Yes it communicates with towers.
This allows for emergency calls.
Sim cards are for authentication to the network, not functionality.
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If I remove the SIM and turn off the mobile, does the pixel phone still communicate with towers? Thinking of going wifi-only.
Discussion
i wasnt paying attention to the part where you said turned off...
The device _shouldnt_ do anything when its turned off... but... there are reasons why smartphones generally dont have removable batteries and come with gps.
If you are concerned about privacy, keep it in a faraday cage, bag, or other signal blocking implement.
I meant turning off the mobile chip, but that's probably not possible