Samsung's Galaxy S8 not only comes with power-packed features including the bezel-less Infinity display, top end processor and configurable software navigation buttons, but also stands out in single-threaded real-world benchmarks as well as various drop tests. However, the flagship phone's Bixby feature seems to be the biggest fail yet for the South Korean smartphone giant as the voice assistant controls are not yet ready for its forthcoming release in the US.
According to Samsung's official statement, Bixby voice search functionality is not yet active on the handset and will not go live until "later this spring." Here's the complete quote from the company's recent announcement:
With its intelligent interface and contextual awareness, Bixby will make your phone more helpful by assisting in completing tasks, telling you what you're looking at, learning your routine and remembering what you need to do. Key features of Bixby, including Vision, Home and Reminder, will be available with the global launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8 on April 21.Bixby Voice will be available in the U.S. on the Galaxy S8 later this spring.
As Android Police reports, the Home feature is a clone of the Google Now feed while Vision represents the augmented-reality camera feature and Reminder feature is used for setting reminders.
Considering the Bixby will be the main selling point on the S8, Samsung faces a major challenge ahead of the handset's scheduled launch for 21 April.
Will Bixby launch later in spring or will it arrive sooner? Anyways, if Samsung has to make amends to its Galaxy Note 7 debacle then it has some serious work to do especially with the dedicated button for launching Bixby.
There is still no word on when the Bixby voice feature will go live in other markets across the world. It would be a safe bet if you could remap the Bixby button to something useful until the voice assistant feature is officially released.
Will you buy Galaxy S8 despite the limitations with Bixby voice feature? Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
