Which Smart Home Voice Assistant Should I Get?
December 29, 2023
I often hear “Which Smart Home Voice Assistant Should I Get?” as friends and family look into smart home devices for their homes. There have been a few inquiries this week since I posted ‘The History and Role of Voice Assistants in Smart Homes’ so I thought I’d post this as a ‘Part 2.’
When Debbie and I started our smart home journey seven years ago I settled on Amazon Alexa to anchor my plan as it seemed to have the most integrations with other devices and manufacturers. I haven’t been disappointed since but other voice assistants like Google Assistant and Apple Homekit have made great efforts to catch up. And they both have areas where they may even be better. The Apple ecosystem has tended to be a little proprietary but still has a huge group of users due to the devices’ ease of use.
Now, you don’t need to live in a full-blown smart home to benefit from smart voice assistants. Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and other digital assistants can help you in a multitude of ways and all you have to do is just say their key word.
Here are my recommendations for the top smart home assistants:
Amazon Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) — Best smart assistant for most people
Pros
- Larger display conveys more information
- Highly useful ambient temperature sensor
- Accelerometer for gesture recognition
- Can operate as a node on an Eero mesh WiFi network
Cons
- Audio performance still lacking
- 3.5mm analog audio output has been removed
- Mesh node feature is useful only to those with Eero routers
Current pricing is $60
As I noted above, I believe Amazon is the strongest player in the smart home market right now, and the Echo Dot with Clock (5th Gen) is a key reason for that. Amazon continues to innovate with this third-generation entry-level smart assistant. Although you’ll spend $10 less if you buy the Echo Dot (5th Gen) without a clock, that display adds much more than $10 in value. Unfortunately, if you’re looking for high quality audio performance, that’s the one area that Amazon continues to trail with its entry-level smart assistants. But if you’re buying a smart speaker mostly to control your smart home devices, this is still the smart assistant to buy. There are better devices to get if you’re an audiophile, like the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Wireless Speaker which has Alexa built in.
Google Nest Mini — Best smart assistant for most people, runner-up
Pros
- Improved sound quality
- Google Assistant rarely gets stumped
- Works great with other Nest devices
- Inexpensive
Cons
- Capacitive buttons are easy to miss
- Sound quality isn’t that great
- No cable management to go with the new mounting hole
- No analog audio output
Current pricing is $49
The Google Nest Mini takes the runner-up spot despite the improvements the company has made to its rebranded smart assistant. Audio quality has improved, and Google Assistant tends to be smarter than Alexa, but Amazon is ahead of the game when it comes to integrations into the smart home.
Apple HomePod mini — Best smart assistant in the Apple HomeKit ecosystem
Pros
- Impressive audio quality for its size
- Easy setup
- Works as a Thread border router for Matter
- “Intercom feature lets you broadcast messages to family members
- Temperature and humidity sensor was recently added, along with sound recognition for smoke alarms
Cons
- No physical mic mute control
- Intercom doesn’t support two-way calls
- Supports third-party music services, but only a few are on board
- There are better-sounding smart speakers in the Mini’s price range
- Still pricey
Current pricing is $99
A series of post-launch updates have turned the smaller HomePod into a much more capable smart assistant. Even with its hefty price tag, the HomePod mini is a worthwhile investment, particularly for Apple users. The larger HomePod (2nd generation) is still pretty expensive.
Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) — Best budget-priced smart assistant
Pros
- A very inexpensive voice-powered smart home controller
- Best sounding audio in its class
- Pretty industrial design
Cons
- Still not recommended for critical music listening
- Google Nest Mini offers tighter integration with Android smartphones
Current pricing is $50
I don’t know how much longer the third-gen Dot will be around, but if you’re looking for an inexpensive Alexa-powered smart assistant, this is the one to buy. If you’re looking for a budget-priced smart assistant based on Google Assistant, the Nest Mini, mentioned above as our overall budget-priced runner-up.
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) — Best smart display
Pros
- Display can automatically rotate so it’s always facing you
- Significant improvements in display brightness and image quality
- Strong home security features, including Alexa Guard and the subscription-based Alexa Guard Plus
- Very good audio performance
Cons
- You might find the tracking feature to be creepy but it can be disabled
- WiFi and Zigbee radios onboard, but there’s no Z-Wave or Thread support
- Needs at least 5 inches of clearance all the way around if it’s to fully rotate
Current pricing is $250
The Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) features a 10.1-inch display that tracks your movement and rotates so that it always faces you. Amazon’s AZ1 Neural Edge processor tracks your movement right on the device, enhancing your privacy by not uploading your image to the cloud. It has a high-quality display and a very good audio system. As with most of its more-expensive Echo devices, there’s an integrated Zigbee smart home hub, plus a radio that taps into Amazon’s new Sidewalk neighborhood network technology.
Google Nest Hub Max — Best smart display, runner-up
Pros
- Impressive audio quality
- Excels as a digital photo frame
- Built-in Nest camera
- Google Assistant is one of the smartest assistants on the market
Cons
- No physical camera shutter
- No analog audio output
- Google Assistant’s smart home compatibility still lags behind Alexa
Current pricing is $229
The Google Nest Hub Max delivers great sound, fabulous picture quality, and tight integration with the Google ecosystem. Alexa is still the superior digital assistant when it comes to smart home compatibility, but Google is working to change that.
There are a few great voice assistant options here. It all depends on your preferred ecosystem, budget and integration options. But you can’t really go wrong with any of them. If you’re new to smart home, start out with one of the budget friendly suggestions and take it for a test drive. If you’re an experienced smart homer, hopefully this has helped you make your next smart assistant purchase decision.
Let Debbie and I know what you think in the comments, DMs and emails as we really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again to all those following Debbie and I through our home building journey. It’s great to hear your success stories and suggestions as we move through the process. And if you like the content I’m posting each week, don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Follow.’
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