There are hundreds of different VPN providers for Android, but which ones are really worth registering? We have sorted it out for you and listed the best for you. Certainly now that the holiday is coming, a VPN can come in handy.
Although we have previously devoted an article to the best VPN services, we are increasingly noticing (and hearing) that for specific purposes there are other criteria that need to be taken into account. A service can still be so good and safe, if the app does not work properly, it does not help you so much. That is why in the near future we will be testing VPN services for specific devices, operating systems and purposes, starting with Android.
There are so many VPN services out there that it can often be overwhelming. While that is a good thing for the competition, features and prices, it means that choosing a VPN can be an absolute nightmare. That goes double for browsing the Google Play Store where it can be difficult to see which services are legitimate and which services are downright scams.
In recent years, we have tested a lot of VPN services, viewed their privacy policies, and viewed their additional features. While our main focus was on the PC, we also kept an eye on the mobile apps.
To determine the top five VPN apps for Android, we have assessed these apps on different criteria. First, it had to come from a service that we had already given at least a top rating on desktops. This is especially important for speeds over Ethernet and not over Wi-Fi, which can often produce inconsistent results. We also looked at the Android app itself and whether it is easy to manage, as well as other criteria such as pricing and the number of simultaneous devices allowed per account.
Best Android for media consumption: Cyberghost
CyberGhost, based in Romania, has recently released updated versions of its VPN service. The company has decided to follow the uniform approach to design, with the same interface on Android as the PC. The great thing about CyberGhost is that it has a wide range of servers that are meant to bypass specific geo-blockages.
The app is very easy to use. All you have to do is slide the button in the middle of the app or touch it to activate it. By default CyberGhost chooses the best VPN server based on your location. To bypass geo-blockades, click on the location selector in the lower right of the screen and choose the server location from there.
By choosing the Streaming friendly tab, you can, for example, choose servers that are optimized for US. Netflix or Hulu, servers in France for RTL, or BBC’s iPlayer in the UK to name just a few. In total, CyberGhost offers 58 country locations with more than 3,000 servers.
In the app settings you can activate ad and tracker blocking, protection against malware and data compression for faster performance. The company says that data compression is for images only and only goes through http, no logs are kept.
CyberGhost’s privacy policy says it will not register your online activity, IP address, timestamp, or session duration. However, the company does register connection attempts that include the time, country of origin and the version of your CyberGhost application. It also records successful connection attempts. CyberGhost says it does this to monitor the performance of the service.
CyberGhost charges $ 63 a year for seven simultaneous device connections, which is about the average for a service with so many features.
Cyberghost is currently running an offer and you can use this service for only 2.45 euros per month.
Sign up here for the Cyberghost offer
Best VPN service for Netflix: NordVPN
NordVPN is one of the most popular VPN services. The only thing that bothers us a bit is that the founders and senior management choose to remain anonymous. However, there is no doubt that it is a well-built service. The company offers 59 country locations with more than 5,000 servers. The company also promises that it works well with Netflix. It does not offer dedicated servers for this. Instead, Netflix is ​​supposed to work regardless of which server you are on.
NordVPN has also chosen to give its apps a uniform design, but interestingly enough, the Android version looks more like the desktop than the other way around. At the top is a world map that you can zoom to choose a server location, but if you scroll down in the app you can choose a country from an alphabetical list. Once you click on a country, you can either hold onto the first server that chooses NordVPN, or scroll down with another list to choose from all possible servers at that location.
NordVPN also offers malware protection that is activated by default. It also has all the different functions that are present in the desktop version, including P2P file-sharing servers, double-hop connections, special IPs and TOR over VPN.
NordVPN’s privacy policy says it does not record any of your activities and costs $ 84 a year. An offer is currently running, which means that you only have to pay 2.65 euros per month.
Register here for NordVPN
Best VPN for beginners: Tunnelbear
If you are new to the VPN world, we highly recommend TunnelBear. To start with, you don’t even have to pay to try it out, since the company offers 500MB of data per month for free. That is not much, but if you are only going to use it to check your e-mail or something similar then it can be useful. TunnelBear has 22 country locations.
TunnelBear’s app has two main buttons. At the top is an on / off button for the connection and at the bottom is the location selector. The rest of the app shows a map of your current or VPN-based location.
TunnelBear also has options to automatically connect to unsafe Wi-Fi networks, as well as protection against deep packet inspection (GhostBear), an internet kill switch called VigilantBear and finally there is SplitBear, a split tunneling feature that specific apps outside of VPN tunnel.
TunnelBear says it does not record your browsing activity, but it will keep track of your OS version, TunnelBear app version, whether you were active in a certain month, and total data used in a certain month.
TunnelBear charges $ 60 a year and you can connect five devices at the same time. It’s a good price, and while it doesn’t have the same amount of features as NordVPN, it’s a great choice for newcomers.
Register here for Tunnelbear
Best VPN for privacy, security and beginners: ProtonVPN
ProtonVPN is a great choice for new users, you don’t have to guess who is behind the service and it provides informative blogs about what you can and cannot expect from a VPN. In addition, ProtonVPN publishes an annual transparency report and the company explains which encryption is used.
This service places particular emphasis on privacy and security, even though it is also possible to bypass geo-blocks and consume media. In addition to VPN services, the company also offers an encrypted mail service called Protonmail.
We are testing both services and our first impression is excellent. The reviews follow soon.
Register here for ProtonVPN
