The battle for the smart home has been warring on for some time. Now Amazon Alexa, and Apple HomePod are in a fierce battle for your money. In this post we aim to find out the Apple Homepod Vs Alexa will be in detail.
Analysis based on key factors
- Features
- Reliability
- Integration with third parties
- Price
Apple Homepod
If you’re fully invested in the Apple ecosystem, the HomePod is a fantastic smart speaker with superior audio quality. It’s designed mostly for music, so if you subscribe to Apple Music, the native integration with that allows you to listen to anything in high fidelity. You can also get access to your Podcasts natively, give Siri commands, and even AirPlay other forms of media to the smart speaker.
Amazon Alexa
Amazon Echo is a highly affordable smart speaker, more so than the HomePod. It has decent audio quality with the 360-degree speakers with Dolby, and Alexa is a pretty capable digital assistant. However, since this is an Amazon product, it integrates seamlessly with Amazon, but Apple services will require some tinkering with skills. Also, there may be privacy concerns with Amazon Alexa.
Alexa Smart Home Light Commands
Features:
Apple Homepod |
Alexa |
|
It is one of the best sounding speakers on the market. This one is definitely built more for audiophiles who choose to use apple music, which is built-in to the homepod. |
The Amazon Echo isn’t as dexterous – though, again, this has improved since the first-generation speaker was released. This time around, there’s a new speaker (0.6-inch tweeter; 2.5-inch woofer) with Dolby processing attempting to bring you richer sound. It does achieve this to a degree, sure, but the improvements aren’t the kind of overhaul the Echo needs to compete seriously with Apple. |
|
Apple Music is also a pretty good music streaming service, and it’s integrated seamlessly into HomePod. You’ll have access to your iCloud Music Library, everything that’s streamable on Apple Music, and even access to radio stations like Beats 1. Siri will also be able to pretty much pull up anything that you’ll feel like listening to without breaking a sweat. |
Amazon Echo, which actually lets you set the likes of Spotify as your default option ahead of its own in-house streaming service, Amazon Music. Interestingly, you can now also play Apple Music through the Echo, if you live in the US or UK. |
|
The HomePod is capable of multi-room, or grouped audio. |
The Echo is capable of multi-room, or grouped audio. |
|
The iMessage compatibility needs an overhaul, as well as making calls through Siri, and often found inconsistencies with just getting Siri’s attention — that’s something that should be a lay-up for any smart speaker. Add to this another base-level issue: Siri still sounds like a robot. The cadence and pronunciations are getting better, but they still sound pretty bad, no matter whether you switch between the male or female voice, or even switch up the accent. |
For news, weather, calendar updates, reading out recipes, controlling music and smart home gadgets, Alexa is the most accurate and helpful of the bunch. The Echo 2’s seven-microphone-array means you’ll easily be heard from across the room (even when it’s a bit noisy). |
|
Apple is also lagging behind in its ability to be the force behind your smart home, with HomeKit still catching up to the Works with Amazon Alexa ecosystem, found some glaring inconsistencies with its command carry-outs The small list of compatible HomeKit devices also doesn’t help lift Siri’s middling ability to play point guard in the home, and the HomePod’s automation and scenes are basic. |
Switch over to Amazon, and it’s very clear this is a much more mature ecosystem and assistant. After years of building, Alexa is able to work with just about every smart gadget in the home, and is really the best option if you already have the likes of bulbs, thermostats and cameras raring to be paired with a smart speaker. |
Verdict
Each device has its own features and compatibility, homepod best in sound quality as a music speaker and works excellent under the domain of Apple Ecosystem, vice versa Amazon has other qualities, integration without requiring any middle channel like Apple homekit for Homepod.
Amazon is cheap and more flexible in nature, easy to understand by having a simple commands acceptance.
It’s hard to make a case for it over the Echo if smart home control is in any way important to you, especially when you consider the lofty price tag. Of course, if music is your primary concern, you should certainly be looking in Apple’s direction (or, let’s face it, Sonos’) and not Amazon’s.
About The Author
Hassan Zaka
I am an expert in accounting and possess diverse experience in technical writing. I have written for various industries on topics such as finance, business, and technology. My writing style is clear and simple, and I utilize infographics and diagrams to make my writing more engaging. I can be a valuable asset to any organization in need of technical writing services.
Follow Us:LinkedinTwitter