Samsung Bixby hasn't received a major upgrade in recent times, but that's fortunately changing. Samsung has announced that it is giving a major reboot to its virtual assistant by adding more AI to it.
It will do most tasks on your behalf
Yesterday, Samsung released the fifth One UI 8.5 beta for the Galaxy S25 series. In addition to fixing some known bugs, the update gives Bixby more AI power.
The virtual assistant is receiving two main upgrades. First, you can now communicate with it in natural language. You just need to tell it what you want, and it will perform actions on your behalf. Samsung has shared a few examples of exactly how this will work.
For instance, you can trigger Bixby and say, "I don't want the screen to time out while I am still looking at it." It will understand your request and then automatically enable the "Keep screen on while viewing" setting on your Galaxy smartphone.
Basically, this upgrade will ensure that you don't have to manually navigate through different settings to perform the actions you want. Simply instruct Bixby with your wish, and it will intelligently understand it and perform the action for you. This will really turn out to be helpful in situations when you want to change something on your device but don't know which toggle you need to enable or disable for that.
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Instead of simply making the change for you, in certain situations, the assistant will also explain why a particular thing is happening. For instance, if you ask a question like, "Why does my phone screen always remain on when it's inside my pocket?" then Bixby will explain that it could be happening because the accidental touch protection setting is disabled on the device. You'll then also be given the direct option to enable it if you want.
Get answers to all your queries in real time
Bixby responding to query. | Image by Samsung
The next upgrade Bixby is getting is real-time web search capabilities. It will now provide live and up-to-date information about any event in its own window. You won't be directed to any other app or browser to get an answer to your query. Instead, everything will be displayed in Bixby's own interface.
For instance, if you are looking for a hotel in Seoul, you can access Bixby and ask something like, "Find me hotels in Seoul that have swimming pools for kids." The assistant will take a few seconds and come up with relevant web search results in its own interface.
The best part is that it keeps track of all your previous conversations in the menu that you will find on the left side of its interface. This can turn out to be helpful in situations when you want to know what response you got in one of your previous queries.
Interestingly, there isn't any mention of exactly which AI is powering these upgrades in Bixby. The Korean giant recently published a blog post, which has now been deleted, announcing the integration of Perplexity in its smartphones. The demo shown in the latest post is similar to the one in the deleted post, so it's possible that Perplexity is powering all the responses in the new Bixby.
Which virtual assistant do you think is the best overall?
Much-needed upgrades are coming
Samsung virtual assistants often lagged other AI-driven assistants like Google's Gemini. But with the addition of these two upgrades, it will definitely give competition to its competitors. I, in fact, gave the same query to Gemini on my Pixel 10 to test how its response compares to the upgraded Bixby.
Just like Bixby, Gemini also displayed a relevant web search result in its own interface. However, when I asked why my phone screen always remains on when it's inside my pocket, it showed me the steps I need to follow to enable accidental touch protection instead of giving me the direct option to enable it like Bixby.
This basic comparison definitely indicates that the updated Bixby might be able to beat Gemini in certain scenarios. However, it's really early to comment, as I would have to compare both assistants against each other in many other scenarios to find out which one is actually better. That said, more details and capabilities of Bixby will likely be shared on February 25, when Samsung is going to launch the S26 series along with One UI 8.5.
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Aman Kumar is a tech news writer with a long-standing passion for smartphones. Aman specializes in everything smartphones, from AI features like Pixel’s Camera Coach to understanding ideal hardware combinations. He loves breaking down complex features in a simple, clear way and hopes manufacturers bring back bold designs like the Nokia N-Gage. When he’s not writing, he’s either gaming on PUBG or talking fitness as a dedicated gym enthusiast.
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