ExpressVPN is the best cheap VPN of 2022. In this ExpressVPN review, we tested out the Lightway protocol, performance, server network, security, VPN apps, and much more.
ExpressVPN is a big name in the field of VPN. The power is enormous. It is fast and secure. The user can’t face logging problems with it. It is so powerful that it can unblock Netflix! It also works excellent with torrent sites. In short, it offers everything that the user wants. Don’t forget its ease of use. So, let’s look at a detailed review of this quality VPN: ExpressVPN.
Pros:
- Available in 94 counties and about 160 locations
- The user gets the best performance for the majority of servers.
- Great backend support
- Pick for anything
Cons:
- Bit costly
- The browser extension needs the App of ExpressVPN.
ExpressVPN Review
Contents
There are many VPN present in the market, which means there is too much competition. However, ExpressVPN makes its unique position from the rest of the names due to the unique feature and outstanding support.
Not only features, but it supports on various platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, router, PlayStation, Apple TV, kindle fire, and a few more. ExpressVPN offers browser extensions and location spoofing, WebRTC leak blocking, and HTTPS Everywhere support for Chrome and Firefox.
As we have looked at, the above company’s network is widespread over 94 countries in 160 cities with more than 3000 servers. The best coverage is available in the US and Europe. But you can’t deny its service in other locations, including the counties of Asia and others.
Its service is available in some rare locations where no other service is found. ExpressVPN offers its service in 27 Asia Pacific countries, where other known networks cover only 22 countries of the same region.
If we look at its privacy policy, it clearly stated what they dig into and whatnot. It does not copy any sensitive and private information. Even they have had few audits to confirm that they are following their privacy policy.
In terms of features, it uses its own DNS server and protects your internet traffic. Users don’t have to worry about advanced attackers as its high-end advanced technology handles everything very well. A split-tunneling system is another great advantage for users.
The split-tunneling feature will control your data traffic, i.e., it will determine which applications need the VPN connection and which can work on regular connections. It is a brilliant technology and very useful when you need to distinguish between those apps which need a VPN connection and those which do not. This separation will remove the applications which slow down the pace of your connection.
The popular ExpressVPN services are based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Although the company is relatively small in size, the BVI has the authority to fully control its day-to-day activities without the US or UK authorities’ involvement, which is simply amazing. No government body speculates any customer’s browsing data as they cannot compel ExpressVPN to release any information.
The BVI can get such authority as it has no involvement in the ’14 Eyes’ agreement, also called SIGINT Seniors Europe (SSEUR). Hence, any rule does not apply to its arrangements. Any authority will have to go to the BVI High Court in case of severe issues wherein the issues will be resolved.
There should be a great deal of information to prove notorious behavior or criminal activity. Hence, the user data becomes entirely secure, but the BVI is ready to punish the offender in case of a severe breach. From these facts, it is pretty clear that ExpressVPN is very much into data privacy and goes to a great extent to protect the needs of confidentiality of their clients. It makes ExpressVPN stand out from most VPNs.
The service provided by ExpressVPN is unique. The presence of 24*7 customer support via email and live chat is very beneficial in solving the complaints or issues that many customers face. The thing is that the support provided by ExpressVPN is not the basic, no-good support service; instead, it works with excellent efficiency subtility.
The experts are quite learned and knowledgeable and are fully capable of guiding you through the entire process of diagnosing your issue and solving it. They will sit with you and work on the issue until resolved. ExpressVPN also appreciates your time, and hence, you will get any service in a matter of just a few minutes whenever you need it.
What’s New In ExpressVPN?
‘What’s New’ list for ExpressVPN is exceptionally long with unique features and tools. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Support for Lightway:
It is the company’s VPN protocol and hence promises a better performance overall. The key advantages are:
- More effective encryption
- Better connection times
- Longer battery life
- Improved management of network changes and dropouts
- Lightweight codebase
Many market experts compare it with the WireGuard (a new protocol with similar services as offered by Lightway), but we are not here to make that comparison. However, ExpressVPN has the determination, skilled developers, and resources to overpower the others in the field through its protocol. ExpressVPN has always been a king in the VPN market due to its top-class services.
