We explain how to get Echo functionality no matter your destination
Amazon Alexa is more ubiquitous than ever and is now available in around 50 countries worldwide – and in a host of languages.
After initially only being supported in the US, Canada, UK, India, Japan and Germany, Alexa can now work in far less obvious places, from Saudi Arabia to Lithuania and plenty in between.
But it’s not as straightforward as just logging onto your Amazon account and ordering an Echo Dot or full Amazon Echo smart speaker.
Below, we’ll explain how to actually get Alexa if you live internationally, which features you’ll have access to and some potential workarounds if you’re having trouble.
How to buy an international Echo device
The first thing you’re going to need if you want Alexa is, duh, an Alexa-enabled device. If you live in the US or Europe, there are plenty of those to choose from, but it’s not quite the same story if you live in, say, South America or parts of Africa.
Your options are a bit more limited; you can only buy specific international versions of various Echo smart speakers.
The good news is that it just used to be older-gen Echo and Echo Dot speakers that came in international flavors, but that’s no longer the case.
If you head over to the Amazon US store, for example, you’ll be able to pick up international versions of the latest 4th Gen Echo, 5th-gen Echo Dot, the Echo Pop, the brand-new 3rd-gen Echo Show 5 or the previous-gen (2nd) Echo Show 8.
As well as on Amazon US, Amazon UK or Amazon DE also has these international versions on sale too.
We’ll get to the functionality of these international versions below, but there are a couple of other factors to consider, too.
Power sources vary by product, and there are natural requirements with regard to voltage, wattage, frequency and multi-way switching support. And the same is true for Wi-Fi – though if you’re logging on to buy an Echo device, we expect you have that covered.
Since you’ll be ordering from either the US, UK or Germany (generally speaking, those in Europe will have to order from Amazon DE, and everyone else from Amazon US), also be sure to watch out for customs duties and import taxes.
Thankfully, if you live in a territory that is part of the Amazon Global program, these are estimated and collected as a deposit upon your checkout. But, if not, you’ll be responsible for paying any fees upon delivery.
Supported features
Perhaps before you get around to buying one, you’ll want to know exactly what an international version of the Echo is capable of. As we mentioned up top, you’re not simply granted the same functionality as those in the US or UK.
Here are the features that Amazon flat-out states are not available through the international version of the Echo: shopping, local traffic and business search, select skills from the Alexa Skills store, location-specific news and information, Audible, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, and SiriusXM.
Meanwhile, there’s another band of features that are what Amazon describes as “generally supported”. So, there are no guarantees, but you should be able to receive functionality for TuneIn, Amazon Music Unlimited (in its 35 supported countries), smart home, timers, calendars, alarms, news, shopping lists and the weather.
The good news is that the Amazon listings for international devices give you a country-by-country breakdown of the supported features, which is handy.
The complications sadly don’t end there, though. If you want to set up smart home routines and other advanced features, you’ll do so through the Alexa app on your smartphone. The problem? Access to the Alexa app is very limited. You can check availability in your local app store, but you may need to head to alexa.amazon.com (or explore the workaround below).
Again, the Amazon product listing will tell you if the app is available on iPhone or Android in your country.
Oh, and we should also mention that while Alexa can now speak English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), and Spanish; only English, German and Spanish are available on the international version, though you can still tweak the Alexa Accent.
What if my country isn’t supported?
Of course, one solution is to simply wait it out for your country to gain full support – Amazon is rapidly expanding the reach of Alexa, after all.
But if you’re impatient, or you’re here because Alexa isn’t playing ball properly in your country, there are a couple of things to try. If you’re finding restrictions in downloading the Amazon Alexa app because you live in, say, South Africa or Israel, you’re going to need to experiment with changing your location.
If you’re on iOS, that means changing your billing information through your Apple ID (though be aware there are complications afoot with this if you have subscriptions, such as Apple Music). It’s a similar process if you’re on Android.
This will mess around with your weather services and the like, though you can also change the location of the device within the web version of the Alexa app. Simply go to Settings > Your Device > General and edit the time zone and address.
What countries does Alexa work in?
Officially, Alexa is supported in the following countries:
- China
- India
- United States
- Indonesia
- Pakistan
- Brazil
- Nigeria
- Bangladesh
- Russia
- Mexico
- Japan
- Ethiopia
- Philippines
- Egypt
- Vietnam
- DR Congo
- Turkey
- Iran
- Germany
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Myanmar
- Kenya
- South Korea
- Colombia
- Spain
- Uganda
- Argentina
- Algeria
- Sudan
- Ukraine
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Poland
- Canada
- Morocco
- Saudi Arabia
- Peru
- Uzbekistan
- Malaysia
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Ghana
- Mozambique
- Nepal
- Angola
