Google has launched Project Fi. I’m trying to figure out how this is different from T-Mobile.
- Google: $40/month per line for talking, texting, and consuming 2 GB of mobile data from the T-Mobile or Sprint network. If you’re traveling to most countries you pay 20 cents/minute to make or receive a phone call. Wi-Fi calling when mobile coverage is weak.
- T-Mobile family plan with four lines: $25/month per line for talking, texting, and consuming 2.5 GB of mobile data from the T-Mobile network. If you’re traveling to most countries you pay 20 cents/minute to make or receive a phone call. Wi-Fi calling when mobile coverage is weak. Unlimited music streaming in addition to your data allowance.
Why isn’t doing business directly with T-Mobile a better deal, assuming that you need a few lines and/or can get a few friends together?
For those who are photographically-inclined, e.g., parents of children aged 0-12, another potentially huge advantage of T-Mobile is that one can use an iPhone 6+ with its awesome-in-practice camera system (good hardware; great software). DxOMark gives the Nexus 6 poor marks for autofocus performance, implying that this is a good camera when glued to a tripod in the studio but very likely near-worthless for real-world photography of moving children. (iPhone 6+, by contrast, gets a good review for autofocus)
Anyone out there with a Nexus 6 care to comment on the camera’s real-world capabilities?
If the Nexus 6 is as crummy a camera in practice as DxOMark’s test implies and Fi costs more per line than T-Mobile, what practical case can be made for the Project Fi service? For a consumer with at least three friends or family members and a little interest in taking pictures wouldn’t it nearly always make more sense to get an iPhone 6 or 6+ and T-Mobile service?
Related:
- my video of trying to use the Samsung version of Android to search for and then call a contact (the Note 3 has a camera that tests well in objective reviews, but is worthless in practice due to lag, inability to autofocus, etc.)
The possible advantage of Google Fi is claim the phone will roam between Tmo and Sprint using the “the best available network” so presumably more 4g lte
“Whenever 4G LTE is available, Project Fi will move you to whichever cellular network has the fastest 4G LTE at your location. When 4G LTE isn’t available, we’ll put you on the fastest network type in your area (3G or 2G)”
Since neither Tmo nor Sprint have Verizon’s network, that would seem to be a strong point over using just plain Tmo.
Also, my Tmo plan doesn’t include hotspotting, and it’s not clear from how you’ve spec’d your plan if your costs include hotspotting. To hotspot my Tmo phone on my plan is an additional $15 per month. That’s included with Fi.
And also is that if your kids aren’t big data users some months, Fi will reimburse you for the unused data.
The comparison is even more in T-Mobile’s favor if you dig a little further: they have unlimited data plans available, a 5GB tethered data allowance, a $15/month option that gives you unlimited international calls to most of the world, including mobiles, and great data roaming (free for 3G speeds).
Using Fi also means giving Google full access to your non-SSL browsing history, as you can bet they will use deep packet inspection technology to spy on you (Verizon and AT&T do as well, but they are incompetent at exploiting the snooped data, unlike Google).
Philip,
I just checked T-Mobile’s website. I don’t think you reported their international plans correctly. The .20 cents per minute only applies to their “Simple Choice” plan which is not a part of their family plan.
Philip, I retract that statement. one can get “Simple Choice” as one of their family plans.
I have a Nexus 6; (at least in HDR mode) the focus is frustratingly slow, to the point where a moving subject is likely to have vanished before it takes it.
On the other hand, I did manage to get this https://www.flickr.com/photos/offby1/17240475885/ yesterday, so …
You are comparing apples (no pun intended) to oranges. T-mobile’s family plan vs. a Google Fi individual plan. Now it’s true that Google doesn’t offer a family plan, but if you don’t need one then the comparison doesn’t hold.
Also keep in mind that Google Fi gives you access to two LTE networks (plus wifi). Having two networks available seamlessly at all time considerably increases your chance of getting a signal. Both Sprint and T-mobile tend to be a little spotty (my daughter had to switch from T-mobile to AT&T because she was getting no reception on the MIT campus) but with a little luck they are spotty in different places so that the sum is greater than the parts.
