on the companion app, which is available for both iOS and Android devices. Basically, once the Home is connected to the internet, you can start using it. The app is truly a companion because other than set-up, you don’t really need to use it. The app gives you pointers like ‘Things to ask’ and helps you connect other services like Music services and Home controls. You do have to use the app to connect your other smart devices in your home. Probably the most impressive thing about the Google Home is the follow-up functionality when you ask questions. For example, you can ask, “Who is the current President of the United States?” And Home will answer, “Barack Obama.” You can then say, “How old is he?” Home will respond, “He is 55 years old.” Other voice assistant will get confused and say that they can’t answer the question because it doesn’t get the reference back to the original question. This is a function of the Google Assistant and it pulled through into this device flawlessly. One of my favorite thing about Google Home, aside from how well it works, is how fun it is. Google Home provides an entertainment outlet in addition to a functional assistant. You can play trivia games with it, which makes it a fun addition to family gatherings. Say you are sitting around with friends and want to do something other than visit. You can simply say, “Play a trivia game,” and Google Home will act as your game show host. You can let it know how many people are playing and it will ask questions for each player in the correct order. We tried this out a couple of times with no problems. You can also have Google Home just ask you single questions if you are on your own. As easy as Google Home is to set-up and use, it does still have its limitations. They are limitations that I feel that Google will upgrade over time with software updates, but they are still very noticeable especially if you use other voice assistants like Alexa. First, Google Home only works with some smart devices. Right now, it’s only compatible with Nest, Philips Hue lights, and SmartThings. It does work with IFTTT protocols and recipes and you can control your TV if you have a Google Chromecast, but no other streaming media devices. Google Home also only works with 5 different music streaming services - YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, and TuneIn. You can’t connect to libraries throughout your house like you can with devices like Apple TV, but again, I think this is something that will probably be an upgrade once Home isn’t quite so new. One other very basic feature that the Home does not do is to record reminders. You can ask it to remind you to do something and it says, “Sorry, I can’t set reminders yet,” which leads me to believe it’s a forthcoming option. For the limitations that Google Home has, it does a lot of things very right. If I had to choose between the Google Home and Alexa, I would choose the Home because it is so much fun to use. I think that if you are integrated into Google’s ecosystem, the Home is definitely the way to go.

Features: - Far field voice recognition to support hands free use - 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi support for high performance streaming - Simple setup with the Google Home app on iOS & Android - High excursion speaker delivers clear highs and rich bass for HiFi sound - Chromecast built in allows casting from compatible audio apps to Google Home - Multi room playback to sync music across speakers that have Chromecast built in - Check out these compatible services and more at g.co/home/services - YouTube Music, Pandora, Google Play Music, TuneIn, Chromecast, Nest, Friends of Hue, Smart Things What is in the box?: - Google Home - AC Adapter - Get Started Card - Quick "things you can say" card - Change your base card - Warranty/Safety Card (1 Year Warranty) Requirements: - For "turn up the thermostat", compatible smart thermostat linked to Google Home - WiFi connection - Electrical outlet - Compatible Android, iOS, Windows or Mac OSX computer or mobile device - Minimum OS requirements located at g.co/home/req Testing/Setup: Box is beautiful!!!!!!! Whoever designed this box is a wonderful person and knows what we "box people" want. The unit itself sits perfectly snug inside the box. Contents inside the box (quick reference cards, cable, etc.) is also made with quality material. Google Home itself is not heavy at all. The top portion of the device is a full touchscreen (not necessarily a screen). The material for the Google Home also has a great feel to it. Guess what... No fingerprints! The material around the base of the Google Home (speaker) is also nice material. The AC adapter is nice and the wire itself is flexible if you need to maneuver it around certain things. The power plugs in to the bottom base of the Google Home. All in all, the materials that were used to create this entire thing (box, cards, unit itself) is excellent. The voice recognition is accurate. I was in the kitchen and my device is set up in the living room. When I ask Google Home to turn up/down the volume; it hears you! Even if you slightly "slur" your words when talking to the Google Home, it'll still pick up what you're trying to say. I spent probably a good full 3~5 hours after setting it up and just messed with it, straight up talked to it. Setting it up was extremely easy. You literally plug it in and download the Google Home app on your phone and follow the on screen prompt. You can do so much with this device. Want to listen to Pandora? Tell it to play Pandora. You want Spotify? Ask it to play Spotify (if you have premium). Play a game? Ask it. Want news or weather? Ask it. Pretty much, it uses the Google engine to power this thing; meaning it uses Google's years and years of experience to help you do things. If you're someone that forgets to set appointments, what to buy when you're at the grocery store, setting up an alarm; Google Home will remember for you. Want to order an Uber? Ask Google Home to do it for you. If you have a Nest thermostat system or that fancy Phillips lighting system, Google Home can even be programmed to mess with those. So basically what I am saying is, if you have a smart home; get the Google Home to outsmart your smart home. BOOM! The range of things that Google Home can do is pretty magnificent. Of course, I have some cons as well. I still can't figure out if this thing is "messed" up or if it was Pandora. Basically, if I was trying to ask it to play a different station on Pandora; it wouldn't change. I ran into a couple occasions where my Google Home just stopped playing. When I tried to tell it to play Pandora, nothing. Another issue I have is the sound itself. The base is pretty good and the sound can get pretty loud. My problem is that it sounds a little *mono*. There's basically no surround sound effect, but that could be because the unit itself is not that big so it can't project a surround sound feeling. The thing that honestly got me upset the most is when it stopped playing and I couldn't get it back up and running. I had to open up the Google Home app on my phone and reboot the Google Home unit. If you have a Google Pixel by the way, prepare for both devices to hear you when you say "Ok Google". With these cons, I had to drop a star. Everything else blew me away though, everything from the quality of the device (the way it was built) to the things that it can do. I hope they update it in the future to make phone calls, that'll be awesome! Conclusion: If you're browsing the market for an Amazon Echo device or anything in that particular area, I would give the Google Home a shot. If you're looking for something that'll help you remember, someone to talk to, someone to play a basic game with (3 included/available right now), or trying to be a home DJ with your playlist and music; look into the Google Home. It offers more than what I just said like changing your temperature in your home, ordering a Uber, and looking up things via the Google search engine. It does a lot more too. I'm hoping with Google powering this things, they'll be able to update it to do other things like phone calls and maybe some more games and other *stuff*. Overall, I like the unit/device. OH!!! One more things... If you have a date you want to bring home to meet Google Home, you'll have a blast; especially if your date speaks a different language. You can tell Google Home to say whatever you want in that language. Its for the most part "accurate" but once you do long sentences, it kinda doesn't do it correctly. I tried a different language with my wife and she understood the first thing I said. Second thing (longer sentence) made no sense to her she stated. Anyways, give this things a shot and try it out for yourself.

