Do you really still use your smartphone as a phone?

Can we all agree that the recent Pixel phone missed calls debacle is one of the strangest tech stories of the year? Some Google smartphone owners have noticed that their devices often don’t ring until a call drops. As you can imagine, this is a particularly annoying issue for those who use their phones as well… phones.

But this has made me wonder: how many of our readers still use their phones as “phones”?

Personally, I rarely ever do anymore.

I’ve placed two calls this year — TWO — and both were to my bank. If I call a loved one or friend, I usually use WhatsApp’s calling facility. Work meetings are conducted via apps, while the voice calls I receive are almost entirely from companies trying to sell me insurance, phone plans, or cars I never asked for or don’t need.

Contrast this to the early 2000s, when I owned a Nokia 3310. I couldn’t imagine not being able to call my friends or parents when I was a freshman in high school. What was once my mobile handset’s defining feature is now well down my list of priorities.

If anything, a phone that doesn’t ring sounds like a feature, not a bug (I’m kidding, obviously).

I’ll acknowledge that millions of smartphone users still rely on their phones’ cellular voice capabilities for business, personal, or emergency use. In these cases, ensuring that your phone rings in a timely, reliable manner is critical. But, is this the norm or the exception in 2026?

So, I want to ask you: do you still use your smartphone as a phone, or has it become a personal computer used to run apps, take photos, watch media, and little else?

Here are some more questions:

• Do you own a Pixel? Have you experienced the missed calls glitch?
• Have you experienced this problem on a non-Pixel device?
• How often do you use your smartphone to place or receive calls? Too often to remember or once in a blue moon?
• Do you think smartphone makers are spending too much time developing features that don’t improve calling quality or reliability?

👇 If you have a specific comment related to your poll choice or want to answer any of the questions posed above, be sure to have your say in the comments below.