Google Home has just launched in the UK, and it’s immediately offered a glimpse into an extremely bright future.

It's a direct rival to the much-lauded Amazon Echo, and is designed to provide users with help around the house.

Here's what we think of Google Home on day one.

Setting up

Inside the box, you’ll find a power cable, instructions and the Google Home device itself. For such an alien-looking thing, it’s actually really easy to set up.

All you need to do is plug it into your mains and hook it up to your home Wi-Fi network and Google account via the free Google Home app on your phone.

The entire process takes less than ten minutes, though it will of course require additional stages if you want to connect it with Chromecast and any Smart Home devices you own.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at California’s Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Controls

Google Home is powered by Google Assistant, and is activated by two magic words: “Okay Google…” A good initial follow-up to this is “What can you do?”

You can also control a number of features with your fingers too, as the entire slanted top of the device is a touch surface. Tapping it once plays and pauses audio, a long press works as an alternative to "Okay Google", bringing Google Assistant to life, and dragging your finger around the edge of the touch surface changes the volume.

If you want Google Home to stop listening to you, just push the microphone mute button. It's also worth remembering that you can also see every scrap of information Google has on you at My Activity.

Capabilities

For regular consumers, here’s where Google Home will either live or die. It’s designed to make you life easier by quickly processing everyday questions and firing the answers back at you. With Google being the master of search, it’s fantastic at handling this.

You can also use it to fire up Netflix and YouTube by hooking it up to your TV via Chromecast. It’ll deliver news and weather updates and perform translations and calculations too, as well as play your favourite songs through Google Play Music or Spotify. After all, it is a speaker, though audio isn't always crisp.

Google Home can also connect with a range of Smart Home gadgets, including Philips Hue lights, the Nest thermostat, Samsung SmartThings, Belkin Wemo and Honeywell devices, to make some of your day’s duller tasks easier to get out of the way.

Lots of people still feel uneasy using voice commands on their phones, but it soon feels like a comfortable way to interact with Google Home.

What’s really disappointing at present, however, is its lack of support for one of Google’s most important services: Gmail. It would be incredibly useful to be able to dictate emails to Google Home, but that’s not yet an option.

Google Home can’t handle calls either, and though it can read out appointments in your calendar, it can’t actually create new ones.

Early verdict

Google Home is tough to judge at the moment. Right now, the Amazon Echo is ahead of it in terms of its skillset, but that’s only because it’s been around much longer.

Google will continuously develop additional functionality, which could roll out to users at pretty much any moment and potentially completely transform Home. Amazon will do the same in order to stay ahead of the game.

As it's a work in progress, I can only truly recommend Google Home to early-adopters who actually own Smart Home devices right now, but not to the point where I'd try to talk any other potential buyers away from it.

What’s clear right away is that Google Home is useful, but more importantly, it has an incredible amount of potential and will only improve with time.