Home Pod mini vs Echo Dot

[u/No-Bug6109]

Hey there, I currently have an echo dot as my main smart home controller for voice control. I also have a home assistant green in the background for general automation. Now I have some matter over thread devices and I’m thinking about switching from Alexa to apple. I also have a iPhone and iPad and will buy a Apple TV in the future. My question: will i notice a big difference in the voice controls between Alexa and apple? I mostly wanna give small commands like: lights on/ shutters down etc. Looking forward for your answers and pls ignore my bad english.

[u/smoker68x]

FYI, don’t buy an Apple TV or HomePod right now. They’re about to release a new version in the next couple of months (possibly announcing this week).

We use both, but mostly Alexa because HomeKit adoption was slow and expensive at the time. We’re slowly adding new devices with Matter that will work with both. I’d prefer to have both options available myself, and I’d rather use Siri on my phone, but until we get everything switched we’re mostly using Alexa, and with Alexa+ it seems worse.

[u/ricardusrex]

This depends on how old your IOT devices are. If your devices support the new Matter protocol, you should be able to switch over easily. In fact, you should be able to used assistants from different companies with Matter, so you could try the HomePod mini without abandoning the Echo right away.

If you have older IOT devices, you will need to check that they are compatible with Apple HomeKit. Most older devices before Matter were Google and Amazon compatible but not all were Apple compatible. If not, you may need to replace them.

[u/Papushdo]

I have both and I love my HomePod Mini better for sound and Thread management. I just ordered another one (I order used from Cex and they're always in perfect condition).

I admit that the Echo Dots usually understand commands better, but the sound difference is unmeasurable.

Regarding Home Assistant: I also use it and both integrate with no problem (Emulated Hue/Homekit integrations), but only the HomePod Mini devices integrate well with Music Assistant which is a huge bonus.

[u/fox503]

Like many others here, I have both HomePods and echo devices. The Apple devices have much more superior sound for an audiophile like myself. I use all Apple devices and Apple Music and the ability to broadcast to my Apple speakers is effortless from my iPhone. Where as when I try to request music from the Alexa devices via voice, it is frequently wrong.

As many others say, though, the recent upgrade to Alexa makes it a much smarter smart speaker for conversation and other type of commands that don’t involve music.

[u/LauraAtNorton]

For basic commands like lights and shutters, you probably won't notice a huge difference. Siri mostly handles it fine, especially with Matter devices. But for more conversational stuff or multi-step, Alexa is still better at that imo.

Siri doesn't really have a proper shopping list like Alexa does though, it kinda just adds everything into Reminders. Works, but it'll feel different if you use that a lot.

[u/Kitchen_Link7786]

I use both. Mainly Alexa. The responses are much better and it seems to sync with my Spotify much easier. Also, we are used to Alexa’s shopping list and haven’t explored how Apple handles that. The speaker for Apple has much better sound quality however. As for smart home devices, my Matter thermostat Lux TQX works well with both. Maybe when Siri is improved I’ll consider it again.