Similar to Google Assistant and Siri, Samsung has its own digital assistant: Bixby. It comes preinstalled on the best Samsung phones, TVs, refrigerators, and other devices. In some aspects, Bixby is more powerful than other voice assistants. Still, it has certain drawbacks, which is why it’s not that popular despite being on the market for over five years. Read below to find out everything about Bixby, its features, what makes it unique, the devices it is available on, and how to use it.

What is Bixby?

Bixby is Samsung’s digital assistant that lets you get stuff done using your voice. It is an evolution of S Voice. Bixby can send texts, check the weather, call your friends and family, launch apps, and control music playback like other voice assistants.

Bixby’s deep integration with system settings and certain third-party apps sets it apart from Google Assistant and Siri. You can use Samsung’s voice assistant to change the brightness level, toggle auto-rotate on and off, take a selfie, or reply to an email in Gmail on your device.

The other two digital assistants let you control basic system settings or send a message to your friends and family. But they cannot open your Instagram direct messages or show your YouTube subscription list as Bixby can. This is what sets Bixby apart from the competition.

Another advantage Bixby has over Google Assistant is that it supports on-device processing for many basic commands. This allows the voice assistant to work offline and process many daily use commands without being connected to the internet. You must download an on-device Bixby package before you can enjoy this mode.

How to set up and use Bixby

Bixby is available on all Samsung smartphones. You don’t need to download a separate app from the Play Store before you can use it.

There are multiple ways you can bring up Bixby on your Samsung phone:

• Press and hold the side key or the Bixby key, if it’s available, for a few seconds.
• Say, “Hi, Bixby.” You must set up Bixby on your phone for the hotword to work.
• Use the Bixby app shortcut in the app drawer.

If Bixby isn’t accessible via the side button, use the steps below to make changes.

1. Open Settings on your Samsung phone.
2. Scroll to Advanced features.
3. Select Side key.

4. Turn on the Double press toggle.
5. Tap the radio button beside Open app and select the Settings gear.
6. Select Bixby from the following menu.
7. You can also assign Bixby to the press and hold action on the side key.

When you first launch Bixby on your phone, it asks you to pick a voice to get answers. Tap the radio button beside your preferred voice sample and tap Continue. Check the number of permissions Bixby uses to function properly. Tap Continue.

You are all set to explore Samsung’s digital assistant. You can ask it the following commands:

• “Record a video.”
• “Show me the emails received today.”
• “Ask Google Duo to call my wife.”
• “Show the files in the document category.”
• “Ask Netflix to play Sacred Games.”
• “Start a five-kilometer run.”
• “Transfer data from my old phone.”
• “Make the screen darker.”

Bixby experience is divided into multiple parts: Bixby Voice, Bixby Vision, Bixby Commands, and Bixby Text Call.

Bixby Voice

This voice part of the assistant lets you interact with it using the “Hi, Bixby” command. You have to set up Bixby Voice before you can use the hotword, though. You need to say “Hi, Bixby” multiple times so that the digital assistant recognizes your voice. Follow the steps below to activate and use Bixby voice wake-up.

1. Activate Bixby on your phone.
2. Tap the Settings gear.
3. Select Voice wake-up.

4. Turn on the option and select the wake-up phrase. You can pick from the Hi, Bixby or Bixby commands.
5. Turn on the Respond to my voice toggle to teach Bixby to recognize and respond to your voice.

6. The system asks you to say Bixby five times to train the assistant.

You can turn on the Speak seamlessly toggle to say the command you want without waiting for sound feedback. After setting up Bixby Voice, you can ask the digital assistant any question or give it any command you wish.

You don’t always have to trigger Bixby to talk to it. In some scenarios, you can say a relevant command to Bixby without using the hotword first. For example, during an incoming call, you can say “Answer phone” or “Reject call” to accept or decline the call. Similarly, you can dismiss or snooze an alarm through Bixby by saying “Dismiss alarm” or “snooze.” Follow the steps below to enjoy it.

