Some of Pixel’s Best Features, and Most People Never Touch Them

“Your Pixel does more than calls, texts, and photos. Most people never turn on the best features.”

Why most people miss the best Pixel features

Most phones sell you on the highlight reel. A glossy camera shot. A gaming benchmark. A screen spec you forget two days later. Then real life happens. It is spam calls during work. It is being stuck on hold during lunch. It is losing notes from a meeting. It is missing a song name, then forgetting it five minutes later.

They do not look flashy in a store demo, but they feel like relief in your day.

This blog covers Pixel features people miss or forget, even after months of ownership. You will also see how each feature fits real routines, not a demo table.

Call Screen, your spam filter for real life

Call Screen is one of the best features on the Google Pixel. It screens unknown callers so you avoid picking up spam, robocalls, and random sales pitches. If you take a lot of calls, spam does not feel like a minor annoyance. Pixel’s Call Assist suite focuses on calls first, not as an afterthought.

What Call Screen does do?

When an unknown number calls, you tap “Screen call.” Google Assistant answers, asks who is calling, and shows a live transcript on your screen, then decide what to do next.

You get options like:

• Answer the call if it looks legit
• Hang up if it looks like spam
• Send quick prompts to move the call along

A lot of people still think screening means “sending calls to voicemail.” Call Screen feels different. It feels like you are letting your phone talk first. Some users hesitate at first, especially if they dislike automated systems.

When it saves you the most time

Call Screen shines in three situations:

• Busy days. You see the transcript while you keep doing what you are doing.
• Unknown numbers. You stop guessing. You stop answering out of habit.
• Repeat spam. You reduce the number of times you get pulled into a fake pitch.

Want to learn more about call screening? Visit a Tom Harris Store near you! 

Hold for Me, your hold music exit

Hold lines waste time in a sneaky way. You do not only lose the minutes on hold. You lose focus because you listen for the agent to return. You stop doing other work because you do not want to miss the pickup.

When you call a business and the system puts you on hold, you tap Hold for Me. The phone waits on the line, listens for a human, then alerts you when a real person returns.

How does it benefit you?

• Small business owners dealing with suppliers, billing, plus support lines
• Anyone booking appointments who hates being stuck with the phone to their ear
• People who call insurance, banks, plus utilities more often than they want

What you need to know

• Hold for Me works best with clear hold music plus clear agent pickup.
• You still need to return to the phone when the alert hits.
• Availability varies by region and language, so it is worth checking settings first.

Clear Calling, cleaner voice in noisy places

Clear Calling is the feature people notice after the call ends. Someone says, “You sounded clear.” You realize you were standing near traffic, a fan, or a crew. Clear Calling reduces background noise for the person on the other end. It targets the sounds around you so your voice stays easier to hear.

Most people don’t realize it’s there, they get the benefit without learning the name.

Use cases

• You take calls outside a shop. Cars pass every few seconds. Clear Calling helps the person hear you.
• You work retail. The store music plus chatter adds up. Clear Calling keeps your voice cleaner.
• You travel. Airports plus cafes get loud fast. Clear Calling helps you sound steady.

Add Me, The Group Photo Feature Most People Forget

Add Me works like a two-step group photo workflow. You take the first photo with the group. Then you hand the phone to someone else, and Pixel helps merge you into the same scene so everyone shows up in one final image.

Most people treat group photos like a one-shot task. They snap, they move on. Add Me works best when you slow down for an extra 15 seconds and follow the prompt. 

Add Me helps you avoid:

• the awkward “hand the phone to a stranger” moment
• the rushed timer sprint
• the cropped group photo where someone is missing

Some ways you can use Add Me:

• Use Add Me for family gatherings, team dinners, and travel photos.
• Pick a background with stable lighting. Moving light makes the merge harder.
• Stand close to the group during the second shot. Similar distance helps the final blend.

A Quick tip

Use it in good light first. Like most computational photo tools, it works best when:

• faces are clear
• lighting stays consistent
• the background stays steady

Once you nail it once, you start using it on trips, holidays, plus team events.

Circle to Search, the fastest way to look things up

Circle to Search is the “why did my phone never do this before” feature. It lets you search what is on your screen by circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping. No screenshots. No app switching.

Some use cases:

• Copy text from apps that block copying. Circle, then select text.
• Translate a line on-screen fast, especially when traveling.
• Identify a product in a video or photo, then find it online.
• Pull a tracking number or phone number off an image and paste it into Messages.

