Summary
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 are good, but they have a big flaw. They use Bixby out of the box as their assistant (some people like it, even), and while you’re able to change it to Google Assistant, it’s not that huge of an upgrade—and Google Assistant is getting phased out anyway. Now, it just got an upgrade to bring it to current times.
Samsung is rolling out Gemini support for the Galaxy Buds 3 series. This move was announced earlier this year, and follows Google’s intentions to phase out Google Assistant and replace it with Gemini across all devices, including smartwatches and, yes, earbuds. If you’re eligible for the upgrade, you’ll see a new option titled “Set up Google digital assistant” within the Galaxy Wearable app. You’ll find it under the “Voice controls” section for the Buds 3 series, and this setting allows users to replace the default Bixby voice assistant with the more powerful Gemini AI.
This will give you not only quick answers to questions and queries, as well as hands-free navigation, but you’ll also get hands-free access to stuff like real-time translation, summarizing notifications, and controlling smart home devices with conversational commands. Pretty cool. There’s one big issue with this rollout so far, though. To enable Gemini on the Galaxy Buds 3, users must be running a device with One UI 8, based on Android 16. As of right now, this means that you may basically only use it if you have a Galaxy Z Flip 7 or a Galaxy Z Fold 7. It is currently in a limited beta phase for the Galaxy S25 series and for a handful of other devices. Technically, if you’re running the beta, you should be able to take advantage of this too, but we won’t tell you to install a pre-release firmware just to check out one feature that you’ll get within a couple of months anyway.
The other problem right now is that this appears to be a wonky rollout. Reports of the update first surfaced in late July, yet even if you have the correct hardware—such as a Galaxy Z Fold 7 paired with Galaxy Buds 3 Pro—you might not see Gemini pop up yet. If you have the hardware and software required for this, you might still need to wait a few days or weeks before you can actually check out Gemini on your earbuds.
If you have one of Samsung’s new foldables and these earbuds, keep an eye out to see if you may activate this sometime soon. If you have a Samsung device that’s eligible for the One UI 8 update, you might also see this new option pop up soon.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are the company’s newest flagship earbuds, featuring AI smarts like interpreter mode and voice detection. Expect top-notch audio quality with 10.5mm dynamic drivers paired with 6.1mm planar drivers.
