Hey Google, please don't give the UK a half-baked Pixel again! [Update, Call Screening coming]
'Call Screening' and 'Hold for me' features continue to be missing for UK Pixel owners.
![Hey Google, please don't give the UK a half-baked Pixel again! [Update, Call Screening coming]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.ctfassets.net%2Fwhrcharioh3b%2F1hV0asojm3GlaU03a4PDK7%2F75bf9077b62a392aece3791a68fc26a5%2FPixel6real.png%3Ffit%3Dcrop%26w%3D3840%26h%3D2160%26q%3D70&w=3840&q=75)
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Update
Google has finally listened and is bringing one of these features to the UK, manual 'Call Screening' will be rolling out to the U.K., France, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Italy and Spain - learn how you can enable it now.
The Pixel 6 leaks are starting to trickle out, first with Jon Prossers renders of the Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 Pro. Now we have more information from the most reliable source there is on the subject, Google themselves.
Just like last year, Google had tried to beat the leakers at their own game by just going ahead and showing off the phone.
Unfortunately, this year Jon Prosser leaked some very accurate renders before Google could tease us with images of the back of the Pixel 6.
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will be fully unveiled most likely in October, this is in line with what we expect from Google every year.
Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro to have Google-made SoC
I'm expecting to hear lots more from Google about their 'Google-made' SoC, I'm hoping this will allow the Pixel 6 to have more than 2 years of Android updates.
It's the first processor designed by Google, custom-made for Pixel. It helps make Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro our smartest, most secure, and personal phones ever.
A hands-on video leaked of Pixel 6
Just yesterday, what seems to be a prototype of the Pixel 6 was leaked in a video, the video is very short but, we get a good look at the glossy back and the front of the phone.
Google continues to sell their phones in the UK with missing features
None of this matters if Google continues to sell their phones in the UK with missing features, most Pixel phones have been disappointing for Brits. At the 2019 Google I/O developer Keynote, Google’s senior VP of hardware and services Rick Osterloh introduced the Pixel 3A along with a new feature called ‘Call Screening’.
‘Call Screening’ is Google’s solution to unwanted telephone calls and scams, if you choose to put the caller through call screening, Google’s AI will eerily answer the call on your behalf and ask them a few questions whilst displaying the answers on the phone's display for you to read. You then have a choice whether to accept the call or decline depending on the responses you get.
If you’re Pixel owner in the UK, you’re forgiven for not knowing what this feature is, Google hasn’t brought this feature to its phones in the UK yet. Every year Google has brought a new phone since 2019 that hasn’t shipped with this feature.
In 2020, Google iterated on the ‘Call Screening’ feature with something called ‘Hold for me’, this feature uses Google’s AI to wait in a call queue for you and notifies you once you’ve reached number one in the queue.
I don’t have much confidence in Google bringing these features to the UK, even though the feature was expanded over to Canada two years ago.
If Google isn’t bringing these features to the UK again, they should lower the price that consumers in the UK pay.
Why should we pay a similar price to the US and Canada if we’re not getting all of the same features advertised?
Google may have issues with the regulation in the UK because of privacy laws, it can be very complex to bring features like 'Call Screening' and 'Hold for Me' to the UK because of this.
If that is the case, customers in the UK would appreciate transparency from Google on the subject instead of radio silence.
