anyone have experience on iPhone and iPads? Thanks!

If you have a cellular iPad, better to get a local SIM.

You will often do a lot better than $10 a GB.

Anyone used Google Fi successfully in China? Do SMS work? I read a few articles from 2017 stating that services that are blocked by the Great Firewall such as Google, Yahoo Mail, etc. work when on Google Fi in China. Anyone have any experience with that?

I have had no issues with Fi in China.

I have a Moto X4 for project Fi. I moved the sim to my Iphone 6 and it worked without issues but only on T mobile. I moved it back to the Moto because it is really a good phone. I then got a data sim and put it in my ipad mini 4 last week. Instantly booted up, again on T mobile. It is not the most cost effective way to have data, but I am not a huge fan of spending an hour or more of my time finding a sim in each country I go to. I have done that, and have moved on. I know exactly how much an hour of my time is worth. Heading to the UK, Norway, and Poland in 2 weeks and will report back, but I suspect it will be positive. I have used Fi in Norway and the UK and it is pretty great.

I think I read something that the data sim doesnt get around the firewall but the cell sim does for some reason.

https://hackernoon.com/bypass-chinas...i-14b58b90fab5

I'd be interested to see comparisons between the data sim and the handset, because they do appear to operate differently. I hear the country list is different too though those being rather mainstream I cant imagine they'd be problems there.

I'm here now and Fi sucks here. Of course, it all depends on the city I suppose. I am in Xi'an. Slow, slower, slowest. Interestingly the cell is allowing some sites through that are blocked on wifi (google, whatsapp) however, the service is so slow that they are barely usable. Meanwhile other sites are fully blocked on cell Fi too (Instagram and Facebook, e.g.).

Worst experience I've had with Fi since Papua New Guinea. I realize it's not Fi's fault - but whatever carrier they've partnered here with is abysmal.

I just got back from China. 10 days in Beijing, Zhengzhou and smaller towns like Pingdingshan, Lushan, Dengfeng etc. I had stellar FI service throughout. That said I was using my FI sim in my iPhone X... and my data sim in my iPad Pro. Both worked phenomenally. They worked much better than hotel wifi, and eliminated the need to use a wifi to access the free internet. The speed test below shows how great FI worked for me.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bcf75cf5ee.png

One reason I chose to buy the Verizon iPhone for use with FI is that it has much better band support than regular FI phones. Specifically in china, there are areas where this becomes an issue. Like I said both the iPhone and iPad Pro worked Brilliantly from big cities to tiny mountain hamlets.

I'm surprised service is so bad here in Xi'an. This is no tiny hamlet.... 8 million people live here. Although perhaps in China, that is small ;) I'm on a Fi sim and using a Google Pixel. Should be faster based on your review. Should be, but isn't :(

I've had similar experiences -- when I use my Fi SIM in my Pixel, I don't have near the connectivity (or throughput) I have when I put the same SIM in an iPhone. It's the opposite back home in the US, and merely anecdotal evidence, but has been somewhat consistent in my experience.

Got an email saying that Fi will no longer forward texts after September 12th. Calls will still be forwarded, though, so I'm not sure what they gain from this move.

Forward texts to where?

Whatever phone number you'd like (at least US ones, anyway).

Moot point for me. Use hangouts messaging and your texts show up on all your devices.

In Ukraine now - Fi is not working. All providers showing as "forbidden". Spent over an hour on the phone with Google working on issue. Been escalated and they need to contact local providers - fix could take 24-48 hours. Unacceptable timeframe imo.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7768015106.png