Amazon Echo vs. Google Nest: Which Smart Speaker Is Best?

pcmag.com:

The Amazon Echo and Google Nest Audio aren't just speakers, they're platforms. While their physical hardware doesn't get updated very often, the services that power them—Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant—are in a constant state of change. When you choose an Echo or a Nest, you're choosing one of those voice assistant ecosystems.

The speakers themselves don't make that choice any easier, because both are quite good; the Echo has been our Editors' Choice winner for a long time, but the Nest Audio is a close runner-up. The Echo's bass is a bit better and Alexa can use multiple wake words, but the Nest Audio sounds quite clear and Google Assistant is easier to talk to thanks to more flexible natural language recognition. In the sub-$50 price range, the Echo Dot has a clear edge over the Nest Mini in audio quality, but even those two smaller speakers work well for what they are and offer the same choice between voice assistants.

So, which smart speaker is right for you? Let's break down the most important aspects to help you decide.

Both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant have developed into excellent voice assistants, and now largely function very similarly to one another. Either assistant can answer questions, control smart home devices, and even check your calendar and email (unless you use G Suite for your work schedule and mail; Google Assistant still doesn't work with it).

Alexa has an edge with third-party functionality, thanks to thousands of different skills that can do everything from order pizza to read a bedtime story. It tends to require very specific syntax, though, especially when activating and using most of those skills. It makes Alexa a bit hard to talk to unless you get used to phrasing requests how Alexa