Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge
If you’ve been dreaming of the day you can make Alexa sound like your very own British butler, well then, you’re in luck: Amazon is now making Alexa’s English vocals region-free.
“We’ve added more voice options for English-speaking customers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia by giving them the ability to select from Alexa’s American, Australian, British, Canadian, or Indian voice options,” PR representative for Amazon Kaley Heuschkel tells The Verge in an email.
Previously, if you attempted to switch up Alexa’s voice, Amazon would force you to make a region change as well, which would disrupt products and services that are only available in the country you live in. In comparison, Apple already lets US customers switch Siri’s accent to British without affecting services like Apple Music.
Image: Amazon
The settings screen that now lets you swap Alexa’s accents.
In total, Alexa has nine English accents for you to choose from that include two versions each of American, Australian, British, and Indian, plus one Canadian option. The easiest way to select one is by saying the command: “Alexa, change your voice.” The assistant will then cycle through different accents one by one, asking if you would like to roll with it. Once you verbally accept, Alexa will complete the change and also let you change your wake word.
If you prefer not to verbally ask Alexa to change voices, you can also switch accents via the Alexa app. With the app open, tap Devices on the bottom bar, then tap the Echo & Alexa icon. From there, select the device you want to switch the voice for (this setting is per device). Next, tap the settings gear icon on the upper right and then scroll down and look for and select Alexa’s Voice. Now you can select whatever accent you please without getting a warning message that you’re about to change your region.
If you have an Echo Show, you can change the voice right on its screen without needing to check the app on your phone or talk to it. Do that by opening Settings, going to Device Options, tapping Alexa Voice, and then selecting the accent of your choice.
It’s a minor update for Alexa, a product that was just subjected to a “vast majority” of over $3 billion in cuts Amazon is making within the company.