~35 min read

For years, the “Bixby Button” was the most hated feature on a Galaxy phone. We remapped it, disabled it, and actively ignored it. Samsung just gave us a compelling reason to press it again.

If you own a Samsung device, you know the struggle intimately. Bixby was the ambitious assistant launched in 2017 that couldn’t quite compete with the utility of Google Assistant or the seamless ecosystem integration of Siri. It was excellent at changing your screen brightness, toggling Wi-Fi, or opening specific apps, but it was terrible for answering questions about the world. While the rest of the industry raced toward Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) that could write code and plan vacations, Bixby seemed stuck in the past—a relic of the “command and control” era of voice assistants that required precise syntax to function.

That changed this week.

In a surprise move at their Unpacked event, Samsung announced a deep strategic partnership with Perplexity AI, effectively performing a “brain transplant” on their native assistant. By integrating Perplexity’s real-time answer engine directly into the Bixby interface, Samsung isn’t just playing catch-up; they are offering a distinct, fact-first alternative to the Google/OpenAI dominance.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll break down exactly what this update means, the technical architecture of the “New Bixby,” and why having a research engine in your pocket might actually be better than having a creative chatbot.

What is the New Bixby?

The new Bixby is a hybrid assistant that combines Samsung’s deep device control with Perplexity’s real-time search intelligence.

It represents a philosophical shift from a monolithic assistant to a modular one. Previously, Bixby relied on a limited internal database and basic web searches that simply dumped a list of blue links on your screen, forcing you to do the reading. It was a glorified shortcut to a Google Search page. Now, when you ask Bixby a question, it acts as an intelligent Semantic Router:

1. Device Commands (The Local Layer): If you say “Turn on Wi-Fi,” “Open Instagram,” or “Take a selfie,” Bixby handles it locally on the device using Samsung’s own lightweight on-device models. This ensures privacy and zero latency for system tasks.
2. Knowledge Queries (The Cloud Layer): If you ask a question about the world (“Why is the sky blue?” or “Who won the game last night?”), the router identifies this as a “Knowledge Intent.” It packages the query and routes it through Perplexity’s Large Language Model (LLM) infrastructure.

The Core Difference:

• Old Bixby: “Here is a link to Wikipedia about quantum physics.” (The burden of synthesis is on you. You have to click, read, scroll, and synthesize the info yourself).
• New Bixby (Powered by Perplexity): “Quantum physics is the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. Here is a 3-sentence summary, followed by a detailed breakdown of the key theories, with clickable citations from Science Daily and Nature Journal.”

It transforms Bixby from a “Phone Controller” into a “Knowledge Engine.” It reads the web, filters the noise, and summarizes the truth for you, rather than just showing you the door.

Why it matters: The “Accuracy” Play

Why did Samsung choose Perplexity instead of building their own “SamsungGPT” or just using Google Gemini?

The answer lies in Trust and Citations.

While ChatGPT and Gemini are creative tools designed for conversation (and are arguably prone to “hallucinations” where they confidently make things up), Perplexity is built from the ground up as an “Answer Engine.” Its primary directive is accuracy, not creativity. It cites its sources for every single claim it makes.

For Samsung users, this matters for three critical reasons:

1. Real-Time Data Dominance: Perplexity is continuously connected to the live internet. It knows the score of the game happening right now, the stock price from five minutes ago, or the breaking news from this morning. Many other LLMs have knowledge cutoffs or slower indexing speeds, often giving you outdated information about fast-moving events.
2. Fact-Checking & Transparency: You can tap the small citation numbers (footnotes) to verify the information source instantly. If Bixby says a product is “rated highly,” you can click the citation to see if that rating comes from a reputable tech site or a random blog. This makes Bixby viable for work, academic research, and settling debates—contexts where “mostly right” isn’t good enough.
3. Strategic Independence: By partnering with Perplexity, Samsung avoids becoming fully dependent on Google (Gemini). This maintains leverage in the Android ecosystem, ensuring Samsung devices have a unique selling point that isn’t just “Google, but on Samsung hardware.” It diversifies their AI portfolio, giving users a choice beyond the default Google ecosystem.

Key Features

The update brings three major capabilities to Galaxy devices (starting with the S25 series and rolling back via software updates to the S24).

1. The “Pro Search” Integration

You don’t get the “Lite” version of Perplexity. Samsung users get deep access to Perplexity’s Pro Search logic. This transforms the assistant from a passive responder into an active investigator.

If you ask a vague question like “Find me a laptop,” a standard assistant would just list popular laptops. The new Bixby uses Pro Search to engage in Chain of Thought Reasoning. It asks clarifying follow-up questions:

• “What is your budget?”
• “Do you need it for high-end gaming, video editing, or just office work?”
• “Do you prefer Windows or Mac?”

It gathers this context before giving an answer, acting much more like a human shopping assistant than a search bar. It understands that the “best” laptop is relative to your specific needs.

2. Multi-Modal Context (“Point and Ask”)

The integration deeply leverages Samsung’s camera hardware. You can take a photo of a landmark, a menu in a foreign language, or a broken appliance part, and simply ask Bixby: “What is this and where can I buy a replacement?”

Bixby uses Samsung’s vision processing to identify the object’s geometry and text, sends that data payload to Perplexity, which then cross-references it with shopping results, user reviews, and repair manuals to give you a direct answer with purchasing links. It bridges the physical world with digital knowledge.

