The Google Fi Oppo Review!

"jminer" (jminer) 07/16/2020 at 14:45 • Filed to: None

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A cell phone has been part of my life since June 2003 as I got one as a high school graduation gift and have been a Sprint customer ever since then. All in all the service was usually decent and usually substantially cheaper than the other carriers. With the T-Mobile purchase of Sprint and our vastly more at home than not status I decided to give Google Fi a shot .

My wife and I have 2 devices, a Samsung S8 and a Google Pixel 3a XL. We had the unlimited plan but since we were home for 2 months when I switched with the expectation of staying home a good deal longer I figured we could make the switch and save a few bucks.

Previously under Sprint our bill was $110 a month both phones bought unlocked not through our carrier so no issues taking them with us.

Google Fi uses a mix of networks: T-Mobile, Sprint and US-Cellular while moving seamlessly between them depending on coverage and where you’re at. They also offer two plans one that is $20 per month per device plus $10 per GB of cellular data used. The per-device price goes down with each additional device and with our two is $36 a month for both plus tax, fees and data.

Migration:

Changeover to Google Fi was seamless for the Pixel, I signed up ported my number and downloaded an e-sim in about 10 minutes without ever having to talk to a person. My wife’s S8 required a sim to be ordered which showed up in 2 days and the changeover was similarly seamless otherwise for her device.

Cost:

Cheap - it’s added up for me so far. For three months my cell bill has been under $50!

Coverage:

Good for me here - a bit better than Sprint used to be. Not equal to Verizon (can compare against work phone) but good for what it is. Wandered out into rural Missouri once here and my cell worked further going down the road than it used to.

Quirks:

There are two kinds of devices in Google Fi - those ‘made for’ it and those ‘supported by’ it. The difference mostly doesn’t matter but it does have a quirk in voicemail. On my pixel I get visual voicemail, transcriptions and access to voicemail in my dialer app. My wife’s S8 she gets transcriptions but if she wants to listen to a voicemail she has to call the system. They’re supposedly working on it but it’s an annoyance if you have a Samsung phone for now. iPhones let you access voicemail in an app like the Pixel though.

Rationing Data:

This has been a complete shift in usage for me as we’ve always had an unlimited data plan since we’ve had smart phones starting circa 2008. If I was traveling a lot of driving a lot this would be different but with likely a year in our current state of limited travel this makes sense to me. I find adjusting a few things in habits I can use next to zero data. I set my podcast app to download the three latest episodes of the shows I listen to most and same with my frequently listened to music. I also carry my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in the car which gives me a ton of other music too.

In Summary:

I’m happy with this and don’t think I’ll migrate back to another carrier anytime soon as if I plan on taking a road trip month to month you can go from an unlimited plan and back with no additional cost and if in a given month your data usage runs rampant they don’t charge past 10gb usage so my largest bill c ould be $136 (plus tax).

I want to do this too:

If you’re stuck home and have a compatible device I’d recommend it. This change has definitely saved me money while giving me better service and that’s hard to beat right now. If you want to do it too - here’s a referral link that’ll give each of us a $20 credit on our bills. I will not be offended if you don’t use this and I’m not advocating, but if you want to do so it’ll save you $20.

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Thanks for reading my not-very-interesting take on a cell phone plan!

MM54 > jminer 07/16/2020 at 14:56

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I considered switching to this a while ago (from an old-ass verizon family plan) because it’s so cheap and theoretically should have good coverage. I then met someone who had it (two people actually) . They both like it, but having being on the other end of enough scrambled text messages, “my phone never rang?”, and “that text just showed up a minute ago” when sent the previous day - sure it may be good for you but it’s put me off because I don’t need to torture anyone I try to keep in touch with.

jminer > MM54 07/16/2020 at 14:59

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Like any cell plan it matters greatly where you are and what your use cases are for it. Before Covid-19 I thought about it but it didn’t make sense as I traveled monthly (at least) and used a good deal of mobile data due to that and it would have cost more than Sprint . I don’t anymore and if I do I can just switch back to a standard carrier if it becomes necessary.

Chinny Raccoon > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:20

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Damn you guys get ripped off.   I pay £9 for a 30gb/unlimited calls package.

Thomas Donohue > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:22

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I’ve only switched my one work phone over so far, but I like it. I’m rarely out of range of WiFi so it’s saving me $20+ monthly over Verizon.

Free data-only SIMs are nice too, I’ve got one in an 8" Galaxy Tab just in case.

jminer > Chinny Raccoon 07/16/2020 at 15:25

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We do both for cell coverage and home internet. Slow and expensive here is the game!

I pay $75 a month for a cable internet connection that can barely break 20mb/s down.

jminer > Thomas Donohue 07/16/2020 at 15:32

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Nice! I’ve been meaning to order a data-only sim but just have zero use case for one right now as my tablets are never out of the hou se for now.

SiennaMan > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:40

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Exactly. The one part that jminer didn’t mention on the internet front was that while a lot of us get ripped off there is a healthy minority of the population in rural areas whose choice amounts to a) really really get ripped off for shockingly bad bandwidth or b) live without the internet.

The Snowman > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:44

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Also they have great deals when phones launch. I got $500 in bill credits for buying a pixel 4 and when we bought the wife’s pixel 2 we got $600 in travel vouchers (Airbnb is what we chose) this has paid for two vacations lodging for us.

PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120 > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:51

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I’m also on Fi and I was under the impression that a phone ‘made for’ fully supported the switching across all three carriers and phone ‘supported by’ only used TMobile. Maybe they made a change to this but it seemed that this switching required special hardware on the phone end.

I also like the international data roaming for the same c ountries that TMobile offers.

Overall we’re mostly happy with Fi (2 phones, low data w/ phone payments $130/mo) but we’ve seen pre-paid deals come and go for Verizon that seem to be better, just haven’t wanted to pay off the phones we acquired through Google, with zero interest financing.

BeaterGT > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:58

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I've been on it since 2017. Really like it for international travel and some of their offers are really good like the $800 in Airbnb vouchers I got for grabbing a Pixel 3. Lowest bill I've had is $25 so far without referral credits. They also bumped the data caps in response to Covid which I appreciated. 

XJDano > jminer 07/16/2020 at 15:58

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This interests me.

My wife has been with sprint for long time, and she still has a $80/month unlimited everything plan. I have a work phone so at home it’s just her account. She has a pixel 3? After I flipped our canoe 3 times on a float trip that water logged her original pixel, it works now with lowered battery life. 

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > jminer 07/16/2020 at 16:05

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Been on Fi since the “project fi” days. Super happy, wife and I use all the data we want and have never paid more than $100 a month

jminer > SiennaMan 07/16/2020 at 16:08

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Without a doubt! Internet availability is terrible here.  I grew up in a rural(ish) area about an hour out of mid-market city and my mother’s house still has no internet option other than satellite or cellular.

jminer > The Snowman 07/16/2020 at 16:08

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Great point as well!

jminer > PyroHoltz f@h Oppo 261120 07/16/2020 at 16:10

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Pre-paid makes it a tougher argument along with some similar other carriers like Ting but this one made the most sense for me and I think it’s the biggest player in this corner of cellular (in the US) now.

jminer > BeaterGT 07/16/2020 at 16:11

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I would imagine it’d be nice for international travel - hasn’t been a priority for me.

We’re really happy with it now, and don’t see our needs changing much outside of an occasional trip when the world calms down.

jminer > XJDano 07/16/2020 at 16:14

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This is where I was when I started this. An old Sprint unlimited everything plan for 2 phones at ~$110 and it’s saving us ~$60 a month right now. If you travel much or spend much time outside your wifi now using data I can’t say I’d recommend it. It’s almost the perfect plan for now though with us all spending so much time at home base.

The transition from Sprint on my pixel 3a was seamless, I literally did it in 10 minutes between meetings one day. It even confused Sprint when I called them to make sure my account was canceled as the automated process closed it without issue.

jminer > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By 07/16/2020 at 16:16

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I’m with you and love it so far.

BeaterGT > jminer 07/16/2020 at 16:17

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Being able to have data by the time you get off the plane is preferable over SIM switching imo. Especially after a long flight! But yeah, who knows when I’ll be able to take advantage of that again.

66P1800inpieces > jminer 07/16/2020 at 16:19

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Yes, I didn’t do the research but my wife did some for her parents who are mow retiree nomads and Google Fi really fit the bill.  They have been living in Thailand for the last couple of months. It was supposed to be more of move every month affair but with Covid they were kinda stuck. Props to the Thailand government. For a couple of days there when things were really hectic they were giving out free meals to anyone. I think beer was included.

boredalways > jminer 07/16/2020 at 16:44

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Welcome to the club

jminer > boredalways 07/16/2020 at 17:33

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That is very nice!

I knew a few on Oppo used it but had no idea it was this many.

jminer > 66P1800inpieces 07/16/2020 at 17:34

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Damn!

I will say nearly every other countrie s reaction has made ours look so bad it has me think fairly seriously about emigrating...

SiennaMan > jminer 07/16/2020 at 18:19

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 Exactly.   The rest of the developed world would be shocked at how poor the choices are so close to decent sized cities in at least my part of the US..

boredalways > jminer 07/16/2020 at 18:25

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Yep. My only complaint is the small selection of compatible phones. I started with the Essential, but that company is dead now. Wanted a OnePlus phone but couldn’t find one at a reasonable used price so I went with the Pixel 3XL...ok, my second complaint is the battery life of the 3XL!

GoodIdeaAtTheTime > jminer 07/16/2020 at 19:52

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Holy crap. I pay like $3 5 a month for fiber optic. And half of it is covered by the company my wife is currently dping work for  (freelance animator)

jminer > GoodIdeaAtTheTime 07/16/2020 at 20:05

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I even live in the metro area that until a couple years ago was the corporate headquarters of the cable company. Charter/Spectrum - they’re a big company and service is still shit.

t0ast > jminer 07/17/2020 at 01:41

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Welcome to the club. I dumped my grandfathered-in AT&T unlimited-but-not-really plan for (Project) Fi a few months after it got started and have yet to look back. I’ve been averaging $27/month over the last year, international service in Japan has been seamless each time, and my eventual upgrade to a Pixel 3 XL occurred during a sale that gave me back the full cost in Hotels.com gift cards. The only thing I can fault it for is having slightly worse coverage than I previously had in some of the rural areas I visit maybe 3x/year, and one Android OS bug that caused an $80+ worth of data spike (which was eventually refunded to me) but that’s about it.