Amazon Alexa+ AI Upgrade Launches in Australia With Local Slang and Smart Home Features

G'day, Alexa+: Amazon's AI-upgraded smart home assistant has finally arrived in Australia -- and it's fully fluent in 'Strayan

New LLM-powered Alexa knows the meaning of 'servo', 'footy' and 'snags' -- but can it win against Google Home? * Amazon touts Alexa+ as its voice assistant's "biggest leap forward" * Aussies can now request early access to Alexa+, but it's also available with the purchase of a new eligible Echo or Fire TV device * Prime members get Alexa+ for free after early access ends in November; non-members pay AU$29.99p/m Alexa+, the conversational AI upgrade of Amazon's long-time voice assistant, has officially launched in Australia, over a year after rolling out in the US. This "smarter, more conversational and more capable" voice assistant promises a more transactional experience that recognises natural language, can remember user preferences and automatically adjust your smart home tech, like turning on your air conditioning when it starts to get warm or turning on lights when it starts getting dark. For its local debut, Amazon has added Aussie touches, so Alexa can now understand colloquialisms like 'arvo', 'snags' and 'servo', as well as being "tuned into Australian culture", like not mixing up footy codes or understanding expressions like 'fair dinkum' or 'passing the pub test'. You can sign up for an early access invite now if you already own a compatible device, or get automatically signed up when you buy an eligible Echo or Fire TV device. After early access ends on November 30, 2026, Alexa+ will remain a free Prime benefit for subscribers, while non-members will have to pay AU$29.99 per month to retain access. Most of the current Echo devices are compatible with Alexa+, with only the now-discontinued first- and second-generation models unable to support the new voice assistant. Fire TV devices, meanwhile, will have limited compatibility with Alexa+, with support available only on the following: * Fire TV Stick 4K Select * Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) * Fire TV Stick 4K Plus (2nd Gen) * Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) Alexa+ isn't the only 'smart' voice assistant available in Australia, with Google Home Premium (formerly Nest Aware) being its main competitor. The latter costs AU$15 per month or AU$150 per year for its Standard tier, or AU$30 or AU$300 per year for the Advanced tier, scoring Alexa+ points on pricing -- provided you're a Prime member or course. It remains to be seen whether this would trigger a Prime membership price hike in the days to come. Do we really need an Amazon-powered LLM in our lives? Amazon claims that Aussies interact with Alexa "more than two billion times each year", with 77 million questions asked and more than 600 million smart home actions in 2025 alone. While that suggests there's a large customer base in Australia, it begs the question of whether we're willing to bring another AI assistant into our homes and, importantly, pay extra for it. As my colleague Graham Barlow rightly pointed out, Alexa+ may be an improvement by being more conversational and context aware, but it doesn't really do enough to warrant the consistent use of the assistant. Lots of Redditors have also expressed their displeasure with Alexa+, with some choosing to revert back to the old Alexa for the many ads, the style of the new voices, or just preferring not to opt into the upgrade. Sure, being a free add-on to Amazon Prime will see plenty of early adopters, but it remains to be seen if Aussies will jump ship from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or whatever LLM they're already using and move to Alexa+. (Incidentally, a web version is also slated to come soon.) Then again, AI is evolving and Alexa+ seems like the next step in the voice assistant's development, although it will need to do more than just speak fluent 'Strayan if it wants to reign supreme Down Under. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Amazon Unveils Alexa+ Expansion: Here's What the Next-Gen AI Upgrade Actually Does

A while back, Amazon announced that it's begun its gradual global roll-out of its new Alexa+ assistant, which brings more advanced AI-powered features to users worldwide. That said, the service is now headed down under on August 6, and Australian customers will receive invitations to an Early Access program for free before it transitions to a bundled benefit for Amazon Prime members. The Australian rollout follows Alexa+'s arrival across North America and Europe, with Amazon planning to bring Alexa+ to more than 10 additional countries throughout 2027. Existing device owners in Australia can apply for Early Access online, while select new Echo purchases will automatically include access as invitations roll out nationwide. Running on advanced large language models, Alexa+ moves beyond traditional chat windows to offer a deeply ambient, hands-free experience across Echo devices, Fire TV, mobile apps, and web browsers. The updated system allows users to hold more natural-sounding conversations without repeating wake words, switch seamlessly between topics, and even ask the assistant to remember contextual preferences. READ: Apple Is Finally Catching Up to Amazon With New Smart Speaker To ensure that Alexa+ fits naturally into Australian households, Amazon says that it's tapped local engineering and linguistic teams to tailor the AI to Australian speech patterns, slang, and cultural touchstones, which includes understanding local colloquialisms, in addition to integration with content providers and services including ABC, Sky News, OpenTable, and Tripadvisor. Once the early access program ends, Alexa+ will come at AU$29.99 per month for non-Prime subscribers.