2. Open source Core engine:
ExpressVPN is also offering an open-source core engine that will give:
- Freedom to independent developers
- A promise to keep up to its claims.
The service is still in the public beta phase after more than four months. It is available for just Windows users, and hence, there is a lot of work left yet.
3. Mac Localization:
It is the process of translating and adapting your app according to multiple languages and regions. It could be a revolutionary move by the company as the application users speak various languages. It helps in the distribution of the technology to more people.
4. Language Options:
ExpressVPN’s app will be available in various languages like Danish, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, French, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Norwegian, and Turkish. It will help in a better distribution of the service.
5. Build Verification System:
ExpressVPN has introduced a comprehensive verification system for its users, mostly ignored by competitors. The advantages of this new feature are:
- Reduced vulnerabilities for threats
- Decreased chances for malware in the system
- Publicly examined by PwC
6. Bugcrowd-powered Bug Bounty Program:
There might be a chance of having bugs in the own code of the company, but as we told you earlier, the core engine is open source, and hence, ExpressVPN covers itself through the Bug Bounty program. It is a program through which the company rewards researchers from all over the world for searching and reporting vulnerabilities in the system in any form.
This “system” consists of any service aspect (network, website, apps, servers, routers, etc.) that may contain any bug. This idea of ExpressVPN ensures a bug and vulnerability-free system for the users to reduce the chances of any kinds of threats.
7. 30-day ExpressVPN free Trial:
ExpressVPN and LastPass are collaborating this time which implies that the existing subscribers of LastPass Premium or LastPass Family will get a free 30-day trial for ExpressVPN. So, if you are thinking of signing up for LastPass, do it.
8. Reduced Monthly price:
If a user signs up for a longer plan, ExpressVPN offers a reduced monthly price which is fantastic for you if you think of a long-term plan.
ExpressVPN: Plans And Pricing
ExpressVPN offers mainly three structured plans. You can choose any of the plans according to your preferences as well as budget. As we told you earlier, ExpressVPN is at the top of its market, which means that it keeps all its promises. So, the pricing of the plans is worth putting your money on.
1. Monthly Plan:
You can get their product and services for just $12.95 per month. That is a reasonable price as most VPNs in the market, like Hotspot Shield, VyprVPN, and CyberGhost, offer their services for around $13-$15 monthly.
2. Six-month Plan:
A six-month plan by ExpressVPN drops the monthly price to $9.99. It is an enormous discount which is not present in most of its competitors. It is indeed a more flexible pricing system as most VPNs in the market do not offer any six-month plans.
3. Annual Plan:
The annual plan of ExpressVPN drops the monthly pricing to just $8.32. This massive 35% discount on monthly plans offered by such a quality VPN service is fantastic and unexpected.
This considerable discount beats the annual plan by the very famous Hotspot Shield, which offers monthly pricing of $9.99 in its yearly plan. HideMyAss! and NordVPN offer their yearly plan so that their monthly pricing goes down to $6.99, and our ExpressVPN is not much behind.
If you are really interested in signing up for a longer duration due to its quality services, you are in a win-win situation. A vast and seriously unbelievable discount can be found in monthly pricing for the users who sign up for a longer duration.
Though ExpressVPN limits its structured plans to just an annual one, some providers also offer a longer duration plan. The three-year plan by Speedify costs only $3 per month. Can you believe it!!!!
For example, Ivacy charges only $2.40 a month if you take a two-year plan which is $57.60 in total. If we compare it with the annual plan, you only have to pay seven month’s money and enjoy two years of the ExpressVPN service!
The customers forget when they compare pricing and discounts to the services and quality of the product. Any VPN can offer a low rate, but what about quality? ExpressVPN never disappoints you with that part. And hence, the money on all its plans is worth spending.
You should also keep track of the offers provided by ExpressVPN to save some extra money. There are various ways to do so. For example, you can get 3 additional months of service if you sign up through the deals we offer. It compiles a 15 months service with just $6.67 a month.
There is a list of methods through which you can pay for the plans. These include PayPal, debit/credit cards, Bitcoin, WebMoney, Alipay, Yandex Money, and many more.
