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You can’t have a conversation about smart home devices without including Amazon’s Alexa in the picture. As of 2025, the number of Amazon Echo users is expected to reach about 69.9 million, and as of 2024, the Echo is the most popular smart speaker in the U.S., according to Electro IQ.

We surveyed our readers about the smart home products they use, and Amazon’s Alexa was among the top smart assistants used. 

How Mashable readers rate Amazon Alexa

In our Readers’ Choice Smartest Home survey, we asked readers to score their Amazon Alexa devices on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best) on multiple factors, including voice recognition, smart home controls, and programmable actions. Here’s how Amazon fared compared to the competition. (Interact with the chart below by clicking the arrow buttons or using the dropdown menu.)

Testimony from Alexa users

Mashable readers reported that their Alexa devices are easy to use and that they rarely have issues.

“Overall, I’ve found the Alexa system to be 99.9 percent reliable. On a rare occasion, it will not catch a command to turn on or off a light. Its answers to questions beyond general knowledge are not strong (Google is much better), but suffice for most daily things,” one respondent wrote.

A common complaint among respondents is that Alexa’s voice recognition is inconsistent, stating that it sometimes starts talking without being addressed or can be non-responsive at times. Regardless, respondents lauded Alexa’s integration with other smart home products.

“I’ve had a pretty good experience with Amazon Alexa,” one respondent said. “One of the best moments was when I set up my smart home with Alexa and connected everything from lights to thermostats to smart plugs. It was so easy to control everything with just my voice. For example, I could tell Alexa to turn off the lights or set the temperature, which made life a lot more convenient, especially when my hands were full.”

Others appreciated updates and user experience improvements: “One thing about Alexa that tickles me is that it responds to me with the same audio level I use to speak to it. If I whisper a command, it whispers in reply. That is a thoughtful UX detail I would not have anticipated.”

Amazon Alexa scored 7.8 on our 10-point scale on respondents’ likelihood to recommend the brand. One survey taker, who rated Alexa a 9 in both overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend, said, “I would recommend and will purchase more Amazon Echo devices in the future.”