Hey Google fi users

Need a new phone this Xmas? The middle of the road Samsung A71 5G is currently going for sales tax only.

$18.99 here in PA.

$300 instant fi rebate and a $299 Samsung instant rebate.

Just a heads up.

Interesting.. my wife is on Fi and has been inquiring about getting a new phone. Although there's nothing really wrong with her Pixel 2 other than security updates just ended for it.

Hmmm.... I do need a new phone for Fi.  My Pixel 2 has served me well for almost three years but the battery is getting funky.

I'll have to research if that Samsung will fit my needs.

RevRico said:

Need a new phone this Xmas? The middle of the road Samsung A71 5G is currently going for sales tax only.

$18.99 here in PA.

$300 instant fi rebate and a $299 Samsung instant rebate.

Just a heads up.

Details on the Samsung rebate?  I only see the $300 rebate listed.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I'm guessing there's a rebate you have to submit directly to samsung and when the dust settles you've ended up only paying sales tax. I also tried to dig around a little and didn't see anything obvious.

In reply to clutchsmoke :

Yeah, I can't seem to find a $300 samsung rebate stated anywhere online though.

If I can get one for $0, I will jump on that because my X4 is a tuuuurrddd

In reply to ProDarwin :

I dunno, Dana needs a new phone and was looking through the Fi app on mine to pick one and saw it, so w tried to order 2 and it came through. 

Just checked in the app and it says $299, but when we went through the whole process it gave a promo price at the "conform order" screen. 

Going through the whole thing, picked monthly finance, no device protection and it comes up as a special.

Sorry, apparently you can't take a screen shot in the Fi app

In reply to RevRico :

That looks like you opted for financing and are now paying monthly for the phone instead of the lump sum.

You would unfortunately be correct. They've changed quite a bit since I got the pixel 4 months back. Someone must have been a little excited when she ordered, but I didn't see anything about actual monthly payments until I went through to manage devices.

Still, half price beats full price.

I'm just trying every phone they offer at this point, I've been getting E36 M3 luck with all of them. If I'm going back to Samsung willingly, there's something very wrong with everything else. 

Our G7s, that I still owe a year on, barely lasted a year. The pixel 4a I have now is schizophrenic in its behavior, and I haven't even rooted it. And now that 5G is rolling out, almost feels like getting left behind.

My Samsung 6+ turned me off non-Google Android phones. 

Just replaced my 3 year old Pixel 2 back in October with a Pixel 4a. Only $350 up front. I don't see myself ever switching back off Google phones unless something revolutionary happens.

I don't need fancy skins or UIs or any of that stuff. I just want it to work, do the few things I do, and have decent battery life.

My last Google phone was ok at best.  My Motorola is worse definitely, and much of that is due to whatever the berkeley they do with the OS to flavor it.

But I have just about had it with Google Fi/Android in general.  I might go jump back on the apple wagon AND go with cheaper service (Mint).

ProDarwin said:

My last Google phone was ok at best.  My Motorola is worse definitely, and much of that is due to whatever the berkeley they do with the OS to flavor it.

But I have just about had it with Google Fi/Android in general.  I might go jump back on the apple wagon AND go with cheaper service (Mint).

Just curious why you don't like Google Fi anymore. Although I like that Mint service, it might work for my girlfriend. I use so little data it wouldn't save me but literally just a couple of dollars per month.

z31maniac said:

ProDarwin said:

My last Google phone was ok at best.  My Motorola is worse definitely, and much of that is due to whatever the berkeley they do with the OS to flavor it.

But I have just about had it with Google Fi/Android in general.  I might go jump back on the apple wagon AND go with cheaper service (Mint).

Just curious why you don't like Google Fi anymore. Although I like that Mint service, it might work for my girlfriend. I use so little data it wouldn't save me but literally just a couple of dollars per month.

I use almost a gig usually, so it would be more like $10-15/month for me.

