For those who are new to Fi, steps to become an existing user and
1. Open an account with flexible plan. Use unmentionable code from existing user for $60 credit.
2. Just to be safe, wait for the first bill to be generated before ordering the phone. This will take couple of days. At the very least wait for a day but I suggest waiting for the first bill generation.
3. Once the phone is shipped you need to activate the phone within 30 days. At this point another counter for new user r**f credit is also running down from 30 days. I strongly suggest you wait for that counter to hit zero before you activate the phone. All the counters will be shown on FI app-billing-Track FI saving and instant rebate.
4. Once the phone is activated on FI by downloading the FI app, you should wait for a day for the counter to go down by 1. At this point you can disable/remove the eSIM and use your current provider.5. At no point during 120 days move the FI SIM to another phone (i.e. do not install FI app on any other phone and log into this FI account). Once the counter reaches 0 you can cancel the line or pause it for next deal.
The total cost will be $650 + $25 (plans cost per month including fees) * 5 - $60 = $715
frontpagegadgetNerd posted Feb 25, 2026 06:02 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
frontpagegadgetNerd posted Feb 25, 2026 06:02 PM
Google Fi Unlimited Premium & Flex Users: 512GB Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra (Pre-Order)
& More + Free Shipping$650
$1,500
56% offGoogle Fi
Get Deal at Google FiGood Deal
Bad Deal
Save
Share
Leave a Comment
Top Comments
Comes to like 17.5% in taxes when it should be 1/2 that.
New FI customers can have 512gb for $999
Samsung pricing is insane. Apple is final cheaper by a mile. Samung sales are nonstarters
856 Comments
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Did people have issue that did it after 24 hours?
Since I skipped this deal, I can report that it shows the same discounts minus the free memory upgrade now that preorder period ended as expected
I am still the one saying you can do it after 24 hours but not immediately, you were suggesting 21 days to be safe.
Did people have issue that did it after 24 hours?
Since I skipped this deal, I can report that it shows the same discounts minus the free memory upgrade now that preorder period ended as expected
New account? Did you wait 24 hours before you ordered the phone? Did you use referral? etc..
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
- Yes.
- Activated Fi on 2/26 5:33pm PT and ordered S26U on 2/26 8:48pm PT.
Received the phone today and activated the phone. Shall wait for the tracker to change or will be returning it.Referral tracker moved down by 1 day on 3/9 9pm PT but still the $650 promo tracker showing "a new Fi member activated the device".
Decided to try for the last time through email yet Fi support initially got the request to fix the issue incorrectly. First level Fi support (can't seems to read) said the promotion is only available to new user and escalating the issue on referral credit. The issue got fixed in no time after escalation to promotion team and now tracker showing 116 days more to go.
I have two accounts with different emails.
Account 1:
- Activated as a new user with referral code.
- Bought phone on the same day as it allowed to get credit.
Result:
- "New fi Member ...." msg popped up for s26u credit.
- Referral credit is in "Waiting for fi..." status.
Chatted customer service. They confirmed, credit of s26u will show up with in 24 hrs of s26u activation. If not, I need to ping them again and they will escalate to promotion team to add credit manually. They said, they made note to the account so that I will surely get that credit. (As of today, it is still showing that error. So, may have to ping back today or tomorrow)
For referral credit, I will have to wait for another 14 days which is 30 days from the day when I activated the service.
Account 2:
- Activated as a new user with referral code.
- Bought phone after 2-3 days of service activation.
Result:
- s26u $650 credit showed up fine in the account as soon as phone activated.
- Referral credit is in progress.
Chatted customer service. They confirmed, credit of s26u looks good. Countdown will start within 24 hrs. For referral credit, I will have to wait for another 17 days which is 30 days from the day when I activated the service.
Conclusion: Based on above scenario and information, people who ordered the phone on the same day of new activation of the service, are seeing "New fi Member ...." error msg. And that can be resolved by promotion team if it doesn't go automatically.
People who ordered the phone after a day or two of the activation of the service, (as suggested by @gadgetNerd in several post) will NOT see that error but still have to wait for 30 days for referral credit.
And yes, in both activations, I used method:
1) Delete Google Fi eSIM on old phone.
2) Turned on S26U. Connect to wifi. Skipped SmartSwitch.
3) Login to Google using same account used for the service.
4) installed google fi app and activated S26U.
Account 1:
Status did not changed and counter did not start after 24 hrs. Contacted customer service and they escalated to promotional team who will add promotion manually and contact me via email.
Account 2:
Counter got started with no issue.
I think that align with my previous conclusion.
@gadgetNerd, You are right, it is good to wait a day after activating the line to order phone. In that way system would know you are existing customer and give promotion without hurtle. Will keep this advice in my mind for next year.
EDIT:
as of now, for Account 1:
Got email from promotional team:
"After carefully reviewing your account, we have observed that you have met the initial terms of the promotion and the device is correctly activated.
Therefore, we proceeded to address this issue from our end, and it has now been resolved; this means that your promotion is now working correctly."
And confirmed at my end as well.
Issue was resolved in about 6 hrs after I pinged second time.
Coming from an S23 Ultra and the colors are way more vivid on that phone, even after adjusting display settings on the S26 Ultra.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Coming from an S23 Ultra and the colors are way more vivid on that phone, even after adjusting display settings on the S26 Ultra.
1. There is a vivid mode under setting-display-screen mode. Also set th screen resolution to QHD+
2. If the privacy display is on, it might appear like lower resolution display. You can turn it off if you don't need it.
Leave a Comment