Alexa Plus is better at running my home, but it’s not ready to run my life
After a year of testing, Alexa Plus excels as a smart home assistant but disappoints as a personal assistant, hampered by intrusive ads and inconsistent performance.Summary
The Verge's Jennifer Pattison Tuohy spent a year testing Amazon's AI-powered Alexa Plus, finding it the best smart home assistant she's used. It's faster and more conversational than the old Alexa, excels at controlling smart home devices, managing routines, and helping in the kitchen, and improved features like calendar and shopping management save time. However, Amazon's attempts to make Alexa Plus a personal assistant fall flat: it makes errors with dates, fails to remember personal details, and struggles with agentic tasks like ordering food or booking services. Constant display ads on Echo Show devices are described as out of control, with Amazon now offering an ad-free option for $2.99 per device monthly. While Alexa Plus handles smart home control and everyday queries well, its inconsistent performance on complex tasks and lack of personal context leave it short of being a reliable personal assistant.
(Source：The Verge)