If you’ve ever been out of the country you’ve faced this issue: How will you stay in contact with home? Well thanks to Google there is finally a phone plan the works almost anywhere in the world for one low price.
You have a few choices when it comes to international phone service:
- Don’t do anything and pay huge amounts for texting, calling, and data (if it works at all). You’ll get a nice surprise when you get your next phone bill… doesn’t that sound fun?
- Call your company (assuming you’re using one of the major carriers) and add an expensive international plan that gives you limited texting, calling, and data.
- Call your company and get a REALLY expensive international plan that lets you have unlimited calls, texting, or data.
- Get yourself a local sim card upon arrival in another country (this works pretty well but can be a pain to set up)
- Use Project Fi and pay the same low rate for local and international.
From the list above you can probably already tell which option we think is the best. But we are here to tell you why not to just make a quick list. There are several reasons that Project Fi is quickly becoming the choice of world travelers, and having put it to the test around the world FarFromLocal agrees it might just be the best option for travelers.
Project Fi: Costs
Project Fi has a very simple billing plan. It covers you anywhere you take your phone in 170 countries around the world. $20 a month for basic phone service. Unlimited text and calling within the united states. Unlimited text, and low cost per minute calling in any of the 170 countries (average is about 20 cents a min). And finally $10 per gig of data (charged by the MB) anywhere that you have service up to 6 gig at which point data is free until your next billing statement. What does this mean? If you are paying more than $80 a month ($20 basic service + 6 gig at $10 a gig) for your phone service than Project Fi will save you money. If not and you use a lot of mobile data this may not be the best plan for you… but if you can control your data use and use wifi as much as possible then you could potentially save a lot of $.
Project Fi: Coverage Domestically
Google has partnered with three separate cell phone companies within the United States. T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular are the towers that Project Fi uses. Check their coverage maps. If they cover you then you can use Project Fi. You can check the coverage by clicking here.
Project Fi: Coverage Internationally
The list of countries partnering with Google to make this work is constantly growing. Recently the list grew from 130 countries to over 170. Having tested their service in several countries FarFromLocal can honestly say it is VERY effective. Switching between countries is seamless, there are no connection issues, and data works well everywhere there is service. Depending on the availability of data in the given area LTE networks, 3G, or slower data connections can be connected to. Recently on a trip to China FarFromLocal was able to test Project Fi’s service against Verizon’s international plan. Not only was Verizon much more expensive, provided less usable data (100mb) but it also had considerably less coverage. Total data usage on the trip was 2.5g with the Verizon often teathered to the Project Fi phone due to its limited data (be aware that we also used WiFi as much as possible). So total bill for the month was $45 + tax. To see a list of countries covered click here.
Project Fi: The Bad News
We know it all seems like roses here. And to be perfectly honest it is pretty amazing when you compare prices, coverage, and service with other carriers. But there is one very big drawback. And its a doosey…. You must have a specifically designed phone for Project Pi. These phone are out there, but most phones do not qualify. Newer phones might fit the bill but if you recently purchased a phone or are using a phone you love you may not be able to get Project Pi on it. Also there are NO apple phones that work with Project Fi. This shouldn’t be too surprising as Apple and Google don’t seem to play well together. Click here for a list of phones that are compatible with Project Pi. Be warned the list is pretty short.
Project Fi: The Verdict
For someone who travels internationally Project Fi is a very effective, efficient, and inexpensive way to stay in touch and have an emergency phone. The billing is easy to understand and low cost. The ‘pay for what you use’ scheme that Google is using is highly competitive with other carriers even using large amounts of data (the plan is capped at paying for 6 gig, after that the data is free to 15 gig where it is slowed down). Coverage is excellent anywhere you go for the most part. If you are in the market for a new phone (or have one of the phones that is compatible) then this is hands down the best cell plan option for an international traveler.
FYI We are not sponsored by Google or anyone else for that matter. All of these opinions are ours and ours alone.