There aren’t a lot of verified hardware options out there if you want to use Google’s Project Fi service — you might have read some complaints along those lines before. Heck, there are more compatible tablets than smartphones. If you’re looking for a current phone to use with Project Fi, you’ve only got two choices: the Pixel or Pixel XL.

Those are both great phones, but they’re also pretty pricey. If you’d prefer a thriftier option, all you can do is look for one of the three older phones that are supported: the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus 6. There’s one big downside to going down that path: Google won’t be offering any more OS updates after September of this year.

That may not be the case for much longer. Earlier today on Twitter the Project Fi account confirmed that one of Google’s wireless partners would be offering a more modestly-priced, device before the end of the year.

As far as which partner might be producing the device, that remains an unknown. There are rumors floating around that it could be an Android One phone from HTC, which certainly sounds plausible given HTC’s longstanding relationship with Google. One other possibility is this year’s version of the Moto X, which is expected you launch very, very soon.

Via Droid Life

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Lee Mathews

Computer tech, blogger, husband, father, and avid MSI U100 user.

4 replies on “An affordable Project Fi phone is coming soon”

  1. “An affordable Project Fi phone is coming soon”

    So all the previous Project Fi phones were “unaffordable”? Which means everyone on Project Fi can’t pay for their phones? How does that work?

    Or maybe you meant, “A more affordable Project Fi phone is coming soon”?

  2. Too little too late, I suspect. I would have absolutely jumped for joy at a budget Fi release 6 months ago. But life goes on, and those that buy budget phones (like myself) aren’t going to just wait around for Google to get their $#!t in gear. It’ll have to be a nice phone at a very good price to lure me in now, and I just don’t see that happening. Google’s track record isn’t exactly stellar when it comes to staying on budget and delivering on time.

    1. I used Fi when I first got my Nexus 6p shortly after launch. The WiFi calling (actually receiving calls while in my basement) was really nice. The always missing calls and never having a data connection everywhere else was not.
      It’s possible that Sprint and T-Mobile are decent carriers somewhere, but not where I live. They added a third carrier a couple months before I switched providers, but it turned out to be some small carrier from a couple states west of me.
      I wouldn’t switch back now anyway – the prices for data were too high anyway compared to all the other MVNOs.

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