GoogleFi Wireless SIM Kit Talk/Text/Data

That's the whole review. It just works.Okay, probably should add some more in there. Google Fi is one of the very few services that I have done true head to head comparisons with phones that have not worked properly for years, yet throw a different provider's sim into them and boom- full bars in a region where before you were doing good to get half a bar.During a trans-atlantic trip a number of years ago, I signed up for Fi once again due to needing an international plan and theirs was the best bang for the buck available in every location I was going to be at. Immediately upon arrival, the phone just worked. Data was fast. Call quality was great. Signal was unbelievable- seriously, we were on a ship in the English channel for days on end, yet were able to pick up signal from France miles away and make calls without any issues whatsoever.

We had two Verizon phones, got two bar service where we live. Verizon chartged us $70/mo for 2GB of data. I purchased my new Pixel 5 phone from Amazon and I also purchased this Google Fi SIM for testing after verifying that there would be no fee for setting up a new number, testing for week or two, and cancelling service if I was not satisfied. Testing showed that Google Fi provided 3- bars and sometimes four-bars in and around our home, so I ported my Verizon phone to the new Pixel 5 and Google Fi. We then purchased a second Pixel 5 with a Google Fi SIM for my wife and ported her Verizon phone to Google Fi as well. We now pay less than $50/mo for both phones and we get 10GB of data.We use very little cellular data. I don't think we've ever gone over 1GB/ per month, so this seems like an ideal solution for us. We also like the fact that Google Fi uses a VPN to secure our phones from hackers when we use public WiFi networks.

I thought Google Fi might be a better alternative to Verizon. I tried speed tests at a few locations in the US, and had 25% of the speed that Verizon had. Also, I experienced poor call quality, and ended up calling the person on my Verizon phone; no issues on Verizon. A big part of looking at Google Fi was their plan for international travel. The internet was so SLOW, (0.19Mbps, 190Kbps) in Germany, that I couldn't get info on google maps, or do a google search (most of the time) even at the Frankfurt international Airport. (Verizon is a little slow, but works) I contacted Google Fi support, spent an hour+ troubleshooting... no resolution. Then they ask if I was military. I asked if they would fix the speed issue if I was. They didn't respond, just suggested I find a different provider. I contacted them on day two of my trip. They shouldn't advertise unlimited international, if you can't reasonably use it. I would understand not being able to stream videos, but at least let me search for hotels/restraunts. I wasted money on them. I could have just ordered an Orange sim from Amazon and saved money and a lot of headaches. Also, on Verizon I could call back to the US using my contacts, but with Google Fi it defaulted to a German number. I'm not saying Verizon is great, just that Google Fi is horrible. PS, if you do waste your money on the service, search for a referral code online to save $20, and give free $20 to the referer, and then advertise your referral code online. That might save you enough to make it worth it, if you grt enough referrals to make it free.

This came in two days while the free Fi SIM from Google Fi takes a week. There's a credit on this one once you for it up, so all around a good deal for a generic item.

For a recent trip to Portugal and France, I wanted phone service but did not want the hassle of having to deal with finding a SIM card and setting it up. When you have a lot of items on your agenda, it's always helpful to have one less thing to worry about.Someone in the Rick Steves travel forums recommended using Google Fi.I used the Google Fi site to set up the service once I got the SIM card kit. It only took a few moments. I got a new number that I used for all our reservations and bookings. That way we were able to stay in communication with all parties whether we were in the US or in Europe.When we landed in Portugal, I turned on the phone and got a notification that the service was activating. It took only a few minutes to start working. It was excellent to have access to a lot of the important services we rely on -- Google Maps, Google Translate, Gmail, Uber -- not to mention just having data to look up reviews for restaurants.We had very good speeds and I don't think we ever lost service even in some fairly rural areas of the country.I had signed up for the Unlimited Plus plan so I didn't have to keep an eye on how much data I was using.The extra perk of Google Fi is the hotspot service. With the Unlimited Plus plan, you can attach your other phones or laptop to the phone with the Fi service and use them as you normally would. Our phones have the wifi calling feature so the hotspot capabilities let us text and call back to friends and family in the US with our regular US numbers as if we had never left the country. I was pleasantly surprised by that.Another bonus of the hotspot is it was much faster than the wifi in any of the hotels we stayed at.We had 5 flights and Google Fi just worked wherever we went, whether it was Portugal or France.Not only was signing up for Google Fi easy, it was just as painless to cancel when we got home.All told, for a two-week trip, I paid about $62 after taxes because Google gave me a $10 discount. I'm not sure how much data I used but it was probably on the order of about 15 GB.For the convenience and peace of mind, it was well worth the price.

I decided to switch carriers and this came the next day and the switch was seamless. I prefer a sim card over esim because I switch phones constantly and it makesit easier for me.

Google Fi service is fine but there are some quality control issues with the physical SIM cards. About half the time it won't sync to the network and I have to order a replacement.