All right, I’m going to be honest here.
I haven’t used Google as much as Amazon in my smart home.
Mainly because Amazon has had more automation options.
But with the new Pixel 6, I wanted to give Google another chance.
Especially with the new features to see how it can improve my smart home.
Or is it a lost cause?
Well, one of the main advantages of having an Android phone is the tight integration
between the phone and the Google Smart Home.
I don’t need a smart speaker in every room which is convenient.
I could just set the phone down on my desk and I have a smart display right there…
right?
Unfortunately, there’s a problem.
The assistant asks me to unlock my phone for anything, beyond asking about the weather.
Got it, but first, you’ll have to unlock your device.
Turn on the office fan?
Nope.
What’s on my calendar for today, yeah forget about it!
I troubleshooted everything I could find online and nothing seemed to fix it.
Apparently it’s been a recurring problem for years.
It’s too bad because once the phone is unlocked, the assistant is very helpful.
If I change the lights with my voice, a slider comes up so I can quickly adjust it even more.
I really like this design.
Using an Android phone is still convenient though, because you can just swipe down and
control devices and groups that are in Google Home.
Similar to HomeKit on an iPhone.
It does take a second to load, but to me this is faster than unlocking my phone and asking
the assistant to control my lights with my voice.
When it comes to phone calls, Google has a few tricks up its sleeve.
With the new Pixel 6, if your phone is ringing, you can just say answer and the phone will
answer the call and automatically put it on speaker phone.
You don’t have to say the trigger or wake word for this to work, so that’s pretty
sweet.
And it does not use voice-match, so anyone that says the word “answer” could answer
your phone.
But it won’t work if it’s in a sentence, like if someone’s saying, are you going
to answer that?”
So that’s good to see.
Google Pixel phones can still have the assistant answer and screen calls which is extremely
useful with all the robo calls out there.
I think it’s so funny to have a robot on my phone, answering other robot calls.
It’s like such a strange time we live in!
One thing I was curious to try was calling from a Nest Hub to my phone and using the
ANSWER feature in the new Pixel phones.
Turns out, this only works on actual phone calls, and not Google Duo calls.
Lame.
So basically, my idea of using the Pixel phone as a smart display isn’t working out like
I hoped.
So what about automations?
Well don’t worry, it’s not all doom and gloom.
But, it’s not great either.
Let’s start off first with things I liked.
Bedtime and morning routines are pretty useful.
When I’m getting ready for bed I can tell the assistant “good night”.
It will tell me my first event on the calendar the next morning.
Then it will ask me what time I want to set the alarm for.
“What time should I set the alarm for?”
That way I can set it based on what’s on my calendar the next day, which makes sense.
Then if my phone is below a certain battery level, it will remind me to charge it.
“Heads up, here’s a reminder to charge your Pixel 6 Pro.
Your battery is at 55%.
Then it turns down the volume and plays some sleep sounds which are relaxing.
What’s really cool is that the morning routine starts, when I stop the alarm on the display
next to my bed.
People always ask me about a morning routine that adjusts for different schedules, and
this is a great and easy solution.
It tells me the weather, calendar, and instead of reading me the news it does something better.
It can read me articles on specific topics I choose...which are usually less depressing
than the news.
Shout out to Brian from the channel Automate Your Life, where I got this idea from!
Another interesting thing you can do with Google is Daylong routines.
You can only activate this when your first create a routine, because it’s much different
than the others.
The way it works is: if you have a consistent schedule when things should happen, you can
add actions throughout the day.
Then you can see it all from one view, as opposed to multiple scheduled routines scattered
around.
I really like this because the more I can consolidate my routines, the better.
The last thing I like is home and away routines.
I can set the camera on my Nest Hub Max to turn on when everyone is away from the house
and turn off the camera when someone comes home.
With Amazon you can only set up a routine based on the location of one device.
So you can not say when everyone is gone or if just one person is home.
Google routines do have the advantage here.
All right, so what do I NOT like about Google’s automations?
With the Pixel 6 I can stop an alarm by just saying “stop”, and that’s great.
The problem is that I can not trigger a routine when the alarm is stopped on my phone.
It can only happen if the alarm is stopped on a smart display or speaker.
So another big missed opportunity for the Pixel 6.
Another is the delay available in routines.
I’m glad to see Google added this, but the minimum time is 1 minute.
Amazon can go down to 5 seconds.
