Siri doesn't work, can't hear me. I try everything up to resetting but still no work

If Siri isn't available, or doesn't understand or respond to questions

Before you try these steps, make sure that your device works with Siri. After each step, see if Siri is working.

1. Make sure that your iOS device has an Internet connection through Wi-Fi or cellular data.
2. On your iOS device, make sure that Siri is turned on under Settings > General > Siri.
3. Restart your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
4. On your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Siri and turn off Siri. Then turn it on again.
5. If you're using an iOS device, try to use Siri with a headset. If Siri only works when you're using a headset, get help with the microphones on your device.
6. Contact Apple Support.

Use Siri on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one.

I'm having this issue with a new 7+. Siri can't hear me most of the time, and I'm 100% certain it's a microphone problem. For me, the symptoms are:

1. In a quiet room, Siri will not recognize me when I push the home button and talk. 90% of the time, she misses the entire sentence and gives me list of things I can say. About 10% of the time, especially on longer sentences, she'll pick up the last few words.

2. In a room with some background noise, like a fan or television, she will hear me all the time. It also works if I blow at the bottom of the phone to "activate" the mic before I speak.

Stephen

I had a similar issue yesterday with my 7+ it was not picking anything up - tried turning Siri Off and on and "hey Siri" wouldn't even let me setup - I tried something i found on another thread, record a video with your screen side camera and see what the audio sounds like - i had a very loud noise - electrical interference type of noise (others have described it as a fan noise) - the strange thing was calls are fine and if i recorded a voice-memo that was clear as a bell

After it annoying most of the day it suddenly went away - the only thing i had done is take it out of its case and flick the silence button on the LHS on and off a number of times - not sure if either of those are connected but you may want to give that a try

It sounds like we have similar problems, with different causes. I tried the front camera recording, no issues with unexpected noises. However, if, while trying to make Siri hear me, I tap or rub near the rear camera (by the flash), it will suddenly be able to pick up my voice.

So it seems to be, for me, an issue with the noise cancelling circuit or possibly microphone gain.

This does not work for the "Hey Siri" set up, which absolutely will not hear me no matter what.

I went to the Apple store, but because it's noisy in there, the tech could not reproduce the problem. He did a settings reset, showed me that it worked in the store (because as I explained to him it works when there IS background noise) and sent me on my way. Worst experience I've ever had, given that I walked in and introduced myself as a guy with 25 years of IT experience who had done a full diagnosis including resetting and restoring multiple times.

I wanted to smack him and explain that I didn't drive an hour to have someone with less time alive than I have in IT, do something any moron could do and say "it works for me!".

So tomorrow, I have to go BACK to the Apple store. This time, I made a video of the issue occurring at home where it's quiet. For me at least, this 100% a hardware problem, replace the phone and get me out of your hair!

Good luck! Mine seems to be behaving itself now

i feel your frustration too - apple stores used to be really good at taking intermittent issues on board and working to help you - now, along with the increased wait times, they seem to have less time or interest in resolving them....

It worked out. Different technician, didn't even want to see the videos that I made demonstrating the problem. Just showed him how setting up hands-free Siri didn't work at all, and he replaced it. I did end up taking another video with the Facetime camera in a quiet area, and heard the noise you mentioned, although for me it wasn't a fan sound, but a regular ticking or electrical noise at semi-regular intervals.

Leaving this for future searchers:

Problem: Siri will not hear or recognize your words, or will hear just parts of what you say, typically toward the end. It may not be possible to set up hands-free Siri at all.

Diagnosis for my particular problem:

1. Problem persists after a full phone reset & restore/DFU restore

2. Taking a video recording use the Facetime camera (on the front) and playing it back, you can hear a tapping or ticking sound at intervals (thanks Garethb74), and if you speak during the recording the first word or two you speak will NOT be recorded (I did "1, 2", 5 second pause "3, 4", etc. On playback, I got "two, four, six" with the odd numbers missing.

3. Using Siri in a room with some background noise, like a fan, will cause it to work.

Solution: hardware failure in the front-facing microphone. Have the phone replaced. It's possible this could also be caused by a failure in other mics, but the Apple tech was pretty sure they were using the front facing mic for Siri.

I Had the same issue - do you have an Apple Watch paired to the phone? Try turning Bluetooth off (disconnecting) the watch and then give Siri a go - that worked for me