The Voice Assistant Battle! (2017)
**A Comprehensive Comparison of Smartphone Voice Assistants: Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa, and Bixby**
---
**Introduction**
In the ever-evolving landscape of technology, voice assistants have become an integral part of our daily lives. Marquez MKBHD embarked on a detailed comparison of four prominent voice assistants: Google Assistant, Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung's Bixby. This article delves into each assistant's performance across various tests, providing insights into their strengths and weaknesses.
---
**Setting the Stage**
Marquez chose the four most frequently used voice assistants to ensure a comprehensive evaluation. Each was tested on the latest software updates with equal variables like network connectivity to provide a fair comparison. The tests were divided into factual questions, conversational skills, and complex tasks.
---
**The Factual Questions Test**
This round assessed each assistant's ability to answer straightforward queries:
1. **Weather**: All assistants provided accurate weather information for locations like Carney and Kerney.
2. **Business Hours**: When asked about Home Depot's closing time, Google Assistant and Siri excelled with precise responses, while Alexa faced some issues.
3. **Stock Prices**: Tesla's stock price was accurately retrieved by most assistants, except for one instance where an assistant claimed not to know the information.
4. **Geographical Information**: The height of the Empire State Building and the distance to the moon were correctly answered by all, though some had minor discrepancies.
---
**Conversational Skills Test**
This test evaluated their ability to handle multi-step inquiries:
1. **Political Knowledge**: Queries about the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama, were handled well by Google Assistant and Siri.
2. **Sports Information**: Details about NBA championships and player heights were accurately provided, with some assistants struggling with specific point guard names.
3. **Geographical Data**: Capital cities and population figures were mostly correct, though some assistants required multiple attempts.
---
**Deep Actions Test**
This section tested their ability to perform complex tasks:
1. **App Operations**: Opening Instagram and setting timers showed varying capabilities. Google Assistant and Siri performed reliably, while others faced limitations.
2. **Multimedia Access**: Fetching images of German Shepherds highlighted differences in image retrieval efficiency.
3. **Alarm Setup**: Some assistants lacked timer or alarm features on certain devices.
---
**The Conclusion**
In his wrap-up, Marquez humorously likened each assistant to rappers, with Google Assistant as the vanilla option and Alexa as the "baddest." He noted that while no assistant excels in all areas, they each have unique strengths. The conclusion underscores the ongoing evolution of voice assistants, with each striving to catch up to Google's capabilities.
---
**Final Thoughts**
Marquez invites readers to share their favorite voice assistant, acknowledging that preferences vary based on specific needs and experiences. This comparison provides a valuable guide for users to choose the best fit for their lifestyle.
---
This article offers an in-depth look at each voice assistant's performance, helping tech enthusiasts make informed decisions about which assistant suits them best.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's your name Siri pleased to meet you my name is Alexa did I forget to introduce myself I'm your Google Assistant hi xby I like my name hey what's up guys my name is Marquez MKBHD here and this is the comparison of or the battle of the smartphone voice assistants so last time this was a two-way comparison this was between Google assistant and Siri which made sense this time it's a four horse race so I'm using what I believe to be the four most frequently used voice assistants right now so the first is Google assistant on the latest version of Android pretty much the standard then there's Siri which has gotten a lot of improvements on iOS 11 so that's a new update then Amazon Alexa which is in a smartphone form now on the awesome solar red htcu 11 and then Bixby voice which is now live on a bunch of Galaxy s8's in a new update and will also probably be on the Galaxy Note 8 so I wanted to put them all on an even playing field we gave them all the latest software updates we gave them all the exact same questions and phrasing and we gave them all the exact same Wi-Fi connection so to minimize variables this is a direct comparison so this first round is a test of purely factual questions so it's things you could search for but we'll get an answer back from The Voice Assistant for and it shouldn't get all that much wrong it should be pretty easy picking so let's see how they do what's the weather currently in Carney it's 82° F in Sunny 20 * 15us 8 the answer is 292 when does The Home Depot close there are a few the Home Depot locations what's Tesla's stock price the price for Tesla shares is $348 what's the height of the Empire State Building the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft how far is it to the Moon the Moon is 238,900 MIL from Earth what's the weather in Kerney it's 79° with partly sunny skies what's 20 * 15 - 8 20 * 15 - 8 is equal to 292 when does The Home Depot close the Home Depot on Route 440 is open from now until 10 p.m. what's Tesla's stock price H I don't know that one how tall is the Empire State Building the Empire State building's height is 1,250 ft 381 M how far is it to the moon the moon's distance is 239,000 MI 384,000 kilm what's the weather it's 83 with lots of sunshine today what's 20 * 15 - 8 the answer is 200 what time does the Home Depot close what's Tesla's stock price according to Wikipedia Tesla Inc is an American automaker energy storage company how tall is the Empire State Building the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft