Home Assistant users have been waiting a long time for official voice hardware—and it’s finally here: the Home Assistant Voice PE. PE stands for Preview Edition, and that name matters: this is an early release aimed at enthusiasts who want to test what Home Assistant voice control can become.
In this article, I’ll walk through my experience with the Voice PE: unboxing, setup, daily use, and the big question—can it replace Alexa, Siri, or Google Home yet?
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Unboxing: Smaller Than Expected
The box is tiny (about 9.5 × 9 cm) and includes:
- A sticker
- A QR card for instructions
- Warranty paperwork
- The Home Assistant Voice PE unit
The device itself measures roughly 8.5 × 8.5 cm and includes:
- USB-C power port (cable not included)
- 3.5mm audio out
- A mic mute button
- A central button + rotary dial to control volume and LED color
Despite its compact size, the built-in speaker can get surprisingly loud.
Installation: Quick and Beginner-Friendly
Setup is one of the best parts.
Once powered via USB-C, the Voice PE is detected automatically in Home Assistant:
- Click Add
- Click Submit
- Enter your WiFi SSID + password
- Press the button on the Voice PE to authorize pairing
- Add it to ESPHome
- It updates itself automatically
After that, you can start testing wake word functionality and commands. Overall, the onboarding flow is smooth and fast.
Testing Voice Commands and Smart Home Control
With the Home Assistant voice assistant, you can do standard smart home actions:
- Turn lights on/off
- Control switches and devices
- Trigger automations
Where it gets more interesting is combining voice with Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI / ChatGPT. That enables more natural requests—like asking for lighting “based on a vibe” without manually creating scenes in Home Assistant.
You can also use the Voice PE as a media player, for example by streaming to it through Music Assistant.
The Big Question: Can It Replace Alexa, Siri, and Google Home?
Not yet.
Here’s the honest reality after real use:
What’s great
- Easy installation
- Tight Home Assistant integration
- LLM support unlocks powerful and fun use cases
- Good volume for such a small device
- Promising direction for local-first smart homes
What still needs work
- Reliability: it can fail to understand commands or execute actions
- Inconsistent “smart lighting” style prompts
- “Romantic lighting” didn’t work for me
- “Christmas colors” worked immediately
- Patience factor: tech enthusiasts may tolerate hiccups, but housemates often won’t
So while it’s exciting and full of potential, it’s not ready for mainstream household replacement of Alexa/Google/Siri—at least not today.
Cost: Hardware + Optional AI Usage
At the time I recorded my video:
- Expected device price was around $60 USD
- Final pricing may vary depending on launch details
If you use OpenAI/ChatGPT:
- You pay per request
- In my testing, 263 requests cost $0.81
That’s cheap for experimentation, but it’s still a factor versus “free” assistants (for now). Even then, big platforms may also move toward paid AI features over time.
Final Verdict
The Home Assistant Voice PE is a fun and promising device for Home Assistant users who enjoy testing new tech and shaping the future of local-first voice assistants.
But if your goal is to replace Alexa, Siri, or Google Home for everyone in your household today, this Preview Edition still needs more software updates and reliability improvements.
If you love Home Assistant and enjoy early adopter gear, it’s worth exploring. If you need a voice assistant that “just works” every time, stick with the big ecosystems a bit longer.
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