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So you've invested in smart lights, a connected security camera, some smart cards and probably one or more smart speakers in your home. You may be thinking of adding a robot vacuum cleaner to the mix. But the idea of adding another application to your already cluttered phone is exhausting: what are you doing?
To circumvent the fact that technology companies do not seem to agree on a single protocol for the smart home, voice assistants have emerged as the natural solution. And they are no longer limited to speakers either. Amazon has perfectly convinced smart screens with its original Echo Show. Since then, Apple, Lenovo and Google have all jumped on board with the idea of a full home smart console. In other words, these are smart speakers with a screen that you can use to control your entire home.
The Lenovo Smart Display ($ 200) and the Google Home Hub ($ 150) work with Google Assistant. And Amazon's second-generation Echo Show (230 $) solved many of the issues with the original, updating the design to increase the display area and moving the speaker to the next level. back of the device. The Apple HomePod (350 USD) has a lot of similar features, but it lacks a complete display, is severely limited by Apple's walled garden ecosystem (read: HomeKit) and suffers from the fact that Siri does not is not as good as Alexa or Google Assistant. With the exception of HomePod, these devices all cost less than $ 250, the Home Hub being the most affordable of the group.
We put these devices (although we decided to preemptively launch the HomePod for the reasons mentioned above) when ringing in three fights: one for control of the devices, one for communication and a final test to determine how they use the screen well. It was close, but in the end, a clear winner emerged.
Control of the device
The reason for being such smart home consoles is to allow you to spend less time screaming angrily at your phone, for example "SIRI WHY LIGHT MY SALON LIGHT?" To do this, we decided to see how easy it was to configure and control different types of Wi-Fi compatible gadgets that you might find in a typical smart home. First, we tried to turn on and turn off some smart lights. We then tried to broadcast content on a smart TV. Finally, we tried to monitor a security camera stream.
It is also a good time to point out that these devices are not genuine, but that the domestic hubs are full (despite the name of this Google device). This is more of a smart workaround and an access point for some connected devices. That's why we call them consoles. Hubs with all the features can support wireless standards like Zigbee and Z-Wave, so you can get around the wifi. Examples include Amazon Echo Plus and Logitech Harmony Hub. However, Amazon Echo Show, Lenovo Smart Display and Google Home Hub work exclusively on wifi.
Confused? It's good. Smart LEDs illustrate how complicated IoT device control can be. Philip's Hue's smart bulbs talk to you via Zigbee and your phone (for advanced features like geofencing and remote control) via a separate Wi-Fi hub. Meanwhile, LIFX bulbs come with built-in Wi-Fi, so just download an app. Others, such as Ikea's Tradfri lamps, communicate with physical remotes and dimmers via Bluetooth, but also work with separate Wi-Fi hubs to enable tasks such as scheduling.
This can make the installation tedious and extremely painful. And this was unfortunately the case with Amazon's Echo Show 2. For some reason, we have not stopped installing and reinstalling Alexa Skills. With the lights, Alexa just did not seem to recognize them by name or locate them correctly, even if they were properly configured. The same was true of trying to launch an episode of The wonderful Mrs Maisel on an Amazon Fire TV. There was simply no synergy between the devices, even if they had been manufactured by Amazon. In addition, trying to monitor a stream on Amazon's cloud camera was a nightmare. While all these devices finally In collaboration with Echo Show, the entire process took more than 90 minutes of hair pulling and voluminous swearing.
Things went well with Lenovo Smart Display and Google Home Hub. While Alexa had the habit of dominating the field of voice assistants, Google Assistant has made great strides in recent years. This shows that the installation and tests were much faster (less than one hour for both consoles) and that the interaction with Google was much more intuitive. Both devices provided a very similar experience, but the Google Home Hub was generally faster and smoother.
Winner: Google Home Hub
Communication
Smart home consoles are not just speakers with screens. You can also use them as a futuristic alternative to your traditional landline. So for this battle, we wanted to see how they could call friends and send messages.
The Lenovo Smart Display did an admirable job. It was easy to make a video call, but it required the use of Google Duo. The quality of the picture and sound was correct. However, Google Assistant still can not send sending SMS.
The Google Home hub has suffered the same limitation with regard to sending SMS. But, unlike the Lenovo Smart Display, the Home Hub is not equipped with a video camera, that is to say that the audio calls are just calls. It is a victory in terms of privacy, but perhaps not the best for global communication.
Despite its difficulties in the battle for control of peripherals, communication is the place where Amazon Echo Show 2 has proven itself. The video calls were easy to place and the video and audio quality was excellent. It was also easy to ask Alexa to send a message. Plus, if you have multiple Amazon screens, such as an echo point, you can effectively create a mini video intercom network in your home.
Winner: Amazon Echo Show 2
Display
Although the first Echo Show has had its share of problems, one of the things he did well is give you a reason to want a smart display. For this battle, we decided to look for a recipe and see how each console allowed to follow it in hands-free mode. After all, you probably will not want to make a pretty screen with greasy hands.
The Echo Show had the best presentation, but looking for a simple cheese omelet recipe was not the easiest. The voice signals were decently easy to follow, but Alexa is not the best of questions. Echo Show also did not exploit its beautiful screen, the recipes are simply blocks of textual instructions on a black background.
Again, this battle has also been a close call between the Lenovo Smart Display and the Google Home Hub. This is because, you guessed it, both are optimized by Google Assistant. However, both had an advantage over the Echo show. First, any recipe you like can be saved in a virtual cookbook. It was also much more intuitive to call the video search results for the corresponding cooking techniques. Plus, Google shows you a little colorful background illustration of your ingredients while you're cooking.
As in our first battle, the speed was reduced. For some reason, Google Assistant is a little faster on the main hub. In addition, the smaller form factor of the Home Hub just seemed better suited to the format of the recipe and took up much less work space.
Winner: Google Home Hub
That's the Smart Home Console that you should buy
At the end of the day, there can only be one winner of Battlemodo. And in this case, it's the Google Home Hub. Not only was Google Assistant faster, but Google Assistant was simply a more enjoyable experience.
This does not mean that the Lenovo Smart Display and Amazon Echo Show are not good consoles. The Lenovo Smart Display is a solid device that has performed admirably in all three tests, barely losing speed compared to the Home Hub. Likewise, Echo Show does what it is supposed to do – even if the installation can be a bit of a nightmare. However, if you have already purchased products in the Echo ecosystem, the show remains a good buy.
Of course, the ecosystem plays a role in the console of your choice and you should keep in mind your existing gadgets. That said, at $ 150, the Google Home Hub is the group's cheapest and has delivered the most consistent performance, winning two of the three battles. All the reasons why it's our winner Battlemodo and the smart console you should buy.
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