Alexa, Google etc - Options for Virtual Assistant

Tonytank · 24 Jul 2022 at 13:01

Good Morning/Afternoon Everyone,

So here is my situation.

In my home office I currently have 3 maybe 4 devices to light the room and/or feature lightning that displays a collection of mine.

I would like a simple Alexa style device which will work in conjunction with smart plugs to allow me to voice control each item.

Streaming from Spotify would be nice but not essential...also if its possible I would like to be able to rename the device so I dont have to say something like "Alexa" before continuing.

Cheap and as simple as possible.

I appreciate most people know about this kind of thing but honestly the whole home speaker thing has passed me by.

Thank you kindly in advance.

TT

Delvis · 24 Jul 2022 at 16:36

Well you have a choice of 'Amazon', 'Computer' or 'Echo' with an Alexa, oh and 'Hey Santa'

Every smart device needs some form of wake word and I'm unaware of any where you can use a custom one.

Smart plugs work with most smart home things, I've got a couple of plugs which you can customise to turn on when you say something, or on a timer, or then on via the app

grudas · 24 Jul 2022 at 21:59

Alexa. Google is rubbish.

Resident · 25 Jul 2022 at 11:33

We have Google, because it was free. I signed up years ago as a beta-tester for a first-gen chromecast and now I keep getting hardware sent to me.

You can't customised the wake-word, I don't think this is available on any platform.

For me GA is hit and miss. Often it'll confuse OFF and ON when instructing to turn on/off devices. The smaller devices (Nest Minis) seem to be underpowered processor wise & the one in my son's room often crashes requiring to be unplugged to reset.
It'll often tell me that one of the smartplugs/bulbs we have is 'unavailable' but if I go into the native app for the device it's there and online.

You can however set custom 'routines'. These are voice commands that you can set a specific set of actions and these work well. I have one called Red Alert (star trek nerd). I call out 'Ok Google, red alert' & every light/lamp in and outside the house turns on at 100% brightness. If you have an andriod phone you can also set routines and use them from outside your home. I have one for when I'm getting home at night. 'Ok Google, I'm home' turns on my driveway lamp, porch light and hallway light then after 7 mins (arbitarily chosen) it will turn off the driveway & porch and dim the hallway to 25%.

tom_nieto · 25 Jul 2022 at 15:21

I’ve found the best Alexa style device to be… Alexa. The ecosystem is pretty decent and smart plugs and lights seem to work effortlessly. Some of the other things are a bit clunky but lights and smart plugs are great.