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Why Google over Alexa & why neithers own make speaker....... If you want the better assistant right now. Alexa has 2yrs on GA. If you want something that syncs with your mobile & most used apps & performs as a music speaker of quality, get this Sony. Sony less Harman Kardons brainwave of using Cortana rather than GA, Alexa or Siri aside, is all you got for a smart speaker that is a very good speaker. Google & Amazon's own make sound tinny & distorted at high volume. Alexa from having a 2year headstart over its rival in making & development of its OS, plus an aggressive marketing strategy is the more effective in certain areas than GA. But this largely centre's on buying from Amazon. & a glorified dash button I don't want. On the other side GA has not had an extra 2 years to flesh out & fine tune its OS for assistant. But that's why you buy Sony. It's quality & it's better looking than Googles or Amazon's large speaker. Sony know how to make speakers, & this is streets ahead of either of the own branded offerings. Sony are also a company that has been around a long time & I assume would like to be around even longer. So the fact they choose to put Google Assistant or Apples Siri & not the older & slightly smoother running Alexa, shows me what I already thought. People own android and apple phones. Not Amazon phones. They have multiple accounts linked to either Google or Apple owned or related products. And if I may speak for them. They rather a home smart device that uses the same functions as their phone choice. So the future is Google & Apple for everyone not using a windows phone. Which is not many. I use Gmail & Google Calender, Note, Drive, Google Pay & many more. So Alexa is just Amazon Shopping to me. It does much more than that. But I don't want a whole new host of Amazon apps & accounts. I'd rather the world's largest & most popular search engine tell me why the sky's blue, or who would win in a fight between Alexa, Siri, GA & MS Cortana. I must ask it this. To me Google holds alot more potential than does Alexa. Alot more scope & the right tools that most people use by default if not using an iPhone. & Sony know this. Which is why they included Siri aswell I'm sure. In short, Alexa has a 2year headstart over its rivals. Which is why it is a little easier to setup. But that could be because it does less or is capable of less in the long run. Google is a better choice going forward than Alexa or any other. It has much more scope to integrate its many apps & features & builds very good phones on Android. So I don't doubt they will beat out Alexa once they have had the extra time to get the most out of their system. Leave the making of Speakers to the pros. Sonos is meant to be okay but is no Sony. & quite unbelievable to me, Harmen Kardon who I rate super highly as a maker of speakers would of had my money & not Sony had they not for some reason used Cortana has their voice assistant. I can't see why they did that. It's obvious to a kid they'd sell more if they used Google or Alexa even. Cortana? Who uses Cortana? I pay just to be able to get rid of her & use windows 7 & xp looks from Start Menu 8. Windows 10 is a mess. Cortana is like asking a drunk guy to remind you to email HK asking why a company as elite as theirs, uses a junk OS in its only smartspeaker. Just buy Sony & future proof yourself & get an actual quality audio product into the bargain. If it was not for Sonys sound it would not be a 4* review. Both Google & Amazon's own make would get a 3 or maybe less. What saves it is the Sony Audio & the best 2 voice assistants to have now & going forward. & dam you Harman Kardon for choosing the worst of the lot in what's most likely the best speaker of any out there. I've only got 2 complaints about this product. Well 3 actually. 1st why are the mic mute & BT buttons placed at the back of the device either side of the power jack. If meant to be used why not on the top of device or at least rotate them 180 to the clock side of device. Same with buttons on the bottom of device. Who puts a dimmer & mute button on the bottom of something. I know you have the stupid hand controls on top which is more hassle than a play/pause + & Stop button to use. Yes you're meant to use your voice, but then why put them at the most inaccessible of places. I was also very surprised the speaker must remain plugged in all the time. Or it goes straight off. That's abit lame. Give us a few hours battery playtime. But the most annoying thing to me about Google Assistant is hands down it's refusal to let you change its activation command from okay/hey Google. I want to name my own assistant thanks. I don't want to say hey Google over & over. It gets annoying quick. I've not had the prolonged conversation option on long, but even if that stopped me having to say hey Google every single time, I want to name my own assistant. Or set its wakeup command! Seriously! Why?! That's why it's not 5*s.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Great design and clock feature.. Audio quality is average when playing music. The microphones are superior and way better than Google Home. But disappointed there isn't any equlizer controls and the gesture controls kind of sucks... For a price about £100 I would recommend it..
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
I have a standard Google home device which is great but this tops it. Speaker is good quality for its size. Clock works well. It's very responsive and does what Google home does, ie plays Spotify, switches smart plugs. Looks neat places on TV cabinet. Good sensitive microphone and snazzy looking lights when you say 'hey Google'. Not used jesture commands, don't see the need, it's voice activated. Cons Unable to makes calls at the moment (unlike Google home).
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
An awesome product...satisfying sound and a great introduction to Google Home. I am using it as part of a Sony group speaker system and set up was fairly painless.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
… to the Google Home. Okay, at RRP it's a bit more expensive, but it can be found for less and anyway you get a better sound and a digital clock for your money. Not a perfect implementation of the Google Assistant - sometimes it doesn't work quite as expected - but for most day-to-day purposes, it's just fine. I have mine in the kitchen, acting as a radio but with the added bonus of being able to ask for weight conversions, recipe ideas, set timers and so on.
Verified purchase: No
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