Additionally, if you just install the ExpressVPN app on your Android or iOS device, you are going to get a 7-day free trial. It is such a fantastic way to test the VPN and its services before putting your money in it.
The story doesn’t end here. Once you pay for a plan, ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee which shows the amount of confidence it has in its services. You can calmly get assured in 30- days, whether to carry on with the service or just get the money back.
The cancellation process is also very straightforward and straightforward. Unlike some companies that provide no refund if you log in more than a threshold count or use a threshold amount of bandwidth, ExpressVPN just refunds the money back if you are not satisfied. You just have to tell ExpressVPN that you are not happy or have changed your mind, and you will get all your money back.
Privacy Policy
In the VPN market, all the companies claim that they offer the most secure and private service. But every time the researchers look deeply into their security systems, they find some loophole or some vulnerability.
However, ExpressVPN is unique when it comes to privacy. The company tells the users how fabulous its services are and has many impressive privacy features to justify every word it says. For example, if we talk about encryption, most of the firms just mention a reference to AES-256 or that their service supports OpenVPN.
On the other hand, ExpressVPN provides every bit of the information to their users. It not only mentions but also explains and everything. It says that it uses a 4096-bit SHA-512 RSA certificate.
With AES-256-CBC, it encrypts the control channel and Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC), giving protection against real-time alteration of some regular data. To confirm that, many researchers, including ours, checked the claims of ExpressVPN by looking into its configuration files for OpenVPN and found the details to be the same as what the company describes.
The ExpressVPN provides multi-layered privacy, and Support for Perfect Forward Secrecy adds more protection. Every time a user connects to the system, it automatically assigns a fresh secret key. Perfect Forward Secrecy also replaces the secret key every hour until the session remains active or open.
The incredible advantage of this mechanism is that even if a notorious element manages to compromise your session somehow, it will be out of the system within 60 minutes which somewhat reduces the threats.
The other benefit of going for ExpressVPN is that it offers efficient DNA leak protection. It is possible because it has its own zero-knowledge, 256-bit encrypted DNS for all of its servers. This feature prevents any leakage of the data about the activities you perform online.
Many VPNs use unencrypted DNS, which redirects all your DNS traffic to some third-party service like OpenDNS. If you use an unencrypted DNS, you are indirectly inviting the attackers to intercept your requests. It enables them to filter, alter, or even block these requests. Using ExpressVPN’s encrypted DNS scheme wipes out all these risks.
Websites that give promising test results like IPLeak, DNS Leak Test and Browser Leaks confirm its DNS effectiveness. They have tested the DNS in-depth and implied that the ExpressVPN servers offer zero traffic leaks, and it was using the IP address for its DNS queries. You have the right to keep all your data safe, and ExpressVPN preserves. Additionally, you can browse the web anonymously using ExpressVPN, which is very crucial sometimes.
Logging
Any typical VPN company in the market displays “NO LOGGING!” or some similar message in a large font. There is a list of privacy rules and policies behind the scene, but nothing is appropriately informed. They either give very little or zero information behind the message.
ExpressVPN works uniquely. First of all, there are no “zero logs” bragging over the website’s front page. It has a button that takes you to a “What is VPN” page. It helps users to know what VPN is and why they are not letting anyone in. This page contains the position of the company: “Privacy is a fundamental right. We don’t keep connection or activity logs, and we never share your details with anyone.”
The user does not have to read all 2000 words documents with all the details. There is a link within the no-log statements that takes you to the “Privacy towards logs” page. This page has everything noted down that you need to know about ExpressVPN privacy policy and what it collects and what it does not. It has everything from why the service works like this and explanations of each point to what it takes.
The main highlights of the “Privacy towards logs” page are:
- Whenever you connect to ExpressVPN, the system does not record and keep any information about your IP address.
- It doesn’t keep any logs of the IP address assigned by ExpressVPN when you log in.
- It doesn’t save any data about the websites and links you visit along with the DNS requests you make, as we mentioned above.
