Samsung’s One UI 8.5 Beta brings a new feature, Direct Voicemail, to make managing missed calls easier. Instead of just leaving a call unanswered, callers can record a voice message that appears directly on your phone. However, in some conditions, the direct voicemail does not work on your Galaxy phones.

Direct Voicemail

Direct Voicemail lets you decide how long your phone rings before sending a call to voicemail. You can set it anywhere from 1 to 20 seconds or trigger voicemail manually during a call.

Once the voicemail is recorded, it is saved in the contact’s history, which makes it easy to review along with your incoming, outgoing, and missed calls. You can see these voice messages in the Phone app, read a short transcription, and even improve the audio using Samsung’s Audio Eraser.

When You Can’t Use It:

While Direct Voicemail is convenient, there are some situations when it does not work. These are:

• Your phone is switched off or has no network. In this case, Direct Voicemail won’t work.
• You are already on another call. The feature cannot record another voicemail at the same time.
• You are roaming internationally. Direct Voicemail does not work outside your home country.
• Your phone storage is almost full. Messages may fail to record or save properly.
• The call is a video call. Direct Voicemail only works for voice calls.

In these situations, One UI 8.5 Direct Voicemail does not work on your Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

One UI 8.5 brings advanced Direct Voicemail to Galaxy S25

Samsung’s version is smarter than Apple’s Live Voicemail. It uses Galaxy AI to reduce background noise and make messages clearer. You also get control over when the voicemail is sent, unlike Apple, which decides automatically.

Direct Voicemail is useful and convenient, but it only works under the right conditions. Knowing when it won’t work helps you avoid missing important messages and makes the most of Samsung’s smart voicemail system. Stay tuned for more information.

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Samsung’s Direct Voicemail feature arrived in One UI 8.5 Beta 4, and it’s better than Apple’s approach in at least two ways.

Galaxy S25 users finally received the much-anticipated fourth Beta update today. Starting in South Korea, it was quickly expanded to the United States, with users in India, Germany, Poland, and the UK also grabbing the OTA.

When it comes to Direct Voicemail, Samsung and Apple are circling the same idea. It’s about letting the phone handle missed calls more gracefully, without forcing users to pick up or dig through clutter later.

Though Samsung comes late to the Direct Voicemail offer, its version is smarter than Apple’s. It’s because of two advantages, including a voice enhancer powered by Galaxy AI and an auto send trigger for convenience.

Voicemail with Audio Eraser

Apple’s Live Voicemail records faithfully, but that is also the limitation. What you hear later is exactly what the microphone captured, noise and all.

Samsung’s Direct Voicemail takes a different approach, with the feature plugging straight into Galaxy AI’s Audio Eraser. The same system already used for cleaning up Gallery videos now applies to voice messages.

One UI 8.5 brings advanced Direct Voicemail to Galaxy S25

Automation for convenience

Apple decides when a Live Voicemail gets sent. The system handles the timing, and iPhone users live with that decision. However, Samsung hands that choice back to the user, making it a practically useful feature.

In One UI 8.5, Direct Voicemail includes a customizable auto-send timer. You can set it anywhere from 1 to 20 seconds. Beyond the basics, this is what thoughtful engineering looks like.

Samsung is not reinventing voicemail. It is refining the edges that people actually notice.

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One UI 8.5’s direct voicemail is officially released, and we’ve tried it out firsthand to give you a review of its newest capabilities. Apple has voicemail for quite some time now, and it’s quite a useful feature. Last year, Samsung also spotted testing this capability, and now, it’s finally launched for flagship phones.

The direct voicemail feature allows the caller to leave a voicemail message when they miss a call. Prior to leaving the message, the caller will hear a voicemail greeting, like “Please leave the message at the tone”.

During the recording, the receiver will have the option to answer or end the recording. Once recorded, the voicemail will be saved in the phone associated with a contact.

How to enable

For starters, the feature will show up as a notification on the dialer app. It is now a part of the Call settings, under “Direct voicemail”.

Besides the full ring, you can manually trigger the voicemail anytime from more options on the calling screen.

You can also decide when to send the incoming calls to voicemail after ringing. You can set 5, 10, or seconds or set a custom mark from 1 to 20 seconds.

Review Voicemail

One UI 8.5 brings a new blue voicemail icon in front of the contact name. Expanding the contact detail will reveal the voicemail duration and one line of transcribed summary. From here, you navigate to the voicemail screen, and it’s pretty much like the voice transcription.

You can check the transcription, summarize the call, check the playback, and remove background audio to improve the message’s clarity. You can delete voicemails from the settings. To be mentioned, the feature requires the mobile to be connected to a network.

Pros

• The feature works pretty accurately, without delays or faults.
• Voicemail quality is great
• The interface is nice and clean
• Voicemails’ history is part of the contact’s history page, similar to incoming, outgoing, and missed calls.
• Audio eraser integration saves the day

Cons

• Live transcription is not accurate
• Summarization isn’t accurate sometimes
• Transcription is not compatible for non-English speakers

You should know that the direct voicemail feature is part of the latest One UI 8.5’s fourth beta. It will be available for users with a stable release.

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Moments after the initial drop in Korea, Samsung has now expanded the One UI 8.5 Beta 4 to the Galaxy S25 series in the US, Germany, UK, and India. The latest firmware update adds February 2026 security patch and Direct Voicemail feature.

For Galaxy S25 users, One UI 8.5 Beta 4 feels like a turning point. The software is settling down, the security patch is current, and Direct Voicemail (via TarunVats) finally brings Samsung’s calling experience up to par with its biggest rivals.

February 2026 security patch

Build ZZAL brings the February 2026 security patch to the Galaxy S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra. That’s the February 5, 2026, security level, for those tracking patch currency. The download weighs in at approximately 1.5 gigabytes, via AndroidFlatform.

Direct Voicemail

Direct Voicemail is the headline feature, offering real-time transcription of incoming voicemails with the ability to jump into the call mid-message. Think of it as Samsung’s version of Pixel’s call screening, except it happens after you’ve already declined the call.

The caller leaves their message. You read it as text, live, on your screen. If it’s important enough, you pick up and interrupt them. If it’s another spam call, let it finish and delete it. The implementation feels polished from early reports.

Image translated from Korean to English using Google Translate

What’s encouraging is the execution speed. One UI 8.5 development has moved faster than previous point releases, and the beta quality has been surprisingly stable. That suggests Samsung’s internal development processes are maturing.

If you’re on the beta, update now. If you’re waiting for stable, you won’t be waiting much longer.

Related article:

BREAKING: Galaxy S25 users get One UI 8.5 Beta 4 with major fixes

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