Is there any difference in the Assistant functionality available on a Google Home compared with a non-Google product such as a soundbar, TV, etc that happens to have Google Assistant on it?
2 Answers
There is negligible difference in the assistant functionality between a Google branded Google Home device vis-à-vis an OEM speaker with google Assistant. Lets, take Google Home and LG WK7 Speakers, various demo show that Google Assistant feature works the same.
Apart from Google Assistant there are notable differences, such as
- Google Home runs CastOS whereas LG WK7 runs Android Things
- Google home speaker output power is around 10W. For LG WK7 its 30W
They didn't use to be, but it appears that they now are - at least on Android phones, as of April 2018.
See this article on android central. They mention that:
When Google Assistant debuted with the Google Home, the features were quite different between the shiny new home speaker and the phones that it became available on. Google Assistant on phones felt hobbled, with many of the most practical and desired features being reserved for the Google Home.
[...] It took far longer than I would've liked, but this control — along with so many other features — has finally made its way to Google Assistant on phones.
In other words, it appears that yes, the functionalities of the Google Home have finally made it into Google Assistant.