After Nearly a Decade of Testing Google Nest and Amazon Echo Smart Speakers in My Home, Here’s What I Liked About Each - CNET

I've tested nearly every smart speaker and smart display from Amazon and Google in my home, and they are similar, yet vastly different.

Smart speakers and displays have a lot of useful features that can add convenience and fun to your home.

The rise of smart speakers nearly 10 years ago ushered in a new era of smart homes, making a personal digital assistant accessible to the average person. But the connections to different device brands, utility features and entertainment options make the smart speakers and displays stand out.

With Google and Amazon leading the charge in this space, it can be tough to tell which is right for you. Each company offers a competent voice-activated assistant capable of handling questions, timers, reminders, playing music, controlling smart home devices and more. But there are key differences between the two platforms that are important to consider before settling on one.

Using your smart display to ask Google Assistant to play videos from YouTube is great when working in the kitchen.

The Amazon Echo Show 10 and Google Nest Hub Max smart displays are both great entertainment machines with good audio and large screens you can use to watch TV shows and movies. But what you watch and the way you watch it are quite different.

While you can ask Alexa or Google Assistant to play a video on Netflix, the rest of the video streaming services don’t match up the same. The big win for Google here is direct access to YouTube. The massive user-driven service has billions of hours of every subject on Earth and isn't available on Amazon Echo Products.

Technically, you can access YouTube on your Echo Show, but it requires a browser and isn’t a great experience.

Chromecast is built into Google's smart displays, expanding the video platforms you can use.

Google's Chromecast is another win in the video content category, as it's built into all of its smart speakers and displays. This lets you easily send Chromecast-compatible content on your phone directly to your Google Nest device.

Amazon doesn't have proper access to YouTube, but it does have direct access to Prime Video, which Google doesn't.

The Echo Show 8's new 13-megapixel camera will pan and zoom on a squirmy subject to keep them front and center.

Hands-free calling can help when your hands are full or you’re in the middle of a task. It's even more convenient when you can make phone calls using your Google Assistant-powered smart speakers and displays, like real phone calls.

Amazon Echo devices allow you to call other Echo speakers, but Google’s smart speaker allows you to call any of your contacts so long as they're in the US or Canada. If you’re using Google Fi or Google Voice, your calls will go through as if you were calling from your phone.

These types of calls work on all Google Assistant speakers, like the Nest Mini, but if you have a Nest Hub Max with a camera, you can also make video calls. Depending on your preferences, Google Assistant enlists Duo or Zoom will handle these calls.

A dedicated lights tab shows you the current status of all the smart lights in your home.

Many people intend to use a smart speaker with their smart home. While Google Assistant speakers and Amazon Echo speakers can both connect to and control a slew of devices and brands, Amazon works with more.

According to a report from Statista, as of July 2020, Alexa is compatible with over 100,000 devices, compared to Google’s current estimate of 50,000.

The more devices you can connect to your Echo, the easier it is to build the smart home you want without facing compatibility issues.

Some smart home devices will work best with Google Nest and others with Amazon Echo. You’ll have more options with Amazon devices. Knowing which devices you want in your smart home is important because even compatible devices work better on some platforms than others. You’ll have a better experience using Ring devices with Amazon over Google, for example, but the opposite is true for Nest devices.

Amazon Echo devices are available in many styles, but they can all be great home assistants.

Aside from the products your Echo speaker can connect with, the speakers themselves have sensors and functionality that Google Nest speakers don’t. For example, the Echo Dot has a built-in temperature sensor that can tell you how warm or cool it is in the room and be used to trigger automations, making it a better companion to smart thermostats, heaters and fans.

The Echo Dot, along with other Echo speakers, can connect with Eero routers, some of the best mesh Wi-Fi routers you can buy, to act as Wi-Fi network extenders, strengthening the signal throughout the home.

Amazon Echo devices offer a distinct advantage with voice-activated shopping capabilities. You can buy items directly from Amazon using an Echo speaker, receive updates on order statuses and manage subscriptions. While you can search for Amazon products using Google, you won’t be able to buy anything or be notified of purchases from the online retail juggernaut if you use one of its Nest speakers. This feature is handy for Amazon power shoppers.

In addition to shopping and buying on Amazon through your Echo, your smart speaker can also notify you when your order has shipped, been sent out for delivery, or delivered. These features may not be used daily, but asking Alexa to reorder batteries is so nice. Don’t worry, you can still stop your kids from running up a bill with Amazon shopping.

In terms of music services, people on Amazon have seamless access to Amazon Prime Music and other streaming services that Google Nest doesn't offer. This gives you more options for music streaming and a broader range of listening experiences if you have an Echo. But YouTube Music is available on Google Nest, which Amazon Echo fans will miss out on.

The Nest Audio comes in five colors.

While design preferences are subjective, Google has long emphasized aesthetics in its products for our homes. Amazon has improved in this area since the third-gen Echo, but I still give Google the edge.

The Nest Hub Max is the most bland, with only two color choices: chalk and charcoal. But considering all you really see is the screen, the fabric-covered back isn’t a major factor. The second-gen Nest Hub gets two additional colors -- mist and sand.

The two speakers, Nest Mini (second gen) and Nest Audio are entirely covered in fabric. Their organic shapes and muted color palette mean these smart speakers blend well into nearly any home decor. The Nest Audio comes in five colors: chalk, charcoal, sage, sand and sky. For the second-gen Nest Mini, we have chalk, charcoal, coral and sky.

There are so many smart speakers and displays from Amazon and Google that it can be overwhelming to compare them. I've put together a chart that allows you to see all the current models of smart speakers and displays from both brands to help you see what you get with each model.

The Amazon Echo and Google Nest platforms both have distinct advantages. So long as you know what’s important to you when you weigh up the differences, whichever you choose will be great.

Google Nest is ideal for people who want the most access to the most video content, robust communication features and better aesthetics. On the other hand, Amazon Echo excels in shopping functionality, music services and smart home compatibility. Remember to consider your needs and the needs of your home, and you’ll be just fine.