Amazon launches Alexa+ in the UK – here are my first impressions

Amazon has launched Alexa+, a new AI-powered version of its popular voice assistant, in the UK. It is available from today through an Early Access programme.

I was at the London launch event, where the UK arrival feels long overdue (having tried Alexa+ in the US back in February last year).

Alexa+ is built on large language models and can do far more than the original Alexa. It books restaurants, manages shopping, controls smart home devices, and holds natural, flowing conversations.

Amazon says UK customers made 114 billion Alexa interactions in the past three years alone. That is a staggering number, and it suggests there is a genuine appetite for a more capable version.

The upgrade feels significant. Now Alexa+ does not just answer questions, it becomes a more natural voice assistant. Tell it you’re getting hot, and it turns down the heating. Ask it to send your mum a gift, and it finds one and orders it. That shift from simply providing information to action is the big change here.

Amazon is already busy signing up British services, so restaurant bookings run through OpenTable, and news is delivered from The Guardian, The Independent, and the BBC.

Amazon is clearly working hard to make Alexa+ feel British. At the London demos, she called one user “Mate” when reading out football scores, and at one point, I’m fairly sure, she said “blimey.” It was endearing in a way. But it also felt a little like the awkward guy at the pub trying too hard to fit in (I should know. I am the awkward guy at the pub).

Less charming were the moments that felt lifted straight from an American customer service script. Responses peppered with “That’s such a great question” and “I’m so glad you asked” land badly in a British context. They feel patronising. Personally, I’d take a more robotic, straight-to-the-point answer over hollow flattery any day. Amazon’s Cambridge team has done impressive work on accents and regional nuance, but stripping out the sycophancy would make Alexa+ feel far more at home in the UK.

The assistant has been tuned for British culture at Amazon’s Cambridge Tech Hub. It understands regional accents, from Geordie to Scouse, and recognises the many meanings of “cheers.”

Privacy controls are built in. Users can review what Alexa heard, manage voice recordings, and adjust data settings through the Alexa Privacy dashboard.

As mentioned before, Alexa+ has been available in America for around a year, priced at $19.99 a month or free with a Prime membership.

Alexa+ is free during Early Access in the UK, and will remain free for Amazon Prime members after that. Non-Prime subscribers will pay £19.99 a month.

You can find out what devices will and won’t run Alexa+ here.

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