Gemini gains a serious challenger as Samsung reinvents Bixby.
According to 9to5Google, Samsung is taking yet another swing at Bixby, and this reinvention represents the company’s most serious attempt to make its assistant a genuine alternative to Gemini on Samsung hardware.
The upgrade adds natural language processing to Bixby’s established device-control capabilities. It allows the assistant to understand user pain points and act on them directly. With a broad portfolio of Google alternatives, Samsung is now betting that a smarter Bixby will be what finally convinces its users to dump Gemini.
What’s inside the new Bixby upgrade
According to Samsung’s newsroom, Bixby is set to become a more conversational agent. The upgrade reduces the time users spend manually trying to figure out settings and features. Users can explain what they want, and Bixby can help make it happen.
Samsung’s Mobile eXperience (MX) Business Chief Operating Officer, Won-Joon Choi, said, as cited in the newsroom report:
“Since we introduced our first AI phone in 2024, we’ve been committed to making them easier to use so more people can benefit from AI — that’s why we decided to integrate a device agent directly into the experience.” He further added that, “To support this, we redesigned Bixby to enable more natural interactions and intuitive device control, reducing friction in everyday tasks.”
Combining natural language and intent understanding, Bixby acts as a smart device agent. A user might say to Bixby, “I don’t want the screen to time out while I’m still looking at it,” and the agent will turn on that setting for them, reducing the number of trials and errors when done manually.
The new Bixby also uses context awareness to offer solutions to users. For instance, with queries like “Why is my phone screen always on when it’s inside my pocket?” It will use its context-aware suggestions to surface relevant settings, such as Accidental Touch Protection, and offer smart shortcuts to tasks.
Another new feature is the integration of Perplexity into Samsung’s Galaxy AI ecosystem, alongside Bixby and Gemini. This seems to be a growing trend with smartphone manufacturers; an upgraded Siri is expected to include Gemini integration.
The integration allows Bixby users to AI-powered search results without opening a browser or using the Perplexity app itself.
A demonstration of the feature made by Samsung noted that users can ask Bixby, “Find me hotels in Seoul that have swimming pools for kids.” And they will get their results right inside Bixby’s interface.
What’s next for everyone?
The Bixby upgrade launched with the One UI 8.5 beta, currently only available on Galaxy S25 devices in the following regions:
- Germany
- India
- Korea
- Poland
- The UK
- The US
However, a Dec. 18, 2025, report from SamMobile indicates that only three Galaxy S25 models are eligible for the beta: Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra.
Bixby expands across the entire Samsung ecosystem, not just phones.
While SamMobile suggests Samsung may expand beta support, the stable One UI 8.5 is tied to the Galaxy S26 launch on Feb. 25, ultimately bringing the Bixby upgrade to a wider audience.