One of the biggest pieces of news this week is that Alexa+ has finally reached the UK, despite being announced more than six months ago. Designed to make Amazon’s range of Echo devices far more personalised and responsive, Alexa+ is expected to completely transform the Alexa experience.
That said, Alexa+ isn’t compatible with every single Echo or Amazon device out there, so it’s worth checking whether yours will actually support it. The good news is that Alexa+ will work on the overwhelming majority of Echo devices. The only exceptions are some much older generations, where you’ll simply continue using the original Alexa instead.
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Which models will have access to Alexa+?
This includes the new generation of Echo devices, such as the Echo Show 8 (4th Gen) that we recently reviewed, along with a number of models released before it. Alexa+ will also be available on compatible Fire TV devices, including the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen), Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) and Fire TV Stick 4K Plus (2nd Gen).
There’s another bit of good news too – you don’t even need to own an Echo device to try Alexa+. Later this year, users will be able to access Alexa+ directly through a web browser. Amazon hasn’t confirmed exactly when that will happen yet, but it’s another sign of how widely the company plans to roll out its new AI assistant.
Which devices aren’t compatible?
As for the devices that miss out, Alexa+ isn’t available on the Echo Dot (1st Gen), Echo (1st Gen), Echo Plus (1st Gen), Echo Show (1st Gen), Echo Show (2nd Gen) and Echo Spot (1st Gen). These models launched between 2014 and 2018, so if you’ve bought an Echo device in more recent years, you should be fine.
The experience also isn’t currently supported on Echo Buds, Echo Auto or Alexa Built-in devices. However, Amazon says it “looks forward to expanding Alexa+ to additional devices in the future,” so we’ll see how it all plays out.
