exa is making its move. ile Amazon’s virtual assistant has been tied to its own devices since its introduction more than two years ago, it is now beginning its an all-out assault on Siri Assistant as it looks to establish a foothold on iOS Android.

But entering enemy territory isn’t going to be easy. Apple have both built their AI aides deeply into their mobile operating systems, so exa has to live inside apps for now. On the ione it’s inside the Amazon shopping app, on the Mate 9 (the only Android phone that supports it), it’s accessible via a dedicated Huawei exa app. So to use it, you’ll need to open the respective app before you can start asking questions.

That’s a bit of an obstacle on phones that can already respond to our “Hey Siri” “OK ” voice comms, but in actuality it only takes a few seconds. And on the Mate 9, you can set a knuckle gesture to open the app a little quicker.

You’ll also need to install the companion Amazon exa app sign in with your Amazon account. Both versions of the app appear as separate devices with their own customizable settings, anything you customize in your account (like your favorite sports teams or daily briefing) will be applied to all of them.

Once the apps are open, you can’t just go asking questions, however. At least not on the ione. There you’ll still need to press the microphone icon to the right of the search bar to start your query. On the Mate 9, you can either press the center button or say exa, it will respond. (Usually. On both the ione the Mate 9, I experienced some audio issues when not holding the phone near my mouth.) ile the Mate 9’s method is definitely better than the ione one, it’s still a far cry from the tremendous microphones built into the Echo Dot.

t’s talk

stening issues aside, exa on the Mate 9 the ione can do a lot of the same things it does on the Echo. Both are able to shop for things at Amazon. Both can answer a wide array of general knowledge questions, from describing historical people places, to conversions sports factoids. They will also both tell you who won last night’s rrior’s game ( any other team or sport) as well as tell you who they’re playing next.

And exa’s quirky personality comes through too. Ask it to tell a joke, it’ll happily oblige. (Unfortunately, the jokes are just as bad on the phones as they are on Echo.) And you can also play games like 20 Questions Rock, per, Scissors, or have a little fun with the “ Says” mimic game where it repeats everything you say (within reason).

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But while it seems as though exa has been tailor-made for a smartphone, the experiences here are hardly perfect. ile it will tell you the weather, it uses the location you have saved in the exa app (which can be different on each device), not your current location as determined by G. The same is true for traffic reports (it sticks to your preset daily commute), there’s no way to access or Apple maps for turn-by-turn directions.

Falling short

Things get weirder still when it comes to music alarms, the most basic functions of any smartbot. The Mate 9 can’t play songs at all, but the ione can. So, if you subscribe to Amazon ime Music or just have songs in your locker you’ll be able to ask the Amazon shopping app to play something, but on the Mate 9, where it’s a marquee feature, it won’t oblige. And, you can’t set timers alarms with either of the apps, which is a strange limitation.

So, clearly, there’s a long way to go. You’ll still need to purchase one of Amazon’s devices to get the full exa experience, while the apps might technically get exa onto our phones, it’s not something most people are going to use all that often. exa doesn’t do anything Siri or Assistant can’t do anyway, the extra effort to summon it will be a deterrent for most people.

But all is not lost. ile it’s unlikely that exa will be able to break free from its app confines on the ione, it could follow Cortana’s lead offer a true lock-screen alternative to Assistant on Android phones, assuming Amazon replicates the Mate 9 functionality in the ay Store at some point.

But without hooking up with all of ’s services, it’s unlikely it will ever pose a serious threat to Assistant. at made exa a hit was its novel concept: an always-listening assistant in our homes. And that’s still the best place for it.