How to change Alexa’s voice

Alexa’s feminine, pleasant voice has filled the homes of millions over the past few years, but now Amazon has finally released a male equivalent. Amazon is late for this – Apple and Google have been offering different voices, both female and male, in their virtual assistants for years. But late or not, it’s good that Amazon is finally giving Alexa the choice.

In addition to Alexa’s two main voices, Amazon also has celebrity voices (you can currently choose between Samuel L. Jackson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Melissa McCarthy). These are programmed to work with certain phrases and answer certain questions – mainly alarms and timers, jokes or weather reports. They also cost $ 5 each. Any request to an Echo device that is not supported by the chosen Celebrity Voice will receive a response from the native Alexa voice.

There are two ways to change Alexa’s voice on your Echo devices: through the device itself or through the Alexa app. Note that changing the voice through the device was less reliable for us – the safest way to do it is through the app.

The voice change only applies to the Echo device you are currently using. If you want to switch to male voice on multiple Echo speakers or displays in your home, you will need to do this one at a time. It is also not possible to change the Alexa voice used by the smartphone app itself; which remains the original and feminine voice. Hopefully in the future Amazon will add a way to change it globally for all Echo devices in an account.

Without further ado, here’s how to change Alexa’s voice on an Echo device:

On an Echo or an Echo Show:

• Say the command “Alexa change your voice”.
• If you have more than one Echo, Alexa will ask you to specify the device.
• Say the name of the device on which you want to change the voice.
• If this is successful, Alexa will respond with the new voice and confirm that this is how it will sound in the future.
• If that doesn’t work, Alexa will say something like “Sorry, [name of your device] can’t stand this.

In the Alexa app for iOS or Android:

• Tap the Devices tab at the bottom.
• Tap the Echo & Alexa button at the top left.
• Tap the device you want to change Alexa’s voice on.
• Press the Settings cogwheel button at the top right.
• Scroll to the option for Alexa’s Voice and tap it.
• Choose either Original (female voice) or New (male voice).

How to use a celebrity voice:

• Say “Alexa introduce me to [name of celebrity]. ”
• Alexa will switch to your selected celebrity voice and explain the things you can do with it. If you would like to purchase the voice, you will be asked to confirm the debit to your Amazon account.
• Once activated, you can say “Hey [celeb name]”To wake up the Echo device. You can also enable voice on each echo you want to use it on. The standard Alexa voice is still available if you use the Alexa wake word.