Apple HomePod set to go on pre-orders: Here’s how it compares with Google Home and Amazon Echo

"Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears," said Mark Antony in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Replace Mark Antony by Google, Apple and Amazon, and "friends, Romans, countrymen" by anyone who is looking for a smart speaker or aspires to have one and you will get the drift of what's happening in the most-talked about gadget category.

With Apple confirming that it will start taking pre-orders for its HomePod from January 26 , the battle lines are firmly drawn. Amazon with its Alexa got a head start while Google since October 30 - the day it officially launched Google Home - has sold over 6 million units. Apple's entry is set to spice up the market and Tim Cook and his crew might just have another ace up their sleeves. As far as specs, price, features go, here's how HomePod stacks up against Amazon Alexa and Google Home:

Design

Amazon Echo comes in a cylindrical shape and is 5.9-inch tall. You can get them in six fabrics and finishes and the top of the speaker has a light ring which can be used to adjust volume.

Google Home is 5.6-inch tall and also offers six colour and metal shells. The top is slightly sloped and has a touch-capacitive display, four LEDs that give visual feedback. It also has a mute button at the back.

Apple's HomePod stands tall - literally - over its rivals and measures at 6.8-inch. Unlike its rivals, HomePod has bulbous shape and only offers two colours - space grey and white.

Voice Assistants

Siri, Apple's trusted vocal lieutenant finds sanctuary in the HomePod and works like it does on other Apple devices. You can instruct smart home devices, control music or ask questions like 'who's the guitarist' in a particular song. That's not all, one can send messages, play podcasts, check the news weather, et al. Apple's SiriKit offers third-party app support which will enable a host of other apps to work with the HomePod.

Google Home utilises the search giant's Assistant smartly and is more 'conversational'. You can ask all sort of questions and the Assistant is armed with all the answers. It works similarly to how it does on Android devices and will soon be capable of adding multiple users.

Amazon's Alexa plays music, tells you sports scores, weather and also get information from Bing search. Amazon Prime users can order products which they have ordered before.

Smart Home

With the Amazon Echo, you can control Alexa-enabled products like light, fan, etc. You can ask Alexa to switch on the fan or increase the temperature of the AC. Brands have already integrated Alexa capabilities and these include Samsung, Philips and Honeywell among others.

Google Home relies on its Assistant for its smartness and you can control smart lights, switches among other things One also gets access to Chromecast as Google Home acts as a receiver.

Apple's HomeKit has been the talk of the town for a while and with HomePod it's expected to come to the fore. It will work just like the Alexa and Google Home and is expected to perform the same duties.

Sound and music

Google Home is a Wi-Fi-enabled speaker but lacks Bluetooth connectivity. You can stream music directly from the cloud or from Google Play Music, Spotify and Youtube. There are dual side-facing passive radiators which provide ample sound quality.

Amazon Echo supports Bluetooth and can play music from any device. You get access to Amazon Music and other options like Spotify also get support. The Echo has a 0.6-inch tweeter and a 2.5-inch woofer.

Apple's HomePod also lacks Bluetooth support but mercifully has AirPlay 2 which allows users to stream music from Apple Music. There are seven tweeters and a four-inch woofer that is packed inside the HomePod.

Price

Amazon Echo retails at Rs 9,999 there are other variants like Echo Dot and Echo Plus which are priced at Rs 4,499 and Rs 14,999 respectively.

Google Home isn't available in India at the moment but comes with a price tag of $129.