While the initial rollout of its Samsung virtual assistant left many users elated, the full launch of Bixby Voice has rekindled consumer interest.
The company promises that its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant differs from others due to context awareness and the ability to learn. But is this just a marketing hoax?
We’ll take a look at five amazing things Bixby Voice can do, as well as one thing that doesn’t quite fit.
1. Understand the context
A nice feature of Bixby Voice is the assistant’s contextual awareness. This means that the AI can interpret what you link to depending on which application you have open.
This way, if you have a Samsung browser open, you can just say «Share this with Bob» and the AI will know that you are linking to the current web page. It will then copy the link and let you choose which app to share it through, if you haven’t already specified it.
Meanwhile, if you open a photo in your gallery using the «Share this on Twitter» command, Bixby Voice will know that you’re linking to the picture.

When you consider that many AI assistants didn’t use this context, it’s amazing and unique. Bixby Voice also switches from main mode to context mode depending on the app you’re in.
So, if you are on the home screen and say «Show me my last message», Bixby will show you the latest message in your default messaging app. However, if you use the exact same command in Whatsapp, the assistant downloads your latest WhatsApp message.
“Bixby is context-aware and multi-modal,” said Rui Broui, Head of Samsung Mobile Devices South Africa.
He explains this feature as the reason the assistant can understand commands that other AI assistants cannot. Add to that the ability of AI to learn, and you have a recipe for a very user-friendly assistant that understands people, Brui says.
Even Google is moving towards more contextual awareness in the latest update
This understanding is also part of the second amazing thing that Bixby can do.
2. Allow highly specific commands
Bixby Voice due to its compatibility with Samsung apps. and many third-party applications capable of executing very detailed, application-specific commands.
Nowhere is this more obvious than when accessing «Voice Apps & Services» through Bixby and clicking on one of the apps listed.
The camera app contains some of the most detailed commands, including «Set the timer for the rear camera to two seconds and turn on [снимок 3] [функция]». With Bixby Voice, you can also switch between back and front. camera, select the filter you want to use and adjust settings such as HDR and shutter speed.
Also, these commands are not limited to just the app you currently have open. You can ask Bixby to take a selfie and send it to a contact person via Whatsapp, making several of the app’s functions a breeze.
But the assistant is not infallible when it comes to these commands. Sometimes the Bixby app freezes and freezes silently simply by not following your command. If you have combined too many commands in one sentence, it also sometimes misinterprets and skips parts of the instructions.
For example, while in the camera app, you can tell Bixby to switch to the front camera, take a selfie, and send it. Try adding a change in color mode, however, and Bixby tends to ignore it.
Luckily, this is where the third function comes in handy.
3. Learn from your mistakes
Even though Bixby Voice has improved its beta version, it still has some bugs, including often misreading pronunciation or misunderstanding commands.
But fearless AI can really learn from its mistakes.
For most commands, you can provide feedback on whether Bixby interpreted it correctly. You can also access your history in the My Bixby menu to view past commands and fix any mistakes the AI has made. Bixby is literally asking you to teach it.