Are you including the extra $50/mo you pay your carrier for this privilege? There ain't no such thing as a free lunch; you can either pay up front or pay over time (and often more than you would otherwise).
The only thing I have to do is keep using the phone for 120 days. Monthly price for service is $20 plus $10 for each gig of data, unchanged by their phone price promotions.
Don't even have to pay a fee to use a cellular smartwatch, as long as it is made by Google or Samsung.
I just ordered a Galaxy S24+ from Google Fi for $450 and it's a better phone than the $1100 pixel 9 pro XL imo.
6 months from now and on days like Black Friday you'll be able to get the pixel 9 for less than $500.