Thursday, January 19, 2017

Best VPN for Android: Our 5 top choices

Android has the largest installed base of smartphones around the globe – so it’s no surprise that there are a lot of VPN clients which support the OS. Particularly when you consider that the devices which connect to VPN services are usually mobile ones.

Most VPN providers have dedicated Android apps, while a smaller number let you set up their service via manual configuration – although, of course, some offerings don’t have mobile support at all.

How to choose the best VPN for Android

There are more than enough VPNs with great Android support. Ultimately, which one you choose might come down to some smaller details or personal preferences. When determining the best VPN for Android, you need to look out for a few things.

Obviously, a dedicated Android app helps to make things as hassle-free as possible. Next, it should be user-friendly and yet offer enough options to allow for some tweaking (particularly for more experienced users).

Other considerations are tight security, and of course a privacy policy and terms of service which are easily understandable, making it clear what logs and details are kept by the provider. Supported simultaneous connections and the subsequent speeds you can achieve with the VPN are also important, but not vital in this case.

Below are the five best VPN services for Android that we've picked out for you.

There are many things to like about ExpressVPN for Android. The dedicated app is extremely user-friendly and straightforward, but also offers lots of advanced options. On the security front, it boasts AES 256-bit encryption, while the speeds we witnessed using the VPN remained fairly consistent. 

The 30-day money-back guarantee and the referral program are also neat features, the former in particular when it comes to giving the service a try. Take into account the round-the-clock customer support and all this adds up to an excellent Android VPN experience.

However, the service is among the pricier out there, and if you want a trial of the Android app, you only get a single day to play with. ExpressVPN offers three price plans, with the 12-month plan offering the biggest saving as you would expect. The packages available are:

The IPVanish app is good overall, although it’s missing a kill switch, a standard feature which instantly shuts down the internet connection in the event the VPN drops (to prevent your true IP from being revealed).

Still, that doesn’t detract from the impressive download speeds this VPN achieved during our testing. Furthermore, there’s no logging of the user’s activity here, plus you get 256-bit AES encryption with multiple protocols, along with 24/7 customer support.

However, the price might be the one negative element which drives folks away. There’s no free trial, although three available plans come with a 7-day money-back guarantee. The 1-year subscription is the best and most popular choice when it comes to the three packages which are available:

NordVPN has some impressive strengths including a strict ‘zero logs’ policy – the firm doesn’t store any user information, which makes it ideal for users looking for a highly secure and private experience. It also offers ‘Double VPN’ technology which passes your connection through two separate VPN servers, as opposed to just the one, for an extra layer of security (there are only a certain number of Double VPN servers, though).

While the focus is clearly on security and privacy, NordVPN doesn’t lag in other areas. The Android app is easy-to-use, but pretty basic and lacks configuration options, with the desktop app having a much better interface. The performance was good, although nothing spectacular. The app also provides a live chat feature for 24/7 customer support.

NordVPN is reasonably priced, too, which is handy because it doesn’t offer a free trial. There are three plans available, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee. The 1-year plan is clearly the best choice in terms of overall value. The packages available are:

This Switzerland-based VPN provider offers a very sound Android VPN service. There’s a dedicated app that is extremely well optimized, and the service offers multiple protocols including OpenVPN, L2TP/IPsec, PPTP and Chameleon, the latter being the firm’s own tailored solution. Performance is impressive overall, too, and we saw some particularly good download speeds with the service.

VyprVPN offers three price plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee provided. Still, the service is not for those on a strict budget as it is a tad pricier than most others. The Basic plan supports only two simultaneous connections, so the Premier plan offers the most bang for your buck (with three simultaneous connections). The packages available are:

PureVPN is the best option for lower-powered Android devices, as it’s a simple and lightweight app which provides a smooth experience even on lesser hardware. It’s easy-to-use, but you get a decent set of options for configuring connections, and performance is good in terms of both download and upload speeds.

Thanks to its ‘no logs’ policy, PureVPN is a winner on the privacy front, and in terms of protocols there’s OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, SSTP, and IKEv2. One downside, however, is that the service’s Secure DNS feature, which is supposed to prevent DNS leaks, didn’t work for us.

There is no free trial so you’ll have to choose from three existing price plans that come with a 7-day money-back guarantee. The obvious winner is the 2-year plan, which is superb value for money but currently a time-limited offer. The packages available are:



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