Why I broke up with Project Fi (Let’s just be friends)

“You’re great, but…”

First off, let me start by saying what I liked about Project Fi:

• Seamless international roaming

When my wife and I went to Taiwan and China, she had to “activate” an international plan from Verizon for $10/day. Unfortunately, Verizon failed to tell her that she needed to activate it for each country we were traveling to, and when we transitioned from Taiwan to China, she started paying exorbitant international roaming fees… quickly racking up $500 within a few days and having her entire account shut down. Untangling that mess cost her several hours on the phone with Verizon support (and an eventual “leniency” to only $150 instead).

Contrast to that, I did absolutely nothing different with my phone, and continued to pay $10/GB while in Taiwan and China. Zero effort, zero mess. Thanks Google!

• Pay-what-you-use data plans

With Project Fi, I only paid for the data that I used in a month (rounded up to the nearest 0.1GB). Gone are the days of running out of data, and gone are the days of “trying to use up all my data before the end of the month to get my money’s worth”. Thanks Google!

• Freebies!

Around November of 2015, I received an unexpected FedEx package at my doorstep. Opening it revealed a set of “lego-like” blocks stamped with Fi logos in an assortment of green, yellow, and white (the official colors of Project Fi). What a nice surprise! The intention was to use the blocks to make phone cradles and make your Fi experience better. The icing on the cake was that I received this package after being a Fi user for less than a month, so it was the equivalent of a free bottle of champagne while on your honeymoon. Thanks Google!

but… “I just don’t think we’re a good fit”

So why am I leaving? Well, after being a Fi user for about 8 months, the cracks are starting to show.

• Dual-MVNO on T-Mobile and Sprint networks

Originally, this was a plus that convinced me to sign up for Project Fi. I didn’t trust T-Mobile or Sprint individually, but I was willing to give their combined networks a chance. And overall, the coverage was decent… if we strictly talk about voice/text coverage. Data coverage was abysmal, with often only 3G or no data in many, many places.

A second problem was the handshakes between T-Mobile and Sprint were not very smooth. I could see my phone flipping between LTE and 3G frequently, presumably because the towers were load-balancing. In addition, when making calls, I would hear random beeps. I haven’t found an explanation yet, but my un-educated guess was that it’s due to switching from T-Mobile to Sprint, or vice-versa.

By the way, you can control which MVNO you use, although in my personal experience that did not seem to help.

• Nexus-only phones

To use Project Fi, you must use a Nexus phone. At the time of this writing, that only includes the Nexus 6, 6P, and 5X. Nexus phones are great. I love the pure, unadulterated experience they provide, even though they do come with some Google bloatware. (Google Books, I’m looking at you.) However, it’s hard to sit on the sidelines and watch the parade of terrific other phones marching on by. (#FOMO)

I told myself I didn’t want the new Sony phones, even though everyone said it was great. I told myself I didn’t want the new Samsung S7 Edge, even though everyone said it was great. And I even told myself I didn’t want the new Ubuntu phone, despite the incredible possibilities it could offer (except it’s incredibly buggy). But now, the OnePlus 3 has arrived, and oh I want you so bad. (However, with one caveat: I would like a OP3 case with a built-in battery that also smoothes out the ugly camera bump on the back of the phone… can someone make that for me, please?)

To add fuel to the fire, my Nexus 6 was defective (I think). Only 3 out of the 4 cores ever worked, the interface was incredibly laggy (due to forced-encryption), the camera app crashed more often than it worked, and the battery life was horrible (less than 2 hour screen-on-time, whereas most phones get 4–6 hours). I suffered through all of that for 8 months, but I’m finally sick of it.

I did file a warranty-replacement for the phone, and Motorola shipped me another Nexus 6 right away. Props to them for making it hassle-free, and the new phone does have better battery life (3.5 hours of screen-on-time), but it still doesn’t feel like enough battery, and it still feels laggy (again, probably the encryption).

“Let’s just be friends”

“Hopping over to the next service” was not as simple as it seemed. I had originally planned to move over to Cricket (cheaper at $35/mo for 2GB of data with “unlimited 3G” after that), but found out later that Cricket does not support tethering unless I pay another $10/mo. So, I switched over to AT&T GoPhone instead — $40/month for 3GB of data and unlimited 3G data thereafter, plus tethering. We shall see how long this relationship lasts.

I do have to give compliments to Google for making the break-up process extremely easy. Normally, when porting numbers to another carrier, you have to give the new carrier your old carrier’s account number, username, and password so they can make the necessary changes. Project Fi doesn’t have any of that nonsense (they use your Google credentials).

When you port your number out of Google Fi, they will generate an account number, username, and password for you to pass along to the next carrier. No more sifting through old bills or online interfaces… it’s just neatly displayed to you in the Project Fi interface. Thanks Google!

“I just want what’s best for you, for us”

I’m not mad at Project Fi. In fact, I’m really sad to go. I think it’s an incredible service, backed by a company that I admire a lot. I think some of my negative experiences were unique to me, and not a problem with Fi in general. For example, T-Mobile coverage is fantastic in large cities, but I’m in a small town of only 100,000 people; and I think the (assumed) defect in my phone is a one-off case.

I hope to see Project Fi flourish and make big waves in the industry. I hope I can return to it again one day, because every day that I was on Project Fi, I felt special. (Sometimes “bad” special, but special nonetheless.)

It was a fun ride, Fi, and thanks for all the fish!