This post is a little out of character for Sweet & Modern (branching out from babies and make up to the big world of cell phone providers!) However, I found when I was researching, I couldn’t find many posts about this topic. So hopefully this will help someone in the market for a provider change like myself.
Like many people in the area, we have Verizon for our phone service. It has always been reliable for us, but every month we found ourselves complaining about how expensive the plan for two people is. We don’t use a lot of data (thanks to home WiFi) and virtually never talk on the phone. Unlimited texting is kind of a given these days and there seemed to be no reason we should be spending that much without even having new phones to show for it.
I found out that Google had a phone service called Google Fi about a year ago. I briefly looked into it and told my husband about it, but we kind of blew it off. I remember he asked if I was willing to give up my beloved I phone and I’m pretty sure I said no. (Note: you do not have to give up your I phone for Google Fi services.) But I kept revisiting the website over the year and was blown away by their service plan and data packages. I felt like it was too good to be true.
Around Christmas of last year my sister-in-law showed us her new Google Pixel phone. I was blown away by the photo quality. To be straightforward, that is basically the only thing I care about in a phone these days. I take 500 pics of my children everyday to document our little life and those photos are important to me. I was getting increasingly tired of Apple notifying me that my phone didn’t have enough room and also asking me to purchase Cloud storage non stop. Also, like clockwork, my phone was coming up on two years old and no longer holding a charge. A cycle I had become rather annoyed with. The I phone (especially the newest model) takes fantastic photos, no one is disputing that. But I was getting a little fed up with my phone not working at full capacity.
Fast forward to this last Summer. My husband’s phone was on the outs. My phone was no longer holding a charge. We had to make a decision. Do we both add new phones to our plan and have our monthly bill go up significantly? Or do we break out of the cycle? We opted to break out. I had the option to bring my I phone to our new service but I decided to cut ties.
My husband and I both got Google Pixel 3a at the same time that we switched to Google Fi services and, three months later, we haven’t had one regret. It took me about a week to adjust to Android from Apple as far as navigating my phone and that was it. The picture quality is INSANE and my phone is fast, smart and does everything I need it to do. My pictures back up to Google and I’m not getting constant notifications that I need to pay for more storage. My husband and I are able to take quality photos of our kids as well as for his business. And, possibly more importantly, our bill is about $75 less (with a new phone payment on the plan)!
I won’t spend a ton of time talking about the process but a few major points to note:
- We picked our service/plan, phone and set up payment all online
- Google Pixel phones were ordered online and shipped to our home
- When they arrived we set them up on our Google Fi account (super easy!)
- There is an option to seamlessly transfer your old phone to your new phone
- I was able to keep my same phone number (a big deal to us!)
- Our service with Verizon was then cancelled automatically…meaning we never had to go in to the Verizon store!
Full disclosure, my only (minor) complaint is that my coverage gets a little bit spotty the further west I venture (in Nebraska). So if you make a lot of calls or need to be able to communicate WHILE traveling on the interstate this service may not be for you. But, if you mainly stick to home base and or use your WiFi most of the day, I would encourage you to take a look!
Does anyone else have Google Fi in the area? Is it popular in other cities? I would love to know. Comment below and let me know!