In 2015, Google Project Fi broke cover and entered into the already competitive wireless carriers’ market. This month marks my second year on Project Fi and honestly, I wouldn’t have any problem recommending the service to any of my friends and relatives.
You’ll agree that many publications rarely give Google Project Fi the credit it deserves, probably because they look at the service from the wrong angle. Look at it this way: if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, well, we all know what that would mean for the poor fish. And this is exactly how some people are looking at Fi.
Before you switch to Google Project Fi, note that the service is not a one size fits all solution. If you can see that the peg is square, don’t try to fit it into a round hole. The key to getting the most out of Fi is to really know its value and confirm that it indeed fits your needs. In short, Fi is not for everyone, but anyone can jump on board.
Perhaps one of the limiting features of Google Project Fi is the fact that it only supports a handful of phones. Other than all Google phones released from 2014 to date, the platform also works perfectly on the Moto X4 Android One phone. Maybe you don’t like any of these phones, but this shouldn’t be the basis on which you judge Fi.
The best way to look at Project Fi is from the cost perspective. How much do you save by using Fi compared to your previous carrier, for instance, AT&T or Verizon? For me, this is what makes Fi the best carrier in the country. Before moving to Fi, my wife and I used to spend about $200 to $300 per month on AT&T, but today, Fi costs anywhere between $40 and $100 per month and this includes two lines, tethering, 5 data SIMs as well as some international usage.
One reason people are not so happy about Project Fi is that it gets costly when it comes to data charges. With each GB of data you use, you part with $10. So, if you use 12GB per month, you pay $120 in addition to the $20 for phone and texting. However, given that nearly all places I visit have Wi-Fi hotspots, including my workplace and home, it has been easy to cut this usage to 2GB or even less when using Fi.
If you travel a lot, it means that you have to buy and register a new SIM card in each country you visit. This can be time-consuming and costly, but with Project Fi, you don’t have to go through all this. The same Fi SIM card and plan will still work in up to 135 countries across the globe, which not only saves you time and hassles but also money. It’s true that Google Project Fi is not perfect, however, in case of any issues; you’ll love the Fi support team behind the phones.
As noted, Fi is not for everyone. If you rarely come across free Wi-Fi hotspots, you don’t travel overseas on a regular basis and you happen to be a heavy internet (data) user, please keep off Fi, otherwise, you might end up with scary monthly bills.
Actually you pay 1 cent for each MB of mobile data since Project Fi issues a refund for any unused data and charges for any extra data used at the end of the monthly cycle at that rate. Many months I use more than 10 GB of Wi-Fi data and less than 50 MB of mobile data paying less than 50 cents.
Forgive my double dipping, but I have another observation about my Project Fi experience. I have been using it since April 2016 when I took advantage of a special offer and purchased a Nexus 5x for $199 with the restriction that it had to be activated on Project Fi. I traded that phone in for the Android One Moto x4 and should receive $165, $115 for the phone plus a $50 early upgrade bonus. So net I paid $34 (plus $12.64 in sales tax) for a phone I used for a more than 18 months. I also got 24 months of interest free financing on the x4.
You can cancel a Project Fi account at any time and eventually (it takes up to two months) receive a complete refund for any unused data and a prorated refund of the basic fee, regulatory fees and taxes, for the days and hours after the cancellation. (I had occasion to switch accounts.)