I gave the Google Home as a gift...what a mistake, not once has this thing worked as advertised and the "Fixes" provided by Google didn't help at all. The unit now sits on the closet shelf since it won't respond to verbal commands and frequently will begin talking all by itself..

A lot better at processing natural language

Still work in progress

Buying this product I knew you had a power cable that needed to be connected however I didn't know that you needed to connect it to your network via Ethernet cable. If you are purchasing this as you can not grab a connection in one part of your house then you need to buy at least 2 pods (3 if you...

Doesn't understand most questions

You probably shouldn't buy Google Home as your primary music system, but fortunately there's much more to it than that.If you want a basic plug 'n' play voice control assistant which takes charge of your smart home and doubles as a simple, affordable multi-room audio and video system, then it has...

Simple to use; Unobtrusive design; Works with Chromecast; Multi-room capability; Stereo pairing

Few apps; Average sound; Limited smart home capability; No Bluetooth (but it's coming

The Google Home is fun, functional, and should only get better with time.

It can be personalized to you; giving you info on your commute; weather; and calendar; Works with Chromecast; Answers questions and follow-ups fairly well; Lots of choices for music

Limited smart home control

Alexa is still the queen of voice assistants. Google Home is learning fast, and it does some things better than Alexa does. If you have a Google Play Music account and multiple Google accounts around your household, Google Home will give you a smoother multi-user experience.

Attractive design; Removable color bases; Well-rounded sound; Multi-room audio

Still fewer skills than Amazon's Alexa; Doesn't work as a standard Bluetooth speaker

For all intents and purposes, Google Home is pretty much a year old and needs to do more. In the U.S., the smart voice box has already been on the market long enough to give app developers time to implement the actions, but so far, the added value is limited to few areas.

Good music control; Accurate voice recognition; Integrates smart home devices from many different manufacturers

Does not use any Phillips Hue scenes; Too few compatible apps

Both wildly intelligent and supremely versatile in the ways in which it can be used, Google Home is evolving quickly compared to the Amazon Echo but it still has to make a few changes to catch up – starting, perhaps, with better integration with Google's own services.

Customizable base; Massive song library; Expanding hardware ecosystem; Six-month YouTube Red trial in US

Missing Google's own services; Phrasing needs to be precise; Google Cast support needs work

The Google Home ($129) connected wireless speaker has grown up a lot in the six months since it appeared on the scene. With support for multiple users, many more smart home brands, and third-party skills, it's finally a legitimate competitor to the Amazon Echo ecosystem. In some ways, Google Home is even better than Alexa—at handling multiple users, for instance. It hasn't quite caught up yet overall, but it's definitely getting there. Design and Setup The Google Home ($99.00 at Target) is an attractive gourd-shaped speaker with a removable woven gray base—additional fabric ($20) and metal ($20) options are available. It's 3.79 inches in diameter and 5.62 inches tall, and weighs about a pound. It looks like an ornamental candle, and thanks to the fabric base and various color options, it'll fit much more easily into various home decor than Amazon's somewhat utilitarian-looking black or white Echo speakers (even the smaller Echo Dot and Amazon Tap aren't particularly attractive). ...

The Google Home is a great-looking speaker with a voice assistant that's catching up to Amazon's Alexa, although it hasn't quite gotten there yet.

Attractive design; Removable color bases; Well-rounded sound; Multi-room audio

Still fewer skills than Amazon's Alexa; Doesn't work as a standard Bluetooth speaker