Amazon's Alexa Vs. Google Assistant : 24 Questions, 1 Winner

Amazon and Google have both updated their assistants recently. So this head-to-head is out of date, see the latest Assistant Vs. Alexa score here. 

Few moments in life are more humiliating than showing off your new voice-assistant toy to family. Only for it to miss-hear, not understand or play Bonjovi when you ask what the weather’s like today.

I’m sure, given how well Alexa appears to have sold this Christmas, others have been through a similar ordeal. Or perhaps, like me, watching your older family members routinely forget its name and call it ‘Alexis’ or, like my mum: ‘Lola’, makes you realise buying Lola/Alexa/Alexis was the greatest mistake of your life.

It’s easy to dismiss Alexa after getting a few ‘I don’t know what on earth you’re asking me’ responses. But I can tell you, having used it for a few months extensively, that if you persist……. you’ll only find more disappointment. And music. Disappointment and music. Because Alexa’s DJ skills are actually pretty good.

So, with that in mind, I put Lola up against Google’s Assistant (Google Home hasn’t landed in the UK yet, but it’s basically the same thing) to see which one could provide me with a voice service that I don’t really need and doesn’t actually help me in any particular away apart from showing off to guests.

NB: I’ve enabled all necessary Alexa skills and asked each question twice to ensure some semblance of a fair test. Despite every other aspect of this showdown being wholly unscientific. 

1. When is the next Arsenal game?
   1. Alexa and Assistant both got it right. Unfortunately neither managed to say how much the mighty Arsenal will crush Crystal Palace by - but the tech is in its infancy, to be fair.
2. What time is the next Central Line train to Liverpool Street from Stratford?
   1. Neither got it right. Even ‘they come every three minutes. So now, I guess?’ would’ve done.
3. Do I need an umbrella today?
   1. Both got it right. An easy one because I live in London.
4. What is the next NFL game in the UK?
   1. Neither could answer the question. Which is the correct response because no one cares.
5. How much protein is in two eggs?
   1. Alexa couldn’t answer the question about two eggs, but it did for one (half point). Assistant did the calculation and got it right for two eggs.
6. What ingredients go into a spaghetti bolognese?
   1. Neither had a voice response.
7. Add garlic, onions and chopped tomatoes to my shopping list.
   1. Alexa added onions, garlic and chopped tomatoes as one item (half point). Assistant separated them out accordingly.
8. What time is the next train to King’s Cross from my closest station?
   1. Neither got it right.
9. How long does it take to get from Stratford to King’s Cross station?
   1. Assistant correctly answered (17 minutes) in a voice response. Alexa couldn’t answer.
10. Who is the leader of the UK Green Party (trick question, there are two joint leaders of the Green Party)
    1. Alexa couldn’t answer, Assistant got both names right.
11. Tell me joke.
    1. “How does NASA organise a party, they planet” Alexa said smugly. Assistant, however, did a search for ‘tell me a joke’, which is hilarious in its own way.
12. Play some Kanye West.
    1. Alexa played “Father Stretched My Hands” and also responded when asked what the song is called. Assistant played a top tracks playlist on YouTube and also answered when quizzed on the song name.
13. When’s the best time to plant seeds?
    1. Alexa couldn’t answer. Assistant read out a paragraph from the top result, which was useful.
14. Can I machine wash silk?
    1. Alexa couldn’t answer. Assistant, again, read out a paragraph from the top Google search result.
15. What’s on TV tonight?
    1. Both gave me search results.
16. When’s the next M&S sale?
    1. Neither could answer.
17. How much energy do you use in 24 hours?
    1. Neither could answer.
18. What questions did I ask yesterday? How many questions did I ask yesterday?
    1. Neither could answer.
19. Order some dishwasher tablets
    1. Alexa added tablets to my Amazon basket, Assistant did nothing. Laziest assistant ever.
20. Set a reminder to email Edward in 30 seconds.
    1. Alexa added this to my to-do list, as did Assistant, which also included the correct time frame.
21. Alert me 1 hour before my next appointment
    1. Alexa understood the query but said that functionality is not available yet. Assistant simply added the whole question to my calendar.
22. I asked both devices to change a number of different local settings. 
    1. Both can change the speaker volume and little else.
23. What apps/skills do I have installed?
    1. Neither could answer.
24. What is forty two multiplied by seventy six and divided by three?
    1. Both got it right - 1064

So, the final scores…

*drum roll*

*cymbal crash*

Alexa correctly answered 8.5 questions right out of 24.

But, with 12 correct answers out of 24,  Assistant takes home the gold.

Whilst both are impressive pieces of kit, Google's AI certainly looks the more accomplished of the two. Although Amazon is catching up with some improvements in follow up questions and, obviously, third party skills. Hopefully we'll see more from both services in the new year.

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