Alexa Plus is better at running my home, but it’s not ready to run my life

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="I’ve spent a year living with Alexa Plus, and it both delights and frustrates me, which is the smart home in a nutshell. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/LR6B6002-3.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> I’ve spent a year living with Alexa Plus, and it both delights and frustrates me, which is the smart home in a nutshell. | Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph">Of all the things Alexa Plus can do, I never expected it to make me cry. Since my son left for college, the Echo Show in my office has been making then-and-now photo montages: the toddler with his first tennis racket next to the captain of his varsity team; me hugging him as a tween beside me hugging him as a young man. I've teared up more than once. But then comes the ad, a full-screen photo of a hideous brown leather recliner. I go from nostalgic joy to irritation in an instant.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That pretty much sums up my year with Alexa Plus. One minute it will do something seriously impressive; the next, it acts like it doesn't know who I am.</p> <img src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/LR6B5923.jpeg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0,100,100" alt="" title="" data-has-syndication-rights="1" data-caption="&lt;em&gt;Alexa Plus&apos;s memories feature pulls images from your Alexa Photos albums. It&apos;s become very good at pairing images from over the years, like these two of my son and me.&lt;/em&gt;" data-portal-copyright=""> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I've bee …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1007565/amazon-alexa-plus-review-one-year-echo-show-dot-max">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>