Amazon Echo has enjoyed popularity without any rivalry in the UK, but that's about to change soon. Google announced that it will be launching its smart speaker – Google Home – in the UK on April 6, stepping up the pace on the niche smart home battle in a new market.
This is also the first time Google Home is stepping outside its home country since the official launch in the U.S. last October. The device has received positive reviews so far, giving Amazon a tough competition.
In the UK, Google Home will be priced at £129, which works out at £20 cheaper than Amazon Echo's £149 price tag. Google's smart speaker has managed to outperform Amazon Echo, but Amazon's outreach to partner with third-party developers has worked well in its favour.
According to Edison Investment Research's Richard Windsor, Amazon has managed to sell 10 million units of Echo smart speakers compared to less than a million Google Home devices, the Guardian reported. Amazon faces a serious threat from Google, but it is still in the lead.
For so long, shoppers in the UK had no option but to go with Amazon Echo. With the upcoming launch of Google Home, it will be interesting to see how the trend changes from here onwards.
Amazon Echo and Google Home are great devices in their own way. There are many similarities and some unique elements that make the products stand out. Both speakers come with smart digital assistants that can carry out most of the operations assigned to them.
Google Home is integrated with Google Assistant, which gets activated with the signature "Ok Google" command. You can throw any question at Google Home and it will find an answer for you in a matter of seconds. The speaker, other than playing music, understands you better with time, thanks to the machine learning capabilities, and answers follow-up questions to your initial voice commands.
Google Home's cross-integration will also allow users to control other smart devices around the home, such as light bulbs, thermostats, TVs and other speakers. The device comes in different colour shades, so you can match it to your interiors easily.
If you are still looking to buy the Amazon Echo, it is certainly not a bad choice. Amazon has the advantage of playing this smart home game for longer than Google. In addition to doing everything Google Home does, it handles third-party devices support extensively. Amazon Echo works with devices from a wide range of brands like Nest, Philips, SmartThings, Belkin, Wink, Insteon and more. It has more than 3,000 skills up its sleeve for you to explore.
Wait... there's more!
Google Home isn't the only product set for launch in the U.K. next month. The internet search titan is also going to launch Google Wifi for £129. The wireless router promises to deliver a consistently strong coverage through its mesh system.
