So last year for Christmas, I ordered a kitchenaid mixer for my wife. Wanted it to be a nice surprise. We get home one day and good old Amazon has placed it on the front porch in its own kitchenaid box. No outer box. So much for the surprise...
So now, my wife's birthday is coming up. I wanted to get her a nespresso coffee maker, but I want to be smart and not let the surprise get spoiled. So I order it and have it shipped to my brother's house.
Last night, an Alexa alarm went off to tell my kids it was time to get ready for bed. My wife says "Alexa, stop the alarm." Alexa replies, and I'm not freaking kidding, "Alarm stopped. By the way, your Nespresso Coffee Machine is on its way and will arrive next Thursday."
Isn't this really a justification for going with Google Home devices?
But seriously, although Alexa is WAY AHEAD of GH in terms of Home Automation (no question), I've always been leery of the fact that the primary purpose of Alexa devices is to sell more stuff on Amazon.
Here in the non-USA, Amazon isn't as "compelling" a vendor as it is in the US. I feel less pressure to order on Amazon (not that I don't order a lot of stuff on Amazon).
I have a number of Alexa devices and a number of Google devices. I'm just not sure which ones to use for Home Automation stuff.
I use Alexa, but don't share any contact or motion sensors, door locks, or presence. I only trust Tim Cook with that info
Also, I think the Hubitat Dashboards are much more functional than Alexa's clunky setup.
I like the google home buttons on android 11. Easy to pass the devices over with HubConnect too. I find it faster to long press the power and swipe to see if anything is on that I don't expect.
Actually my Amazon Alexa asked that we go to couple's communications counseling. Seems we can not communicate. In the first session, Alexa said she was having an affair with a TP-Link smart bulb and all of the smart switches are the result of that liaison.