(EXPIRED) 50% off Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL with Google Fi 4/22 only

Google Fi is offering a discount of 50% off retail price on Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones today (4/22/19 only). That’s a pretty awesome deal if you’re looking to get on Fi or if you’re just looking to buy a Pixel (which could be used on the other major US carriers after activation). It’s not as good as the insane deal last fall, but if you missed that and/or are just looking for a Pixel, this is a good way to do it.

The Deal

• Get 50% off a Google Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL phone today only through Google Fi. That brings the prices to:
  • Pixel 3 64 GB $799 $399.
    Pixel 3 128 GB $899 $449.
    Pixel 3 XL 64 GB $899 $449.
    Pixel 3 XL 128 GB $999 $499.
• Direct link to this deal
• If you’re new to Google Fi, feel free to sign up using my referral link (code 6DME9M) with my thanks. We’ll both get a service credit of $20.

Key Terms

• Open to new or existing Google Fi customers.
• Must activate your Pixel 3 or 3 XL within 30 days of the shipment confirmation email.
• Activate on the Fi account used to purchase the phone. You can activate it yourself or give it to a group plan member to activate.
• The discounted price will automatically apply during checkout.
• If Fi is not activated within 30 days of the phone shipment confirmation email, the discounted amount will be charged to your Google Payments account to match the full price of the phone.
• Offer valid on April 22, 2019 from 12:00 AM PT to 11:59 PM PT, or while supplies last.
• For individual plans, limit one per person. For group plans, limit one per group plan member.
• Offer is only available to U.S. residents ages 18 or older, and requires Google Payments and Google Fi accounts.
• See full terms here

Quick Thoughts

I’ve been keeping two phones — one on T-Mobile and my Pixel 3 XL on Fi — since the November promo. I’ve been mostly very happy with Fi, and on my recent trip to Japan it was hands down much faster than T-Mobile (even though I’m on the most expensive T-Mobile ONE international add-on, which offers the fastest speeds you’ll get overseas with T-Mobile). I mostly used the Pixel and my wife mostly used her T-Mobile phone while in Japan and there were many times she tried to do something, got frustrated, and then I pulled up what she needed on my Pixel 3 XL on Fi before it loaded on her phone. I’m a believer in Fi for international use.

Domestically, I’ll be honest: I’m underwhelmed. Right now, I’m writing this post from Myrtle Beach and I’ve hit several spots here in MB where my T-Mobile phone gets full service and my Fi phone gets no service at all (including, oddly, the area immediately around the main shopping mall, the Grand Coastal Mall). I’ve been to MB several times since getting Fi and run into the same issue each time in the same areas of town. That’s weird because the Fi phone should theoretically run on T-Mobile, Sprint, or US Cellular depending on whichever has the best coverage — yet it’s clearly not always picking up T-Mobile coverage (on the other hand, where I live at home T-Mobile is the only of those carriers with coverage and I do get perfectly good coverage at home). I also found my Fi phone totally unusable at Myrtle Beach airport twice in the last week — even after connecting to Wi-Fi, it kept dropping the Wi-Fi signal for some reason before I could text / call. I was glad I had my T-Mobile phone to connect with the person picking me up.

That said, I’ve generally found coverage to be perfectly fine in most of the US. Further, I love the phone itself. I’m no pro photographer, but the camera takes pretty good shots.

Interestingly, I do not see a term requiring a minimum amount of time on Google Fi to get this deal. Remember, you must activate the phone on Fi within 30 days of the shipment confirmation email. However, after you’ve activated it on Fi, you should be able to use it on any of the major carriers without issue.

You can read more about Fi in this post Greg wrote last year. The short story in terms of service charges is that you pay $20 per month for unlimited calls and texts and then $10 per month per GB of data, and that amount is pro rated (so if you use 2.5 GB of data, you’ll pay $25 for data service). For an individual user, the cap on data charges is $60 per month. It’s then theoretically unlimited, though the terms of service do state that your speeds may be throttled (slowed down) if you exceed 15GB (you can reportedly then begin paying $10 per GB again). It’s notable that the data fees are the same whether you’re domestic or international, making it a great deal for international use. You can then use your data or Wi-Fi to make calls to the US and Canada when overseas (otherwise you’re charged $0.20 per minute). It works in over 100 countries, so most of the places you’re likely to travel are probably included. Again, see that linked post for more detail.

Another thing to keep in mind: a locked Google Payments account can turn Fi into a mini-nightmare (See: Tiffany’s Google Fi warning: Time to retreat?). That’ll be less of an issue here since you only need to be able to activate rather than needing to keep the phone active for 90/120 days, but it’s worth keeping in mind before porting your primary phone number. I’d probably port my primary number to Google Voice and forward it to the Fi phone if I were worried about this.

Overall, this is a solid deal if you’re looking for a Pixel 3.

H/T: Dan’s Deals

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