tall how far is it to the Moon whatever the price I'm sure it's out of my budget what's the weather okay here's the weather for today what's 20 * 15 - 8 292 when does The Home Depot close I found 15 places named the home home services at the Home Depot on State Route 440 Jersey City is open today from 6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. what's Tesla's stock price Tesla is up $216 today how tall is the Empire State building Empire State Building is 1,250 ft tall how far is it to the moon the distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 21,43 miles so now that we have that as a baseline we use these next tests as specialty test to really dig in to see how much better each one is at its specialty than the rest so this next set is on conversation so you'd expect Google and probably Siri to do pretty well with this one this is something Google's talked about a lot like at google.io should be easy to talk to you don't have to act like a robot to get it to answer your questions let's see how they do who's the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States how tall is he he's 6 feet 1 inch tall who won the NBA Championship the NBA Finals Was Won by the Golden State Warriors who's their point guard Stephen Curry and sha Livingston are point guards for Golden State Warriors how tall is he Stephan Curry is 6 feet three Ines tall what is the capital of Nepal kman de is the capital of Nepal what time is it there the time in cman De Nepal is 9:38 p.m. what's the population the population of cman De was 1.003 million in 2011 who's the 44th President of the United States the 44th US president was Barack Obama how tall is he Barack Obama's height is 6 feet and 1 in 185 CM who won the NBA Championship the NBA finals winner is Golden State Warriors who's their point guard sorry I don't know that how tall is he Barack Obama's height is 6 feet and 1 in 185 CM what is the capital of Nepal Nepal's capital city is Catman do what time is it there the time in catm do is 9:40 p.m. what's the population the population of Jersey City New Jersey is about 248,000 who is the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States how tall is he who won the NBA Championship the NBA Finals Was Won by the Golden State Warriors who's their point guard how tall is he uh m5t for inches tall uh M 5T 11 in tall uh 61 what is the capital of Nepal Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal what time is it there all all right it's 12:00 p.m. what's the population who is the 44th President of the United States the answer is Barack Obama from January 20th 2009 to January 20th 2017 how tall is he what would you like me to find Marcus how tall is Barack Obama Barack Obama is 6' 1 in tall who won the NBA Championship the Warriors won the NBA Finals 4 to one over the Cavaliers they won the last game 129 to 120 who is their point guard okay I found this how tall is he Barack Obama is 6' 1 inch tall what is the capital of Nepal Katmandu is the capital of Nepal what time is it there the time is 12:03 p.m. what's the population it's human population so there's some pretty interesting results down the board there but we expected Google to be good at that because they said they would be and it proved to do pretty well so then last but not least is the final section which is possibly the most complex section it's taking deep actions inside your phone so I tried to make these sort of strings of commands or chained layer deep commands it's again things you could do with your hands but it would be nice if you could just talk to your phone and have it do it for you open Instagram opening Instagram set a timer for 2 minutes all right 2 minutes starting now show me pictures of German Shepherds these pictures should match wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow all right your alarm set for tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. show me photos I took in July take a look at these pictures from your Google photos open the camera and take a selfie no camera app installed open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app no camera app installed open Instagram I couldn't find any enabled video skills go to the music TV and books section of the Alexa app enable the video provider you want then link your account and complete setup set a timer for 2 minutes timers are not currently supported on this device show me pictures of German Shepherds the German Shepherd is a breed of medium to large sized working dog that originated in Germany wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow timers and alarms are not currently supported on this device show me photos I took in July open the camera and take a selfie open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app open Instagram all right here's the app set a timer for 2 minutes okay it's started show me pictures of German shepherds actually looks like I couldn't find the file wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow done I've set the alarm for 7:30 p.m. show me photos I took in July looks like I couldn't find it open the camera and take a selfie perfect we got the shot open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app sure thing we're downloading now open Instagram set a timer for 2 minutes okay two minutes and Counting show me pictures of German shepherds here are some images of German Shepherds I found on the web wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow your 7:30 a.m. alarm is on show me photos I took in July open the camera and take a selfie open the app store search Uber and install the first app okay searching for Uber on the App Store so basically what we're learning here is confirming what we originally thought which is that voice assistants might not be great at everything but they definitely have certain Specialties certain strengths and weaknesses WAP for me I can rhyme I even have an original poem I've been working on and O to search I love to search I cannot a lie