Have you ever wanted to swap out Alexa for a different voice? Maybe the soothing sound of Morgan Freeman narrating your life? Or you could be looking for something a little more upbeat like Samuel L Jackson? For Star Wars' fans, R2D2 can take over Alexa. Whatever your reason, knowing how to swap out your Alexa voice can be entertaining and fun, making your smart home management a more enjoyable experience.
Let’s start with who, or what is Alexa?
Alexa is Amazon’s AI Assistant. She is a cloud-based voice service that you use to assist you in your smart home, depending on which Amazon devices you have in your home. Most often used with the Echo Dot, Show, or even your Firestick, she helps with the voice control of your smart home devices. You can ask her questions, have her turn your lights on and off, or have her play music and search recipes for you. While this list is by no means extensive, it highlights some of the main functions people use Alexa’s help with. Her counterparts include Google Assistant, or Siri for Apple.
How you go about changing your Alexa’s voice will depend on whether you are doing it on your smart device, so your Echo Dot or Show, or directly through the Alexa app. I outline each option below. Please note that with both options you will need to purchase the voice pack in order to use the different voice options available.
Echo Dot and Echo Show:
Decide which voice you would like to swap out Alexa for. In this case we will use Samuel L. Jackson as an example.
Say, “Alexa, introduce me to Samuel L. Jackson”.
You will need to choose whether you want to allow explicit content.
Alexa will confirm the voice change.
At this point you can test to see if the new voice pack is in effect.
You can always go back to using the default Alexa voice by saying your wake word.
You should be good to go from here.
Once set up, you can then use the celebrity’s first name instead of saying, “Alexa” for voice commands.
On your mobile app:
Launch the Alexa app on your mobile device.
Go to more options.
Select skills and games.
Search for Samuel L. Jackson.
Tap enable to use.
While these instructions are relatively simple, there are a couple things to keep in mind as you’re doing this. One is that you do need to purchase the voice pack in order to use different voice options. This purchase costs $4.99, and is a one time purchase, per voice across all of your Amazon devices. Another is that if you have multiple Alexa devices, you will only be able to change the voice of one device at a time. If you are using the voice-activated method (through your device) it will let you choose the device, no matter which one you ask. So, for example, if you have an Echo Dot and an Echo Show and choose to set up the new voice through your Echo Dot, it will ask you to confirm which device you would like the voice change to take place on.
There are some basic changes that are included at no extra cost, if you find yourself wanting to make some small changes without spending the money on the voice pack. For example, if you are looking for Alexa to change the accent, or tone of voice used, you can simply say, “Alexa, change your voice.” Specify the device you want to change the voice for and then choose your new voice. You could also use your Alexa app to toggle some different speaking modes on or off. Through opening the Alexa app, tapping more and selecting settings, then voice responses, you will see some different options to choose from, including brief mode (less speaking) whisper mode (when you whisper, responses will be whispered back) and adaptive volume (automatic volume adjustments based on ambient noise in the room). You could also adjust her speaking speed by simply using voice command. For example, if setting up an Amazon Echo to help your elderly parents who have chosen to age at home, you could say, “Alexa, talk slower.” If you’re setting It up for yourself as a busy on the go professional, you could say, “Alexa, talk faster.” And when you’re ready, “Alexa, go back to your default speed.”
With all these awesome features, you can really customize your AI Assistant to meet your needs and support your smart home lifestyle. Have you tried any of these features with your Amazon device? If you have, which ones were your favorites? Still have questions? Check out my YouTube channel where I walk you through the steps on how to change Alexa’s voice on your device to your favorite celebrity voice!
