Samsung's 'Hey Plex' Brings AI Search to Your Pocket

Samsung just made AI search a hands-free phone feature

Samsung announced a deep integration with Perplexity AI for the Galaxy S26, giving users a dedicated “Hey Plex” wake phrase that puts AI-powered research one voice command away. The partnership, unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked on February 25, makes Perplexity the first non-Google company to get system-level access on the world’s most popular Android devices.

This is not just another app pre-installed on a new phone. It is a signal that AI assistants are moving from standalone apps into the operating system itself — and that matters for anyone running a business from their phone.

What Samsung and Perplexity shipped

The Galaxy S26 comes with Perplexity pre-loaded and accessible three ways: saying “Hey Plex,” pressing and holding the side button, or launching it from within Samsung’s core apps. That last part is the real story.

Perplexity is embedded directly into Samsung Notes, Calendar, Gallery, Reminders, and Clock, plus select third-party apps. You can ask a question mid-conversation and have the sourced answer saved to Notes automatically. You can set a reminder or calendar event without switching apps. The AI works inside the tools you already use rather than asking you to leave them.

The multi-agent approach

Samsung is not replacing Google or Bixby with Perplexity. Instead, Galaxy AI acts as an orchestrator — routing tasks to whichever AI agent fits best. Won-Joon Choi, Samsung’s Mobile eXperience President, described it as bringing “different forms of AI into a seamless, cohesive user experience.”

Samsung’s internal research backs the strategy: nearly 8 in 10 users already rely on two or more AI agent types. Rather than forcing loyalty to one assistant, Samsung is betting that choice wins.

Why this matters for small business owners

If you run a service business, you already know that your phone is your office. You answer customer calls between jobs, check inventory from the truck, and Google competitors during lunch. Samsung embedding a research-grade AI assistant into those everyday phone tasks changes the workflow in a few concrete ways.

Faster answers to business questions

Perplexity is not a chatbot. It is an AI search engine that pulls from live web sources and cites everything. Need to check a supplier’s current pricing? Curious what your competitor is charging for a tune-up? Want to know the current SBA loan rates? “Hey Plex” gets you a sourced answer without thumbing through ten blue links.

For context, Perplexity processes over 1.2 billion search queries per month and generates $100 million in annual recurring revenue. This is not a side project — it is a primary search tool for millions of users.

Seamless task flow

The in-app integration is the real productivity gain. A plumber in Huntington can ask Perplexity about a specific water heater model, save the specs to Samsung Notes, and set a Calendar reminder to order the part — all without leaving the app he started in. That kind of seamless task flow used to require jumping between three or four apps and losing your train of thought along the way.

No subscription required for basics

Perplexity’s core search is free. The Pro tier at $20 per month unlocks unlimited Pro Search queries, file uploads, and image generation. For a small business owner who currently pays nothing for basic Google search, the free tier alone is a meaningful upgrade once it is built into the phone.

Our take

Samsung’s multi-agent approach is the right call. The AI assistant wars have created a fragmented experience — Siri for Apple users, Google Assistant for Android, ChatGPT for people who went and downloaded it. Most business owners do not have time to figure out which AI is best for which task. Samsung’s orchestration model handles that routing automatically.

The bottom line: The most important AI for your business is the one you actually use. Embedding AI search into the phone’s operating system removes the friction that keeps most people from using it at all.

What is missing from the conversation

The coverage has focused on consumers, but the small business angle is underreported. Business owners who use Samsung Galaxy devices — and there are hundreds of millions globally — will get a material productivity tool at no extra cost. That is especially significant in markets like Appalachia where budgets are tight and every free tool that saves time is worth adopting.

The other gap is offline capability. Samsung has not said whether “Hey Plex” works without a data connection. For business owners in rural areas with spotty cell coverage, that distinction matters.

Questions that remain

Will Perplexity’s system-level access expand to older Galaxy devices, or is this S26-only?
How does Samsung handle data privacy when three different AI agents have system-level access to your phone?
Will Perplexity’s ongoing copyright disputes affect its availability or features going forward?

What you should do

If you use a Samsung Galaxy phone

Upgrade to the S26 when it launches and try “Hey Plex” for a week of real business tasks — supplier lookups, competitor checks, quick research.
Test the in-app integration in Notes and Calendar. The value is in the workflow, not just the search results.
Compare it to your current process. Time how long a typical business research task takes with Google versus “Hey Plex.” The difference will tell you whether it sticks.

If you use an iPhone or another brand

Perplexity has standalone apps for iOS and Android that work on any device. You will not get the system-level integration, but the core AI search is the same. Download it and test it for business research — you do not need a Samsung phone to benefit from the tool.

Watch for

Apple’s response. Apple announced a reimagined Siri with on-screen awareness arriving with iOS 26.4 in March 2026. The AI assistant race is accelerating.
Google Gemini updates. Google is not going to cede ground on its own Android platform. Expect Gemini integration to deepen across Pixel and partner devices.

The bigger picture

AI is moving from apps you have to open into systems that work alongside you. Samsung’s “Hey Plex” integration is one step in that shift, but it will not be the last. For small business owners, the practical takeaway is simple: the AI tools in your pocket are getting better and easier to use without you having to do anything differently.

The businesses that benefit most will not be the ones who chase every new AI product. They will be the ones who pick up the tools already in their hands and actually use them. If you want help figuring out which AI tools fit your specific business, get in touch — that is what we do.