The Pixel 9 Pro Was Designed for Google Fi, but the Iphone 16 Pro Outperforms It

When I signed up for Google Fi, Pixel was advertised as the "native" device for the network. It was designed to handle the MVNO's specific switching logic and carrier configurations better than any BYOD device.

However, six months into my contract, as the signal was dropping a few times a day, I got another line for testing on my iPhone. I’ve been gathering data on signal stability for Google Fi, and the results are counter-intuitive. The iPhone 16 Pro (Qualcomm X75) provides a significantly more stable experience on Fi than Google's own Pixel 9 Pro (Exynos 5400).

The gap is most noticeable in two specific areas where the Pixel "native" advantage should theoretically shine, but fails:

1. The "Zombie" Handoff (WiFi-to-Cellular). The Pixel 9 Pro aggressively power-gates the modem via "Adaptive Connectivity." When leaving WiFi, the Exynos modem frequently gets stuck in a deep sleep state, resulting in 5-15 seconds of signal loss before reconnecting. The iPhone X75 modem maintains a "warm" standby, handling the Fi network transition almost instantly.

2. 5G Sector Switching. One of Fi's selling points is intelligent network management. Yet, the Pixel struggles with inter-cell handovers (switching 5G towers while driving). It frequently drops the data session entirely or falls back to LTE/3G. The iPhone maintains the 5G data session seamlessly during the same handovers, likely due to superior Carrier Aggregation logic on the Qualcomm chip.

It’s ironic that to get the best performance out of Google’s network, you currently need Apple’s hardware. Is the Exynos modem simply incapable of the rapid switching Fi requires, or is the Android RIL (Radio Interface Layer) optimized too heavily for battery over connectivity?