Microsoft has recently released a beta version of Cortana for Android in the USA and they are talking about plans to release this virtual assistant in iOS as well. As we all know, iOS comes with its very own built in virtual assistant, Siri, and this is probably the most widely used virtual assistant to date. Cortana, however, released in 2014 for the Windows phone, has recently gained much popularity so here is my size up on how these two compare.
Speed and Accuracy
I ran a few tests on both Siri and Cortana to test how fast they come up with answers to a few questions, set up a few reminders as well as making calls (over the same WiFi network).I was surprised that Siri took a little extra time in answering questions compared to Cortana but was way faster in processing my commands to make calls and set reminders.
However, Siri tends to pull up web suggestions most of the time unlike Cortana which usually gives me direct responses.
Look and feel
The overall layout and interface of both assistants are simple but I personally prefer Siri’s look. Set on a black background with blue font, Cortana does not look as professional as Siri though I am expecting improvements in its looks.
As for the voice of these assistants, despite the claims that Cortana feels more “real” given the fact that it was taken from the game, Halo, I think they both sound equally good.
Witty responses
If you have a virtual assistant on your device, chances are, you are going to ask it some ridiculous questions, for example, my favourite is “Will you go out with me?” or “Do you have a boyfriend?”. The answers given by Cortana are generally funnier and I did spend more time playing around with various questions there compared to Siri.
Microsoft has definitely done a good job in making Cortana a more fun experience. Hint, do ask Cortana to sing for you.
In conclusion, both Siri and Cortana are equally efficient virtual assistants although I would still pick Siri for convenience. Since Microsoft is planning to release Cortana on more platforms, I would expect it to have more improvements in terms of looks, feel and speed. Ultimately, Microsoft has done a great job in developing it so far and Siri is definitely in for some tough competition.