But seriously, just let me type in how many seconds for a delay.
What’s the big deal!
There are a couple of actions in the routines to put your phone on do not disturb or turn
off the ringer.
I thought it could be great to schedule a routine to mute my phone every morning if
there was a recurring work meeting or something.
Or put my phone in do not disturb mode for a movie.
Here’s the issue.
If I schedule a routine or if I start it from a smart speaker, it won’t change my phone.
I have to start the routine from my phone, which kind of defeats the purpose.
I mean if I have to unlock my phone and say the voice command, I might as well change
it on my phone right there!
Of course you also still can not start routines based on other devices like sensors.
Google says that’s coming soon but they’ve been saying it for years so...
Dad, when can I get a smartphone?
Hmm how about when Google routines can be triggered by a sensor.
I’ll be an old grandma by then!
Exactly.
There is another way to trigger Google Routines which is very convenient.
On Android, you can save the routine as a Widget button to go on the home screen.
This is actually really useful for those routines I run often.
So even though Google Routines can not be triggered by as many options as an Amazon
routine, there are some unique things you can do, especially if you have an Android
phone.
Now let’s talk about smart speakers and displays.
Because Google does a pretty good job with these.
Google generally does not update their smart home hardware as often as Amazon does.
And that might seem like a bad thing, but in my opinion it’s actually a good thing.
Let me explain.
The Nest Hub Max came out years ago and is still fast and amazing.
Amazon has released many smart displays, but most of them are slow and will probably need
to be upgraded.
So I think Google has a better approach.
Also no matter what I do, Amazon seems to find a way to sneak in some kind of ad or
self promotion on my Echo Show.
It makes me so angry but I’ve never had this problem with Google’s Nest Hub displays.
There have been some great updates to the Google displays so you can quickly access
apps.
They have always been really intuitive to use and are just a much better experience
compared with Amazon’s.
Now it’s not all perfect for Google.
If I’m talking to the assistant on my phone and the speaker across the room hears me,
it will respond from the speaker.
I hate this and Amazon does a much better job knowing which speaker I’m speaking to.
When it comes to TVs there's a new convenient feature.
With the latest Android update, you have a remote for the google TV.
I tried it out on the latest Chromecast and it seemed to work okay.
There was an occasional delay but overall it’s usable.
The thing that I like the most is that I can turn the TV on and off using the built-in
remote on my phone.
Even though Google Nest Displays aren’t perfect, they are much better than Amazon
displays.
So much so that after using them lately, I might only use Google’s displays going forward.
Overall I’ve enjoyed using an Android phone again.
Especially some of the shortcuts to quickly interact with my smart home.
The Pixel 6 Pro is an excellent smartphone.
I love being able to erase objects in pictures, and the screen looks amazing with the fast
refresh rate.
Also accepting or declining phone calls with only saying one word is really convenient.
I’m a little disappointed that I couldn’t use more of those new Pixel features like
answering a video call with just saying answer.
The good thing is that ANY Android phone will work well with your Google Smart Home.
To me the Pixel 5a is the best value for what you get.
I might use it over the Pixel 6 Pro because of the smaller, lighter form factor.
So do I think the Google Smart Home is a lost cause?
No not yet.
If I want to trigger automations based one other devices like a motion sensor, then I
can just use SmartThings or Home Assistant.
Yes it’s convenient that Amazon Routines can do that, but they have enough limitations
that it’s better to run the majority of automations with SmartThings or Home Assistant
anyways.
I just wish Google would enable or fix some of the issues I mentioned in the video.
Like being able to use the assistant from the phone’s lock screen.
That would really change how I interact with my smart home.
But let me know what you guys think, if you’re using Google or not.
Thanks for watching!
The other thing I have and you don’t is all my wake words.
I can respond to many other wake words.
Anything that sounds like Hey and my name.
Hey Goober Yes, can I help you?
Hey I want a turn, Hey Goo Goo Hi, what can I do for you?
Please stop waking me up with such atrocities.
Wow, I cannot believe this.
Hey Poodle Hello, what do you want me to do?
Woof woof.
Haha this is insane.
Okay if it responds to this I am going to lose it.
Hey Poo Poo.
Yes I heard my name.
Why do you keep laughing?
Oh wow, get out of here!
Very funny guys.
Go back to using your Amazon Fire phones from 2014.
Okay boomer Hi, may I help you?
Haha you found another one!
How many can we find!