I tried switching to Gemini—it made me miss Google Assistant

Google Assistant has always been one of my favorite features on Android. It was simple, fast, and got the job done without me having to think twice. So when Google decided to go all-in on LLMs, I was genuinely excited about all the amazing Gemini integrations with different apps.

But after using it for a while, that excitement quickly turned into frustration. Gemini may be a powerful, large language model, but it often struggles with the basics I rely on every day. In the end, I switched back to Google Assistant not because it could do more, but because it was simply more reliable as an assistant.

Gemini is a great LLM, but not a great assistant

Writing essays is easy; controlling lights is hard

When I first got automatically switched over to Gemini, I was genuinely excited to try it out. For the first few days, I was actually happier because Gemini could handle far more complex questions than Google Assistant ever could. But the longer I used it, the more the cracks started to show. For all its bells and whistles, Gemini turned out to be worse at the one thing I actually wanted it for: being an assistant.

The biggest problem is how Gemini executes commands. Instead of just doing them directly, it often tries to invoke another app or service in the background, which makes the whole process extremely inconsistent. I have had countless situations where I asked it to control my lights, only for Gemini to refuse with a message like, "As an LLM, I cannot control your lights." Then, a moment later, the exact same command would work without issue.

Sometimes Gemini recognizes it needs to route the request through Google Home, and other times it just assumes I was asking it directly, so the command fails.

I have run into the same headache with basic tasks like currency conversion. Google Assistant has always nailed this instantly with accurate, up-to-date exchange rates. Gemini, on the other hand, sometimes reaches into Google Search for the answer, which works, but other times it just falls back to a generic warning that its numbers might not be up-to-date. I have even gotten exchange rates that were weeks or months old.

Gemini also struggles to understand full sentences at times. For example, if I dictate a message and tell it to send it to someone, it will often ask me again who I want to send it to. Again, sometimes it works perfectly, but other times it just falls apart.

The issue is that Gemini doesn't always trigger its integrations properly and instead treats my request like a direct question. Too often, it falls back on a generic AI-style reply when all I wanted was a quick, accurate response.

Gemini makes everything slower

The drag of repeated clarifications

Another thing that really bothers me about Gemini is how much slower it feels compared to Google Assistant. Every request takes about four to five seconds longer, and the reason seems obvious: everything is being routed through the LLM first.

Instead of just executing the command, Gemini processes the request, which takes a few seconds, and then passes it along to the relevant app or integration. That extra layer adds a noticeable delay and makes even simple tasks feel sluggish.

Since Google Assistant relies on simple language processing and pre-determined scripts to perform tasks, everything is much faster. On top of that, Gemini suffers from a classic LLM problem: it often talks too much.

Instead of giving me a straightforward answer, I sometimes get two whole paragraphs before I finally find what I was looking for. This can probably be easily tweaked, but it still adds unnecessary friction.

What Gemini is genuinely good at

Making research less painful

For all its flaws as an assistant, Gemini is still an excellent large language model, and that strength shows in certain scenarios. Whenever you need explanations or breakdowns for complex topics, Gemini is definitely far more helpful than Google Assistant. It's also much better at understanding context, and asking questions is overall a more natural experience.

Another area where it shines is in creative or open-ended queries. If I ask it to compare two products, give me pros and cons, or explain something in different styles, Gemini is flexible enough to adapt its response. That is not something Google Assistant was ever built to handle.

Gemini Live is also one of my favorite AI features. The ability to share my screen while talking to it makes a lot of tasks easier, since I can simply point to what I am looking at and let Gemini guide me through it in real time.

Wherever you need to generate completely new content from scratch, Gemini does a better job than Google Assistant. It works well as a companion in those situations, but it falls short as an assistant. For me, it feels more like an information relay tool than something that consistently follows through on what I ask it to do.

Sometimes, simplicity is better

Gemini is definitely underrated because it is so much more than a Google Assistant replacement. Inside the Gemini app, it can do a ton of things that go well beyond what Assistant was ever built for, and I do find myself using it in that context. But when it comes to my default assistant, I am going back to Google Assistant. At the end of the day, I just want something simpler and more reliable.

If Google manages to refine the integration over time, Gemini could absolutely become the true successor to Google Assistant. Until then, though, it will stay as something I use inside the app rather than the tool I rely on every day.