Google’s Project Fi wireless network is growing up. Started in 2015 as a somewhat experimental service, the network originally supported only a few Google-branded phones. Over the past year, Project Fi has slowly added support for a few more devices… but selection was limited.
Today Google is dramatically expanding the list of supported phones. The company says “the majority of Android devices and iPhones” are compatible with the network (although not all phones support all Fi features). Among other things, that marks the first time you’ve officially been able to use an iPhone with Fi.
Oh, and Google is dropping the “project” label. Goodbye Project Fi. Hello Google Fi.
Google Fi is an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) with a few innovative features. First, it combines cellular and WiFi so that you may be making calls or receiving text messages over WiFi, but the service will seamlessly transition to cellular when you leave a hotspot.
Second, rather than connecting to a single cellular network, a Fi phone will connect to Sprint, T-Mobile, or US Cellular, depending on network conditions.
Third, Google only charges you for the data you use each month — you pay $20 per month for unlimited talk and text, and then $10 per gigabyte of data. So if you use 2GB of data, your phone bill will be $40. Use just 500MB? It will be $25.
The bill for a single line shouldn’t go higher than $80, since Google only charges for up to 6GB. After that, additional data is free, although the company may throttle speeds if you use more than 15GB.
A few other reasons I’ve been using Fi for the past year or so include free tethering, no additional charge for international data, and relatively inexpensive international phone calls.
But… Google Fi had limited appeal when the service was only available to Google Nexus and Pixel devices. Last year the company started adding support for some Android One devices including the Moto X4. This year Google expanded the service with a few more phones, including models from LG and Motorola.
Now Google says you can use most Android phones from Samsung, LG, Motorola, OnePlus, and others. The wireless service is also available for iPhones for the first time, but the iPhone version is still in beta and requires use of a new Google Fi iOS app.
But there’s one catch: Google says not all phones support some Fi features. Want a phone that can make full use of seamless switching from one wireless network to another? Then you’ll need a phone that’s officially designed to support Fi.
That includes phones sold through the Fi website (including all the devices that were previously the only support phones, including the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3 families, the Moto X4 and Moto G6, and the LG G7 ThinQ and LG V35 ThinQ).
Google is also offering some launch promotions for new customers — you can get travel gift cars for use on some airlines or hotel/lodgings services when you buy a supported phone. Or new customers who sign up for Google Fi today using an existing phone will get $200 of Fi credit.
You can check to see if your phone is supported at the Google Fi compatibility website.
Hey liliputing. I do block ads, and appreciate your attitude towards people like me, unlike the condescension often encountered elsewhere. I actually used to not block ads on principal to support outlets, but eventually malvertising became endemic. All the unsecured, unmonitored, unaccountable insecurity in ad/tracking networks makes them unacceptable to anyone who cares about their gear.
I also want to donate, but, with apologies, not by your current methods. Would you consider adding cryptocurrency support? For me, the best would be Litecoin, which is more consistently cheap to use while being as accessible as Bitcoin, while Bitcoin network fees can sometimes get crazy. But if you used something like Coinbase Commerce, you could accept all major cryptos, including LTC and BTC, feelessly (that is, coinbase doesn’t charge to accept it unless you want them to automatically cash it out, and if you cash out via coinbase pro limit order, doesn’t charge an exchange fee for you to cash out manually either). This would provide you with a very internationally friendly donation solution.
As a bonus, cryptos are near their market bottom at the moment. If you didn’t cash out your donations, there might be quite a bit of growth over time. Thanks.
Thanks for expressing an interest in supporting the site. Cryptocurrency payments aren’t currently on our roadmap (accepting PayPal is enough of a bookkeeping pain in the behind for now), but maybe I’ll consider doing a bit more research and implementing the feature sometime in the future.
I would also donate more in cryoto. I’ve been reading this site since before the net book craze in 2006.
I am a fan of the idea of Fi, and have been since it launched, but it’s no longer the value proposition it once was unless you’re a globe trotting professional. If you’re in the US, something like Red Pocket, purchased from eBay when they offer a 15-20% sitewide discount, can yield you far more tremendous savings on the network of your own choosing. Hope they revisit the pricing structure or offer separate pricing structures for domestic and international plans.
Agreed.
Perhaps they should start the cost at $30, and instead charge $3 per 1GB data and never throttle. That seems more balanced at the moment, but even that will become “expensive” moving in to the future.