A veteran tech reviewer asked Alexa+ to do 135 different tasks. It got roughly half of them right. That is not a typo, and it is not an outlier opinion either, Amazon’s own internal beta testers said something strikingly similar months before the public ever got their hands on it.
What Alexa+ Actually Is
Alexa+ is Amazon’s AI-powered overhaul of the classic Alexa assistant, built for more natural, conversational commands instead of the rigid phrasing the original required. It works on Echo Show models, newer screenless Echo Dots, the Alexa app, and some Fire TV devices. Right now it is free for Amazon Prime members during an extended Early Access period. Once that ends, non-Prime members will pay $20 a month, a real cost that is easy to miss when everyone is currently using it for free.
The Actual Complaints, Not Just Vague Negativity
Before Alexa+ ever launched publicly, an internal Amazon Slack channel with more than 6,400 employee beta testers described it as unbearably erratic. One tester’s comment became widely quoted: they still could not get it to reliably play a requested song, months into testing.
That pattern held up after public launch. A veteran technology columnist who spent real time testing it on an $220 Echo Show documented Alexa+ misunderstanding basic Spotify account permissions, inventing plausible-sounding but wrong answers, and failing roughly half of the 135 tasks attempted. Consumer Reports’ ongoing testing echoes the same core issue: the underlying AI conversation ability has genuinely improved, but the app controlling it remains clunky and slow.
The Part That Actually Works
It would be dishonest to only list the bad. Consumer Reports specifically found smart home control has meaningfully improved with Alexa+, it is genuinely better at understanding natural, conversational requests to control lights, locks, and thermostats than the original Alexa was. Some users online report that after early bugs, more recent updates have quietly fixed complaints they had earlier in the year. New software with an actively working dev team tends to improve, this is not necessarily where Alexa+ will stay.
Should You Turn It On?
If you are a Prime member, it currently costs nothing to try, so there is little downside to testing it against your specific routines and seeing if it handles them reliably. If you are not a Prime member and would be paying $20 a month once Early Access ends, the current state of independent testing does not clearly justify that price yet, especially against the free, more predictable classic Alexa experience. If your main use case is straightforward smart home control (lights, locks, thermostats), that is where it is furthest along. If you rely on it for music requests, playlists, or complex multi-step commands, expect real friction right now.
Already have an Echo-based setup? See our Smart Home Hubs guide for how it compares to the alternatives.
Sources
- Consumer Reports, Alexa+ Review
- David Pogue, hands-on testing of 135 tasks
- Men’s Journal, internal Amazon beta tester feedback
Last Updated: August 2026.
