How To Set Up Use Lexus RX350 Voice Commands

Did you know that voice recognition equipped cars have risen from 37% in 2012 to 55% in 2019?

Voice recognition is on the rise because it can improve your driving experience, boost your focus whilst driving, and prevent you from getting distracted.

If you are thinking about buying, or have recently bought, a Lexus RX350 then here is everything you need to know about how to set up the car’s voice commands.

Lexus Voice Command

According to IHS Markit by 2022 nearly 90% of new cars will offer voice recognition capability. Lexus vehicles are at the forefront in bringing their customers the most advanced voice recognition technology, which is easy to use.

Voice recognition is all about the piece of technology understanding what you want, without you having to do too much work in order to know how to interact with your voice recognition system.

This is something that Lexus has incorporated into its integrated voice recognition systems. The Lexus Voice Command can operate using basic commands and can interpret messages.

Things to Remember

Remember, when you are using voice command you need to wait for the confirmation beep before you speak to the command system. Otherwise, the voice command will not register what you say.

It is also important to minimize any noise that may interfere with how well the voice command registers your request. For example, if the windows are down or your passengers are talking then the voice command system might not be able to hear you properly.

If you see or hear a message that says ‘voice input currently unavailable’ then you might have devices connected via Bluetooth that are interfering with your voice recognition. To fix this problem, simply disconnect the devices, this should ensure the voice recognition works again.

Lexus Voice Command: The Basics

Whether you are looking for directions, wanting to call a friend, or wanting to play some music, the Lexus voice command can help.

Once you have waited for the beep and are ready to speak, you will need to use these basic Lexus voice commands:

Enter a Destination with an Address

If you want to search for a destination you can press the talk switch, say “Enter an address”, then say the “<city name>”, followed by the “<street name>”, then say the “<house number>”, and then say “Start guidance” or “Show map.”.

Voice command GPS is fairly easy to use and once you have the hang of it, you’ll be able to find locations in no time.

Alternatively, if you can save locations such as your home, or view POI options. A POI option might be something such as a nearby gas station. In this case, you would find the location you want by saying “Find nearby <POI Category>” or “Go home”.

Basic searches can be performed using natural speech. For example, if you want to find a nearby restaurant you could press the talk switch, wait for the beep and then either say “Find nearby restaurants” or you could even say “I’m hungry”.

Another example of using natural speech is that you can press the talk switch and instead of having to say “Go home”, you can say something like “take me home” or “I want to go home now”.

For Lexus navigation system tutorials, have a look at our How-To videos.

Using Your Phone

You can use voice recognition to call someone from your phone. To do this you need to command the voice recognition “Call <name> <type>”.

Call name will look up the person in your phone book, whilst type will choose which number to contact (such as home, work, mobile).

If you don’t have the number saved in your phone book then you can read out the number you want to call. To do this you need to say “Dial <number>”.

Or if you are calling an international number, you can say “International call <number>”.

Play Music

You can play tracks by artists, albums, track, or playlists. To select either of these options you need to say “Play Artist <name>”, or “Play Album <name>”, or “Play song <name>, or “Play playlist <name>”.

If you need to switch to a different audio mode, you can also use voice command to do this.

For example, if you say “Radio” the voice command will set the audio mode to the radio. If you want to select Bluetooth then you say “Bluetooth audio”.

“Audio on” and “Audio off” also turn the audio system on and off.

Get Information

You can also ask your voice recognition system to provide you with information, such as weather, traffic reports or sports scores, etc.

To do this you need to say “Weather” which will then prompt your system to display weather information. Or you might say “Traffic” and it will display traffic incident lists in your area. Or you might say “Sports scores” and the voice command will show you a list of the latest sports scores.

Temperature Control

You can also control the temperature in your vehicle by using commands such as “Warmer” which can turn the temperature up by 4 degrees, or “Cooler” which can turn the temperature down.

Several of our cars now come installed with voice command technology, such as the climate control voice command in the 2018 Lexus NX300. Voice command can help to make your life easier whilst you are driving.

Use the Lexus RX350 Voice Command with Confidence

Using your voice command doesn’t need to be scary or confusing. All you have to do is familiarize yourself with the basic commands and how to use the system and you are good to go.

For more information about how to use the voice command, to compare the Lexus RX 350 vs. Acura MDX, or to buy your Lexus RX350, contact our friendly team now.