Samsung’s new Direct Voicemail feature is here, and I tried it out

Samsung has launched a new One UI 8.5 beta, and the new construct lastly introduces a feature that was leaked a number of months in the past. Direct Voicemail goals to overtake voicemail in the identical manner Apple did in iOS 17 with the Stay Voicemail feature, and Google did with its up to date Name Help options from the tip of 2025. So, how does One UI 8.5’s Direct Voicemail stack up, and is it value enabling over your service’s voicemail service?

Direct Voicemail bypasses your service’s voicemail service and as an alternative runs the voicemail in your gadget. It integrates with Samsung’s Textual content Name service, utilizing AI to transcribe and summarize incoming calls you didn’t decide up. You may also manually ship a name to Direct Voicemail by tapping the “extra choices” button in both the full-screen name UI or the pop-up on the high of the display screen.

When you’ve despatched the decision to Direct Voicemail, you’ll see a transcript of the message the particular person is leaving in actual time as they converse, and you’ll be able to decide up the decision if you want. After a voicemail has been left, you’ll be able to entry it from the current calls display screen. The decision card will present you the voicemail size and a snippet of the transcription.

Tapping into the transcript, you might have two Galaxy AI options that needs to be helpful for longer messages or voicemails with lots of background noise. On the high of the display screen, you might have the choice to summarise the transcript, which is useful for longer messages. Within the backside proper, you might have Audio Eraser, which might filter out distracting background noise to make the caller’s message simpler to listen to and perceive.

For those who don’t need to ship calls to Direct Voicemail your self, you’ll be able to have a name directed there mechanically when a preset period of time has elapsed. The default choices are 5, 10, and 20 seconds, however you’ll be able to set a customized time if these don’t fit your wants.

Google launched an analogous feature known as Take A Message to its telephones final yr, so how does Samsung’s try evaluate?

Based mostly on my restricted time with Direct Voicemail, the expertise is just like what Google presents with the Pixel. The distinction with the Pixel is that it’s simpler to activate. When Take a Message is enabled, a Pixel will use it mechanically everytime you reject a name, so that you don’t have to press a selected button.

I’m additionally prepared to guess the Pixel’s transcriptions shall be higher. I’ve solely used Direct Voicemail a couple of occasions to date to see how it all works, and the transcriptions have been spot on, however that was over a strong line with somebody talking clearly. Up to now, I’ve discovered that Samsung’s Textual content Name, on which this is primarily based, makes lots of errors when you add mumbling or background noise into the combination, whereas the Pixel doesn’t wrestle as a lot. I’ll need to see if Samsung has improved its transcriptions as I spend extra time with the One UI 8.5 beta, however I doubt it will surpass the Pixel.

Will you turn out of your outdated voicemail service to Direct Voicemail if you get One UI 8.5? Or would you somewhat maintain AI away out of your name inbox? Tell us within the feedback.