P&G
As we are seeing today with AI, when a new technology becomes hot, companies do whatever they can to cram it into their products. Then the trend fades and companies’ priorities change, resulting in unusable gadgets and post-purchase regret.
This is what’s happening to some people who bought Oral-B toothbrushes with Amazon Alexa built in. Oral-B released the Guide in August 2020 for $230, but disabled the ability to set up or reconfigure Alexa on the product in February of this year. As of this writing, the Guide is still available through third-party Amazon sellers.
P&G
The Guide toothbrush’s charging base can connect to the internet and function like an Alexa speaker, allowing Alexa to respond when you talk to it. According to a 2020 announcement from Procter & Gamble, owners can “just say, ‘Alexa, order Oral-B replacement brush heads,’ to play music, hear the news, check the weather, control smart home devices, and even order additional brush heads.”
At the time, Oral-B boasted that its partnership with Alexa made Guide a pioneer in the “truly connected bathroom.”
Oral-B to discontinue Alexa setting app
On February 15th, Oral-B disabled the Guide’s Alexa setup feature by removing the Oral-B Connect app required to complete the process. Guide owners can still use the Oral-B app for other functions, but the ability to use the charging base like an Alexa smart speaker — a big draw in the product’s announcement and advertising — has been severely limited.
If a user set it up before Oral-B discontinued Connect, the device should still work with Alexa, but setting up a new Wi-Fi connection or re-establishing a lost connection won’t work without Connect.
That’s a problem for Patrick Hubley, who found out Oral-B was discontinuing Connect after his base accidentally disconnected from Wi-Fi and he tried to use Connect to fix it. Hubley told Ars Technica that now when he tries to use the Alexa wake word, the speaker says, “Unable to connect to the Internet. For help, visit the companion app on your device.”
Hubley tried to get a refund or exchange for the brush through Oral-B’s support, but was unsuccessful. Hubley said she will never buy Oral-B or Alexa products again.
I bought this toothbrush on Amazon because it was the only way I could get a waterproof Alexa speaker that I wanted to put in my bathroom. … I’m going to give up both Alexa and Oral-B.
Connect no longer works on devices where it’s already installed. Several users have noted that they can no longer set up Guide to use Alexa on Amazon. However, as of this writing, Guide is still being sold on Amazon, with “Alexa Built-in” written on the box image and “Alexa Built-in” and “Amazon Dash Replenishment Compatible” in the product name. This listing comes from a third-party seller, but because Oral-B released Guide exclusively on Amazon, it’s entirely possible that shoppers won’t notice that their Alexa setup is broken.
When we reached out to Amazon for this story, spokesperson Connor Rice told us the following:
Oral-B Guide has Alexa built in, so customers can continue to use the Alexa experience on devices configured with the Oral-B Connect app. Oral-B Guide is currently sold by independent sellers on Amazon.com. For any additional questions about the app, please contact Oral-B.
Oral B’s reaction
Oral-B discontinued the guide about two years ago and now has just one mobile app, Oral-B. One seems like a reasonable maximum number for a toothbrush brand to have. It’s unclear why the remaining Oral-B app doesn’t have Alexa functionality integrated into it.
When I contacted Procter & Gamble, a company spokesperson said:
The Oral-B Connect app was originally developed to support the discontinued Oral-B Guide and Oral-B Sense electric toothbrushes. Although some features are no longer supported by these brushes, the Oral-B app remains compatible with both devices. Consumers can contact Oral-B customer service for additional support regarding these brushes.