Andy Walker / Android Authority
When Samsung launched the boxby in 2017, he was not received well. Virtual Assistant, whose purpose was to counter Google Assistant, was not as firm or capable as it is now. Nevertheless, Samsung tried to push it to users with a dedicated button before being ready. Since then, the voice assistant has changed significant landscapes. Google Gemini has replaced the assistant as my primary voice channel, but it has not been a smooth journey. In recent months, I have had many problems with the next generation of Google on various devices. So, as a last resort, I turned back to Buckby. This is something I should have done very quickly.
What is your preferred voice assistant on Android?
0 votes
Google Assistant / Gemini
Non %
Amazon Alexa
Non %
Samsung Buckby
Non %
Chat GPT
Non %
Disturbance
Non %
Microsoft Cooplot
Non %
Another voice assistant (which is mentioned in the comments)
Non %
I don’t use a voice assistant.
Non %
I am not a great sound assistant user. Yes, I sometimes talk to my phone, but only in some situations – when my hands are not free, like I’m driving, making food, or in the middle of a game. If an inquiry is better according to oral guidance, I will also use a voice assistant. As a result, I value understanding, promptly implementing, and the quality of the answers.
As I mentioned in the interview, Buckby is now a virtual assistant for Samsung smartphone users. It can perform various complex tasks from the article summarizing to direct translation. It can also open apps, tell me which song is playing, can answer questions on numerous topics, and handle tasks such as reminding or setting up everyday tasks.
Buckby is a mixed bag of sensation and spill
Andy Walker / Android Authority
As a Galaxy S 24 per user, when I received the phone, I didn’t bother to set up boxby, but that was a mistake. When some of the device performs the work, it is much smart, fast and more reliable than Gemini.
Buckby is far more smart, faster, and more reliable than Gemini when some device performs
Its original strength is performed through on -device tasks to mobilize the camera, call specific settings tree, or open a particular app. Although I usually do not use sound assistants like this, I told Buckby and Gemini to “open a selfie camera.” Buckby launched my camera app much faster than Gemini, which had to demand its ETS expanding its usefulness. Even a simple “Open My Home Screen” command, which theoretically needs to target the Virtual Home button, looks at Buckby with a comfortable win. Better integration with a UI and phone hardware of Samsung’s assistant provides it with a great benefit to these worldly tasks.
Since I own a galaxy watch, Buckby is also on my wrist, so I get the same control of myself as my smartphone. This produces predicted results, though the feature does not work when the power saving mode is enabled. I usually use ways and routines to automatically mobilize this feature in the afternoon. You can see the problem. However, I have noticed that Gemini is snowing on my smart watch, so I will instead work around the boundaries offered by Buckby.
Andy Walker / Android Authority
About offline capabilities, the boxby remains fast and responsible even if its wider feature set is not available. I turned off the mobile data and asked the assistant, “What is 55 Plus 2?” He hit me with the message “I can’t contact”. I am not sure why Samsung’s assistant needs the Internet to solve a simple math problem, but at least tries to answer this question. When asked offline and the same question, Gemini is hanging. When the Internet connection is not visible, Gemini will refuse to work in any capacity.
When that Wi -Fi or mobile connection is getting stronger, in my opinion, Buckby falls a bit behind Gemini. Before I could get “good butter chicken version”, Buckby wanted me to install smart thong first and connect my Samsung and Samsung Food accounts. It won’t just present a web result, as it does for other questions. Then, when I asked him again, he provided many irrelevant recipes. “Ultimat Risoto Premura” and “Creamy Tomato Pasta sauce” may seem delicious, but they are not years, are they?
The boxby offers selected smart on the offline, but when the Internet is available, Gemini moves forward.
It seems that this performance depends on the inquiry. “How do I take care of a Syngonium?” For questions like? Boxby opens Google Search on the Samsung Internet. Even if it is wrong to me, it still understands the scope of my question. Perhaps it is ironic that the upper result is usually AI review. However, opening the browser window is a great way to start searching for broader information based on the browser.
In particular, despite the expectation, Buckby will always prefer Samung Samsung apps of information or utility. Instead of “Save a note on the Google Cap”, Samsung notes saved a note. Saying “Open Google Cap” is really open, but cannot make the original note inside the boxby app. When someone deeply entered Google’s ecosystem, this is a problem for me.
Gemini is slow like a slugg but moves a bit
Andy Walker / Android Authority
In those moments, I was reminded how many times I look at Gemini and its qualities. Yes, it is as slow in the Arctic, but I still was tempted to leave this experience completely.
Buckby has a lack of basic elements that make Google Product more valuable than just calling information or commanding my phone. An example of this is Gemini Live. Google’s direct context has become a de facto scratch pad for me. I often revolve around my house, manage my thoughts with the device, and then export the better version to the cap note. This is something that Buckby cannot present in this place.
It is difficult to live without Gemini Live, especially when it has become my fictitious scratch pad.
I have also mentioned that Buckby struggles to completely present information from the Internet, rather than that they regularly rely on other Samsung apps or its web browser. Well, Gemini works greatly in presenting this information and it contains the results of questions in the UI. Let’s go back to your butter chicken query. Instead of giving me Italian dishes, it is explained that butter chicken, including the use of fenugreek. Gold star! This makes it easier to double checking information without all the webpages.
Gemini also performed better in another basic modern assistant task: developing new materials. When asked to create a “birthday message”, Gemini produces a standard message full of good wishes. Buckby asks me what the message should be included. This is the biggest difference between the two product feature sets.
During this experiment I have other small reasons to give priority to Assistant and Gemini. Its flawless integration with Google products is one, especially work, keeping and documents. A nest in my kitchen, which doesn’t support Buckby, also force me to use Google products when I need to set timers, replace units, or play my kitchen cleaning playlist.
Gemini and Buckby: Better together?
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
The two assistants still fail to be really helpful in every scenario, and I still want more functionality throughout the board. For example, I can’t input text in a WhatsApp text box, nor does it seem to be what I am saying all the time. What is the “Sambonium” buckby? Certainly, this is a tone, but I can’t believe that their performance in this regard is still so bad.
It is difficult to recommend a winner here, so I will continue to use both the possible assistants.
After all these years, after returning to Samsung’s assistant, I feel that relatively negative emotions about it are unreasonable. Certainly, it was a terrible experience when it first launched, but in 2025, it is a solid on a device tool that works well on the company’s smartphones. It lacks Gemini production capabilities or information processing skills, but it is much faster than Google products in many aspects. On the contrary, Gemini is still the best product for Google’s environmental systems, while I have used directly.
So, which one is better? Well, a literal answer is quite complicated. In the future, I will put Buckby on a call for device tasks, while Gemini will be more generating or for informational purposes. Certainly, the use of two sound assistants on a phone may be excessive, but this Google and Samsung have left consumers.
