X-VPN Review

While Hong-Kong based service X-VPN is still relatively new in the VPN industry, it has already earned the trust of millions of customers around the world. The provider takes pride in offering an effective and easy to use solution to bypass online restrictions and keep your information protected. X-VPN is designed to help users around the world to enjoy online freedom and get access to the content that they want. It is the ideal solution for defeating geographical blocks that prevent you from accessing international streaming platforms like Hulu or BBC iPlayer. X-VPN even has dedicated servers that can help you to access a wider selection of content in Netflix. X-VPN also claims to offer remarkable speeds, as well as bank-grade encryption to protect your data. In this review, we will find out more about X-VPN.

Security and Privacy

While being able to unblock content is one of the main benefits of using a VPN, the real advantage of this technology is security. VPNs offer the best combination of flexibility and security so it is likely that if you are looking for a VPN service, you want one that provides good security. While X-VPN promises to protect you with bank-grade multi-layered encryption technology, it doesn’t provide many details about the protocols used. We know that there are 8 protocols supported and that X-VPN has an exclusive protocol designed to encrypt your data. However, X-VPN doesn’t mention what are the protocols available and it doesn’t offer technical information about its proprietary technology.

When you launch the app, you have the chance to choose between the different options available, but they are not listed by name. Instead, they are simply described using letters. Although we would prefer to know exactly what protocols we are connecting to, it’s good to know that X-VPN uses 256-bit encryption, which is a cipher that is strong and practically impossible to break. Other security features include first-party DNS servers and DNS leak protection. X-VPN also offers IPv6 and WebRTC leak protection, which add protection to your browsing activities, preventing that you real IP address gets exposed.

In terms of privacy, X-VPN has a clear policy that offers detailed information about the information that is collected and how it is used. They don’t keep logs of data that can be used to identify you. Your browsing activities, your real IP address, server IP address and DNS requests are not logged, which ensures that your privacy remains intact while you enjoy access to your favorite websites, stream videos, chat with friends and more. However, X-VPN does keep some connection logs that are used for troubleshooting purposes and to ensure that the servers work in the best possible way. The information that is logged includes server location, connection timestamps and bandwidth used. The logs are only kept for up to 96 hours and after that period of time, they are permanently deleted.

The logging policy and terms of service are detailed and transparent. We highly recommend you to go through it to find out more about X-VPN’s stand when it comes to privacy. Since the provider operates from Hong Kong it is not subject to mandatory data retention laws, and it is not within the jurisdiction of the NSA. Hong Kong is not part of the Five Eyes, in fact it is worth remembering that Edward Snowden flew to Hong Kong after leaving his job as a contractor for the NSA. Back to X-VPN, we should mention that its privacy policy does mention that customer data will be handed over if a court order of competent jurisdiction is received. Since X-VPN doesn’t keep any logs that can be used to identify you and it is unlikely that they accept requests from US agencies anyway, there shouldn’t be major reason for concern, particularly if you only use the service for browsing the internet and accessing content security. In addition, X-VPN accepts anonymous payment methods such as Bitcoin and gift cards.

IP and DNS Leak test

X-VPN offers first-party DNS servers and DNS leak protection, and we confirmed that there are no leaks when you are using the service. Your DNS queries are routed through X-VPN’s secure DNS servers. The same goes for your IP address. Once you open X-VPN on your device and connect to a VPN server, your real IP address is masked so others won’t be able to find out your identity and location.

 

Features

X-VPN has dedicated apps for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS, which means that you will be able to install the VPN on these platforms without any hassle. There is also a convenient browser extension for Chrome. If you want to set up the VPN on your router, you will find step-by-step guides that will take you through the configuration process. Setting the VPN on a router will allow you to run the service on game consoles, streaming boxes and other devices.

The apps have a neat, user-friendly design that will be appreciated by users who don’t have previous experience with VPN services. The apps are easy to use and once you access the interface, you will see a connect button. If you are not sure which server to connect to, don’t worry because X-VPN will automatically suggest the fastest server available for you. If you want to see the full list of servers available, you can click on “select location”. X-VPN’s apps focus on simplicity, so there is not a lot of information on the main menu. This may disappoint experienced users but it could be the best for newbies, as they won’t feel overwhelmed. The options available include changing the proprietary protocol settings behind the tab in the bottom left.