1. Go to Bixby Settings (check the steps above).
2. Select Talk to Bixby without wake-up.
3. Activate the same.

Bixby Vision

Bixby Vision is Samsung’s take on Google Lens. The feature allows you to point the camera toward an object to get more information about it. Similarly, you can scan an image using Bixby Vision to copy text from it, translate languages in real time, identify objects, or read out text.

1. Open the Camera app on your Galaxy phone.
2. Switch to the More tab.
3. Tap Bixby Vision in the upper-left corner.
4. If you want more information about a subject, point the camera toward the object and wait for Bixby Vision to scan it.

5. For a real-time translation, go to the Translate tab.
6. To copy text from images, switch to the T option.
7. To see relevant information and images of a scanned product, go to the Discover mode.
8. To find more information about a bottle of wine, switch to the Wine tab in Bixby Vision.

Bixby commands

Samsung offers a Google Assistant Routines-like feature dubbed Bixby commands with its digital assistant. Using the feature, you can automate certain tasks on your phone based on a single command. Let’s check it in action.

1. Launch Bixby and tap Discover.
2. Tap the three-dot menu at the top and select Quick commands.

3. Check the recommended commands and create a new one from scratch.
4. Tap + and enter or say a quick command.
5. Tap Add a command and select a relevant action from a supported app.

6. You can set several commands and tap Save.

The steps above are just the tip of the iceberg. The possibilities are endless here. For example, you can say “Good Morning” to Bixby and turn off DND, turn on Always on Display, check the weather, read today’s schedule, and run other actions.

Bixby Text Call

Call screening is one of the best features of Google Pixel phones, and Bixby Text Call is Samsung’s version. Introduced with the Android 13-based One UI 5 update in South Korea and expanded to add English support in One UI 5.1, Bixby Text Call screens incoming phone calls.

The virtual assistant transcribes what the other person on the phone is saying in real time. You can then respond by typing your message or selecting a quick response. This is a great feature to have, especially if you receive calls from unknown numbers throughout the day and don’t want to waste time attending them.

Bixby Text Call is available in English on almost all Samsung devices running One UI 5.1, including the Samsung Galaxy S23 series.

How to activate Bixby Text Call

1. Open the Phone app on your Samsung Galaxy phone.
2. Tap the three-dot menu button in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Select Bixby text call.

5. Turn on the toggle.

6. Select the Bixby language and voice from the Language and Voice section. You can choose from four Bixby voices.
7. Edit Bixby Text Call’s quick responses using the Quick responses option.

How to use Bixby Text Call

Once the feature is activated, you’ll see a Bixby Text Call option when an incoming call comes in.

1. Tap the Bixby Text Call option that appears on an incoming call screen.
2. Confirm your selection by swiping the incoming call button on the screen.

3. The caller hears a message from Bixby, which asks them why they are calling.
4. The voice assistant automatically transcribes what the caller says in real time.
5. Use the provided quick responses or manually enter what you want Bixby to say to the caller.
6. If you want to pick up the call, tap the Voice call button at the top. Until you use this option, your phone’s microphone remains muted for privacy reasons.

Which devices does Bixby support?

Bixby comes preinstalled on all mid-range and flagship Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets launched in 2017. The Galaxy S8, Note 8, S9, and S10 series shipped with a dedicated Bixby button. Since the voice assistant failed to take off, Samsung eventually removed the button on newer devices and merged its functionality with the side key.

Besides smartphones and tablets, Bixby is available on Samsung’s smart TVs, Galaxy Home smart speakers, Family Hub 2.0 and Bespoke line of refrigerators, and Galaxy smartwatches. It is the only voice assistant available on such non-mobile devices.

Bixby is deactivated by default on newer devices like the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. You’ll have to activate the voice assistant before you can use it.

Samsung continues improving Bixby … slowly

Bixby isn’t perfect, but it stands out with its deep third-party app and system settings integration. Still, the voice assistant is nowhere as popular as other voice assistants. While it may seem like Samsung has given up on Bixby, that’s not the case. The company drops a major update for its voice assistant once in a while with some useful new features.

If you’re not a Bixby fan, you may want to check out Google Assistant and all the incredible things it does.