I have an Echo Dot that's been working fine for about 2 years, but lately it's not picking up my voice at all even when I'm standing right in front of it. The light ring still comes on when I clap, so it's getting power. I've tried unplugging it and waiting 30 seconds before plugging back in. What else could be wrong and is it worth fixing or just replacing it?
The light ring responding to claps means the hardware's fine, so this is almost certainly a software or connectivity issue. Try forgetting the device in your WiFi settings and reconnecting it fresh - sometimes the connection gets corrupted and a full reconnect fixes it. If that doesn't work, check if there's a firmware update pending in the Alexa app, or try a factory reset using the reset button on the bottom. At 2 years old it's still pretty young, so it's worth spending 10 minutes on these before tossing it, but if none of that works a replacement isn't gonna break the bank.
I had a similar thing happen with a speaker on my kitchen counter - turned out the microphone was just clogged with dust and cooking steam buildup. Try gently cleaning around the microphone ports (usually small holes near the top) with a dry cloth or soft brush, and check in your Alexa app settings to make sure the microphone isn't muted there, then try a full factory reset if that doesn't work - hold the reset button for 15 seconds. If it's still dead after that, a new Dot is cheap enough that it's probably not worth troubleshooting further unless you're just curious.
the light ring responding to claps means the device itself is working, so you're probably looking at a microphone issue or a software glitch rather than total hardware failure. since you've already done a basic restart, try going into the alexa app and checking if there's a firmware update waiting - sometimes these get stuck and cause voice recognition to stop working. also go into settings and look for microphone permissions or privacy settings that might've gotten toggled by accident. if the app shows everything updated and enabled, try doing a factory reset through the app settings (usually under device options). this wipes everything but often fixes voice recognition problems without replacing the whole thing.
if that doesn't work, there's a chance the mic array itself is failing after two years, which is a hardware problem you can't fix yourself. at that point it depends on how much you use it - if it's just background music and the occasional timer, a new dot is pretty affordable so maybe not worth the hassle of troubleshooting further. but if you're relying on it regularly, before you toss it, contact amazon support and explain you've done the restart and factory reset. they sometimes send replacements for devices that fail early, especially if you're still in any kind of warranty period.
Since the device reacts to claps but not voice, your WiFi connection is worth checking first - sometimes the speaker loses its connection to your network without actually disconnecting visibly, so it won't relay commands to Amazon's servers even though the microphone itself is fine. Beyond what the others mentioned, make sure you're not speaking during the device's startup sequence; Echo Dots occasionally get stuck waiting for network connection and ignore voice input during that window, so give it a full minute after plugging in before testing. If a fresh WiFi reconnect doesn't work, try checking your router's access logs to confirm the Dot is actually connecting - dead silence from the microphone plus no network activity means you're looking at either a mic failure (worth a warranty claim if it's still covered) or a deeper software issue that a factory reset through the Alexa app might fix, but honestly after two years of solid use, replacing it might make more sense than troubleshooting further.
Don't just assume the microphone is dead and trash it yet. Had this exact thing happen with a speaker at home where voice commands stopped working entirely, but it turned out the device had quietly disconnected from WiFi even though it showed as connected in the app - the light ring still responds to physical claps because that's a local hardware trigger, but voice commands need the internet to process. Log into your WiFi router settings and check if the Echo Dot is actually still linked to your network, or try removing it completely from your WiFi in the Alexa app and set it up fresh like it's brand new. If that doesn't work, then yeah, the microphone might be the culprit, but the connectivity angle is worth ruling out first since you've already handled the basic reset.
When you say it's not picking up voice - does it still show the listening animation on the ring when you press the button, or is that broken too? If the ring animates when you manually trigger it but won't respond to the wake word, your issue might be that Alexa's voice model needs a fresh setup. Go into the Alexa app, delete the device completely, do a factory reset on the Echo Dot itself (usually a 15-second button hold), and set it up from scratch. This clears out any corrupted settings that might've accumulated over two years. Worth trying before you toss it, since a replacement Dot costs a decent chunk and this fix takes maybe 10 minutes.
One thing worth checking that hasn't come up yet: go into the Alexa app and look at your device settings - specifically check if the microphone is muted or disabled. Sometimes after a reboot or an app update, the microphone permission can get toggled off, and the device will still respond to touch and light cues but ignore voice completely. It's buried a few menus deep in most versions of the app, but it's a quick fix if that's what happened.
If that's not it, try a full factory reset rather than just a reboot. Hold down the reset button (usually a tiny pinhole on the bottom) for like 10-15 seconds until the light does something different. Then set it up fresh from scratch in the app. I know the other answers mentioned WiFi and mic cleaning, which are solid, but a factory reset clears out any corrupted software that might've gotten stuck during an update - that happens more often than people realize and a quick reboot won't fix it.
After two years, the device is probably still worth troubleshooting for an hour or so before replacing it. If none of this works, then yeah, replacement makes sense since they're not super expensive anymore. But I'd exhaust the software angle first since the hardware is clearly responding.
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