ExpressVPN is one of the top VPNs in the market right now. It’s fast, secure, and keeps you fully anonymous with their strict no-logging policy.
ExpressVPN review 2020
SPEED
It’s known for being one of the fastest VPNs on the market. It has a special feature that measures latency, speed, and distance when connecting to a server that ensures you get the fastest possible server every time and everywhere. This feature is one of the reasons for ExpressVPN’s impressive performance.
ExpressVPN boasts an average speed of approximately 77.14 Mbit/s. Those are impressive numbers and clocks ExpressVPN in as one of the fastest in the industry. It is also remarkably reliable and consistent when it comes to performance, whether you’re connecting to a nearby server or one on the other side of the world. There are usually no disconnections and the client was quick to connect to our server of choice.
ExpressVPN’s speeds particularly shine on long-distance connections – it’s the best choice if you want to connect to a country far away from your real location. If you’re looking to stream HD video, torrent large files, or make the most of your high-speed internet connection, this is the VPN for you.
STREAMING AND TORRENTING
ExpressVPN is one of the best services for Netflix, as well as other streaming services. It reliably works to unblock geo-restrictions on sites like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and YouTube with fast speeds and minimal buffering.
While ExpressVPN doesn’t have servers dedicated to streaming like competing VPN services such as CyberGhost, this isn’t an issue – the vast majority of its servers work with streaming sites. The website also lists all of the sites the VPN can unblock – a rare commitment among competing providers.
In addition to its ability to unblock the most popular streaming services, ExpressVPN’s fast download speeds mean that watching through these streaming services will be totally buffer-free.
Torrenting and P2P traffic is unrestricted across ExpressVPN’s entire server network. There is no bandwidth limit or restriction on P2P activity, either. Combined with strong security and a zero-logs policy, this makes ExpressVPN an excellent choice for torrenting and downloading files securely with absolutely no leaks.
SECURITY AND PRIVACY
ExpressVPN is a legitimate and extremely secure VPN service that uses the highest standard of encryption to keep your data private and secure. By default its apps use AES-256 bit encryption in combination with the OpenVPN protocol, a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication, which is the level of encryption recommended by governments and banks.
Advanced features include a reliable VPN kill switch, split tunneling, and TrustedServer – a proprietary technology that ensures your data is never written to the VPN server’s hard drive.
The VPN kill switch is called Network Lock. This feature stops your internet connection altogether in the unlikely event your VPN connection drops. In doing so, your true IP address is never exposed.
Unfortunately, Network Lock isn’t included in the iOS app – it’s only available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android (on which it’s called Network Protection). This is one area where we’d like to see ExpressVPN improve.
ExpressVPN uses the highest standard of encryption. It keeps you protected with 256-bit AES encryption, which combines an AES 256-bit cypher with a 4096-bit RSA key and SHA-512 HMAC authentication.
What does this mean? AES 256-bit encryption is symmetric, meaning the same key used to encrypt your data must be used to decrypt it. This makes it near-impossible to break. Even the world’s most powerful computer would take billions of years to decrypt just 0.1% of the data it holds.
ExpressVPN also uses perfect forward secrecy. This is a highly advanced feature that changes your encryption key every time you log on, so you’re assigned a new one at the start of each session. Any data from your previous session is completely unrelated to your current session. Should anyone attempt to intercept your browsing session, anything before or after this is completely secure.
By default, ExpressVPN also uses Perfect Forward Secrecy, which adds another layer of protection by automatically creating a new encryption key for every session and then replacing it every 60 minutes. In very simple terms, this means that even if someone was able to intercept and decrypt your VPN connection, the most they would be able to get is 60 minutes of data.
Overall, ExpressVPN is one of the most technically secure personal VPN services available, offering strong encryption and a wide suite of market-leading features perfect for both beginners and advanced users. If you’re looking for a VPN to hide your IP address and encrypt your data on public WiFi networks, ExpressVPN is a fantastic choice.
PRICING
There are three different-length subscription plans to choose from with ExpressVPNs:
ExpressVPN also offers a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee on all its subscriptions. All major credit and debit cards are accepted, as well as a long list of online payment platforms, including PayPal. It also accepts payment in bitcoin, which is good if you’re maintaining anonymity
It provides the same features on all of its price plans, so the only decision to make is how much you want to pay upfront and how much your subscription costs you per month.
USER EXPERIENCE
ExpressVPN is so easy to use that it’s hard to go wrong – not just with the main desktop client, but also with its mobile apps and browser extensions. Its VPN apps are among the best on the market – they’re easy to use, visually appealing, and they make protecting your privacy simple.
Even the advanced security options are explained in plain and easily-understood language, so you’ll never make changes without knowing exactly what you’re doing.
ExpressVPN is easy to use for even a total layman. For the more tech-savvy users, you can dabble with things like firewall-based kill switch, DNS leak protection, and a slew of protocols. What’s even nicer about ExpressVPN client setup is that it is the same for both Mac and Windows, so you aren’t getting short-changed if you’re an Apple fan.
IN CONCLUSION
ExpressVPN has a reputation that precedes itself. If you’re looking for superior quality in terms of security, service, and speed, ExpressVPN is the way to go. Its speeds are fast and reliable, its security offering is unmatched, and its list of server locations is vast.
ExpressVPN also serves a purpose beyond entertainment as a valuable privacy tool. It’s one of few VPNs to reliably work in China and other high-censorship nations, granting you access to the wider internet beyond.
Whatever device you’re using you get the same smooth, simple user experience, too. ExpressVPN isn’t perfect – the price may put you off and there is still no kill switch for iOS – but you simply won’t find a better all-round VPN right now. With a 30-day money-back guarantee included, there’s really nothing to lose.
Whether you’re looking for a VPN to secure your connection on public WiFi, unblock Netflix and other streaming services, or simply to protect your online privacy, we fully recommend ExpressVPN to both beginners and advanced users.
