In a world dominated by Gemini as the Android assistant, an unexpected voice assistant emerges. The often-overlooked Samsung Bixby is coming back to life, and this is not an early leak or rumor. The South Korean tech giant has introduced an all-new Bixby experience with One UI 8.5, which will power the Samsung Galaxy S26 at launch and older Galaxy devices later.
Redaksiya reports that initially, Samsung did not mention that it was using Perplexity to power the new Bixby experience. For those unaware, leaks in recent months have indicated Samsung's use of Perplexity's AI to power Bixby. We have seen an early preview, a video of Perplexity handling web-based Bixby queries, and even a Bixby Live app similar to Gemini Live. However, Samsung did not mention Perplexity being the brains of the operation. Regardless, there are several significant innovations, especially in the voice assistant's ability to understand context in natural language.
In an example shared by the tech giant, a user might say something like, "I don't want it to time out while I'm looking at the screen." Bixby will understand what the user wants and immediately activate the 'Keep screen on while viewing' setting without the user needing to navigate through menus. Similarly, if a user asks, "Why does my phone's screen always turn on when it's in my pocket?" Bixby will be able to show the relevant settings for Accidental Touch Protection, allowing users to make the necessary change. Additionally, Bixby is also gaining real-time web search capabilities. This was previously believed to be powered by Perplexity.
More importantly, Samsung wants to keep users within the Bixby user interface. Real-time web search results appear directly within the Bixby overlay, as seen in the short GIF above, meaning you won't be redirected to Chrome or Samsung Internet to get your answer. These innovations might not be enough to replace Gemini with Bixby, although with significant innovations Samsung will showcase at Unpacked, there might be more to the update. Users won't have to wait long to see the new Bixby in action. One UI 8.5 is scheduled to debut alongside the Galaxy S26 at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25. However, it is worth noting that the Bixby update will be limited to users in the US, Germany, India, Korea, Poland, and the UK. The update will expand to more countries in the future.