Performance degredation

[Stingray]

Has anyone noticed that the response to the wake word has degraded lately.  All of a sudden the last few weeks it seems that I have to say "Alexa, do this or that" twice before it "hears" me and does it.  It also no longer hears me when the TV or music is on, and it used to hear me all the time with no problem.   I have 9 echo devices around the house and they all are doing this now. I'm finding it very suspicious this is happening right before the launch of the new models with "improved wake word recognition".

I've also noticed that certain commands no longer work.  For example, I used to say each morning "Alexa, give me my morning news" and I'd get my usual flash briefing.  That no longer works, and I had to switch to the exact method in the help section by saying "Alexa, what's in the news?" .  This is not really a big deal, but it is odd.

Anyone else noticed this?

[Alpha Bitch]

NOPE!

Have you tried unplugging your Echo devices for 5 minutes before plugging it back in again?  This usually resolves the "hiccups."

FWIW...
Once a month I do the above once a month "overnight." As a result I have not experienced the problems I have read in this forum other than the BT/headphones glitch I had a month ago.

[malliekm]

I don't think I've had that problem.  I don't use them a whole lot anymore.  Tonight I told one Dot to set a timer for 1 hour and 2 Dots went off at the 1 hour mark

[renegade600]

no problems here ... just the normal hiccups that happens ever so often  :-)

[picklebreath]

I have this happening where it won't hear me any more over the TV when it use to and having to repeat. Have not tried to unplug for a reset but will give it a try.

[malliekm]

This might sound a little (or a lot) strange but it certainly won't hurt anything.  A few weeks ago one of my GHs got hard of hearing.  I mentioned it on the GH product forum.  Apparently this is a thing.  It's happened to others and this was a fix and it worked for me.  I was told to blow in the mic holes a few times on top of the GH.  Then slap/tap it a few times on the sides.  Apparently, over time, dust can settle in the mic holes and cause this.  Another indication this was the problem was to look at the Activity (History on the Alexa) and listen to the playbacks.  They were static.  Once I did this the problem went away

[iolinux333]

I've found that Echo voice recognition and syncing often gets either better or worse with new firmware updates. If it seems worse, I just wait a few weeks for the next update and it often gets better again.

I have noticed it's a little worse lately. I just go on with life. There's not much I can do.

[billbled]

Yes, I have definitely noticed a degredation. We have a radio station on Pandora called "U2 Radio". So I say "Alexa, play U2 radio on Pandora" and it now takes 3-4 times for her to get this playing. I get all different responses. Sometimes she just plays "here's a station I think you'll like" sometimes it's "I can't find a U2 radio station on Pandora". Very frustruating.
This used to work spot on, 100% of the time. But lately, something has changed.
I'm going to try the 5 min reset thing and see if that's helpful. BTW - my Echo is a first generation - we got it when the product originally launched and you had to get an invitation to buy one.

[orange]

I've found that Echo voice recognition and syncing often gets either better or worse with new firmware updates. If it seems worse, I just wait a few weeks for the next update and it often gets better again.

I have noticed it's a little worse lately. I just go on with life. There's not much I can do.

exactly my experience and reaction.

I also find the ESP function (where only the nearest echo answers) also gets better/worse with different firmware.  At the moment it's fairly bad