Google home or Amazon?

[Clodi]

At home I have a Google Home mini, I think its an 'old' version which I mainly use to listen to the radio, music or to settle arguments, usually proving I'm wrong and my wife is right once again.

However I want to add one of these infernal devices to the boat, I already have my boat set-up with a good WI-fi connection & 4g so-far able to connect wherever we've been.

Question is whether to stick with google home ( I have a Google Pixel3 phone) or to try Alexia  via an Amazon Echo dot?

If anyone is using either of these on-board I would welcome their views.

[Robbo]

Do you want the thing to be connected to anything else on the boat?  Ie. For automation of lights, etc.    The Google Home is very much more “cloud based”,  where with the Alexa you can do something’s local (although still needs internet, and I’ve not got a Alexa device to try things out.  You can install Alexa on  your phone to try it out but it doesn’t connect with my Pi.    I use a google home mini for automation (lights, generator, etc.), but uses raspberry pi as well for alot of the advanced controlling stuff.

 

in other words, not sure but I like my Google home mini as well    Note the bigger devices (I think the home) don’t seem to USB powered, so you might want to check the power requirements If not looking at the mini’s and plugging to 12v USB socket thingy instead of inverter/mains way.

 

I’ve got a feeling Google will be better at Internet searching stuff where Alexa would be better at automation stuff (when using custom devices).  With Alexa you can pretend your on Star Trek as you can change the keyword to computer. 

Edited December 10, 2018 by Robbo

[KevMc]

I've got an Alexa dot .... it's good enough for the boat ... sound level and quality is acceptable but not to an audiophile's standard

[Machpoint005]

7 minutes ago, KevMc said:

I've got an Alexa dot .... it's good enough for the boat ... sound level and quality is acceptable but not to an audiophile's standard

This from the man who thinks it's the EU that is behind the scenes pulling the strings!           ?

[pearley]

So, whichever device you have, the radio is streamed from your internet.

 

I  ask because my wife would like a voice conttolled DAB radio, but would need to be USB powered.

Edited December 10, 2018 by pearley

[Robbo]

15 minutes ago, pearley said:

I  ask because my wife would like a voice conttolled DAB radio, but would need to be USB powered.

Both the dot and mini are USB powered.   Looking at my USB Tester thingy my mini uses between quarter to half amp @ just over 5 volt.    You can easily ask it too play podcasts and Spotify stuff as well.  I've uploaded my music to Google Music as I tend to listen to stuff not in Spotify, you can't specify tracks to play only playlists when using the free versions of Google Music/Spotify.

 

Even tho it's not great for serious music listening, it's just as good as a portable radio.   If you have a Chromecast device/speaker (and prob bluetooth) you can by default get music to play on that speaker instead of the home if wished (or via named speakers if you don't).   You can also group speakers/home's so can play to multiple ones at the same time.

Edited December 10, 2018 by Robbo

[Clodi]

Thank's guys, I think my love affair with Google will continue, my only exposure to Amazon is my Kindle and Prime, I've just realised I have a fire stick with Alexa which I have never used, we never really watch TV but do watch you-tube and Prime video.

[KevMc]

20 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

This from the man who thinks it's the EU that is behind the scenes pulling the strings!           ?

As I'm more often alone on the boat I don't have much to say that Amazon will be interested in .... if they want to listen to my music choices, the game shows I watch and the few TV series I follow .... they are more than welcome - they will be storing heaven knows how much useless data

[Robbo]

2 minutes ago, Clodi said:

Thank's guys, I think my love affair with Google will continue, my only exposure to Amazon is my Kindle and Prime, I've just realised I have a fire stick with Alexa which I have never used, we never really watch TV but do watch you-tube and Prime video.

As you have Prime and a stick, if your looking for automation and asking it too play music/videos on TV then it may be a better choice if using the the fire stick on the boat?

[Detling]

Fine for radio and music, TV even but be careful about controlling lights and other things, the O2 outage last week whilst a human co***p is a sign of the times, there will be days on a boat where you do not get internet.

[Clodi]

55 minutes ago, Detling said:

Fine for radio and music, TV even but be careful about controlling lights and other things, the O2 outage last week whilst a human co***p is a sign of the times, there will be days on a boat where you do not get internet.

Too be honest I really cannot be arsed with too much automation, my background is rather a lot of offshore navigation before gps and I very much subscribe to the KISS principle. it's enough of a nightmare keeping my batteries charged let alone what happens if I don't .

[Robbo]

1 hour ago, Detling said:

Fine for radio and music, TV even but be careful about controlling lights and other things, the O2 outage last week whilst a human co***p is a sign of the times, there will be days on a boat where you do not get internet.

My lights are still controlled by local switches and still works with the router and local network turned off, the stuff in  t’cloud just adds additional remote function and control. 

[Robbo]

17 minutes ago, Clodi said:

Too be honest I really cannot be arsed with too much automation, my background is rather a lot of offshore navigation before gps and I very much subscribe to the KISS principle. it's enough of a nightmare keeping my batteries charged let alone what happens if I don't .

The automation I’ve done is very much a “additional to the basics”, so normal control is still available iff my system goes down and as I like playing it will go down!  Additionally I could remove if selling on the boat without rewiring.