4 Cool New Alexa+ Features You Might Be Missing Out On

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Since Amazon launched its premium Alexa+ subscription in early 2026, users have been eager to test out a more personalized and helpful generation of AI in their living rooms. By putting a more advanced large language model directly into its Echo ecosystem, Amazon's Alexa+ promises a digital assistant that can understand nuance, context, and more complex commands. While early adopters quickly jumped aboard to enjoy the faster response times and more natural conversation tone, many Alexa+ users are barely scratching the surface of what this upgraded assistant can do.

If you're only using Alexa+ to set kitchen timers or ask about the weather, you're definitely not getting your money's worth. And trust us, Alexa+ offers plenty of great features worth paying for. This major software overhaul not only brings some refinements to a few of the company's legacy smart home tools, but it also introduces some new capabilities that transform your Echo from a basic voice speaker into an active household manager.

There are dozens of hidden tweaks in the latest rollout, but there are a few particularly impressive additions that'll genuinely change how you interact with any compatible devices you own. These tools are currently available to active Alexa+ subscribers (and Prime members), but you may need a newer Echo device to access the extra processing power required for faster responses.

One of the best features Amazon called out during its launch of Alexa+ is the big shift in how the assistant handles smart home routines. For years, setting up a routine meant spending tedious amounts of time in the app, manually selecting triggers and actions to make sure your lights, thermostat, and other connected smart home gadgets are all synced up. Now, you can just tell Alexa the specific details of the routine you'd like to set up, and it'll set that up for you and carry it out.

For example, if you consistently lock the front door, turn off your living room lights, and lower the thermostat to 68 degrees every night around 10 p.m., tell Alexa+ that, and it'll take over those end-of-day tasks for you so you can just head to bed. Complex routines can be set up for a wide range of tasks and times of day. Just ask away, and the upgraded digital assistant will recommend a routine for you. It can even set up personalized routines for specific people. And since Alexa+ is now available on the web as well as via the mobile app, this is easier than ever.

Another nice-to-have upgrade that makes Alexa+ feel significantly more useful is its contextual memory functionality. Legacy voice assistants have notoriously terrible short-term memories; you'd need to repeat yourself over and over again every time to get a relevant answer. Alexa+'s new conversational engine, however, can remember personal details and preferences from conversations you had days or even weeks ago and apply them to all of your new requests seamlessly.

For example, if you mentioned on a Tuesday that your daughter is allergic to peanuts, you could ask Alexa+ on a Friday to "find a good bakery nearby for her birthday cake," and the assistant could use that information to personalize its recommendations. This level of personalized continuity is entirely opt-in via the app; likewise, Amazon has a privacy dashboard where you can view and delete things it's learned about you, like your Alexa history, smart home device history, skill permissions, ad preferences, history of detected sounds, and activity history.

Not only can this contextual feature make interactions faster and less frustrating, but it also allows the AI to act more like a friend or dedicated personal concierge rather than a generic search engine. Out with rigid robotic commands, and in with just talking to it like a normal person.

The new and improved Alexa+ makes it easy to stay informed. If you love the news, you can set up an Alexa+ Daily Briefing to hear summaries of the most popular recent stories, interesting headlines in general news, and sports. Additionally, Amazon linked up with hundreds of news outlets to help make sure you get the most accurate news whenever you're ready to hear it, including the Associated Press, Forbes, Reuters, Business Insider, USA Today, Vox, and publications from Condé Nast.

Alexa+ can also jump in as a tutor if you or your kids need help with a specific school subject when it's homework time. You can also ask it for garden-variety information on topics from sports stats to history facts, get local restaurant or shopping recommendations, or get tips for DIY projects. As an interesting bonus, you can also opt to share info with Alexa+ for it to remember and use on your behalf in the future. This can be things like your philosophy class notes you want to be quizzed on later, the name of that ice cream shop you liked but can never seem to remember, or your overly complicated HOA bylaws, so you can finally figure out whether you're allowed to paint your front door bright pink.

Everyone has been there: you get home from work, exhausted, only to open the fridge and discover you don't have any food to cook for dinner. There's no need to stress, though, because you can tell Alexa+ what groceries you need and have it set up a delivery using Amazon's convenient link to Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and other grocery stores. Then you can plop down on the couch, catch up on an episode of your favorite TV show, and cook dinner once those groceries arrive.

If you don't feel like cooking, then you have the option to let Alexa+ order food delivery. All you need to do is tell it you're in the mood for some Pad Thai, al pastor tacos, chicken tikka masala, or tteokbokki and gimbap. Amazon says Alexa+ will then "automatically match whatever you're craving with what's available on a restaurant's menu," then order it via Grubhub. If your anniversary is rapidly approaching and you forgot to set up a dinner reservation, Alexa+ can also book a reservation for you. Simply tell it, "Alexa, book a reservation for two at Le King de Burger on Saturday at 6 p.m." And just like that, you've saved the day.