Remember Samsung Bixby? It May Come Back With a Twist

One of Samsung’s biggest failures is its personal voice assistant, Bixby. Within a few years of its debut on top-end Galaxy phones, Bixby struggled to keep pace with the competition, including Google Assistant, which came preloaded on all Android phones. Samsung tried to improvise, but it was already too late. However, there may be a sliver of hope for the company’s almost-forgotten voice assistant.

According to a report by SammyGuru, Samsung could be planning to revive Bixby, with Perplexity AI likely to play a crucial role in its resurrection. Both companies have reportedly entered a strategic partnership, as a part of which Bixby will receive AI-based improvements.

In what looks like a screenshot of an upcoming Bixby version 4.0.50.4, available in One UI 8.5 beta, the Perplexity-powered voice assistant can answer queries related to weather, recommending the user to wear a jacket because of wind chill. This response, per a 9to5Google report, may be for something like “Should I wear a jacket today?” The existing Bixby variant cannot comprehend such questions, let alone respond to them vividly.

If the leak holds any water, the upcoming One UI 8.5 stable update could finally bring Bixby back, in a better form, on the Galaxy S26 lineup. Perplexity’s integration into Bixby would give Samsung’s voice assistant access to multiple AI models, including Gemini, GPT, and Claude. For what it is worth, a refreshed Bixby would offer more options as Samsung looks to expand its suite of AI services beyond Google’s Gemini in the future.

What remains unclear is whether Samsung would ship the upcoming Galaxy S26 phones with a dedicated Bixby button, which was standard across flagship phones for some years. Although this button was not mostly welcomed, it was a good addition for users who wanted to access Bixby quickly. The current implementation of Gemini works similarly, with the AI assistant programmed to the power button for easy access. Should Bixby return with Galaxy S26 phones, it could be available as an alternative to Google Gemini for power button integration.

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