Samsung may launch Bixby-powered earphones alongside the Galaxy Note 8

Samsung confirmed earlier this week that it’s going to unveil the Galaxy Note 8 on August 23. If a new report out of South Korea is believed, the Galaxy Note 8 may not be the only product that Samsung launches that day. It’s reportedly going to launch Bixby-powered earphones alongside the new flagship phablet.

While the report claims that the Bixby earphones will be launched with the Galaxy Note 8, it doesn’t clarify if Samsung is going to ship them with the new handset or if they’re only going to be sold as a standalone accessory.

It seems that the product will be similar to Apple’s AirPods but Samsung is reportedly going to kick things up a notch by also integrating noise cancellation technology. The unnamed product will signal a big change in the way we interact with these products by primarily relying on voice-based and not touch-based controls.

An unnamed Samsung official mentioned in the report says that the Bixby-powered earphones aren’t final yet so it’s possible that they might not arrive with the Galaxy Note 8. Samsung was also rumored to be working on a Bixby-powered smart speaker recently but the company says it’s not going to release one anytime soon.

Bixby-powered earphones will enable Samsung to offer its voice assistant to an entirely new segment of the market. After all, most people are not going to spend close to $800 to buy a Samsung flagship just to try Bixby.