Gemini for Home vs Alexa+: Google and Amazon go head to head for smart home

TechRadar

Google and Amazon both just announced huge smart home news within weeks of each other, including new hardware and AI for smart home. So, what’s the score, and which will be best? Here’s everything we know so far.

Transcript

00:00finally the day is here we're seeing huge developments in smart home with the arrival

00:08of AI and that's made its way to our news desk in the form of two major companies announcing

00:13new hardware and AI capabilities those being Amazon and Google but which is better if you're

00:19looking to swap or start your smart home today I'm going to run you through all the news before you

00:23choose so let's start from the top Amazon hit the headlines first announcing the all-new echo dot

00:31max and an updated smaller echo studio the echo dot max is the first time we've seen a more premium

00:37upgrade to one of Amazon's flagship products and we definitely weren't expecting it it's a complete

00:42redesign of the original dot featuring an all-new sound system with one high excursion woofer and a

00:47custom tweeter that's one fewer tweeter than the fourth gen echo but one more than the dot there's

00:53a new more powerful processor on board as well in the az3 while the studio sees the new az3 pro the

01:00studio has also seen a design update with the same form as the dot max but with a high excursion

01:05woofer and three full range drivers as well as cinematic smarts like immersive spatial audio

01:10with Dolby Atmos now it's worth highlighting here that you compare up to five echo studios and an

01:15optional echo sub but to use them you'll need a second gen fire TV 4k max second gen fire TV stick

01:224k or fire TV cube and that's the third generation of that one these speakers are also the first non

01:29display smart speakers built by Amazon that are specifically coming with Alexa plus support now

01:34it's an interesting move given that the narrative when they announced Alexa plus was very much that

01:39this screen is super important interface for back and forth and with Alexa but if they cracked it I'm

01:44excited to see myself how chatting with Alexa feels hot on Amazon's heels Google unveiled its first smart

01:53speaker since the nest audio back in 2020 except now they've rebranded and it's just called the Google

01:58home speaker now unlike Amazon's yearly product release cycle for its smart speakers Google pretty

02:03much vanished from the face of smart home for the last half decade so as you'd expect there are some

02:08meaty upgrades here the most notable of these is that this is the first Google smart speaker built

02:13specifically with Google Gemini in mind now with the release for this a few months away we don't

02:18have much in the way of specs yet but when our US managing editor for news had hands-on with a

02:22pre-release model he said it sounded solid producing a surprising amount of volume without sacrificing

02:28clarity so as I say we don't know much about Google's new speaker under the hood yet but there's plenty

02:36to compare between the echo dot max and the Google home speaker at a surface level for one thing the

02:40price the echo dot max is $99 or 99 pounds and is available to pre-order now for its October 29th

02:46release we might even see it go on sale for black Friday if Amazon follows suit with past releases

02:51the Google home speaker matches the echo dot max at $99 or 99 pounds but it won't be available till

02:57spring 2026 looks wise it's a little uncanny value too both are rounded with a 3d knitted exterior but

03:04Google has definitely won me over with its array of fun color ways now onto the AI of it all both

03:12the echo dot max and the echo studio will come with Alexa plus out of the box so if you've been

03:17waiting for early access that's your best shot at cutting your wait time of course that only applies

03:22if you're in the US we've got a while to wait yet overseas the price for the full Alexa plus

03:26subscription will be $99.99 monthly or it comes as free as part of your $14.99 a month prime

03:32subscription and that is a huge boon for Amazon the Google home speaker will work with Gemini but

03:39will also require subscription to fully unlock its potential you'll be able to use regular Gemini

03:43for free but you'll need a Google home premium subscription which was formerly nest aware to take

03:48advantage of advanced features such as Gemini live there are two different tiers to choose from

03:53the first is standard which is $10 or eight pounds a month and then there's advanced which is $20 or 16

03:58pounds a month just like with Amazon's prime plan there is a bundle on offer here too

04:02Google home premium standard is included as part of the broader Google one AI pro plan which costs

04:08$19.99 per month and then home premium advanced is included in the Google one AI ultra plan for $249

04:16per month great for power users but maybe not for the everyday person however Google does have a

04:22feather in its cap that Amazon just can't compete with Gemini will be available on all of Google's older

04:28smart home devices you just need to update the Google home app and head to home settings to join

04:32the early access program Alexa plus on the other hand skips a few of the earlier Amazon devices which

04:38we've listed on screen it's hard to say for sure with both devices being as yet unreleased but if you

04:47push me for a decision right now I'd say Amazon at the very least offers the best value for money and a more

04:52promising landscape for compatibility Amazon sells a huge range of smart home devices many of which are

04:58really affordable and easily connected for one thing and it's also been pretty consistent in its

05:03focus on smart home its ability to roll Alexa plus functionality into prime is a huge win too

05:09Google on the other hand has had a run of gutting well-loved features and products from customers around

05:15the world who were fans of its smart home space losing a lot of good faith there that being said Alexa plus

05:21rollout has also been rocky at best with customers complaining about reduced functionality and

05:25interface issues consistently since gaining access Google's AI experience and beefy hosting capabilities

05:31could mean a more consistent and robust voice assistant experience but we won't know for sure until rollout

05:37begins later this month in October 2025 if you want my advice just wait a few months for more news and our

05:43full reviews of the speakers that I've mentioned today and use that time to deep dive into the features on

05:48offer subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up to date with the latest developments in these stories

05:52or head to techradar.com for all of our news reviews and more

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