X-VPN offers split-tunneling, a practical feature that gives you the chance to select the traffic that should be routed through the VPN tunnel. You can have control over the way in which your traffic is protected. For instance, you can choose to route your sensitive data (such as online banking activities) through the VPN, while the rest of your traffic uses the standard internet connection. Although the mobile apps feature a kill switch, this is still to be added to all the desktop clients. A kill switch is a must-have feature that blocks your internet traffic in case the VPN connection drops, meaning that it prevents your real IP address from leaking. However, there is a smart reconnect feature that will connect you again automatically in case the connection drops.

All X-VPN users can enjoy unlimited bandwidth and since they manage their own servers, which allows this provider to give you fantastic speeds. At the moment, it is possible to connect to over 5000 servers in more than 50 locations around the world. The countries you can connect to, include Australia, Canada, United States, South Korea, Israel, Brazil, Italy, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and more. One of the best things about X-VPN is that it has dedicated servers for popular services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime. If you are outside the United States, you will be able to access Hulu and Amazon Prime and if you want to check what Netflix offers in the US, UK or Brazil, you will also have the chance to do so, thanks to X-VPN.

Netflix and Streaming Test

X-VPN did great on the stream test. As mentioned, the app provides catered lists of servers for BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and more. For international streaming services, they even include multiple country choices. The speed and performance of the servers worked well, and more importantly, each server successfully unblocked the geo-restricted sites, including Netflix US. The amount of servers provided specifically for streaming sites is impressive.

Now let’s talk about speed. X-VPN offers good speeds for streaming and downloading content. You will be able to stream without buffering issues and since there are servers in many locations around the world, you will be able to enjoy international content without hassle. In general, the speeds are consistent, but this will depend on the server you are connected to. For instance, if you are in Europe and connect to a server in the United States, you can expect a more noticeable drop in speed. However, X-VPN manages to ensure optimized speeds for streaming content from any location. While we found some latency issues while playing online games, overall the performance was decent and there were no connection drops. X-VPN is designed to offer a reliable, fast and stable experience to users. Although torrenting is allowed, this is limited to certain locations.

Before Connection

After Connection

Pricing

One month of X-VPN costs $11.99, which is high when compared to the price of other providers. The good news is that if you subscribe for one year, the monthly price is considerably reduced. One year of X-VPN costs $71.88, which means that the price per month drops to $5.99. Whether you choose the monthly or the yearly plan, you will get access to all the servers in the network (including the dedicated streaming servers) and will be able to connect up to 5 devices at the same time. The plans come supported by a 7-day money back guarantee. The payment methods include cards, PayPal Bitcoin and gift cards.

While there is a free option available, it only gives you access to one location. If you want to test the full service, you can check the free trial that X-VPN offers for mobile users.

Customer Support

The Help Center offers basic information about different aspects of the service, but if you need personalized assistance, you can reach out to them via live chat. This option is available Monday to Saturday. In some cases the answers took a long time and didn’t include a great deal of information, but if you contact them via email you can expect more detailed responses. If you have a short question and are not in a hurry, the live chat may work, but if you need a knowledgeable response, it may be best to send X-VPN an email. They also have profiles on social media and the website features tutorials that may come handy.

Conclusion

X-VPN is a VPN solution that focuses on helping users to overcome restrictions so that they can overcome restrictions and enjoy the content that they want. It also supports good security features, including DNS leak protection and WebRTC protection. The main downside is the lack of information about the proprietary protocols used. The truth is that many users would prefer to know that OpenVPN is supported, since this is a protocol known for its security and reliability. The dedicated servers for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu are a big plus, since they allow access to content that is generally blocked outside the United States. If you are mainly interested in an effective solution for bypassing geo-blocks in order to stream media content, X-VPN is a recommended service.