“Having read disparaging reports about how absolutely unusable the Voice PE was it was with some considerable trepidation that I ordered one. Well, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's not unusable. In fact for what is sold as a preview product, only a step or two removed from proof of concept, it is more than capable. OK, there's still a lot to be done before this is a direct competitor for the likes of Alexa in terms of voice performance but it works and simple things like automatically muting TV and other audio devices on receipt of a wake word does stop the "I'm sorry but I don't understand 'turn on the living room lights back with more news after this break'" - not yet worked out a mechanism to mute the family but the search is ongoing. Of course this now means that I need to buy a Pi5 to speed up the response times and then I'll need an AI accelerator and then more Voice PE devices.
Thanks Pi Hut for the speedy delivery”
“Great product it was a little useless at first but once connected to OpenAI works a treat. I think that's where this product shines alongside a nabucasa subscription.
You could set up your own language models although a little more technical and more equipment needed.
If you understand what all of this review means then this could be the product for you.
It really does add another level to your integrations something new to tinker with.
You will also need a power supply and maybe a 3.5 mm aux input speaker as the internal speaker isn't great it's ok for voice but putting any music through it you'll realise it's not like other voice assistants ie Alexa or google”
“Great little device, this is my 2nd, hoping they will do a new one with a better speaker this year, but in the meantime the 3mm audio out jack is perfect.”
“It does exactly what's promised. If you have a home assistant cloud subscription it's very fast but you can also run entirely locally using add on.
A great way to decouple yourself from Amazon, apple and Google.”
“I now have two of these and have said goodbye to my other smart speakers. Easy to set up and simple to use. I like that it is local and my data is not being shared with large corporations. The lack of allegedly helpful suggestions.
Down sides - It's a bit deaf and doesn't do well with other sounds in the room although the response it gives with the telly on in the background is highly amusing at times. Not really geared up for Audio playback due to speaker quality if that's what you're looking for.
However it's still relatively new and active developments in Home Assistant make it a good choice if you want to be free of intrusive online devices.”
“I picked up the Home Assistant Voice Preview Edition from The Pi Hut and I’m really impressed. The delivery was fast as always, and the device itself feels premium with that satisfying rotary dial. Setup was a breeze with ESPHome, and it’s great to finally have a voice assistant that doesn't rely on the cloud. A must have for any HA enthusiast!”
