I would say the biggest thing is the price point and ease of use. Also, not being limited to only Sprint network (Republic) is a big plus.
T-Mobile and Sprint are both cheaper if you live in a good area with them... and that is all this is. Rented space on T-Mobile and Sprint.
I really like the idea of dual coverage. Imagine if Google could get ATT and Verizon on board. You'd have the ultimate coverage in the US. As of right now the plans don't really provide my family and I any advantages. I hope more plans become available in the future. I'll definitely keep my eye out.
http://fi.google.com Invite system has been opened up. Definitely going to give this a try if I can get an invite.
I believe it is for just one line. Also, for now, it's only supported by the Nexus 6. Here's a couple of interesting articles to note about pricing comparisons as well as if you use Google Voice. http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/22/8469571/google-fi-pricing-verizon-att-sprint-tmobile/in/8235510 http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/6/8559699/project-fi-signup-destroys-google-voice/in/8235510
Yeah, for the time being with them only supporting Nexus 6 and no family plans with shared data usage, this wouldn't make sense for me and my family. Maybe if they support a wider range of phones in the future and introduce shared data usage with multiple lines I would check into it. I definitely like how that charge for data usage.
anybody have it yet? apparently they've sent out the first batch of SIM cards this week, along with some free swag from Google http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/06/02/google-is-apparently-giving-project-fi-customers-who-also-ordered-a-nexus-6-welcome-kits-containing-a-case-earbuds-and-an-external-battery/ I got my invite last week but still debating on it, my invite doesn't expire, so I am waiting on the first reviews on the service
That's pretty sweet. I'm curious as to how the combined coverage of Tmobile and Sprint rival one good network such as AT&T or Verizon.
This seems like another public beta test by Google where they deliberately limit enrollment, try to work the bugs out and see if a project is worth pursuing with gusto. I wish them the best. Somebody needs to put fear into Verizon and AT&T.
This kind of illustrates it a little bit. http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/22/8...rage-map-comparison-sprint-tmobile/in/8235510
Giving out sim cards? Is this like The Kingsman movie?? I signed up for an invite, but my data usage is fairly high, and at $10/GB, it might get steep.
I'm not sure how great it will actually turn out in terms of coverage. This whole project just seems a few years too late. If they did this a few years ago I'd be impressed since roaming across from CDMA to GSM and vice versa was something worth doing back then. Now that everyone has deployed LTE, both technologies are dead end technolgoies. This is just Republic Wireless with a 2nd carrier to operate on. But my guess is that they'll use the same technology of making calls via VOIP so it can call via wifi or over cellular data. I think it would have been much more interesting if they'd tried a project between TMobile and Verizon and made calls solely over VoLTE. Both TMobile and Verizon have VoLTE deployed across their entire LTE footprints so a project like this would be the first VoLTE carrier that roamed across LTE networks. Also, TMobile already has the technology implemented for wifi to VoLTE handoffs so if you somehow managed to get Verizon to implement the same thing you could have seamless call handoffs to and from wifi to VoLTE. I'm not convinced this thing is particularly innovative. Experimenting with LTE roaming and Wifi to LTE handoffs would have been the way to go. Between FreedomPop and Republic Wireless, I dont get what innovation Google is trying to push. The other supposedly innovative part of this is Google's pricing structure for data which is nice for light data users but honestly I think that's fairly minor. But choice is nice so maybe consumers will like that pricing model.
Got my invite today. Biggest barrier to entry is that it only supports Nexus 5-6. My wife and I are iPhone owners. She's ambivalent about the iPhone but I really love mine. Someone sell me on a Nexus over an iPhone 6+.
probably more reasons not to switch. pretty sure that you've both invested heavily in the ios app store. project fi is pretty cool having the coverage of two carriers, though that's still not saying much with sprint and tmobile (esp with building penetration since tmo band 12 is still rolling out in a lot of areas). google is working to get band 12 certification for both the 5x and 6p however. my project fi invite has been sitting in my inbox for the last few months. that said, the nexus route is the smoothest android experience you can get with at the least two years of software upgrades and monthly security updates. if you're just looking from something different, then why not? shoddy cameras and mediocre battery life on nexus devices are no longer arguments according to early reports with folks saying the new nexus' are in the top 3 or 4 of all smartphones including iphones if you go by dx0mark (camera geeks). also build quality is top of the line with the 6pp apparently. if you're thinking of switching purely based on project fi, i'd just stay with ios atm... especially if you can go vzw prepay or att's gophone for an awesome phone bill. anyhow, they all do the same thing (in different ways sometimes), it's just if you want to try something different.
