Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant, isn't the only one out there as you already know. Proposals like those of Apple or Google have been making it difficult for them for years, but the great rival may not be Siri or Google Assistant. So, let's review all this about the use of the voice as a method of control and talk about experiences, supports and Alexa's worst rival.
Alexa, the best-known voice assistant
De Alexa we could say that it is most popular voice assistant out of all that there is. A product that was born inspired by the voice aboard the Star Trek ship and the Alexandria library itself, for all the knowledge it hides, and that little by little has managed to get into millions of homes around the world.
However, his popularity does not imply that everyone bets on him. There are other proposals such as those of Google or Apple that stand up. And that to get a compatible product, such as the Amazon Echo, is very easy due to the aggressive offers that the company launches during days like Prime Day or Black Friday that place prices almost to the ground.
Even so the advantages of Alexa are clear. It offers compatibility with a large number of devices of all types and prices. Also the possibility of using a more natural and less robotic language at the structure level so that it understands you, integration with a multitude of services, the possibility of control music playback with your voice and an ease of configuration of routines and several devices at the same time thanks to its skills among other aspects.
For all this is why Amazon's Alexa is so efficient and well valued. Because it does not limit as much as Siri due to its exclusivity in Apple products and it is more agile than Google Assistant for the control of the connected home.
Google Assistant is smarter
Google Assistant could be Alexa's great rival if it were more effective when it comes to controlling connected devices. It's not that it's bad, it offers a multitude of options and the integration into the currently most used operating system (Android) gives it advantages. But even being smarter when it comes to answering certain questions, it is not so sharp for home automation.
That is the main handicap of Assistant, because the number of compatible devices is also very wide. Although users of iOS and other Apple systems prefer to bet on Alexa rather than the Google option. And that also counts for its expansion.
Siri, the Apple assistant
lastly is Siri, Apple's voice assistant, was created in 2007., but it was not the company itself but Dag Kittlaus. This was the true father of Siri, the one responsible for giving life to her and attracting so much attention from Apple when she arrived at the App Store that the Cupertino company ended up buying it for 200 million dollars.
Since then Apple has been working on it, but never without the necessary determination and resources. To this day, in recent devices such as the iPhone 13 and its Apple A15 Bionic chip, it has improved by making many requests locally and not through servers, but it has some shortcomings or limitations that slow it down.
The most important is thatCan only be used on Apple products. That is, the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac and HomePod are the only ones with Siri integration. That's fine if you decide to also bet on HomeKit, but if someone in the family has an Android terminal... what does he do?
Well, exactly, the solution is to resort to another assistant and that is where Alexa takes advantage as a more neutral solution. Additionally, Siri supports fewer devices by requiring HomeKit compatibility. We will see if indeed with the arrival of Matter all this changes.
Alexa vs Siri vs Google Assistant, which is better?
It is not easy to answer this question, because it depends a lot on the type of use that each one gives it. If we limit ourselves to the use of the Alexa connected home it is much more efficient, easy to manage and with multiple options when installing new skills (abilities) or routines.
However, in matters of privacy wins siri definitely. Meanwhile, in matters of intelligence, win google assistant. Your ability to understand and respond to all kinds of questions is enhanced by taking advantage of the company's powerful search engine. Of course, it fails in basic things like controlling connected devices with a higher frequency.
However, being independent of an operating system and device makes Alexa have that real cross-platform solution point. Therein lies the true value of Alexa, it does not tie you to a specific operating system or product. So as an investment it gives much more play now and in the future. Therefore, for us, it is the most attractive option.
Alexa's true rival: the smartphone
At this point and knowing his rivals, What is Alexa's main rival? Well, it's neither Siri nor Google Assistant: it's the mobile phone itself.
Yes, it sounds strange, but it is so. These small screen devices that we carry in our pockets and their respective applications are sometimes more comfortable to use and faster than a voice command. If you configure them properly, it can take less time to unlock and activate or turn off the lights than to resort to your voice.
Of course, the main reason why it is a tough rival is that none of the current systems, iOS and Android, allow the same integration with Alexa as Siri and Google Assistant respectively. Therefore, in order to enjoy this "Alexa Life" experience, it would be necessary to have the same privileges, but they will never be given to you. So you will have to live with several assistants or leave only the use of voice for the connected home.
Other assistants: Xiao Ai, Bixby, Cortana,…
During all these years there have been other voice assistants, such as Microsoft's Cortana, and even today there are still proposals such as Bixby from Samsung or Xiao Ai from Xiaomi. The latter have their market, but it is very niche and basically in their respective countries. Because the previous solutions already cover what the rest of the users need.
Of course we will see what happens in the future, because Amazon is licensing the use of Alexa technology so that any company can create their own assistant on top of the Alexa platform services. Of course, that could also be seen as a Trojan horse with which Alexa will gain even more relevance.
So, as we have said, if they are pure voice assistants, it is clear that Siri and Google Assistant are Alexa's greatest rivals. But if you take everything into account, the great rival for the Amazon assistant is the mobile phone itself and its screen for that ease that it offers to access everything we want to control, know, etc.