Apple's Siri trounces Samsung's S Voice (hands-on)

Samsung's answer to Siri means well, but doesn't have the power, as both companies' voice assistants face off.

by Jessica Dolcourt

  June 21, 2012 6:07 PM PDT

Samsung's S Voice assistant (L) takes on Apple's Siri (R).

(Credit: CNET)

Samsung's answer to Siri has been getting a bad rap ever since the Galaxy S III (S3) landed in reviewers' hands. CNET UK and CNET Asia both slammed the Siri-wannabe before the Galaxy S3 arrived in the U.S., but I had to try the dueling assistants for myself.

While Siri and S Voice can perform many of the same tricks, there are also some differences that I looked at on their own. I repeated 10 commands that span the breadth of their shared cpabilities, at the same time and in the same location. Since my test phones were on different data networks, I factored accuracy only, not the time it took to complete an action.

Hanging with Siri

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One thing I'll point out isn't something I could capture in screenshots -- for every time S Voice misinterpreted, I repeated my command multiple times until either the I got the right syntax, the app interpreted me correctly (like if I spoke much slower), or S Voice continued to miscompute.

Although Siri performed better than S Voice overall, Apple's assistant is hardly a dream. In fact, I've been officially and casually testing both programs side by side for an entire week, and both induce headaches. I love the concept of voice-recognition software -- especially when I'm hands-free -- but many times, I find that it's simply faster and more accurate to just type in your query myself.

Of course, Siri in iOS 6 will also be able to do more, like open apps, pull more Web content, and talk to your car, but since that won't come until fall, these tests apply to the current version.

1. Place a call
Both assistants heard my command and launched the dialer.

2. Send a text

Both Siri (L) and S Voice (R) interpreted and texted my message.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Siri had no problem executing my whim. When I first asked S Voice to "text Jason Parker Hi," it tried calling him. You'll have to teach yourself to say "Text So-And-So message Hi" if you want to text with your voice. I also recommend keeping texts short and sweet. S Voice continually botched longer messages throughout my testing period.

By the way, I use CNET's Download.com editor in a lot of examples because I know he won't scream at me for sending him random calls and texts.

3. Set an alarm

Siri (L) required less confirmation to set the alarm than S Voice (R).

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

S Voice and Siri both set my alarm for the following morning. However, Siri was more confident, setting the alarm and offering me an out to cancel. S Voice required time-wasting confirmation before saving the alarm.

4. Get directions

Both assistants quickly opened to the maps and navigation apps, respectively.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

S Voice opened driving navigation to get to Google (just not the office I wanted; this is not Samsung's fault) while Siri opened driving directions to Apple's Cupertino, Calif. headquarters.

5. Check the weather

Both assistants fetched the correct information.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Both Siri and S Voice returned similar results for London's weather, just not exact forecasts.

6. Play a tune

Siri began playing the song I bought over iTunes. S Voice didn't.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Siri was able to launch a Nicki Minaj song I downloaded from iTunes (it was Starships, if you must know), but S Voice struggled to launch the same song that I purchased from Google Play. It was also unable to launch Google Play. Since I only have downloaded Google tunes on the GS3, this feature didn't work for me.

7. Set a calendar event 

Siri got a lot closer with my request, since I wasn't trying to invite anyone to a meeting. They both nailed the separate dates.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

The name of my salon is a bit unusual, so I can't blame either assistant for tripping over it, but Siri alone captured the right appointment time and name of my stylist. S Voice branched off in the effort to include a contact from my address book, which took up my time and wasn't what I wanted. The reason you see two separate appointment days was a personal inconsistency, not any fault of either voice assistant.

8. Search the Web

Siri got much closer to my actual request. S Voice just needs a hearing aid.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

I searched on multiple topics on both Siri and S Voice. While both did fine with the basics, there were problems with more complicated requests, or even with requests it found simple enough to understand, but didn't correctly execute. Siri was able to sound out something close to "kookaburra," but S Voice tripped up and just set my search term to "cook."

Um, no. That'd be Pixar's new movie, Brave.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Neither one understood my devotion to Pixar films. In S Voice's case, the blunder illustrated my user error in incorrectly structuring my commands. However, the app's rigidity once again got in the way and completely tried my patience.

9. Ask: When was Abraham Lincoln born?

Expand S Voice's response (right) to see more. Wolphram Alpha sources both assistants.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Both S Voice and Siri tap Wolphram Alpha for this type of information. S Voice returned the short answer, with a choice to expand for more. Siri expanded by default. I personally prefer S Voice's bottom line with the option to dig deeper. "Date formats" and "time differences" don't make any sense to me.

10. Ask: How far is it from here to Siberia?

Siberia: nowhere on Earth or closer than you think?

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

Now, I know they both heard me, and in truth, I expected Wolphram Alpha's database to take over. Instead, S Voice (left) played dumb and Siri (right) gave me driving directions. However, there' s really no need. Apparently, Siberia is within walking distance.

S Voice-only

Tweeting with S Voice breaks down with complexity. S Voice smoothly launched native apps.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

S Voice is programmed to do a few things that Siri can't, like turn on and off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and driving mode. These commands worked great. S Voice can also update social networks and launch some native apps. Simple tweets worked fine, like "Testing S Voice on the Galaxy S three." However, the more complex you get, the harder it garbles. "Testing out the functionality of tweeting on the Galaxy S3" became "Testing out the functionality of the athletes on the galaxy s three."

On the plus side, S Voice swiftly opened the native apps I threw at it, like the calendar, YouTube, and the calculator. It still didn't open Google Play.

Siri-only

Siri took simple e-mail voice dictation well.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)

One of my favorite Siri tricks is dictating e-mail. Try it on S Voice if you'd like, but all you'll get is an apology that S Voice is unable to send e-mail. Siri did well enough with this simple message, but I'd hesitate to compose something much longer, especially without automatic punctuation control (you can vocally punctuate, which is good, since you know, I'm a writer and stuff.)

Verdict: Both have a long way to go, but S Voice has longer
It's only a matter of time before voice-command software becomes more accurate all around. In the meantime, Siri offered a hands-down better experience, since it better interpreted my commands, and without as much repetition.

I noticed while I used it over the past week that S Voice struggles more than Siri to filter out sound, even when I'm attempting to enunciate (which just makes me feel like an idiot while in public: "GOO-gl-PLAY.")

Even when I tested S Voice in a quiet area of the office, I noticed that the GS3 recorded the sounds of closing doors, conversation floating down the hall, the click of the screenshot, and in one instance, a more forceful breath.

With some fine-tuning and a broader command vocabulary, S Voice 2.0 will be able to close the gap with Siri. However, both programs need to work out enough kinks that I'll probably wait a few generations more before relying on either one to operate my phone.