Google Project Fi Review

Google's Project Fi is a unique, easy-to-use, and well-loved wireless carrier that's had longer legs than I gave it credit for when I first tested it back in 2015. While it's still a niche choice because of its very limited selection of phones, its spectacular results in our annual Readers' Choice poll mean it's worth considering if you're interested in Google's Pixel phones.

We don't typically review wireless carriers: We leave that up to our annual Fastest Mobile Networks and Readers' Choice projects. But Google Fi is unique. While it doesn't run its own cell phone network, which makes it an MVNO (a mobile virtual network operator), it's the only MVNO to combine three different cellular networks, Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular, for unified coverage. That gives it better reach than any of those networks has on its own.

Pricing

Before we get into network details, let's talk about how much Google Fi costs. After all, price is one of the most important factors in choosing a carrier. And the first thing you should know is that Fi doesn't offer unlimited data. Like other virtual networks, its plans make more sense for low-to-medium data users than for heavy data users.

You'll pay $20 for the first line, $15 for each additional phone line, $10 for each additional tablet, and $10 per 1GB of data. There's no contract, so you can cancel any time.

We looked at several different plan permutations and found that Fi is generally less expensive than T-Mobile or Sprint for individuals and families using less than 4 to 5GB of data per person, and more expensive for those who use more than that. At low data levels, Fi gets undercut by less expensive MVNOs, such as the ones covered in our Cheap Cell Phone Plans story.

Fi's plans can cost less than they appear to because you only get charged for the data you use. If you think you'll use 5GB but only use 2GB, you only get charged for the 2GB. Fi is also the only carrier we've seen with unlimited international LTE high-speed roaming at domestic rates.

Three Carriers in One

If you want to sell a nationwide cellular service in the US, you generally have to contract with one (or more) of the four companies that run the most towers: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon. That's because it's insanely expensive to build a nationwide network of cellular towers.

AT&T and Verizon tend to be very stingy with their MVNO contracts, so startups looking to innovate turn to Sprint and T-Mobile. Project Fi is the first MVNO to seamlessly combine the Sprint, T-Mobile, and U.S. Cellular networks, which don't easily mix because T-Mobile is GSM and the other two are CDMA (check out this explainer for why those technologies are incompatible). It also lets you send calls and texts over Wi-Fi, and roam in and out of Wi-Fi zones without your call dropping.

There are other carriers that have both Sprint and T-Mobile contracts, such as Ting, although you can't have both networks on one device. The major carriers also do their own Wi-Fi calling. But Fi brings together more options than anyone else.

Project Fi debuted combining Sprint and T-Mobile; last year, it added U.S. Cellular. That dramatically improved rural coverage, as USCC's strengths are mostly in rural areas, where Sprint and T-Mobile often don't have coverage.

The Fi network offers much better coverage than T-Mobile does in small Iowa and Missouri towns, for instance, and the service fills in coverage gaps near Galax, VA and Jacksonville, NC. In the West, though, it still isn't up to Verizon levels; if you're in a place where AT&T or Verizon are the only carriers that work well, like Wyoming and northern Wisconsin, you'll be stuck at slow 2G speeds with Fi.

Using Fi

Fi phones don't constantly assess network quality; they seem to do a check when a network entirely drops. Our test phone stubbornly insisted on remaining on Sprint at one point when T-Mobile in the area was much faster, for instance (there's a free app you can download called Signal Spy that shows what network you're using).

You can force a switch between networks by punching in a 'dialer code.' Typing " *#*#34866#*#*" into your dialer, for instance, will force the phone to jump to T-Mobile. These codes aren't officially promulgated by Google, but they're tolerated by the carrier's official support boards.

Speeds aren't capped or limited in any way, and in testing appeared to match the performance of a Pixel with a native T-Mobile SIM. But Fi doesn't support Sprint and T-Mobile's HD voice call features.

Fi will also automatically connect you to Wi-fi hotspots in Google's database, and it will default to Wi-Fi calling on a strong Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi is entirely optional, but as Fi doesn't have an unlimited plan and charges you only for the data you use, you should use Wi-fi as much as possible.

Cross-device calling and texting takes place in the Google Hangouts app. A Google Fi-enabled Gmail or G Suite account can access Hangouts on any phone, tablet, or web browser, and then make calls or send texts through it using your Fi phone number. T-Mobile has this feature, which it calls Digits, but Hangouts is smoother and easier to use than the heavy and clunky Digits web app. Voicemails get transcribed and texted to you.

Phone Selection

Fi's major downside is that it only works properly with two phones on sale right now: the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, both of which are expensive and don't support Sprint and T-Mobile's latest network technologies. If you're going to go with Fi, think about waiting for the Pixel 2, which is likely coming later this summer.

Project Fi will also work with Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, and Nexus 5X phones, which are no longer on sale, although there's a vibrant market for used devices.

There are plenty of online reports of people activating Fi SIMs in a Pixel and then using them in other phones, even iPhones. You can if you want, but you'll lose Fi's ability to switch networks; the service will just function like a T-Mobile MVNO, and there are cheaper T-Mobile MVNOs and even mainstream T-Mobile plans. I can see the value if you have a main user with a Pixel phone and a secondary user with a non-Pixel, but you shouldn't sign up with Fi primarily to use on non-Pixel phones.

Finding the Love

Project Fi's spectacular results on our Readers' Choice survey defy gravity, logic, and our own testing. For instance, our readers gave it coverage scores better than Verizon's, and speed scores faster than T-Mobile's, which don't sync with what we saw firsthand in New York City. Fi users love it seemingly beyond reason. I have some ideas why.

Fi's management app and support system are the best of any carrier I've ever seen. Most wireless carriers' apps are clunky, slow, and awkward. Not so with Fi: You can see very clearly how much data you've used and control your plan details simply and easily. The app shows estimated response times for phone calls, live chat, and email questions. Google knows how to run a forum, too, and the Project Fi forums are jam-packed with useful questions and answers.

But I think there's also a lot of self-selection happening here. Project Fi appeals to a tech-savvy and well-heeled crowd (because of the expensive phones), and as you browse the forums, you notice that people appear to be knowledgeable, polite, and informed. The excellent support is backed by Google's profitable businesses and only has to handle a relatively small customer base. Fi is, essentially, a high-class boutique experience, and its users reward that with loyalty.

Good coverage and speed scores, by the way, make sense when you realize that Fi only works with high-end phones. There's a big variation between phone performance; folks with older T-Mobile phones that don't have LTE Band 12, for instance, see radically reduced coverage on the carrier. By restricting its service to a few high-quality phones, Fi puts its best foot forward at all times.

Conclusions

Google Fi isn't the cheapest carrier out there, it doesn't have the most coverage, and there's no unlimited plan. But it's by far the best loved, because it's the least hassle. Fi has a simple service plan, a good app, and great support. Its coverage is better than either Sprint or T-Mobile, especially because of its combination with U.S. Cellular in rural areas. We don't hand out Editors' Choice awards to wireless carriers. But Fi earns our Readers' Choice designation, and that matters a lot.