Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Google’s Project Fi will save you loads of smartphone data – if you’ve got a Nexus

One of the best features of Google’s fledgling Project Fi mobile network is coming to all Nexus devices.

The Wi-Fi Assistant feature, which enables users to save data by automatically – and securely – connecting to millions of Wi-Fi networks, will hit other Google phones soon.

If the ‘securely’ element of this causes you to raise an eyebrow, Google looks to protect your privacy by using a virtual private network (VPN) to connect to open Wi-Fi.

Related: What is Google’s Project Fi

On the Nexus Google+ page, the company says this will keep speeds high and bills low for Nexus users.

Those with Nexus devices (4, 5, 6, 5X and 6P) running Android 5.1 and up can enable the assistant within the Android Settings app, once it rolls out to devices over the next few weeks.

On our Nexus 6P running on Project Fi, the functionality can be enabled by entering Network settings and turning Wi-Fi Assistant on/off switch.

Despite Project Fi being an MVNO only available in the United States, one of its key principles is the ability to use allowances abroad.

As thus, Wi-Fi Assist will be available on the aforementioned Nexus devices in the UK, Canada, Mexico and in Scandinavia also.

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words