I was so excited to receive and review Google Home. Let me say 1st impression was great because the packaging was classy and not rushed. I'll like to start with what I liked: -Setup for Google was very simple and fast. Right out the box I plugged it in, downloaded the app and I followed instructions from the app to complete my setup. Instead of a booklet Google had quality printed cards with simple instructions. -Say "ok Google" from almost anywhere and it responds and awaits for your commands. -Visually the Google Home is a really cool looking gadget. I really like the colorful l.e.d lights. What I did not like: -Occasionally after I ask Google Home a question I get a delayed response. -Wish it connected to my soundbar or had a better speaker Google Home is new to Google and I really believe that it will only get better. I saw the competition and Google have more resources to better Google Home. I'm starting to think I'm addicted to Google Home because I cannot stop asking questions and giving more commands. I recommend getting Google Home because of how easy it is to use and with time who knows what it will do next.

Being a fan and avid user of the Amazon Echo, Dot and Tap, I was very curious to see how Google would execute on a similar experience. I've used the Google Home for a few days now and my experience has been... meh, just OK. For starters, I know it's not entirely fair to compare the current version / capabilities of the Home to the current version / capabilities of the Echo... but, Amazon has had almost a year ahead of Google and the skills and abilities of the Home are about where the Echo was a year ago. As it stands, Home doesn't have the 'Skills' that Amazon offers. I'm having to rely on IFTTT to take care of our smart home devices using the Google Home. I've gotten spoiled talking to the Echo like it's the computer from Star Trek - and Google Home feels like it showed up to the party a year late. The voice response from the Home also reminds me of Siri's earlier days where as the Echo sounds more conversational. Since Google has their own music service, App Store and YouTube Red - I can't see Google opening the door to other developer's APIs to use other services. Actually, one of my biggest gripes is that I can't use the home as a Bluetooth speaker - that seems like a huge oversite on Google's part. One cool aspect of the Home is the responsive touch of the top of the device. Amazon's Echo still relies on physical button pressing and radial dial turns. So the Home looks and operates a little more snazzy than the Echo in this regard. If you're married to the Google ecosystem, then going with the Home and riding out the growing pains might be worth it - but until they offer a service comparable to Amazon Prime where I get cloud storage, shipping, videos and music - I don't think Alexa has any reason to get jealous.