Is it better to use Microsoft’s new Copilot app on your phone instead of ChatGPT? Let’s investigate.
Microsoft launched Bing Chat in February with the intention of bolstering the performance of their struggling search engine, hoping to gain some traction in the AI chatbot competition. Regrettably, Bing’s growth remained rather stable over the course of the year, suggesting that their approach was ineffective. Looks like the massive Redmond company is doing something different right now.
After being rebranded as Copilot, Bing Chat was incorporated into other Microsoft products, such as Windows 11 and Edge. However, mobile was an afterthought, requiring the download of Edge or the Bing app in order to access Copilot directly. I always thought it would be incredibly neat to have a dedicated app so I don’t have to run Edge every time, as I use Copilot frequently (it’s virtually free GPT-4!). Finally available for Android, the Copilot app is a testament to “ask and you shall receive.”
What the app is like
You’ll recognize Copilot’s mobile app right away if you’ve used it before in its web version. The same messaging-style interface is provided, along with starter prompts. The actual standout feature, though, is that when compared to Copilot web connections like the one in Edge or Bing search, everything appears to function more seamlessly and responsively. The entire experience is really polished, and simple actions like starting over by erasing the conversation history happen quite quickly. Beyond its sleek look, the app offers all the essential features you would anticipate, like the ability to compose papers, emails, and even AI-generated photos thanks to Dall-E 3 integration.
Where the ChatGPT app still wins
Despite its creators being more allies than rivals, ChatGPT is undoubtedly Copilot’s largest opponent with over 10 million downloads. The primary benefit of ChatGPT nowadays is speed: regardless of length or complexity, responses are usually given instantly. In the meanwhile, Copilot may appear slow, needing some time to process cues and look for more information before coming up with a response. When output is generated, it does so over a few seconds, line by line.
Additionally, Copilot has a 4,000 character limit, which makes it difficult to quickly read long papers unless you divide them into smaller sections. ChatGPT has a much greater cap. Recently, ChatGPT also added a cool audio chat option that is designed to make it feel, without exaggeration, like you are speaking with a real person on the phone.
Meanwhile, Copilot has the less fancy voice input mode – you tap the mic and turn speech into text, then get a robotic voice read out the AI’s response.
So why use Copilot?
Why even consider moving to Copilot if ChatGPT is so great? The largest benefit is GPT-4 and free web access. GPT-4 simply generates significantly more accurate and nuanced responses than GPT-3.5, making it a significant improvement. It also has a lower chance of hallucinations. In general, I found it much simpler to believe Copilot’s responses.
Moreover, Copilot has access to the entire internet, so you can inquire about current affairs. For instance, the free ChatGPT would most likely respond with the iPhone 13 Pro Max from 2021 if you ask it, “What’s the most powerful iPhone?” Nevertheless, Copilot nails it spot on; it will read iPhone 15 Pro Max. In a similar vein, unlike on the free ChatGPT app, recommendations such as What’s the news of the day? and Show me the most affordable flights to Mumbai from Delhi are really beneficial. Yes, you can purchase ChatGPT Plus, but it’s not exactly inexpensive—it costs over Rs 2,000 a month.
Additionally, you may create photos directly from the chat using Copilot, something that is not possible with the free ChatGPT. Lastly, for even more precise control, Copilot allows you to change the response’s tone between Creative, Balanced, and Precise.
The bottom line
In summary, consider Copilot to be the less expensive version of ChatGPT Plus. For heavy users, ChatGPT Plus remains the greatest option; however, if you’re willing to put up with Copilot’s slower speeds and don’t mind paying for it, you may easily replace ChatGPT with Copilot on your home screen, like I did.