Some people assume Circle to Search only works on static screens. It also works while video plays, which helps when you want to pause on a product or sign and search instantly.

Come visit a Tom Harris Store near you and see how this works in person!

Now Playing, song ID without lifting a finger

Now Playing is the feature people brag about after they live with Pixel for a week. It identifies songs playing around you automatically, then keeps a history so you can look back later. One day you remember, “What was that song in the café?” and you realize your phone already logged it.

Apps like Shazam work well, but you still need to open them. Now Playing runs in the background and logs what it detects, so you often do not need to do anything in the moment.

How to use it in real life

• You hear a song in a store. You glance at your lock screen and see the title.
• You forget to check the name. Later, you open history and find it.
• You use it as a “weekly playlist builder” by scanning what it captured.

Pixel Recorder, the easiest way to capture ideas

Pixel Recorder is a quiet powerhouse, especially for anyone who thinks faster than they type. It records audio, transcribes speech, plus supports speaker labels on supported devices so you can follow conversations more easily. Meetings often produce messy notes. Someone forgets action items. Someone remembers a detail differently. Recorder gives you a clean transcript you can scan, search, and share.

You do not need perfect notes. You need recoverable notes.

Recorder helps when you:

• brainstorm out loud
• capture meeting highlights
• log a to-do list while driving, then clean it up later
• record a quick thought before it disappears

Our suggested way to use it:

• record the thought as soon as it shows up
• add a simple title right away
• later, skim the transcript or summary, then pull out action items

The goal is not to build an archive. The goal is to stop losing ideas.

Gemini Live Plus Smarter Writing in GBoard

This is the section that changes minds for people who “do not want AI.” I frame it as a helper for the boring parts of your day, not a replacement for your work. Gemini Live gives you a more natural, back-and-forth voice conversation with Gemini, so you can think out loud, ask follow-ups, and keep moving.

Some Examples:

• You walk to a meeting and need a short agenda. You talk it out. Gemini Live helps you tighten it into three bullets.
• You get hit with a customer complaint email. You ask for two reply drafts, one firm and one softer. You pick the best parts and send.
• You want a quick explanation of a topic before you call a vendor. You ask for a 60-second briefing.

Gboard proofreading, a smaller win with big impact A lot of Pixel owners treat the keyboard like a keyboard. Then they see proofreading and realize the phone helps them write cleaner messages fast.

An example approach for Gboard: 

• Use proofreading for client emails, job quotes, and meeting follow-ups.
• Keep your voice. Do not accept changes blindly.
• Read once before sending. Speed matters, accuracy matters more.

Live Translate plus Gemini, everyday help that feels invisible

A lot of people say they “do not use AI.” Then you watch how they use their phone and you realize they already rely on smart tools all day. Pixel makes this feel less like a feature and more like a helper.

Live Translate matters most in texting because texting is fast. You do not want to bounce between translation apps. When translation sits inside your workflow, you use it more, and you feel less stuck mid-conversation.

Gemini works best when you treat it like a first draft partner.

Use it for:

• rewriting a message so it sounds clearer
• summarizing a long block of text
• turning bullet notes into a clean paragraph
• asking for options when you feel stuck

The win is not “AI magic.” The win is speed plus clarity, with you still deciding the final result. If you do not trust the output, you do not send it. You edit it. That mindset keeps it useful, not risky.

Conclusion

Here is the honest truth. Most people do not need a new phone. They need five minutes with the phone they already own. f you set up Call Screen plus Hold for Me, you stop wasting attention on spam and hold lines. If you turn on Now Playing, you stop losing songs you love. If you use Circle to Search, you stop doing the copy-paste dance. If you use Add Me, you stop leaving people out of the photo.

Then the bigger point kicks in. These features change how your day feels. Less friction. Less noise. More flow.

IIf you want help setting any of this up, visit a Tom Harris Cellular location and ask a team member to walk you through your top two features. You will leave with it working, plus you will know how to use it in your day.

Plus, activate a Pixel 10 series with Tom Harris Cellular, and you’ll score a FREE Gift,  a $139 value. It’s an extra value-add that helps you get more out of your upgrade, with support from our team in store.

Visit your nearest Tom Harris Cellular store to claim your free $139 gift with purchase with a Pixel 10 series activation, while supplies last.