After plunking down $850 for a new Pixel 2 XL I decided to leave T-Mobile for Project Fi. I couldn't be happier. The process of signing up and porting my T-Mobile number was easy and fast (less than 30 minutes). Also, the Pixel 2 XL has a built in eSim card. So I didn't even need to buy a new sim. I actually removed my T-Mobile sim card! The fact Project Fi bounces between carriers seamlessly is beautiful and seamless. I'm loving the fact I get refunded for data I don't use. Overall I have nothing but praise for Project Fi and I only wished I switched sooner to get away from "big carrier". If you own a compatible phone I highly recommend switching to Project Fi..
My only real complaint.. I remembered why I left Sprint over 6 years ago.. Their LTE is painfully slow. Thankfully Fi is choosing T-Mobile over Sprint like it should. How Sprint can get away with advertising High Speed LTE is beyond me.. Their speeds are no more faster than their 3G speeds when I left 6 years ago for T-Mobile Both using the same server When connected to a T-Mobile tower Forcing it to switch to a Sprint tower
Phones on Project Fi switch between T-Mobile, Sprint and US Cellular (where available) depending on which has the strongest signal. Unfortunately, in my area, that means being stuck on Sprint far too often. FiSwitch is a nice app for those of us that get stuck on Sprint's slow network. It allows us to force a switch to T-Mobile or US Cellular (where available). I do get a kick out of Sprint's new commercials about a "1% difference in reliability" though.... It seems like they're trying to convince people that reliability is more important than network accessibility or network performance.
I couldn't believe how bad Sprints network still is. I quit Sprint over 6 years ago because their 3G speeds were abysmal. It was like heaven when I joined T-Mobile and graced upon their HSPA an HSPA+.. Then soon after LTE. So imagine my shock over 6 years later, and seeing all of Sprints marketing and news how they've improved their network, HIGH SPEED HIGH SPEED HIGH SPEED and even on LTE their network speeds are no faster than when I left their 3G service 6+ years ago. How are they even in business still promoting this dialup network as `high speed' ?? I live 12 miles from Center City Philadelphia. It isn't like I'm in hick county USA with limited service. I'm in the heart of a major US city and Sprints speeds are close to literally unusable. Fi for me luckily defaults to T-Mobile.. I do have Signal Spy (Same concept as FiSwitch) for those rare times it feels like using Sprint
I've tried Sprint on 2 separate occasions. The first time, they started screwing with my bill, so I left. The second time, I couldn't use my data plan because I was never in range of a tower that supported data. I find that a strange concept. Why would a company advertising 4G LTE own towers that don't support a data network? More over, why would a company advertise "nationwide 4G LTE" in an area where they don't even offer 3G? Then I started having problems texting. I went back to the Sprint store to find out why I couldn't send or receive texts. They told me that it would cost me $60 to replace my 2 week old phone. That was my last day with Sprint. The phone was 2 weeks old and still under warranty from Samsung. I left the Sprint store, headed over to Verizon and never looked back. Then in 2013, I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile. I switched to Project Fi in 2016 and it's been amazing. I use FiSwitch to ensure I spend as little time as possible on Sprint's network. When I am forced to use it, my phone becomes completely useless because even though they offer "4G LTE" in my area now, much like your experience, it's performance is abysmal.... It would be faster for me to send data using morse code than Sprint's network. Sadly, your upload speed is still faster than my download speed from Sprint's network....
Of the major "nationwide" carriers, Sprint has the smallest coverage area. In my area, Sprint has almost no coverage for their data network and very sparse coverage for their voice network. Coverage with Sprint is heavily region dependent, contrary to what they seem to try to convince people in their commercials.
@OP - How are you finding the Pixel 2? All I hear about it is fault after fault, bug after bug I wanted a Pixel 2 but completely put off now
I absolutely adore it. I upgraded from a Nexus 6P. I've been a Google only man since the Nexus S. I've owned the Nexus S 4G / Nexus 7 / Nexus 10 / Nexus 4 / Nexus 6P Their is a mild blue shift at angles you would never use the phone at in regular use so that complaint is irrelevant. My phones screen has zero graininess. The "burn in" crap has been completely and utterly over-hyped bullshit. It's mostly imagine retention and goes away. Leave any static image on near any LCD display long enough and there will be imagine retention. It's just the navigation buttons. Again.. Completely over hyped bullshit and I've not gone far out of my way to see if it even is actually happening because that's what you have to do to even see it. The speed of the phone is amazing. The colors are brilliant and the camera is excellent. It's nitpicking.. When some people plop down $850 for a phone they tend to be over sensitive attention seekers. https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/10/reality-check-pixel-2-xls-screen-problems-overhyped.html A couple of my photos As far as battery. I last charged my phone almost 48hrs ago now.. 4hrs+ screen on time with a Chrome using 23% of the battery because I do a lot of browsing. And still have over 30% battery left.. I'll probably get close to 6hrs screen on time over 3 days
My Nexus 6P is lucky to get 24hours out of it's battery..... When I first got it, I could easily get 2 days. It's still running all the same apps, but it's battery life is down to half what it originally was.
Mine was "ok-ish" I got mine soon after launch but I was starting to suffer from the phone just shutting off at 15% and sometimes 20%.. I know I could have replaced the battery but I have no patience anymore for cracking open sealed phones to replace batteries.