- The company records some information about the date of you connecting to a service and selecting a server. However, as it does not record the connection and the IP address of the network, there is zero possibility to misuse this date recording data. There is no chance for any malicious element to use the recorded data to link an internet action back to a particular ExpressVPN user.
- ExpressVPN also keeps the version number of any client you’ve installed. It also keeps track of the amount of total data transferred on a particular day. However, this transferring information cannot induce any privacy risk. All the VPNs in the market keep this data but never admit it. But, ExpressVPN keeps this data after informing their users.
You don’t have to trust what ExpressVPN says, though, blindly. The company is highly confident with what it says and has had a backend system and TrustedServer technology audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). It confirms it’s operating up to its promises. It is because PwC is the world’s second-largest professional services network and is a highly trusted network. You can easily download and read the summary report for more information.
Performance
The first thing that needs to be looked into a VPN while selecting it after privacy is speed. We here test the performance of the various services in the US as well as the UK. As we know that the next generation Lightway of ExpressVPN is still in beta testing, we ran our rests using OpenVPN.
We started the process by logging into an instance of 25 ExpressVPN’s OpenVPN -enabled servers in the UK. We looked into the initial connection times and then ran some ping tests to check the latency issues and response time. Though these do not affect the download speeds, they are still important when it comes to experiencing the service’s overall performance.
NOTE:
If 50% of the total servers tested are always down, or connection time and latency of the system is high, it is not a successful service.
The first test recorded that 92% of the total connections were established within 3 to 4 seconds, which is an impressive beginning as most of the VPNs take more than twice the time it took.
When we made connections from the UK to Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam, and observed the same speed for pretty impressive and even distant servers.
Geolocation checks on ExpressVPN showed that all the servers were present in their claimed locations, and the latency of the system was within a decent and acceptable range.
We measured download speeds and examined the system’s performance by the top sites like SpeedTest and TestMy.net from European and US regions.
On average, ExpressVPN averaged 135-140Mbps from a data center in Europe. However, it is not the fastest of all in the market, but it is more than enough to perform all the tasks by devices in various types of connections.
When we examined the performance in the US, the results were impressively shocking. The data center recorded an average of 200-220Mbps. It shows a good sign of its peak speed.
We performed these various tests, only tell us about peak speed in UK and US servers, and to get more deeply into it, we also ran the speed tests from the UK to the most distant servers of ExpressVPN to search if somewhere something is not okay.
In most VPNs, when it comes to long-distance severs, the performance drops down drastically. But ExpressVPN behaved very well. Connections from the UK to Malaysia gave a bit unstable 49Mbps, whereas Brazil (23Mbps), Bangladesh (26Mbps), and Nepal (27Mbps) were slower. Even the slowest connection between the UK and Kenya gave a 16Mbps speed, which is fine enough for streaming HD videos and regular browsing.
The most awaited protocol Lightway from ExpressVPN, should have even higher speeds. We can’t test Lightway as it is not ready yet. WE, however, set Lightway up on the data center to scratch the surface.
Lightway showed positive results by having a download speed of 165Mbps to our nearest UK server, which in its absence was 120Mbps. It is a significant and impressive jump of 37.5%, which is good news for the excited users.
UK to US servers showed a 110Mbps speed with OpenVPN and 125Mbpas with Lightway, a 14% increase. However, these stats and figures are not “THE” best in the market, but it is just a start with public Windows beta. Higher and low latency is expected with the final version of the promising Lightway.
ExpressVPN already provides fantastic results with excellent performance. We are excited, along with you, to see the final version of the Lightway protocol, which might be revolutionary in the market.
Platform Support
In the VPN Market, most services claim that they can unblock various platforms, which are later false. ExpressVPN here also wins the heart of its customers. It does not make false claims and provides the users with a list of platforms it supports. The list is vast with a total of 25 services, and highlights of the list contain:
- Netflix
- BBC iPlayer
- Amazon Prime
- Disney+
- Wikipedia
- YouTube
It is sporadic and good to see the service up-fronting about what it’s promising to provide. We ran many tests many times to test the unblocking capability of ExpressVPN, and shockingly, we were able to access Amazon Prime Video, US Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, and YouTube.