3. “Deep-Dive” Mode

Voice assistants are usually fleeting—you hear the answer and it’s gone. New Bixby introduces a persistent visual interface. If you ask a question, the answer appears in a concise card on your screen.

You can then tap “Deep Dive” to open a dedicated full-screen view. This isn’t a web browser; it’s a curated dashboard showing:

• Related YouTube videos (e.g., reviews or tutorials).
• Relevant graphs or data tables (e.g., stock performance or nutritional info).
• “People also ask” follow-up threads to guide your research.
• Detailed source lists for verification.

This turns a fleeting voice interaction into a deep research session without ever opening Chrome, keeping you focused on the answer rather than the navigation.

Real-World Use Cases

1. The “Debate Settler”

• Scenario: You are at a dinner party and arguing about who won the 1998 World Cup and exactly who scored the goals.
• Bixby Flow: You hold the side button. “Who won the 1998 World Cup and exactly who scored in the final?”
• Result: Bixby replies instantly with the answer (France beat Brazil 3-0) and lists the goal scorers (Zidane x2, Petit), citing the official FIFA report. It settles the argument with zero friction and high authority, preventing the need to scroll through ad-filled sports blogs.

2. The Travel Planner

• Scenario: You are planning a trip to Kyoto but are worried about specific dietary restrictions.
• Bixby Flow: “Plan a 3-day itinerary for Kyoto that includes only vegetarian restaurants that are open on Tuesdays.”
• Result: Perplexity generates the itinerary, checking real-time operating hours (via Google Maps/Yelp data integration) and cross-referencing menu reviews to ensure the “vegetarian” tag is accurate. It saves you 20 minutes of tab-switching and map-checking.

3. The Shopping Assistant (Review Summarizer)

• Scenario: You need new headphones but are overwhelmed by conflicting reviews.
• Bixby Flow: “What are the best noise-canceling headphones under $300 released in the last 6 months? Summarize the Reddit consensus vs professional reviews.”
• Result: It scans recent tech reviews (The Verge, CNET) and cross-references them with Reddit threads to find the “real” user opinion (e.g., “Critics love the sound, but Reddit users complain about the hinge breaking after 3 months”). This nuance is impossible with standard search engines.

4. The Academic Researcher

• Scenario: A student needs to understand a complex concept for a paper.
• Bixby Flow: “Explain the concept of ‘Schrödinger’s cat’ simply, then provide three academic papers that discuss its application in quantum computing.”
• Result: It provides a layman’s summary followed by direct links to Arxiv.org papers, effectively acting as a research librarian that bridges the gap between simple explanation and academic rigor.

Bixby vs. Gemini vs. Siri

Feature	Samsung Bixby (Perplexity)	Google Gemini	Apple Siri (Campos)
Core Strength	Research & Citations	Creative Writing & Coding	Personal Context & Apps
Source of Truth	Live Web Index (Perplexity)	Google Training Data	Hybrid (Device + Google)
Hallucination Risk	Low (due to citations)	Medium	Medium
Device Control	High (Galaxy ecosystem)	Medium (Android)	High (iOS ecosystem)
Tone	Objective / Factual	Conversational / Creative	Helpful / Action-Oriented
Privacy Model	Query Anonymization	Google Data Collection	On-Device First / Handoff

Limitations

While impressive, this “brain transplant” has constraints you should be aware of:

• Samsung Account Required: You must be signed into a Samsung account to enable the Perplexity integration. This allows Samsung to manage the API handshake securely and sync your query history across your Galaxy devices.
• Hardware Locked Features: Currently, the full “Pro Search” features (which require heavy local processing to parse user intent before sending to the cloud) are optimized for the latest NPU (Neural Processing Unit) found in the Galaxy S24/S25 series. Older phones might get a slower, purely cloud-based version of the feature that lacks the conversational nuance.
• Not a Creative Writer: If you ask Bixby to “Write a poem about a robot falling in love,” it will do it, but likely not as well as Claude or ChatGPT. It is designed for facts, not fiction. It is a tool for information retrieval, not creative art generation.

Conclusion

Bixby is no longer the bloatware you delete.

By outsourcing the “brain” to Perplexity, Samsung has made the smartest strategic move in its recent history. They have transformed a liability (a dumb assistant) into a genuine asset (the world’s most accurate mobile answer engine).

If you value accuracy, sources, and real-time information over creative storytelling or “chatting” with a bot, the new Bixby might just become your default assistant. It respects your time by giving you the answer, not a list of links.

Ready to re-enable the button?

Go to Settings > Advanced Features > Side Button, and set “Press and Hold” back to Bixby. Give it a shot for a week—you might be surprised to find that the smartest assistant was on your phone all along.

FAQs

Q: Is this free?

A: Yes, the integration is currently free for Galaxy users. Samsung has reportedly struck a revenue-share deal with Perplexity, so users typically do not need a separate Perplexity Pro subscription ($20/month) for standard queries made through Bixby.

Q: Can I still use Google Assistant?

A: Yes. Android allows you to choose your default assistant. You can keep Google Assistant for “Hey Google” voice triggers (for smart home control) and map the physical side button to Bixby for research tasks.

Q: Does Perplexity see my personal data?

A: Samsung states that personal context (contacts, messages, location history) stays on-device. Only the search query itself (e.g., “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?”) is anonymized and sent to Perplexity for processing.

Q: Does it work offline?

A: The “Device Control” features (turning on flashlight, opening apps, changing settings) work offline using Samsung’s local NPU. However, the Perplexity knowledge features require an active internet connection to fetch real-time data and citations.