A Quick Look at What You Will—And Won’t—Get with Google Fi
- Paul Thurrott
- Nov 28, 2018
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54
Considering switching to Google Fi? You should: It’s feature-rich, inexpensive, and transparent. But it may also not work fully with your smartphone. So let’s see how this plays out, using a few obvious examples.
As a bit of background, I use and strongly recommend Google Fi—previously called Project Fi—though I had only one (major) caveat to that recommendation to date: Until this week, the service was only compatible with a small selection of mostly Google-branded handsets. So if you used an iPhone, a Samsung Galaxy, a OnePlus, or virtually any other non-Google Android phone, you were out of luck.
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Well, that just changed. Effective immediately, Google Fi is now compatible with iPhone and most Android handsets. The issue is that you won’t necessarily get the full Fi experience on phones that weren’t designed specifically for Fi. These phones—which include the Pixel 2/2 XL, Pixel 3/3 XL, the Moto G6 and Moto X, and the LG V35 ThinQ and G7 ThinQ, include special networking hardware that lets them seamlessly switch between networks, a key Fi benefit. (In the U.S. those networks are T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular.) You also lose some other features, like the Fi VPN.
So let’s compare and contrast. Let’s see what Google Fi features are available across three phones I’ve used in recent months: The Google Pixel 2 XL, the OnePlus 6T, and the Apple iPhone XS.
Google Pixel 2 XL
Unlimited talk/text for $20 per month. Yes
Data for $10 per 1 GB per month. Yes
Bill protection at 6 GB per month. Yes
Full-speed data to 15 GB per month. Yes
Group plan. Yes.
Free international data roaming. Yes
Free international texting. Yes
Affordable international phone calls. Yes
No contracts. Yes
Seamless switching between cell networks and Wi-Fi hot-spots. Yes
Automatic VPN protection. Yes
Data-free SIM cards for other devices. Yes
Googe Fi mobile app. Yes
The Pixel 2 XLÂ is fully Fi-compatible, so you get the entire range of Google Fi functionality.
OnePlus 6T
Unlimited talk/text for $20 per month. Yes
Data for $10 per 1 GB per month. Yes
Bill protection at 6 GB per month. Yes
Full-speed data to 15 GB per month. Yes
Group plan. Yes.
Free international data roaming. Yes
Free international texting. Yes
Affordable international phone calls. Yes
No contracts. Yes
Seamless switching between cell networks and Wi-Fi hot-spots. NO
Automatic VPN protection. NO
Data-free SIM cards for other devices. Yes
Googe Fi mobile app. Yes
The two key missing pieces here are the lack of seamless network switching and lack of automatic VPN protection.
Apple iPhone XS
Unlimited talk/text for $20 per month. Yes
Data for $10 per 1 GB per month. Yes
Bill protection at 6 GB per month. Yes
Full-speed data to 15 GB per month. Yes
Group plan. Yes.
Free international data roaming. Yes
Free international texting. Yes
Affordable international phone calls. Yes
No contracts. Yes
Seamless switching between cell networks and Wi-Fi hot-spots. NO
Automatic VPN protection. NO
Data-free SIM cards for other devices. Yes
Googe Fi mobile app. Yes
The two key missing pieces here are the lack of seamless network switching and lack of automatic VPN protection.
But Google also notes that iPhone users will need to make a manual configuration change for text messaging to work correctly, something that is common with mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) like Google Fi. That said, iMessage works fine.
Also problematic, there’s no visual voicemail support on Google Fi. To make up for this, Google will text message you a transcription of each voicemail you receive, which is nice.
I’ll start testing Google Fi with my OnePlus 6T starting this week. I’m excited by these changes, and I had never expected an improvement this dramatic.
You can learn more about Google Fi on the Google Fi website.
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Conversation 54 comments
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faustxd9
Premium Member<blockquote><em><a href="#374088">In reply to mhanch:</a></em></blockquote><p>With a $200 service credit today (only on the 28th) I am going to try it out for at least the period required for the promotion.</p>
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Bats
<p>This is a super major win for smart phone users (in general). More carriers, more competition….lower prices. Even technically, Google isn't going to be a provider, ….the more sellers, the better.</p><p><br></p><p>The best is of this service is the free international roaming. For the most part, no need to purchase a foreign sim card, or at least that's my experience. </p><p><br></p><p>Now I'm wondering….hmmmm…… How come Google ditched the word "Project" in "Project Fi?" Was the word and reputation of Project just so bad that Google had replace it with its own name brand? LOL.</p>