We Love Testing | Roav Bolt | Google Assistant is Dumb, IOS makes it dumber

Today I will be review the Roav Bolt. I received it for free in exchange for my unbiased review of it. I apologize in advance for lack of photos, but I haven’t had time to take them since I was quite sick last week and Been busy since. I will add them in the next few days.

The bolt is quite easy to setup. I downloaded the google assistant app, and then I plugged in the bolt. I opened up that app, and a banner came up to pair. I just selected that, and it was paired. The connection between the devices seems pretty stable, even if my phone is connected to my cars speaker system via BT. Google seems to hear my voice well, and always gets my commands right.

And that’s about where all good things come to an end. After all, everything must come to an end sometime, some sooner than others. The goodness of this product just had a shorter reign than others.

Here are some of my complaints. First off, I am on iOS. Because of that, the google assistant app has to be open to perform most commands, such as music, Gps, etc. That alone is enough to make this product nearly useless. I might as well pick up my phone and tell Siri to do that stuff… it’s way easier and faster. Which brings me to my second complaint. There is a huge delay when I ask google to do stuff. Usually around 6 seconds.

I mentioned in the title that google assistant is dumb, now I’ll tell you why. I can’t tell her to turn on a specific song, even though I have Apple Music. It only turns on artists really. It’s suoer annoying. Again, I could just pick up my phone and ask Siri to turn on exactly the song I want.

I guess this product might be good if my phone was sitting on a mount always open to the google assistant app. But that’s not the case, and this product isn’t for me.

I wish this was made the same way Alexa is. You choose the “skills” you want and then you can use them. Completely separate from my phone. It would use my phone via BT to connect to the internet, and that should be it.

Maybe anker can create a better product in the future, but it hasn’t happened yet.

I have a feeling this product works completely differently on an android phone, but it’s simply not worth it for iOS users. Especially if you have hey Siri set up.

Hope this helps you make a decision on buying this product! Let me know what you think!

4 Likes

Thanks for sharing your detailed review @TechMan

1 Like

Let’s be clear, though… Siri is much less intelligent than Google Assistant!

3 Likes

Lol yeah. But Siri is much more compatible with iOS :joy:

1 Like

Thanks for your review…but this is proof you need to switch to Android to prevent issues you were having

1 Like

Hehe. I’m seriously considering the switch lol. But I definitely won’t be doing that until my current phone it payed off :grin:

Google Assistant is smart… no matter what people say, it’s best. But Bolt needs lot of fixes - mostly for iOS… I would not leave iPhone just because Bolt messed up the Google Assistant experience

1 Like

That’s not even close to making the list of reasons why I want to switch lol.

I will not be switching to Android … happy with iPhone… hopeful Roav will fix all issues with Bolt and I will buy it again soon.

3 Likes

Did you return yours?

Yup, bought it first day it was available at BestBuy, tested, thought it was too many issues then I could handle and returned it… Notably Bolt is still in beta for iOS

I havent tried google assistant yet. Samsing keeps trying to push me into a relationship with Bixby, but that just seems weird. Like a stalker or obsessed ex or something.

I’m still partial to Alexa. My echoes and Genies are all I need.

And, seriously, @techman - you didn’t even throw it in a lake? :laughing:

2 Likes

I got rid of Bixby when I had my s9+, and I used Alexa for a while before switching to Google. Now all I use is Google with my S10e

How did you do that?

@gAnkster

download the Amazon Alexa app from the Play Store. After the app is installed, you will need to log into your Amazon account to get everything working.
Then Open Settings>
Scroll down and select Apps>
Tap the three-dot overflow button in the top right-hand corner>
Select Default Apps>
Tap Phone assistant app>
Select Alexa

1 Like

Nice review

1 Like

I agree with your comment. That integration iOS-Google Assistant-Roav Bolt need a little bit of attention.

2 Likes

Thanks for the review, I agree with the issues…

1 Like

Apple dwarfs a lot of things when it comes to technology… :joy_cat:

I don’t think you understand. Android is designed by google, and so is the google assistant. Of course they work we’ll together. I bet a Samsung phone and the HomePod don’t work too well together…