4apex

I've had my 2016 A6 P+ quattro for 3 weeks now. After this time i can safely say that Audi took several big steps backwards with the MMI.

Let me say that I upgraded from a 2013 A6 P+, so I know from what I speak. i loved the MMI functions in my 2013, everything worked great, and the voice recognition was so good it was scary. My Wife has a 2015 Acura MDX and the voice recognition is so awful that it's a joke on Acura forums. So I used to brag at how perfect my '13 A6 was, both with direct input ("Enter Address") and Google searches ("Online Destination"). Rarely did it not understand me.

So now fast forward to the 2016 with the 4G LTE connection, I figured that speech recognition would only be better since the connection to the cloud was faster. Nope. Couldn't be further from the truth. My hit rate so far is less than 5%. it's just awful. awful awful awful. And yes, I reset the Voice system to factory default and went through the training. So here are the huge annoyances I have so far;

1 - Voice recognition - pitiful, awful, horrible. Going from such a good system to this is beyond frustrating. it's utterly useless, so I have no choice but to plan ahead or use the ****/pad to enter the addresses

2 - the whole "Enter State" when entering an address is annoying. I've read that once you enter the state, that usually "sticks", but so far it hasn't for me. I'm wondering if I have to successfully input an address through voice for it to stick.

3 - Audi PIN. My last car held the Audi Pin forever. On this one, I've had to input the PIN multiple times, I can't find any reason for it. Just today I switched over to "Online Destinations" and after I clicked OK, it asked me for the PIN. WTF? Can you imagine if you are driving, what are you supposed to do??? SERIOUSLY Audi, what the hell is the problem here?

4 - Online Destinations - goes back to the voice recognition problem, in my '13 when I used speech input it was perfect, now, again, it's so far off it's not even funny.

The one positive to all this; Being able to send to car through Google Maps and the MMI phone App helps, it's a good crutch for the weak voice recognition system. This assumes, of course, that I'm not asked to enter the PIN while I'm driving.

I should say that I am on the most current version of the software. The dealer updated it while I was taking delivery, and I've checked since and it tells me I'm on the most current version.

I just struggle to see what could have changed so drastically that the voice recognition went from superb to useless. Come on Audi, WTF?!

Could there be something wrong with the car, or is this just how they all are now?

hinckley

I couldn't agree more with this post. Although the tech in my '16 S6 is generally very good, I'm astounded by how little MMI has evolved since my '12 S4 with the last gen interface. And as you say, some things have gone backward. I like MMI, but iDrive is better. And that interface improves dramatically every few years. Just look at iDrive 5.0 which was introduced with the new 7 last year and is being rolled out across most of the product line this year. It's generationally better than MMI now. fwiw, I had a Q7 with Audi's next gen MMI for a couple of days. There are small improvements, but no major breakthroughs.

My S6 is also my first experience with Audi's HUD and it provides much less information than the first gen BMW HUD that I had 12 years ago. Very disappointing.

I do have to say though, these are my only real complaints with an otherwise wonderful car.

Q5 Bob

I agree with point #3. What a pain to have to add the PIN each time. It's distracting. I traded in a 2013 Q5 and once entered, the PIN was stored and didn't need to be input again. I called Audi and they said "they are working on it". Seems like on oversight it shouldn't be too difficult to do.

Other than this, I really haven't noticed any big differences in the 2016 MMI vs. the 2013 Q5 other than it's faster overall.

SYMAWD

Voice recognition works for me every time. I've never had it not understand me.

irenesbob

I don’t know where the OP is located, but “Joisee speak” is like my “Brooklyn speak” – easy to understand even for a German car lol

Wingfoot

I have had my 2016 s6 for 2 months and I don't have a problem at all with the voice system .it understands me the first time for all request.

4apex

Since asked, I'm in Southern California, born and raised. I have good dialect, don't stutter or mumble. Like I said, with my 2013 A6 I had ZERO problems with voice recognition. So I'm in a good place to make this comparison.

2 more things came to mind last night;

5 - I have an iPod connected to MMI, never moves from the car. I like to browse by Artist since it's more concise than having to browse through thousands of songs. In my 2013 A6, since I browsed by Artist, it would always default to browsing by Artist when the car was turned off then turned back on. With the 2016, let's say I'm driving and browsing by artist (listening to a song, then click the back button a few times to go back to the list of artists, and so on), furthermore, it would remember where I left off. So say I was listening to Linkin Park, when I got back in the car if I clicked the back button a few times it would still be in the L's. Now, when I turn off the car, then back on, it will go back to browsing by songs AND it will lose my place. So using the above example with Linkin Park, when I turn the car back on, Linkin Park will still be playing, but if I click the back button a few times, it takes me to browse by Songs, if I switch to browse by Artist it goes back to the top (the A's), even though Linkin Park is still playing. Considering all else, this is a minor annoyance, but still...

6 - music repeats once when playing iPod. So this one occurred in my 2013 as well. If I just let the music play continuously, there's no problem. BUT, if I go to select a song on the iPod, the song will play, then repeat once, then continue on down the song list. Weird. maybe I'm doing something wrong? And NO, I don't have the repeat on. This only happens when I select a song.

superswiss

Given that you have issues with Google searches points to a problem with your microphone. Google voice searches are handled by Google's servers. When you say "Google search, locate nearest coffee shop" for example, then everything after Google search is sent to Google's server for voice recognition. The MMI has nothing to do with that part. However, if your mic is on the fritz, then your voice will be garbled and both the MMI and Google's server will have a difficult time recognizing what you said. If you make a phone call, does the other party hear you clearly?

Since you had an Audi before, I assume you are aware not to point the center air vents upwards as the airflow messes with the microphone and also causes the symptoms that you are describing.

jjsC6

I have to disagree also. I've had a numbr of cars with voice recognition that were awful. The two best by far were out 2012 Acura TL and my Audi. BMWs and Lexus were awful in my experience.

I don't doubt that for you the Audi is awful, but it just shows that it's different for different people.

Inyoury

I had the 2012 A6 for 3.5 years and the 2016 A6 for over a year. I find the MMI better. The pin thing as I understand is to prevent the car being hacked remotely, at least that is what I was told from a the dealer. The searches are faster and the voice training was the same with same results. Only issue I have is maybe 1 out of 20 times, the online destination can't connect first time. But after trying again, usually connects again.