They already compete in so many areas—operating systems, phones, and online services—but now Google and Apple are adding a new area of competition to the mix: smart speakers. Here, Google has a massive head start on Apple, with its Google Home speaker released in November 2016. Apple’s new smart speaker, called the HomePod, won’t be released until December 2017, giving the search giant more than a year’s head start. But while Google Home has the advantage of time, Apple has clearly designed its upcoming HomePod, first previewed at WWDC 2017, to compete. But just how does Apple’s HomePod compare with Google Home? We took a look at both smart speakers to find out.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Design
Both smart speakers are squat and relatively round in shape. At 172mm tall x 142 mm in diameter, the HomePod comes in both taller and larger than Home’s 142.8 mm x 96.4 mm body.
Another defining design difference is Google’s Home has a polycarbonate body while the HomePod is covered in a mesh material. Both smart speakers also feature a touch-capacitive top which allows you to interact with the device.
And not that it matters too much because you won’t be moving them around a lot, but the Home is literally 1/5th the weight of the HomePod, at 1.05lbs versus the HomePod’s 5.5lbs. While the HomePod comes in white or black models, the Home always features a white top, while its lower half can be customized in one of seven different colors.
And not that it matters too much because you won’t be moving them around a lot, but the Home is literally 1/5th the weight of the HomePod, at 1.05lbs versus the HomePod’s 5.5lbs. While the HomePod comes in white or black models, the Home always features a white top, while its lower half can be customized in one of seven different colors.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Conversational Commands
The way you primarily interact with both smart speakers is by voice. For the HomePod you are interacting with Apple’s Siri. On the Home you are interacting with Google Assistant, which is basically a voice given to Google’s powerful search engine. The fact that Home doesn’t have an assistant with a human name is a bit of a turnoff. Why? When you’re speaking in your home it’s nice to think you are talking
The fact that Home doesn’t have an assistant with a human name is a bit of a turnoff. Why? When you’re speaking in your home it’s nice to think you are talking to something like you instead of a cold computer mainframe. Apple’s Siri name is more beneficial because you activate it by saying “Hey, Siri” and then speaking your command. For the Home, you say “OK, Google.”
Naming conventions aside, Home’s AI seems to beat Apple’s Siri because it’s got the power of Google’s search engine and machine learning behind it. Home has the ability to carry out tasks based on conversations, not just commands. For example, you could say:
“How many States are there in America?”
“Which one is closest?”
“Show me a map on TV.”
These are three different queries that rely on each other. Google Home can follow your line of questioning and though. HomePod, as far as we can tell, can’t. Currently, Siri’s commands are limited to doing one thing at a time. It can’t connect the dots of conversations. However, that could change by the time HomePod ships as it will use the newly refined version of Siri shipping with iOS 11.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Media Abilities
Another area where Home wins is in its media capabilities. Like the Echo before it, Home can stream from a number of music services including Google Play Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, and others.
However, at the time of this writing HomePod only supports Apple Music. Both speakers also have the ability to stream music to play multi-room audio. That’s because the HomePod can stream music to multiple rooms thanks to AirPlay 2 and Home can work with Chromecast to do the same to non-Home speakers.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Personal Assistant Tasks
Right now, it seems both Home and HomePod are about tied in the tests front. Both HomePod and HomePod can do tasks such as adding items to a calendar, setting a timer, reading you the news, making a shopping list, making a to-do list, checking flight statuses, and tracking a package.
It’s unclear whether Apple will allow HomePod to support third-party apps (which would be similar to the “Skills” found on Echo) or not by the time it ships. If it does, the HomePod could become more useful than Home.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Third Party Smart Home Device Integration
Here, both also seem tied. Both can support third party smart home devices from Philips Hue, Nest, Samsung SmartThings and Wemo. But by the time HomePod ships it’s likely it will support devices from those and much more smart home manufacturers via its HomeKit platform.
Google Home vs. Apple HomePod: Price & Verdict
It’s really too early to call which is better considering HomePod doesn’t ship until November. But as is the case, if you’re already tied into Apple’s ecosystem, HomePod is probably the better choice for you thanks to its integration with Apple’s services.
If you’re tied to Google's Android ecosystem, then the Home is probably a better choice—not to mention it’s already out. Right now Home is sold in the UK for £129, while the HomePod doesn’t have UK pricing yet, but will retail in the US for a hefty $349 (about £270).
Personally, I'd get Amazon Echo over both of them.
