Google Fi – Save Money, Be Happier
I’ve been using Google’s Project Fi (AKA just Google Fi) now for over 2 years. My average monthly bill is around $30 (incl taxes). In this article I’m going to give you 10 reasons why YOU should consider switching to Google’s Project Fi as your cell phone carrier. Trust me, once you give Fi a try, I doubt you will go back.
Editor’s Note: I am a real consumer of Project Fi not a paid supporter. I honestly do believe in the service. That said, when I share a link to Project Fi’s homepage it is a Referral Link which I hope you will find to be a win-win, because if you sign up for the service, after 30 days of being active we BOTH get a $20 credit. Pretty cool, huh?
Here’s a direct link to the offer if you want to learn more.
10 Reasons to Switch to Google Project Fi
1.SAVE MONEY.
Since most people nowadays rarely bother to read an entire blog post, I’m starting with the most important reason first.
Switch to Google Project Fi and I’d wager you’ll save a nice little chunk of change.
The average bill for my phone with Verizon Wireless was over $60 a month – that was on a family plan that was supposed to be saving me money and even included a 22% employer discount. It was a fairly basic plan with unlimited talk/text and I averaged 1GB data or less per month. Can you say “screw-job?” Yeah, that’s what I thought too, so I decided to try Google Fi.
So what’s my average bill with Google Project Fi for similar coverage (unlimited talk/text and 1GB data)?
$29 – inclusive of all fees.
I don’t think it takes a math whiz to realize which one is the better deal.
2. GET REFUNDS ON UNUSED DATA
What’s better than rollover data?
How about getting an actual refund on the data you don’t use?
It’s pretty much a flat fee of $10 per GB, but the catch is that with Google Fi you only pay for the data you actually use and get a refund on what you didn’t use.
How’s that for consumer friendly?
3. BETTER COVERAGE INSIDE BUILDINGS
My job takes me inside a lot of big buildings (hospitals, hotels, etc) for extended periods of time. With Verizon I was always frustrated to be without service on many an occasion. My colleagues with AT&T, T-Mobile, etc also seemed to have similar issues.Since I switched to Google Project Fi this hasn’t been an issue.
Why? Because as long as you can connect to wifi inside, you’ll have coverage. And with so many places having wifi now, this make connecting easy.
4. A COMBO OF WIFI AND CELL TOWERS
What makes Google’s Project Fi unique is that the coverage for your service is provided by a combo of WiFi and cell towers owned by a variety of carriers.
The benefit of this is that your Google Fi phone will automatically switch back and forth between WiFi or cell towers to provide you the best network coverage – it’s silent, seamless, and happens without you even knowing.
This means less dropped calls and better coverage overall.
Google’s massive scale also means you don’t have to worry about having every WiFi password stored in your phone to connect – Google has an ever-growing list of (public) WiFi networks coded into your phone’s service so you’ll phone connects to many of them automatically.
5. INCREDIBLE INTERNATIONAL DATA “FOR FREE!”
That same $10 per GB you paid for in the US also applies in 120 other countries for no additional fee.
This is simply amazing if you travel internationally even a couple times a year.
With Verizon I used to have to pay $2 per MB or else call them and add a crappy little temporary international plan for either $10/day or an extra $40 a month (for a generous 100MB of data and 100 mins of talk and 100 texts) – gee thanks, Verizon.
With Google Fi there is no need to call or notify them to get access to their international plan because all their plans include international coverage. That means you don’t have to fear international roaming charges so long as you are in one of the 120 counties on the list.
Just use your phone like you do in the US – what could be simpler?
6. GOOGLE USERS UNITE
Assuming you have a google account already (perhaps for your gmail or YouTube usage), then you basically already have a Google Project Fi account since Google Fi is simply an extension of your already existing google account.
This allows you to manage everything with one google account.
Again simple.
If you are one of the few people in the world who somehow doesn’t have a google account, signing up is easy, quick and simple – just click on that login button in the top right hand corner of your Google search page and join the rest of us.
7. SAVE EVEN MORE IF YOU DON’T WANT DATA.
If for some reason you don’t want data, that’s A-OK with Google Project Fi.
Believe it or not, you’re actually allowed to have a plan with Google Fi ex-data if you so desire.
That puts your bill down in the $20/month range and could be perfect for your elderly friends and family who just want talk/text.
Try doing that with Verizon or another carrier!
8. LOW RATES FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLING
When you call another country from the US, (depending on the country you call), average rates are in the 1-4 cents per minute range. Awesome!
How about when you call the US from another country? Once again you’ll enjoy low rates with Google Project Fi. If you’re calling over wifi, those rates are often in the 4cents/minute range (as it was for us while travelling in South Korea recently).
Wifi not available? Need to call over your cell network while in another country? You’ll be looking at approx 20cents/minute – that may not sound as awesome, but keep in mind there are no roaming charges either. Ahhhh…
9. NO CONTRACTS
You heard me right.
With Google Project Fi, you do not have to sign any contract.
Not happy? Leave.
No early termination fees.
No hidden fees.
Nothing to come back and bite you later.
Once again, consumer friendly.
10. USE YOUR OWN PHONE
Admittedly, this is the only one that could be a bit of a problem for some people.
While it’s true that you can indeed use your own phone with Google Project, that phone must be compatible with the Google Fi system.
As of this writing that list is very short and includes only the Pixel and Nexus lines and a few Motorola and LG models.
You can view the current list of all Project Fi eligible phones here:
https://fi.google.com/about/phones/
Is this requirement a big deal? Obviously it could be – especially if you are an Apple fan. Personally I’m an Android guy and have been for some time.
I used to be a Samsung guy before I switched to Google Fi, but a couple years back I gave the Nexus 6P a try and it ended up being the best phone I ever owned. Currently I have a Pixel XL.
Before switching to a ‘stock android’ phone, I never realized all the bloatware on other phones. Now I could never go back.
The Google Project Fi phones are android-stock phones without bloatware. In addition, not only will you enjoy automatic system updates for your phone, but you’ll quickly discover that there are less bugs to worry about.
With my old Samsung phones I used to dread installing a new system update because it invariably meant problems while Samsung and Google worked out the inevitable bugs.
With Google Project Fi, I haven’t noticed a problem with any update so far because these updates are pretty much built with the Google Fi phones in mind.
And best of all, using a Google Project Fi phone means you also get first access to new Google updates and exclusive features (for example, UNLIMITED STORAGE on Google Photos) – pretty cool, huh?
MAJOR UPDATE ON PROJECT FI COMPATIBLE PHONES:
Google Announces that Project Fi will support Samsung, One Plus, and iPhones as well!
This means more users can benefit from the Project Fi Experience.
To learn more about Project Fi click here.
Google Fi – What’s the Bottom Line?
I’ve just given you 10 reasons to switch to Google Fi.
I can honestly tell you that since I switched Google Fi has exceeded my expectations.
I’d encourage you to learn more by checking out Project Fi’s Homepage and seeing if the service is right for you too.
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