Below are some details of the results:
1. Netflix:
Netflix results were marvelous. We are keeping it at the top of our list by giving five out of five unblocking service ratings.
2. Amazon Prime:
ExpressVPN unblocked Amazon Prime Video too. We connected our system with a US ExpressVPN location and logged into Amazon.com rather than logging into Amazon.co.uk. Amazon.com opened instantly with US content.
NOTE: The critical point here is that the Amazon Prime Video, in its terms and conditions, states that the company will “use various techniques to verify your geographic location” and “you may not use any technology or technique like VPN or other to obscure or disguise your location.” So, by using any VPN, you are breaking this rule, and you break the rules at your own risk.
3. YouTube:
As most VPNs give easy access to YouTube, ExpressVPN also provides instant access for Youtube from any US server connections we established.
4. BBC iPlayer:
As you might already know that BBC iPlayer gives a much better VPN protection than platforms like YouTube, so it is, most of the time, tough to access it with any VPN. However, despite such strict restrictions, ExpressVPN unblocked it through one of our test servers. It allowed us to stream the content whenever we liked.
5. Disney+:
As soon as we checked the first test location, ExpressVPN gave us access to Disney+. Additionally, it also provided access through the second and third servers we tried.
VPN for Torrents
A torrent user might get surprised when he or she first takes a look at the ExpressVPN platform. It is because if you carefully look at it the first time, the windows client of ExpressVPN doesn’t seem to be quite torrent supportive as there is no mention of the torrent in the description or anywhere on the product page.
The torrent awareness is so low in this case that if you were to search ‘p2p’, i.e., peer-to-peer, the search engine will think you searched ‘pap’ instead of ‘p2p’. It seems to be quite hilarious initially, but it could be a sound of trouble for torrent users. But, ExpressVPN has got this also figured out.
No, ExpressVPN is not looking to hide any information or data. It is pure crystal truth, and when you dig around the FAQ part in the support website or run a few diagnoses regarding torrent-based results, you will find the truth behind this entire ideology.
Of course, this VPN will provide services that support torrent usage and also tries to avoid all the hurdles that become annoyances in no time that are pretty prominent in other virtual network providers.
Those who use torrents are not restricted to a small number of servers that are overloaded with traffic. Instead, there are several locations present in ExpressVPN where you can easily choose the location that favors you.
Another fascinating fact about this feature is that other providers impose no bandwidth limitation. Also, there are no exceptions for transfers as the organization hasn’t imposed a bounded data flow, i.e., it doesn’t interfere with your connection properties.
Here are some more key features of this application
- There is no presence of activity logs, giving you the complete privacy that you desire.
- It also supports Bitcoin, one of the fastest-rising cryptocurrencies.
- There is a 30-day money-back guarantee, i.e., you can take your money back after 30 days if you don’t like the client’s services.
- Will favor all your immediate torrent needs without any foundation.
Express Client Setup
It is acceptable that it is tough to install, understand, and work properly for most VPN customers, but with ExpressVPN, you cannot complain about that. It has a well-designed, user-friendly website interface that mentions everything to minimize the client’s issues.
For example, when you log in to your account after creating one and move to the dashboard, you do not have to search for the download link. The developers of ExpressVPN worked hard to ease down the customers by making the page detect the device type you are using and display the download button accordingly. It also gives the freedom to copy with just one click.
If you want to get something for another operating system, you can click on “Set up on all your devices.” It takes you to a list of the large number of options containing:
- Windows
- iOS
- Amazon Fire
- Mac
- Android
- Linux
When you click any one from the list, you will get more links with different instructions to follow.
As we talked about other VPNs’ conditions in the market and what difficulties customers follow due to a lack of a good interface and proper explanations, what can you expect more from such a well-structured interface of ExpressVPN?
Additionally, if you ever notice that in the case of other VPNs, when you click on “Android,” you are directed to just Google Play Store, but ExpressVPN again here is unique. Along with a Play Store Link, it offers a button that can be used to email yourself a link to set up, a QR code, and an option to download APK files for experts directly.