I have contacted support countless times to get an issue on my phone where when I send a text, the person on the other end will not get it right away.  It may be hours later.  Or right away, but in a different order than when I sent them.  

Every time I am walked through some steps to reset the carrier or some nonsense and then told to 'test the problem', which is obviously not easy to do.  It doesn't happen 100% of the time, and often takes quite a while to figure out whats going on.  Anyway, they assure me that the problem is now fixed and will not happen again.  Sure enough, it does.  I think in 2019 I went through that every month or two.  Right now it seems to be functioning ok *taps wood desk*.

I suspect my other phone issues are OS related but with phones its pretty impossible for me to tell :(

Early on I had a few issues with my Pixel 3, but they got sorted out after a few months and those issues haven't returned. 

i have a google fi plan via esim on my Iphone SE(2020) and it seems ok, i only really have it for international roaming since i had some trips planned for this year, but you all know what happened. I also would have used it for data instead of the prepaid hot spot i was using but working from home 4.5 days a week means i havent really had a use yet.

I will say even the CDMA coverage of google fi is terrible here in WNC, GSM is even worse. I can see both signal strengths and my Verizon sim is always 3-4 bars in my apartment while my fi is 1 or no signal. Though i dont fault google for that, the only carrier with good signal here is Verizon.

My son received his A71 5G yesterday. Price was somewhere in the middle $300 range after a discount for trading in his droid turbo. We use Verizon as our provider, but he bought his direct from Samsung. Neither Verizon or Apple would take a droid turbo as a trade, so Samsung must be pushing these pretty hard. 
 

I replaced my own droid turbo with my first apple product, an iPhone se2000. 

I'm considering iphone at this point.  The SE is $400 new and absolutely crushes that Samsung and the Pixels in performance.  And none of this extra-manufacturer flavor bullE36 M3 to worry about.

The low end prices ($50 Moto G Power) Android is more compelling, I just don't know if I want to deal with Motorola's E36 M3 again.

This is really not snarky, but curious what everyone does with their phone that "performance" is a concern? 

If I need to do actual work, I use a computer. My phone is for calls, texts, doom scrolling through social media, and checking personal emails. I have zero work related apps on my phone since they neither pay for my phone or my service.

z31maniac said:

This is really not snarky, but curious what everyone does with their phone that "performance" is a concern? 

If I need to do actual work, I use a computer. My phone is for calls, texts, doom scrolling through social media, and checking personal emails. I have zero work related apps on my phone since they neither pay for my phone or my service.

I would love to say zero things.  But the reality is my current phone gets jammed up and crashes and has all sorts of flaky performance issues with thinks like Android Auto*, google maps, the berkeleying camera takes forever to load and/or crashes, etc.  Hardware should absolutely not be a limiting factor, but sometimes it is.  Also I feel like its a decent indicator of how much I will want to smash my phone with a hammer 2-4 years from now when the software is all written for faster processors.

I am 100% with you that if I need to create content, I use a computer.  If I want to do anything involved, I use a computer.  I will have some work stuff on my phone soon, but that will be just to keep myself in the loop at best, I'll sit down at my computer to work.  I actually send most of my texts and make most of my calls from my computer as well.

*I haven't tried Car Play, but given my knowledge of Apple stuff, I suspect it is better than Android Auto, which works 60% of the time, every time.

In reply to z31maniac :

I pretty much run my whole business off my phone in addition to games and personal life.

Nothing I couldn't do from a computer, but my laptop is garbage, and the 5 year old needs someone over her shoulder all freaking day to keep attention on her virtual kindergarten, so using the desktop is out of the question unless I want to do night shift after teaching all day.

It's not even that I'm using intensive apps or anything. A ton of camera, some gaming, and mostly websites and calender.

Batteries just don't last for E36 M3 even on Wi-Fi after a few months, and at least with the moto g7s, cell reception is berkeleying abysmal. 