I discount the value of wifi calling – #1 it doesn’t work that well in my experience and #2 you can do it for free regardless of your carrier, using google talk or other voip services. When T-mobile used to have plans with limited # of voice minutes, they would count wifi calls against your plan minutes (even though you weren’t using their network) so they weren’t doing you any favors.
I do web development and keep lots of phones around for testing. The Nexus 6 autofocus is DEFINITELY slow and does a lot of back and forth seeking in the process. When it finally does settle in, it does a good job. Nice dynamic range, doesn’t blow out highlights or muddy the shadows unnecessarily, but, as someone used to Canon’s SLR system autofocus, the Nexus 6 seems like it’s stuck in molasses.
I’m currently a pretty happy iPhone user on Sprint, but am considering switching over. I’m on a fairly generous grandfathered in plan on my iPhone, so I’ll probably end up with similar monthly expenses, but I do see a few benefits to the Fi offering.
The biggest value proposition that Fi seems to be offering is the dual network capabilities. Seemingly everyone, most specifically commenters, but even tech news/commentary sites themselves blew past this. And maybe it truly is of minimal value to most folks, but it sounds pretty compelling to me. I’ve had mostly good luck with the Sprint network. While there’s no Sprint 4G data in my area (Metropolitan Detroit) I get fast enough speeds for my needs, and I take a yearly trip to extremely remote woods in the Upper Peninsula and I get better service than I would expect (since there’s no electricity / running water, I do spend some time reading the internet on my phone). But adding the T Mobile network, and some T Mobile features, in to a singular handset for no additional costs, and improving the quality of my service seems like a great victory.
The one specific T Mobile feature that would be of use to me is the WiFi calling. T Mobile has a service that allows voice calls when you only have WiFi connection. I’ve been in some remote locations without cell service but they have internet which would be handy. Last time I was in that situation, we had 1 person with us with a T Mobile phone with this feature, so 6 people ended up sharing the one phone for calls back to their families. My understanding is that Fi provides this service which at times would be of value to me.
Lastly, my understanding is that this service and the Nexus 6 provides no nonsense tethering. This was the biggest pain point of my transition to the iPhone. I used tethering fairly regularly, and it sucks to not be able to do it on my stock iPhone.
The cons for me are the size of the Nexus 6 (bigger than I need, but I dress pretty casually so I have the pocket real estate for it) and getting back in bed with Google. Not a fan of further strengthening their advertising profile of me, returning back to the nest after spending some decent energy to distance myself from their services is rough. Their seemingly automatic VPN service for open (I presume?) WiFi points is super neat tech. But the fact that all my data is routed to Google for profiling and a lifetime archiving (we have to assume everything is being archived forever now, right?) is a disappointing step back.
I have a Nexus 6 and small children.
TL;DR – get an iphone.
The N6 camera is very good compared to any Android handset of a year or more ago. It is not as good as a new iphone. It takes good photographs, especially in good light, compared to any camera I have ever owned before – but as others have mentioned, HDR mode is slow. In particular, after taking a few HDR pictures in quick succession, the app will refuse to take more for a few seconds while it processes those which have already been taken.
The camera app is a bit buggy and has frustrating UI lags at times. iphone cameras never do this (my wife and mother are both iphone drivers). It also uses the battery up very fast in HDR mode.
I have to have Android because I need some (hacky) things which iOS can’t do, and I refuse to carry two phones or a phone and a separate camera. Nexus 6 comes with “pure” Android, without any handset-maker customisations or bloatware, so it is much nicer to use than (for example) a Samsung.
If you don’t “need” Android then an iphone 6 is likely to be a better choice. If you want Android but can tolerate Samsung OS customisations (I can’t) then a new Samsung will be a better choice. All the new generation of cheap hi-spec Android phones (oneplus etc) have worse cameras than the Nexus 6.
I rationalise my less-good-than-an-iphone camera choice, by thinking that regardless of how I take pictures now, they will seem laughably poor and primitive in 10 years time.