If you do a neat setup using the link you get at your email address, ExpressVPN does not bind you to remember and manually fill in your username and password. Instead, your download page displays a unique activation code that you need to copy and paste to the client whenever you see an instruction. After doing this, the system is automatically going to fill up your login credentials.
Setting up a third-party OpenVPN client becomes easy and straightforward when ExpressVPN comes into the picture. It is done by providing the .OVPN configuration files are made for this purpose only. For example, there is a file called my_expressvpn_argentina_udp.ovpn as opposed to NordVPNs ar1.nordvpn.com.udp1194.ovpn. When it comes to setting up and running the OpenVPN Connect client, the process is pretty straightforward and won’t take longer than a few minutes.
Windows Client
The Express VPN windows version interface is quite simple and interactive, along with being extremely subtle. There is a humongous On/Off button that does what it represents, i.e., it connects the VPN when required and disconnects the VPN when it isn’t needed. Thus, in all, the windows client is pretty decent and precise in its usage.
Also, there is a display status that will show the server you are using, and again, the Choose Location button is also present. This button can pick up some other thing, and after that, a simple feature of a menu button on the top-left side of the screen gives quite speedy access to some more features that Express VPN provides.
Many ways are using which the windows client allows choosing the best and the most stable server for your virtual connection. Now, the Smart Location option is one of the essential features of the windows software.
The thing is that this feature chooses the best available and the closest server for the relative ease of the user. One can pretty easily double click on a nation to access the best location available. The user can choose manually the connection he or she wants and with great ease.
The Search field is also there to help you search your preferential locations with the help of a keyword that the user will type in the search bar. Now, the best part is that any user can add these confined locations to his or her favorites list, and now, they will be able to access these locations without any hassle. It is quite a convenient thing that the developers have included in the software.
The system tray icon has its uses too. When you right-click on this menu, the last 3 locations that you had selected will be displayed. It means that even if you don’t remember these locations, you have the advantage of finding this in the recent three locations.
Without opening the entire windows client, you can just click on any one of the three locations and easily get connected to the virtual servers without having to face any hurdle along the way.
One thing about the Location list is that initially, it won’t display any data about the server’s pace. By using this feature, you can easily choose the fastest server yourself. There is also the presence of a feature named the Speed Test feature.
The name of the feature represents what it does, i.e., it will provide valuable data surrounding the connections’ speed. It means that no competition servers are displayed. Still, certain information like the latency of the connection and the download speed estimation for downloading any file can be found using this feature.
When it comes to the Settings dialogue box that one can see in the windows client, there are about 5 protocols from which a person can easily choose, given as- the new Lightway, OpenVPN UDP, OpenVPN TCP, L2TP – IPSec, and IKEv2. Those looking for the PPTP need to know that this protocol is no longer supported as it is deemed insecure.
Now, if you are looking for a kill switch in this client, you will find one indeed, and this switch, when clicked, will bring down the entire connection and hence, disconnect you from the servers immediately without any burden.
This killswitch will also block the internet traffic when the VPN connection is low to reduce the chances of leaking the data. Now, the best part is that this feature is always available. You don’t need to set it up or install any other software or file, i.e., it is just switched on from the beginning itself, making it easier to protect your privacy.
The best thing about ExpressVPN is that the coordination and implementation are flawless after the inclusion of all these features. If you try to use tricks to close the OpenVPN and IKEv2 connections forcibly, the Windows client will handle all these things with great ease. So, it works impressively in blocking your internet traffic, and of course, there are notifications on the desktop using which you can monitor all your related data.
There are many low-level technical details that the platform has implemented flawlessly, including users’ ability to use their fault DNS servers when working with ExpressVPN. Also, the essential IPv6 protection against data leaks is present to secure your data from getting leaked.
The journey of describing the features of this application does not end here. There is also a feature called split tunneling. This feature is widely used and is a very clever technological invention. Now what this feature does is that it will decide for the user when the user should use the standard, regular internet service and when it should be beneficial and safe to use the services of ExpressVPN.
Of course, this fascinating feature is a massive attraction for many people who look for safer alternatives every time they connect to the internet. Consider a situation where you are using your mail, so the VPN won’t work in such a case as the application won’t work. So here you can use the normal internet connection. Now, let’s consider a situation where you are opening an application or two using a VPN.
