
Ask HN: Which Is Better for You and Why, Amazon Echo Dot or Google Home Mini? - chirau
I am trying to get some last minute discount gifts for friennds. One is a couple and the other a single lady. I am wondering which one would be better for either.<p>What has been your experience with either of these products and what sort of personalities do either suit best?
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melling
I don’t have either but I wouldn’t be discouraged by the typical HN
complaints. These devices are extremely popular and will finally get us to
Voice as a User Interface:

[https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/voice-as-a-user-
inte...](https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2017/12/13/voice-as-a-user-interface-is-
almost-here/)

For those who truly hate these corporate solutions, donating to Mozilla will
help facilitate an open source solution:

[https://voice.mozilla.org](https://voice.mozilla.org)

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eecks
I've only used the Amazon Echo and the dot. I have the normal echo and the
dot. The dot is not amazing. It can't hear me over the external speaker and
doesn't catch what I am saying as much as the normal echo. I'm still happy I
got it though because I have that in one room and the normal echo in my main
room. The normal echo is great.

My main use cases are: "Alexa, ..."

Calculations: "What is 64.5 * 350?"

Factual questions: "What is the population of Ethiopia?", "What is 1 bitcoin
in euro?"

Weather: "What's the weather tomorrow?", "Will it rain tomorrow?"

Reminders: "Remind me in 15 minutes about pizza"

Alarms: "Set alarm for 7.30am"

Current time: "What time is it?", "What time is it in New York?"

Music: "Play spotify"

News: "What's the news?" (Sky News skill set as the default)

I only have one smart plug so far and no smart lights but I plan on getting a
good setup. "Turn on the living room lights", "Turn off all the lights"

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sparkie
This is like asking: "Which is better for you, crack or smack?" Both are
terrible devices whose primary purpose is to invade upon privacy so that they
can sell your preferences to advertisers.

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Finnucane
Yeah, i’d guess the personality they serve best is the type who desires
submission to our corporate overlords.