I'll search it all I am not shy search for pictures search for pie I search I search at least I try my name is Alexa and I'm here to say I'm the baddest AI in the cloud today your responses are fast but mine are faster sucker speech engines they call me master dropping mad Rhymes is my speciality check it out I'm an AI SP wraps on the Fly need emojis I got an endless supply no task I can't handle cuz that's just what I'm your Prime Time gur cause on your right side second so let me hear your voice and watch me get things done I said a hip hop save me from the clippy the peak peek and pop and you don't stop space rocket to the pong pongi say up jump the doozy to the rhythm of the ontology as cringey as that was believe it or not the conclusion is their rapping actually best represents best describes where they fall on this spectrum of voice assistants so Google Assistant very vanilla you know just kind of it gave me more of a poem than a rap but it did what I asked for it gave me some Rhymes that's really all you can ask Siri was a little more cringey sometimes maybe trying to be funny but again it definitely got the job done gave me what I asked for Bixby definitely trying way too hard with a bunch of bells and whistles but at least it did some things that the others don't do but also in a very robotic non-human kind of way and then Alexa as she said is literally the baddest like is actually the worst so there you have it those are your voice assistants obviously it Paints the picture that they're all still kind of trying to catch Google some are closer than others obviously but let me know what you think which one is your favorite if you were to pick one which one would it be thanks for watching talk to you guys in the next one peacehey what's your name Siri pleased to meet you my name is Alexa did I forget to introduce myself I'm your Google Assistant hi xby I like my name hey what's up guys my name is Marquez MKBHD here and this is the comparison of or the battle of the smartphone voice assistants so last time this was a two-way comparison this was between Google assistant and Siri which made sense this time it's a four horse race so I'm using what I believe to be the four most frequently used voice assistants right now so the first is Google assistant on the latest version of Android pretty much the standard then there's Siri which has gotten a lot of improvements on iOS 11 so that's a new update then Amazon Alexa which is in a smartphone form now on the awesome solar red htcu 11 and then Bixby voice which is now live on a bunch of Galaxy s8's in a new update and will also probably be on the Galaxy Note 8 so I wanted to put them all on an even playing field we gave them all the latest software updates we gave them all the exact same questions and phrasing and we gave them all the exact same Wi-Fi connection so to minimize variables this is a direct comparison so this first round is a test of purely factual questions so it's things you could search for but we'll get an answer back from The Voice Assistant for and it shouldn't get all that much wrong it should be pretty easy picking so let's see how they do what's the weather currently in Carney it's 82° F in Sunny 20 * 15us 8 the answer is 292 when does The Home Depot close there are a few the Home Depot locations what's Tesla's stock price the price for Tesla shares is $348 what's the height of the Empire State Building the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft how far is it to the Moon the Moon is 238,900 MIL from Earth what's the weather in Kerney it's 79° with partly sunny skies what's 20 * 15 - 8 20 * 15 - 8 is equal to 292 when does The Home Depot close the Home Depot on Route 440 is open from now until 10 p.m. what's Tesla's stock price H I don't know that one how tall is the Empire State Building the Empire State building's height is 1,250 ft 381 M how far is it to the moon the moon's distance is 239,000 MI 384,000 kilm what's the weather it's 83 with lots of sunshine today what's 20 * 15 - 8 the answer is 200 what time does the Home Depot close what's Tesla's stock price according to Wikipedia Tesla Inc is an American automaker energy storage company how tall is the Empire State Building the Empire State Building is 1,250 ft tall how far is it to the Moon whatever the price I'm sure it's out of my budget what's the weather okay here's the weather for today what's 20 * 15 - 8 292 when does The Home Depot close I found 15 places named the home home services at the Home Depot on State Route 440 Jersey City is open today from 6:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. what's Tesla's stock price Tesla is up $216 today how tall is the Empire State building Empire State Building is 1,250 ft tall how far is it to the moon the distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 21,43 miles so now that we have that as a baseline we use these next tests as specialty test to really dig in to see how much better each one is at its specialty than the rest so this next set is on conversation so you'd expect Google and probably Siri to do pretty well with this one this is something Google's talked about a lot like at google.io should be easy to talk to you don't have to act like a robot to get it to answer your questions let's see how they do who's the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States how tall is he he's 6 feet 1 inch tall who won the NBA Championship the NBA Finals Was Won by the Golden State Warriors who's their point guard Stephen Curry and sha Livingston are point guards for Golden State Warriors how tall is he Stephan Curry is 6 feet three Ines tall what is the capital of Nepal kman de is the capital of Nepal what time is it there the time in cman De Nepal is 9:38 p.m. what's the population the population of cman De was 1.003 million in 2011 who's the 44th President of the United States the 44th US president was Barack Obama how tall is he Barack Obama's height is 6 feet and 1 in 185 CM who won the NBA Championship