Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) Smart display with Alexa (Scratch & Dent)

OK, I have loved my echo show when I first got it, but now I am two years into owning it and I have noticed that the functionality has gone downhill significantly. I also have other Amazon echo products (mostly Echo Dots, but I have any Show as well), and I have noticed similar things with them as well. They are becoming less and less responsive to my voice saying the same things, and they are misunderstanding me more of the time... sometimes playing music or the news spontaneously, without commands. Sometimes, I have to get right up against the Microphone part before they understand what I'm saying... Didn't used to be like this. The straw that broke the camels' back was when I set an alarm and it didn't go off. I ended Up missing a meeting and instead, I slept through the night and woke up at 5 AM (I am a light sleeper and always wake up to alarms, and the volume was up). I went back into the Amazon app And the alarm was set in the history. The only reason that I'm giving this three stars instead of five is because the customer support is so good. I called Amazon and they transferred me to technical support for the Amazon devices. She helped me reset the device and it seems to be working better already. But I do notice that the devices seem like they decline in a relatively short time. I don't know if this is because of planned obsolescence (Look this term up, it is real... it's to encourage frequent upgrade sales). In the future, I'm going to set two alarms, one on another device as back up, just because I'm not sure if I can trust this anymore. I can't complain too much because these home assistants are relatively cheap. There are a lot of things you can do with them, especially if you link them together! The wonders of technology: when I was growing up, I never thought I could get something that is like a digital encyclopedia, an alarm clock, a monitor for a home security system, an intercom, a video call screen, and a television/radio all rolled up in one. PS: oh yeah, one more complaint which is common to all the echo devices. There seems to be no way of shutting down the ads and suggestions. I have searched online and found a way to minimize the irrelevant suggestions, but Alexa Still gives me suggestions all the time. There is a way that you can turn down the amount of talking she does, but it doesn't keep her from occasional chatty remarks and suggestions about things I didn't ask her about.