The Android One Moto X4 was great, but that's because it was Android One, no manufacturer or carrier bullE36 M3, just android as it should be, aka, how my phones are when I root them. 

The pixel 4a is alright, but the battery is already starting to go after a couple months, and I don't like the camera software. 

Lets say I wanted to root my X4 or a new G Power, how do I go about doing that?  

I feel like removing manufacturer BS from the OS could fix a lot of the issues I have, but I don't know.  Seems worth a shot though.

I don't really have battery issues.  My phone is 2 years old and I still just charge it at night.  But as I mentioned earlier, I'm not on it all day long.  Its something I use when away from my desk, traveling, pooping, etc.

Xda link for the x4

Depends a little on which version of Android your on, but chainfire auto root still works as well, supposedly. 

ProDarwin said:

z31maniac said:

This is really not snarky, but curious what everyone does with their phone that "performance" is a concern? 

If I need to do actual work, I use a computer. My phone is for calls, texts, doom scrolling through social media, and checking personal emails. I have zero work related apps on my phone since they neither pay for my phone or my service.

I would love to say zero things.  But the reality is my current phone gets jammed up and crashes and has all sorts of flaky performance issues with thinks like Android Auto*, google maps, the berkeleying camera takes forever to load and/or crashes, etc.  Hardware should absolutely not be a limiting factor, but sometimes it is.  Also I feel like its a decent indicator of how much I will want to smash my phone with a hammer 2-4 years from now when the software is all written for faster processors.

I am 100% with you that if I need to create content, I use a computer.  If I want to do anything involved, I use a computer.  I will have some work stuff on my phone soon, but that will be just to keep myself in the loop at best, I'll sit down at my computer to work.  I actually send most of my texts and make most of my calls from my computer as well.

 

*I haven't tried Car Play, but given my knowledge of Apple stuff, I suspect it is better than Android Auto, which works 60% of the time, every time.

Gotcha, I was just curious. I've never used Car Play or Android Auto. 

But if Car Play is anything like Apple Maps vs Google Maps, I wouldn't bother with it. 

My girlfriend is an Apple lover. It's absolutely amazing how infruriatingly terrible Apple Maps is. Terrible routes, wrong directions, etc. I frequently have to tell her, "Will you just pull up Google Maps and look it up that way." It always works an order of magnitude better than apple maps. 

I love my Motorola unlocked units for lack of carrier BS on them.  I buy them directly from Motorola via their website.  One time, I need a fast replacement, I bought my unlocked Moto at Target and got them to price match the Moto website price.  

I am currently on a Motor G7 Power.  The battery at 5000 milliamps is amazing.  It is generally 2 times the battery capability of a more regular handset.  My wife carries the G8 Power (not called the G8 because of LGs trademark) so just called the current Moto G Power.

I don't remember exactly what I paid but since i'm cheap, I'm am sure it was no more that $199.  Very happy with the performance for my medium needs.  These are not 5G handsets.  Not GoogleFi capable either.

MotoG Power priced at $179 at both Moto and Target

John Welsh said:

I love my Motorola unlocked units for lack of carrier BS on them.  I buy them directly from Motorola via their website.  One time, I need a fast replacement, I bought my unlocked Moto at Target and got them to price match the Moto website price.  

I am currently on a Motor G7 Power.  The battery at 5000 milliamps is amazing.  It is generally 2 times the battery capability of a more regular handset.  My wife carries the G8 Power (not called the G8 because of LGs trademark) so just called the current Moto G Power.

I don't remember exactly what I paid but since i'm cheap, I'm am sure it was no more that $199.  Very happy with the performance for my medium needs.  These are not 5G handsets.  Not GoogleFi capable either.

MotoG Power priced at $179 at both Moto and Target

Lack of carrier BS, but still have the Moto BS :(

FWIW, Moto G Power is $49 from Google Fi.  Its unlocked just like direct from Motorola.