Skip to main content

Bixby, Samsung's virtual assistant, is rapping insults to Siri in Korean

Bixby is the name given to Samsung’s virtual assistant installed on the new Galaxy S8 smartphones, and although it can’t speak English yet, there is evidence it’s quite adept at rapping its native Korean. Videos showing its skills have been posted on YouTube, and have overshadowed other, more standard examples of the assistant’s brand-new voice feature. Plus, in true rap style, in some of the rhymes Bixby allegedly takes a shot at archrival Siri.

One of the lengthier videos gives us more than three minutes of Bixby rapping in a female voice, while a shorter clip from another YouTuber sees the assistant’s male voice take over the rapping duties. According to one Reddit post, this rap includes the phrase, “I am better than Siri.” While such a phrase is sure to have Samsung fans whoop and shout with glee, one could argue that in reality Siri’s grasp of multiple languages, and wider availability, does give Apple’s assistant the edge at the moment.

Recommended Videos

If you’re grabbing your own Galaxy S8 ready to ask Bixby to belt out a rap, it’s not going to work unless you’re in Korea. Samsung started releasing voice features through an update to its Korean phones this week, and promises English voice support will come during the first half of this year.

Bixby’s voice features are relatively basic at the moment, including bookmarking web pages, sharing photos on social media, taking screenshots, and opening the Bixby Vision feature. A further video shows Bixby performing some actions, such as displaying recently taken pictures and creating an album of the results, plus taking a screenshot and sending it to a contact.

It’s inevitable English-speaking Bixby will do all this for us, but the more pressing question is, will it also rap for us? Most virtual assistants have quirky features like this just waiting to be discovered, as it helps give them a slightly more “human” personality, and encourages exploration. We’ll find out what Bixby can do in the coming months.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7: the upgrade we’ve been waiting for?
Thre Flip 7 models next to each other

I never really thought that I'd want to go down the route of owning a flip phone, ever since I swore off my Nokia in the early 2000s (you know, the one with the weird felt covering and tiny notification window).

Fast forward two decades, and I'm considering rejoining the race, thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7. Coming in at $1,100, it's not cheap, but it's definitely something different compared to the world of black rectangles, and it it feels like Samsung’s Flip family has finally come of age.

Read more
I used the Galaxy Z Fold 7, here’s why I’m completely smitten
The back of the Galaxy Z Fold 7

We’ve waited several years for Samsung to join the party, but it’s finally here: Samsung has followed rivals like Oppo, OnePlus, and Honor in building a thinner, lighter, and sleeker Galaxy Z Fold 7. It’s an impressive feat of engineering and a major upgrade over previous years.

It’s easy to consider the Fold 7 nothing more than an update to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but in many ways, it feels like a huge step forward, not just for Samsung but for all folding phones. I spent a few hours with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 in an exclusive preview, and here’s why I absolutely love what Samsung has done this year.

Read more
I tried the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series – they’re sleek, but with a lot to prove
Watch 8 on a wrist

Trying out the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic is a tough gig - not in terms of it being a hardship to try out two high-end models, but that it's impossible to assess them with only 30 minutes’ use.

I can easily talk about the improved design and the fit of the straps etc, but the real changes are within the health ecosystem, and they'll need sustained testing to really understand if they're any good.

Read more