Do I really have to pay an extra £7 a month to use LTE on my smartwatch?

[spikey_richie]

Hey,

I bought a Pixel 7 Pro on pre-order, with the free Pixel Watch LTE. I got the phone about a month ago, and the watch a few days ago. Coming to set up the eSIM on the watch, it appears I have to pay £7 pcm for the privilege. This wasn't mentioned when I signed up to the deal, and seems like a bit of a con. Should I have got free LTE network coverage with my plan? 

[simax]

Having a cellular connection costs more on all networks. Vodafone and EE charge £7. Not sure about O2…..

Its always been that way.

[AnnS]

You are paying extra for the use of OneNumber @spikey_richie , there is information here: OneNumber .  Unless you are on an Xtra Plan the charge is £7.00 per month to share your allowances of minutes, texts and data with your watch.

If you don't want to pay the extra charge, there is nothing stopping you from using the watch as a bluetooth device for media purposes.

[spikey_richie]

So LTE is free if I'm on an Xtra Plan? 

[simax]

LTE is £3.50 a month on an Xtra plan.

[spikey_richie]

My plan is "25GB + 2 Xtra Benefits" - is that an Xtra Plan? If so, seems I'm being charged 2x what I'm supposed to be for LTE.

[Beth]

Hi @spikey_richie! It depends on the Xtras you picked when you took out the contract itself. This needs to actively be chosen as an Xtra, rather than just being an automatic part of the Xtra plans themselves.

[spikey_richie]

I wasn't given the opportunity to pick Xtra's when I ordered the device from the Solihull Vodafone store.

[hrym]

As I don't have an Xtra Plan, I'm not sure exactly how they work, but I'd assume you'd need to choose your benefits.   Have a  look in My Vodafone as a first port of call for doing this.  Once you've got OneNumber set up this way, your charge should be £3.50.   If you don't need the data sharing, you can cancel OneNumber as @AnnS suggests.   The watch will still work, but only when in Bluetooth range of your phone rather than as a standalone device.

[chistery]

Most people seem to have their phones glued to them all the time and it makes little sense in paying the £7.

If you like leaving your phone at home then in some cases it's good value.