I let Bixby answer my calls and everyone hung up on me

Samsung’s One UI is chock-full of options, lots of which you won’t even know existed. And if that wasn’t sufficient, seemingly each different replace brings alongside a smattering of latest options and enhancements. Working example — Samsung not too long ago rolled out the One UI 5.1 replace alongside the discharge of the Galaxy S23 collection. Whereas I are likely to ignore minor model bumps after they hit my smartphone, one characteristic buried deep within the changelog caught my eye: Bixby textual content name.

Going by the title, you would possibly suppose the characteristic is an extension of Bixby in a roundabout way — maybe the AI assistant can now write your texts a la ChatGPT? Happily, nevertheless, Bixby textual content name has virtually nothing to do with the voice assistant that goes by the identical title. As an alternative, it’s a brand-new characteristic that mimics Name Screening on Google’s Pixel smartphones. And one of the best half? It’s accessible on nearly any Samsung cellphone working One UI 5.1 or greater, no matter the place you reside.

That’s proper — Bixby textual content name can reply calls in your behalf and transcribe the caller’s speech in a textual content chat-like interface. You may then select to reply by way of textual content, reply the decision, or hold up. However that’s simply the speculation — does it work in the actual world? I’ve had the characteristic enabled on my Galaxy S21 FE for the previous month to seek out out.

When you allow Bixby textual content name, you’ll see a brand new button on the incoming name display. In the event you faucet it and reply the decision, Bixby will take over. The thought is that you will discover out the caller’s intent earlier than giving them your full consideration. If it’s an unknown quantity, you in all probability need to know if it’s the physician’s workplace calling or only a salesman barking up the improper tree.

I didn’t cease at unknown numbers, although. I made a decision to let Bixby reply all of my calls, even when it got here on the expense of disgruntled family and friends.

So what occurred? The excellent news is that Bixby textual content name does what it claims. When answering a name, it greets the caller and reads out the next: “Hello. I’m utilizing Bixby to speak for me. Please inform me why you’re calling, then Bixby will learn my responses to you.” Something the caller says, even whereas Bixby introduces itself, is then mechanically transcribed and displayed on the cellphone. From right here, you possibly can faucet on just a few pre-defined replies or kind your personal responses.

Nevertheless, it didn’t take lengthy for me to note that callers didn’t like speaking to Bixby. Whereas this will appear apparent given the voice assistant’s heritage, it’s truly not for the explanations you would possibly suppose. Despite the fact that Samsung gives 5 totally different voices to select from, none of them sounded convincing and even pleasant to my callers. Pixel’s Name Screening sounds much more pure because it makes use of the Assistant and Google’s glorious text-to-speech engine.

Samsung’s preliminary greeting additionally consists of two mentions of the phrase “Bixby,” which suggests little or no to the common individual. Who’s Bixby and why are they on the decision with me? Unsurprisingly, I’ve seen many first-time callers take a protracted pause to course of what they’ve simply heard. And some hung up on me too, earlier than making an attempt to name once more. However after they do lastly reply, Bixby transcribes English phrases decently effectively generally.

Bixby additionally relays no matter I kind into the underside textual content area in its personal voice. This may be useful if it’s good to talk one thing privately when different individuals are round you. The one draw back is the lengthy pause because the caller has to attend for me to kind in my response. Nonetheless, the fast responses assist weed out unscrupulous callers as you possibly can merely hit them with a “Sorry, I’m busy proper now.”

You could have seen that I stated Bixby works effectively “generally” earlier. That’s as a result of Bixby textual content name is way from good and, extra importantly, completely doesn’t assist any language that isn’t English or Korean. In the event you stay in a bilingual area, you’ll shortly uncover that Bixby will strive its hardest to transcribe non-supported languages…and fail miserably. I’ll let the next screenshots from a non-English dialog do the speaking:

Is it Samsung’s fault that I used Bixby textual content name for non-English voice calls? No, the corporate makes that limitation fairly clear earlier than you even allow the characteristic. However it’s not like I knew which language the caller spoke earlier than I answered the decision. The outcomes are nonetheless entertaining, although.

All jokes apart — this limitation wouldn’t be so unhealthy if I may assessment or take heed to a recording and cross-verify what the caller stated. However in contrast to Name Screening on the Pixel, Samsung telephones don’t retailer an audio recording of the decision — solely a duplicate of the textual content transcript. So should you screened an necessary name in a language Bixby doesn’t perceive, you’ll by no means know what the decision was about.

In the event you can put aside the language barrier, Bixby textual content name is a genuinely useful characteristic for whenever you’re suspicious of a spam name or can not reply voice calls. And past screening calls, the power to kind your personal responses is an enormous step ahead. You may even have a dialogue with the opposite individual fairly than simply asking them “Is it pressing?” or “Who’re you?” For context, Google’s Name Screening can solely do the latter.

I do know I’ve criticized the characteristic a good bit, however Bixby textual content name works decently effectively already, particularly should you solely contemplate it for name display functions. From what I’ve seen, entrepreneurs hold up fairly shortly after they hear an automatic response versus if I stated the identical factor in my voice as a substitute. However that doesn’t imply it has to finish there. Listed below are just a few enhancements I hope Samsung brings to the characteristic:

• Customized greeting: Bixby’s present introduction takes too lengthy to recite and will be complicated should you don’t already know in regards to the voice assistant. A customized greeting would go a good distance towards making the expertise really feel extra bespoke and private. Samsung does have a characteristic that makes use of AI to create an offline copy of your voice, nevertheless it’s restricted to Korean for now.
• Galaxy Watch integration: I decline calls from my wrist as a rule, particularly after I’m round different individuals. If Samsung brings the Bixby textual content name button to its Galaxy Watch line, I’d have another reason to make use of the characteristic — take calls discreetly.
• Background name screening: Manually screening a name from my wrist is cool, however you realize what’s even higher? Doing it mechanically, like Name Screening on the newest Pixel telephones. The Samsung Dialer app already identifies spam calls precisely in my space, so mechanically screening them could be an enormous plus.
• Saved audio recordings: As I alluded to earlier, the shortage of audio recordings actually hurts the characteristic’s usefulness. Google’s Name Screening didn’t embrace this at launch both, so I can solely hope Samsung provides it sooner or later. It will clear up the multi-language drawback as I can then merely ignore Bixby’s gibberish.

Good-to-have characteristic requests apart, credit score the place it’s due: Samsung permits you to use Bixby textual content name anyplace on the planet. That’s a privilege you don’t get with Name Screening on the Pixel, because it’s merely unavailable in lots of areas. In the event you transfer or swap to an area SIM card whereas touring, the characteristic will merely disappear. Samsung doesn’t impose related restrictions, regardless that it solely helps two languages in the meanwhile.

All in all, Bixby textual content calling in all probability gained’t persuade you to purchase a Samsung smartphone. Nevertheless, it’s undoubtedly a type of uncommon Android options that you simply gained’t discover anyplace else (sure, barring a Pixel). Whether or not it’s good proper now or not, I’d fairly have some type of name screening than nothing in any respect.