Samsung Gear S3 And Gear Sport Might Get Bixby To Replace S Voice

After almost a decade in service, or rather a decade of not being used that extensively, Samsung has finally decided to retire the not-so-smart S Voice. It's really not a big deal for Samsung phones from the past three or so years as those have already moved over to Bixby. It's not the same case for some of Samsung's still supported smartwatches like the 2016 Gear S3. Fortunately, those, too, may have some hope in the very near future.

Comparing S Voice to Bixby is like comparing apples to oranges. Although it was practically Samsung's answer to both Apple Siri, it was far from being as intelligent, no matter how Samsung spins it. It served its purpose for one-off voice commands but didn't really offer more and it eventually got left by the wayside, especially after Bixby was launched.

Samsung is reportedly shutting S Voice down, leaving a number of its devices without a voice control agent. Some older phones and tablets won't even get Bixby but that's not exactly a problem. After all, they can use Google Assistant or any choice of third-party AI assistant.

Smartwatches are a different story as they have no other voice control option other than S Voice. The Gear S3, both Classic and Frontier, and the Gear Sport, in particular, will be left voiceless, if any of their owners actually used S Voice at all. Starting with the 2018 Galaxy Watch, however, Samsung has already added Bixby access on their wrists.

SamMobile reports that the older 2016 and 2017 wearables could get Bixby in a future update. That is still unconfirmed, of course, and Samsung isn't exactly known for its stellar support of older smartwatches. There's still some time, though, as the ax will fall on S Voice on June 1, 2020.