Google Fi, in my opinion is the worst service out there. I had then for almost a year now, I tried to do a payment arrangement, never have asked for one before, and they denied me. Not only that but in my areas, Google Fi service SUCKS. My calls were broken up a lot, and I most people that called me said they called multiple times. I missed quite a few calls with Google Fi and when you try to reach out to customer service, first only only get a bot, when you do get an agent, most seem very slow, almost like another bot. Their customer service never handled any situation and when I asked to speak to a manager I was flat out denied. I do not recommend Google Fi to anyone.
Totally disagree on international. I recently went to Italy and switched to Mint mobile because my partner had Mint and was always getting connectivity while Google Fi was not. But I believe Google Fi works better in the US. So I may just be going back and forth between them when I travel.
Mint, you pay for 3 months at a time.
OP here. For now, I’ve switched to Fi Unlimited Plus effective Feb to stop the bleeding. There are two of us and it’s $110 vs the $130-160 bills I’ve been getting. To be fair, the bills started spiking back in June and I got my iPhone in late October. So maybe it’s just that I’m out and about a lot more post pandemic…. I did take the advice from the threads here and turn off iCloud Back Up on Cellular etc - so thanks for those nuggets also!
I just dropped “traditional AT&T service” for Google Fi about 3 weeks ago. My wife and I had been on AT&T for about a decade (and happy with our service, signal strength, and didn’t have much trouble “making due” on our antiquated-but-well-priced limited data plan). My old plan didn’t exist anymore and hadn’t existed for a looong time, and I wanted to add 1-2 more lines (for either my oldest son or both of my kids), and I knew AT&T wouldn’t let me use my existing plan, and was going to force me to “get modern,” so I went looking for options like Fi and Mint. Mint’s pricing (lower than Google’s, especially for 3 lines), caught my eyes, so I looked into it. Here’s why I chose Google of Mint:
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I found things online about MINT’s limited data plans not accurately tracking data usage. I don’t know how real that is (I didn’t trial it), but I found enough *smoke* about it to worry there was a fire. One reviewer who seemed credible to me indicated that his data usage was accurate (compared to what his phone would report) as soon as he switched to a MINT unlimited plan, but whenever he’d switch back to a MINT finite data plan his data usage would revert back to inaccurate. This concerned me. We took a free trial on Fi and found that Fi’s reported data usage matched what our phones said we used to at least a couple 0.01’th’s of a GB, which I was very happy to see. I don’t know for certain that this is true about MINT mobile, but I saw enough about it online that it kind of scared me off. Once I started looking at UNLIMITED data options, MINT mobile’s price advantage over Fi still existed but wasn’t as significant…
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Prioritization. I read that Google Fi never gets deprioritized (speeds) on T-Mobile’s network, but MINT does.
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3 lines vs 4 - I could have made due with just going from 2 lines to 3. I didn’t *need* four. But Google’s simply unlimited plan is a *very* cost effective way to go to 4 lines, which I had a use for, so I just did it. On purely a cost basis MINT was able to undercut Google by a decent amount when looking at “unlimited data” 3 lines, but the difference was less when talking about 4 lines.
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Deals on phones - we took advantage of the holiday sale on Pixel 8’s and picked up two new phones at great prices…
This is such an under appreciated feature. I have my phone, 2 iPads and a surface tablet all on a single line plan.
I wish Fi supported data only eSIM though.
Can you elaborate? Like which other devices? I don’t travel with any device other than my iPhone and Apple Watch
I’m still waiting for data e-sims … stoopid sim-less american iPhones…
I have a couple of those in some tablets; they work fine. However, I have been unable to get a Fi data sim to work (so far) in a SIM router tha (GL-Inet AX3000) that I have on a sailboat. I have made some recommended tweaks recommended by Fi (e.g., h2g2). I am sure it will work eventually, just have to spend more time with it . . . I want to use it as a fail-over.
Nice they include LTE watch service at no extra charge too, made me jump on the PW2 $75 off deal Fi was offering for Xmas.
In addition to everything you wrote, all you have to do is to leave the United States and travel through a bunch of countries in e.g. Africa or Asia to see how great Fi is at a terrific price point. Verizon would have you pay $10/day for data — assuming their coverage actually works in the countries you are visiting (it didn’t in several for us, which is why we switched to Fi over 6 years ago). And if you’re only using 100mb or so per day, then Fi is costing you 1/10th the price at $10/GB of data. And if you’re on Fi you can make your calls back to the USA from your browser and that costs you nothing.
There is no longer a second carrier, even with pixels, right? Or I guess, what is the other carrier than TMobile?
Have tested my download speeds on Mint periodically from my house for the last 3+ years using SpeedTest and never get below 280mb/s, at this moment I’m getting 330mb/s which is actually slightly faster than I get via WiFi to my 1gb/s fiber modem which is 10’ from me. I may be deprioritized but it doesn’t seem to affect me almost ever.
True. We were in a T-Mobile plan and had our son on a mint mobile plan. We assumed his coverage would be the same as ours but it always sucked compared to ours. Now we’re all on Google FI and it’s great. We all have pixel phones too so we get the best of the best on Google Fi.
I largely agree with what you’re saying but I would add two things:
Their support team is incompetent
That’s not a differentiator
you’re paying a premium for a stellar backend process
Their backend also loses text messages and calls.
Don’t forget to that with fi you can get a free phone for the term of service, that makes it a way better value proposition than mint.
Except an Apple Watch. (At least to my knowledge.)
But I only have a GPS watch so don’t think that will help me, right?
just want to say your post was really helpful for me when considering the switch!