Going through those:

- Cooking & laundry timers - Yes. Works well

- Reminders (remind me to do X when I get home) - I find Apple geofenced alerts to be unreliable.

- Directions (Take me to the nearest X, take me home, etc) - Pretty good, search isn't as good as Google, but good enough these days.

- Checking hours of business (what time does X close today) - Never tried, doubt it would work.

- Initiating phone calls (Call X) - Yes - Works well

- Checking weather (is it going to snow today? How cold is it right now?) - Yes, works well

- Conversions (what's X ounces to ml) - Never tried. Just tried now - works OK

- Quick stock checks (what's X stock price) - As above works OK, says whether there has been a fall or rise.

- Playing music around the house (play X on the kitchen speakers)- works very well.