the NBA finals winner is Golden State Warriors who's their point guard sorry I don't know that how tall is he Barack Obama's height is 6 feet and 1 in 185 CM what is the capital of Nepal Nepal's capital city is Catman do what time is it there the time in catm do is 9:40 p.m. what's the population the population of Jersey City New Jersey is about 248,000 who is the 44th President of the United States Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States how tall is he who won the NBA Championship the NBA Finals Was Won by the Golden State Warriors who's their point guard how tall is he uh m5t for inches tall uh M 5T 11 in tall uh 61 what is the capital of Nepal Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal what time is it there all all right it's 12:00 p.m. what's the population who is the 44th President of the United States the answer is Barack Obama from January 20th 2009 to January 20th 2017 how tall is he what would you like me to find Marcus how tall is Barack Obama Barack Obama is 6' 1 in tall who won the NBA Championship the Warriors won the NBA Finals 4 to one over the Cavaliers they won the last game 129 to 120 who is their point guard okay I found this how tall is he Barack Obama is 6' 1 inch tall what is the capital of Nepal Katmandu is the capital of Nepal what time is it there the time is 12:03 p.m. what's the population it's human population so there's some pretty interesting results down the board there but we expected Google to be good at that because they said they would be and it proved to do pretty well so then last but not least is the final section which is possibly the most complex section it's taking deep actions inside your phone so I tried to make these sort of strings of commands or chained layer deep commands it's again things you could do with your hands but it would be nice if you could just talk to your phone and have it do it for you open Instagram opening Instagram set a timer for 2 minutes all right 2 minutes starting now show me pictures of German Shepherds these pictures should match wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow all right your alarm set for tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. show me photos I took in July take a look at these pictures from your Google photos open the camera and take a selfie no camera app installed open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app no camera app installed open Instagram I couldn't find any enabled video skills go to the music TV and books section of the Alexa app enable the video provider you want then link your account and complete setup set a timer for 2 minutes timers are not currently supported on this device show me pictures of German Shepherds the German Shepherd is a breed of medium to large sized working dog that originated in Germany wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow timers and alarms are not currently supported on this device show me photos I took in July open the camera and take a selfie open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app open Instagram all right here's the app set a timer for 2 minutes okay it's started show me pictures of German shepherds actually looks like I couldn't find the file wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow done I've set the alarm for 7:30 p.m. show me photos I took in July looks like I couldn't find it open the camera and take a selfie perfect we got the shot open the Play Store search Uber and install the first app sure thing we're downloading now open Instagram set a timer for 2 minutes okay two minutes and Counting show me pictures of German shepherds here are some images of German Shepherds I found on the web wake me up at 7:30 tomorrow your 7:30 a.m. alarm is on show me photos I took in July open the camera and take a selfie open the app store search Uber and install the first app okay searching for Uber on the App Store so basically what we're learning here is confirming what we originally thought which is that voice assistants might not be great at everything but they definitely have certain Specialties certain strengths and weaknesses WAP for me I can rhyme I even have an original poem I've been working on and O to search I love to search I cannot a lie I'll search it all I am not shy search for pictures search for pie I search I search at least I try my name is Alexa and I'm here to say I'm the baddest AI in the cloud today your responses are fast but mine are faster sucker speech engines they call me master dropping mad Rhymes is my speciality check it out I'm an AI SP wraps on the Fly need emojis I got an endless supply no task I can't handle cuz that's just what I'm your Prime Time gur cause on your right side second so let me hear your voice and watch me get things done I said a hip hop save me from the clippy the peak peek and pop and you don't stop space rocket to the pong pongi say up jump the doozy to the rhythm of the ontology as cringey as that was believe it or not the conclusion is their rapping actually best represents best describes where they fall on this spectrum of voice assistants so Google Assistant very vanilla you know just kind of it gave me more of a poem than a rap but it did what I asked for it gave me some Rhymes that's really all you can ask Siri was a little more cringey sometimes maybe trying to be funny but again it definitely got the job done gave me what I asked for Bixby definitely trying way too hard with a bunch of bells and whistles but at least it did some things that the others don't do but also in a very robotic non-human kind of way and then Alexa as she said is literally the baddest like is actually the worst so there you have it those are your voice assistants obviously it Paints the picture that they're all still kind of trying to catch Google some are closer than others obviously but let me know what you think which one is your favorite if you were to pick one which one would it be thanks for watching talk to you guys in the next one peace\n"