Google Home and Amazon Echo devices have excellent microphone arrays.

If yours seem never to hear you, the problem might not be the speaker or your voice.

It might be where you put the gear.

All cameras and smart hub from Reolink that made it to works with home assist certified.

Better placement may improve its performance.

They amount to a speaker, some microphones, and just enough computer to listen for a wake word.

All the rest of the intelligence comes from the cloud.

Tuya Wi-Fi IR Blaster on a wooden desk.

But, even cloud cloud-powered, that intelligence doesn’t do much if the speaker can’t hear you.

Smart speakers have multiple microphones built to listen to everything around them.

But, if you put the speaker in the wrong location, those microphones may not work optimally.

A woman looking frustrated surround by smart home tech.

But that’s ok; it’s an easy fix.

Just move your smart speaker.

It’s just a matter of knowing where to move it.

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The internal speakers also follow the same circular format.

Worse yet, it may hear an echo of your voice hitting the wall and bouncing to its microphones.

You could consider mounting anEcho DotorNest Hub Mini(formerly Google Home Mini) to the ceiling.

A gray Amazon Echo roughly in the center of a room.

Amazon

Depending on the ceiling mount you use, it may also make the speaker more discreet, too.

Consider where people will congregate, too.

You may need to consider alternatives.

A red Nest Mini hung directly on a wall.

Google

Other mountswork by plugging directly into the wall and creating a stand to hold the smart speaker.

If you have the newNest Mini, you don’t even need mounting hardware!

Your smart speaker will still work, but it may not be as accurate and clear sounding.

An Echo flush against the corner of a wall, surrounded by a teapot and cutting boards.

Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek

But there are a few places you want to avoid altogether.

But there are a few places you should avoid altogether.

For example, don’t put your smart speaker near or on your stereo system’s speakers.

You wouldn’t want to stand in the middle of a loud concert and attempt to have a conversation.

You’d have trouble picking up all the words and responding loudly enough to be heard.

Your smart speaker will have the same problem, so don’t place it right up against other speakers.

Avoid windows, too.

Placing your smart speaker near a window is asking for trouble, even if you keep them closed.

Echo and Google Home devices are sensitive enough to hear a person,even through glass.

Amazon says you should aim forat least eight inchesfrom the wall.

That extra space should help the microphones hear you better, and the speakers sound better.