How to say goodbye to unwanted calls

We all know the feeling of picking up an unknown call and realizing it’s another insurance company trying to sell a policy. Spam calls, fueled by robocallers in recent years, are annoying and take up more time and mental space than they deserve. Google Assistant has an answer to this in the form of Call Screen, an exclusive feature for Google Pixel devices. None of the other best Android phones on the market have it.

Call Screen picks up the call on your behalf to ask the person on the other end why they’re calling and prevents almost all spam calls from bothering you. The feature might not seem like a big deal, but once you get used to it, there’s no going back.

Call Screen doesn’t need Wi-Fi or a mobile data connection and works on the device. It is not your typical spam call blocking feature that relies on Google’s spam database. If it’s a robocall, it automatically hangs up the call without letting the phone ring. However, if there’s a human on the other end, it asks them to explain the reason for calling and shows you a transcript of their response. Depending on the answer, you can make Google Assistant either ask further questions like “Is it urgent?” or tell them that you’ll call later. If you figure it’s not a spam call, you can pick up the call and continue the conversation.

There’s more to call screening than blocking spam calls, though, and we dive into the details below.

Which Google Pixel phones work with Call Screen?

There are several perks to getting a Google Pixel, and Call Screen is one of them. The feature is available exclusively on Google’s smartphones—from the OG Pixel to the Pixel 6 Pro, the mid-range Google Pixel 6a, and the newly announced Google Pixel 7 and 7 Pro.

While all Pixels support the feature, Google rolled out Call Screen in a handful of countries, and it’s currently available in the following regions:

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Spain
• UK
• U.S.

How to use Call Screen on your Pixel phone

Call screening is primarily aimed at spam calls and robocalls, but its usefulness extends beyond that. It’s also handy to deal with calls from unknown numbers when you’re in situations where you can’t pick up the call, say when in a meeting or a lecture.

Instead of missing the call, you can manually screen the call—it appears as a third option alongside Answer and Decline—and read the transcription to know who is calling and why. If the call is legitimate, you can get Google Assistant to talk on your behalf by choosing from a few on-screen prompts such as “I’ll call you back” or “Tell me more.” The transcript and audio of all spam calls are saved locally on your device, and you can access them later from the call logs in the Phone app.

Incoming calls from contacts saved on your phone are not screened, so those contacts won’t face any delays or annoying messages when they call you.

Customize Call Screen to your needs

Call screening offers a few settings that give you a certain degree of control over how Assistant handles unknown calls. Here’s how to access them:

1. Open the Google Phone app.
2. Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Go to the Spam and Call Screen menu option.

5. Open Call Screen to access the settings.

Here, you can tweak a bunch of settings to customize the experience to your needs and ensure that you aren’t missing any important calls.

• Save Call Screen audio: If you want to save the audio of all the calls answered by the Assistant, turn on this setting. The audio recordings are accessible from the Phone app’s call logs.
• Choose which calls to screen: Not all unknown calls are the same. While some can be spam calls, others can be from new connections whose numbers you haven’t saved. Google acknowledges this and lets you choose which kinds of calls to screen. It splits unknown calls into four categories: Spam, Possibly faked numbers, First-time callers, and Private or hidden. Automatic call screening is only available on the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series.

  If you don’t want to use automatic call screening on a category of calls, choose Ring phone (default). Even when you disable automatic screening, you can manually screen an unknown incoming call by selecting the Screen Call option.

• Change Assistant voice: Google provides two Assistant voices for call screening that you can sample. The choice isn’t elaborate, but if you care whether a masculine or a feminine voice represents you on calls, you have control over that.

How to automatically screen or silently decline spam calls on the Google Pixel 6 or Google Pixel 7

On the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series, Call Screen automatically screens all incoming calls. There’s also an option to screen and decline robocalls or silently decline spam calls. This feature relies on Google’s spam database to work. So, any number registered as a spam number in Google’s database is automatically screened or silently declined, depending on your selection. On older Pixel phones, you have to trigger call screening for each call manually.

1. Open the Google Phone app.
2. Tap the three-dot menu button in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Select Spam and Call Screen from under the Assistive section.
5. Open Call Screen to access the settings.
6. Under Unknown Call Settings, select Spam.
7. Depending on your preference, select the Automatically screen. Decline robocalls or Silently decline option.

You can similarly set up automatic call screening for private or hidden numbers and first-time callers on your Pixel 6 or Pixel 7.

More Google Pixel tips and tricks that make your phone magical

Google’s Call Screen is an effective way to deal with spam calls and, since its inception in 2018, has only become better at identifying spam and robocalls. This isn’t the only trick Assistant on the Pixel has up its sleeve. You can also use it to hold calls, check call wait times, and navigate slow-moving audio menus.

If you’re thinking about upgrading your gear, check out our Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro first impressions and our Google Pixel Watch preview.

• Google Pixel 7

  Source: Google

  Google didn’t reinvent the wheel with the Pixel 7, but they didn’t need to. With improved cameras, the next-gen Tensor 2 chipset, and Google’s wonderfully feature-filled software, the Pixel 7 earns its price tag handily again this year.

   

  Specifications

  SoC:

  Google Tensor G2

  Display:

  6.3-inch FHD+ OLED, 90Hz

  RAM:

  8GB

  Storage:

  128GB, 256GB

  Battery:

  4,355mAh

  Ports:

  USB-C

  Operating System:

  Android 13

  Front camera:

  10.8MP, f/2.2, 92.8° FoV

  Rear cameras:

  50MP wide (f/1.85), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2, 114° FoV)

  Connectivity:

  Wi-Fi 6e, 5G (sub6 / mmWave)

  Dimensions:

  155.6 x 73.2 x 8.7mm

  Weight:

  197g

  Charging:

  30W wired, up to 23W wireless

  IP Rating:

  IP68

  Price:

  $599 USD

• Google Pixel 7 Pro

  Source: Google

  Google’s Pixel 7 Pro refines the Pixel experience after the 6 Pro’s initial stumbles last year, improving stability and taking the camera prowess to new levels with image fusing and 4K60fps video on all cameras. 30W fast charging and Pixel’s addictive features like automatic Call screening and Pixel recorder help make the Pixel 7 Pro an alluring phone even as an iterative update.

  Specifications

  SoC:

  Google Tensor G2

  Display:

  6.7-inch QHD+ OLED, 120Hz, LTPO

  RAM:

  12GB

  Storage:

  128GB, 256GB, 512GB

  Battery:

  5,000mAh

  Ports:

  USB-C

  Operating System:

  Android 13

  Front camera:

  10.8MP, f/2.2, 92.8° FoV

  Rear cameras:

  50MP wide (f/1.85), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2, 125.8° FoV), 48MP telephoto (f/3.5, 5x optical zoom)

  Connectivity:

  Wi-Fi 6e, 5G (sub6 / mmWave)

  Dimensions:

  162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9mm

  Weight:

  212g

  Charging:

  30W wired, up to 23W wireless

  IP Rating:

  IP68

  Price:

  $899 USD