How good is a Google Home?

Hardware
1

Hi All,
Been contemplating getting a google home for a while (Im based in AUS so will import).

I’ve got a CCA currently to a denon amp but its a little cumbersome, and I think I want to start interacting with voice. I tried setting up AlexaPi but found it a bit average, so think I need to look at something a bit more sophisticated.

For this to work, I think I’m looking at needing Emulated Hue also?

My questions are:

  1. Will i be disappointed with the google home for speech integration, turning on/off things?
  2. will I be disappointed when using the google home for TTS notifications, as well as streaming music to it? This includes door bell alerts etc
  3. will my wife be disappointed when I end up with a $200 paperweight if I get disappointed with the unit :slight_smile:
2
  1. Is very good. Way better (at least for me a non native english speaker) then Amazon Echo
  2. It works, but HASS is, to me, still buggy. Sometimes automation works, sometimes not, maybe is WiFi, maybe is the pi3, maybe is that, maybe is the other … but at the end of the day is not 100% reliable
  3. you will still use it as a bluetooth speaker, besides some functions are cool and ever lasting IMO
3

I love my Google Home! All my switches (TP-Link) are directly supported by Google Home (which I think is going to be key to how much you love it) so I can simply issue voice commands to turn on/off anything in my house. It works amazingly well. I don’t have Home Assistant and Google Home talking yet but I envision that happening down the road.

4

Hey switched,

I’m also in Aus, just received my GH today from BHphoto. Took about two weeks to get here, price was $210 with postage.
Set up with emulated hue was simple and painless. I was up and running within 5 mins and able to switch by voice.
The only thing I noticed was that some of my switch names were awkward to say so I’ve changed them to be easier to remember and say.
It’s only been one day but I’m more than impressed, as is the wife. When I suggested getting more for other rooms as they can be grouped together for synced playback she was all for it :grin:.
The only thing I’m disappointed with so far is that when playing music the sound seems overpowered by bass and missing some midrange. Also GH cannot currently be grouped with Chromecast :persevere:.
I’m pretty excited to see what else this thing can do as I’m sure I’ve only just scratched the surface.

Cheers.