Pixel 11 series and Gemini unlock a way to dodge the calls you dread

Gemini can now make routine business calls for you on Google's Pixel 11 phones, the Pixel 11 Pro included, handling the phone menus, the hold music and the conversation itself. It's an early preview for now, but it goes a step past what the iPhone 18 Pro Max or Galaxy S26 Ultra can do, and it's one more thing to weigh when comparing the best Google Pixel phones.

Gemini will now sit on hold and talk to businesses for you

Google announced it in a post on its blog today as an early experiment for Gemini Intelligence on the Pixel 11, and it's aimed squarely at the calls most of us would rather skip.



Instead of dialing yourself, you ask Gemini in the Gemini app to check if a hardware store has a part in stock, reserve patio seating or move your haircut to next Thursday. Gemini then calls the business, introduces itself, gets through the automated menus, waits on hold and talks to whoever picks up, while you follow along on a live transcript and can take over at any time.

How Gemini's calls go further than Duplex and Hold for Me

Hold for Me only waits on the line and lets you know when a person picks up, while Direct My Call turns a business's phone menu into buttons on your screen. Duplex was mostly known for booking restaurant tables for Pixel owners, and Ask for Me in Google Search calls local shops only to ask about prices and availability.

Gemini rolls all of that into one request, and it holds the whole conversation the way Duplex did, only now for far more than a dinner reservation. It also introduces itself as an AI calling on your behalf (in Google's demo, "Hi, I'm Gemini, an AI assistant calling on behalf of Kristine M."), which is exactly what Duplex was criticized for leaving out when Google first showed it off in 2018.



Apple and Samsung, meanwhile, are still a step behind here. iOS 26 brought Hold Assist and Call Screening to the iPhone, but Hold Assist only calls you back once the hold music stops, and Samsung's Galaxy S26 call assistant only screens incoming calls by asking the caller what they want.

So if you're using an iPhone 18 Pro Max or a Galaxy S26 Ultra, nothing changes on your phone for now, although iPhone owners can still use Ask for Me in Google Search for quick price checks.

Who can try Gemini's calling feature on the Pixel 11 right now

You need a Pixel 11, a paid Gemini plan and a spot in the Phone by Google Public Beta, and you need to be in the US, so owners of older Pixels are left out of this first test.

Why Gemini's careful Pixel 11 rollout makes me more comfortable

Having Gemini say up front that it's an AI, keeping a live transcript on screen and letting us jump in at any point feels like the right way to roll this out, especially since the person answering never signed up to talk to a bot. I'd personally love to see this reach older Pixels once Google is confident in it, since rescheduling a haircut is exactly the kind of small errand I'd happily hand off.

More on Gemini and the Pixel 11:

• Every Gemini Intelligence feature coming to the Pixel 11
• Everything we know about the Pixel 11
• Google Pixel 11 Pro

• Follow me on X and Threads

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