Google Fi's phone subscription gets you a Pixel 4a for just $15 per month

While the appeal of Pixel phones and Google Fi service has a connection to freeing yourself from carrier phone contracts, Google’s latest offer might pull some people back into the fold. The Google Fi phone subscription is available to active subscribers and offers a discount on the device in exchange for signing up for two years of service.

While Google is willing to sell you a Pixel 4a — the best $350 phone — for just under $15 per month without any other add-ons, if you join the subscription program then the $15 per month includes device protection and the option to upgrade to a new device after two years. At the end of the two years you own your Pixel 4a, and can get a new Pixel device while continuing to stay in the program, or just keep using your existing phone and only pay for device protection.

The phone insurance is priced at $6 per month, and you can opt out of it. That would let you pay $9 per month for the two years, adding up to just $216 to own a phone that sells for $349. The only risk there is that if your phone gets damaged or lost, you’d still be on the hook for the subscription payments no matter what.