ExpressVPN is one of the most famous premium VPN services, which is now on everyone’s lips. But does he really deserve such attention? In our review, we will consider this issue in detail.
Pros & Cons
- High connection speed
- Unblocking all possible streaming services
- Simple and convenient applications
- Availability of browser extensions
- Too high cost
- Many features are not available on all applications
Security
ExpressVPN customers don’t have to worry about their security, as the service offers AES 256-bit encryption with a 4096-bit RSA key, as well as SHA-512 HMAC authentication for secure data transfer. Simply put, this is military-grade encryption that cannot be hacked.
This service passed the DNS leak test, successfully masking your real IP address.
This company is registered in the British Virgin Islands, which have their own jurisdiction, independent of the UK at the moment, that is, this state is not part of the 5, 9 and 14 eyes alliance. So you don’t have to worry about government pressure to get your data.
ExpressVPN has a no-logs policy, so your IP address, sites you visit, and files you download cannot be stored or shared with third parties, as several independent companies have confirmed.
Therefore, in our opinion, according to the criterion of safety, ExpressVPN can get the highest score.
Speed
Although this service is known as the fastest, our test showed a speed loss of more than 22% during download, which is not bad, but there are services that reduce the speed much less. For accuracy, speedtest.net selected the same server before and during the VPN operation.
Features
ExpressVPN offers a wide range of quality VPN protocols, making it the best choice for any device (OpenVPN, IKEv2, L2TP/IPsec). Special attention deserves Lightway – the company’s own innovation. This protocol provides a fast, stable and secure connection and saves battery life on your device. In addition, its source code is available in public space. However, this service does not support the WireGuard protocol, which has recently been considered one of the best.
When it comes to servers, ExpressVPN offers an extensive list of locations in 94 countries. More than 3000 IP addresses available. However, a significant part of their servers are virtual, that is, it is physically located in one country, but gives you an IP address of another location. On the one hand, this is good for connecting where it is difficult to install a physical server, but when viewing, for example, streaming services, it may not work in the desired way.
The Kill Switch feature, which provides protection in case of blocking the VPN connection by blocking your Internet traffic, has its own name “Network Lock”. Split Tunneling is also available to select the specific apps you want to use without connecting to a VPN at the same time with the rest of the apps. Both features are present on all devices except iOS.
The obfuscation feature is enabled automatically for network access in highly censored countries. However, there is no detailed information about this on their website.
In addition, you can find various tools such as your IP address finder, Smart DNS tool, password generator, DNS leak checker, etc., which is more of a bonus than a necessity.
It should also be noted that a large number of applications are available to users for virtually all devices. The presence of browser extensions is also an undoubted plus (however, only for desktop PCs, such a function is not provided for smartphones and tablets).
Price
Prices are much higher than other services. For a monthly subscription, you will pay almost $13. Buying an annual subscription is, of course, more profitable, but even in this case, the price is clearly too high. Also note that you can connect up to 5 devices at the same time, that is, if you want more, you will have to buy another one.
You can pay for your subscription using Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Qiwi Wallet, Maestro, Bitcoin, WebMoney, UnionPay, Giropay.
There is also a 30-day money-back policy in case you are dissatisfied with the purchased service.
Streaming
ExpressVPN allows you to watch almost all streaming services (Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Discovery+, etc.), which is its advantage over other providers. However, it is worth noting that not all Netflix libraries may be available, and it may take several attempts to connect to BBC iPlayer.
It is also ideal for working with torrents. You can use any of their servers for this, and given the high speed of this VPN, there will be no problems with long downloads.
Conclusion
Given all of the above, we can conclude that ExpressVPN is really good and meets the declared characteristics. However, there are a large number of services that are not much worse in functionality, but offer much more profitable subscriptions. Therefore, it is worth considering how much advanced functionality you need and what price you are willing to pay or save.