You can channel your traffic through the normal connection and improve your chances at a more incredible speed which enhances your efficiency. As a result, it becomes easy for you to run torrent and such applications using the VPN.
Android App
Now the new users of Express VPN might be thinking if this one app is the one for them. But, it is pretty simple to use this app on Android. The installation is the easiest. If you feel the need to install it after reading Express VPN reviews, you should just go to the Google Play Store and search for the application.
The application will show on the search results, and you just have to click on install. The application will download and install, and that’s it. After scanning for viruses, you can see this application on your phone’s screen. Of course, there is the usual sign-up process on opening the application, and after that, voila, you’re in!
Now, if you already have an account in the ExpressVPN company services, there are many more accessible options. For example, you can just go to the web console of your Windows PC, choose the Setup>Android Page, and after that, scan the QR code to enable the automatic installation of the application on your smartphone.
It is one of the easiest ways to install the application. You have an account and provided that your phone allows installation from outside sources, i.e., sources other than Google Play. There were basic setup choices involved in the process, like choosing to enable the application to send the analysis of processes back to Expressvpn, which is a fair deal as it helps the company keep records. But, regardless, the setup will complete within seconds.
Of course, the app is excellent and has a clean interface. The application works in the same ways as the Windows application with minor changes. For example, there is a Location Picker like in the Windows version, which will allow the users to connect and reconnect with their choice of the network without much hassle and with just a single tap.
The interface makes it relatively easy to find the correct server and connect and disconnect with great ease with only a few taps. Thus, the entire process is straightforward and simple, not demanding much technical knowledge from the customers. You can check your current location and also the status of the connection with a single glance.
There is also a Privacy and Security Tools menu that will allow you to check and rectify your connection and related properties. You can also display your IP address and check if there have been any DNS and WebRTC leakages.
Also, it would help if you had secure passwords, and this is the feature that allows you to do it. Now, the thing is that these tools are available for a long time on the Windows version, too but, their implementation on the mobile application has had a significant impact on the convenience of a customer of Express VPN. It is relatively easier to use these features from the app itself.
Now, the drawback of this Android application is the absence of Important features like the Speed Test. It is an essential feature as a user can tell using this feature about the connection speed, i.e., if the connection is overloaded, fast, or slow. This feature should be included in the Location List.
The Settings section provides no control to the user over DNS. Still, it has made up for it by providing an integrated kill switch in the application itself to disconnect when needed instantly. Express VPN’s newest Lightway Protocol feature is followed by the application and OpenVPN, UDP, and TCP.
Now, another great feature included in the feature of split tunneling is quite beneficial in maintaining traffic. If you need to decrease traffic over Netflix, use it to tunnel the traffic through a normal connection and Netflix to use the VPN connection. It is a very popular tool of the application and loved by the customers.
Along with this feature, the automatic connection is also there. In case you are connecting to untrustworthy sites, the VPN will give you the option to connect to its servers to proceed safely.
‘App and Website Shortcuts’ is a feature that provides the users with a toolbar. This toolbar is present on the connection windows and can include up to 5 shortcuts at once. Now, this shortcut menu will be holding your five most favorite applications.
It is indeed a simple feature but an essential one. With just one tap, one can quickly launch the commonly used applications with quite an ease and without any discomfort as soon as the connection is made.
In case of users’ problems and issues, the application also has the provision for in-app support documentation, which will help you work out most of your issues without any confrontations. You will also find the option for ‘Email Us’ in a corner, which works just how it says. Mail your issues to the owners of the application, and hence, you will be able to solve all queries. There are not expert-level features in the application.
For example, there is no option for setting up preferable DNS servers. But, the application’s functionality and stability are pretty impressive, and hence, for most people, the interface is straightforward to handle.
Also, there is a free service of 7 days for those who want to feel how the VPN’s environment works. This offer is not available on the website; i.e., there is no trial version on the website. If you are looking for the best VPN for Android, Express VPN is needed.
iOS App
Express VPN is also on iOS, and the best part is that on iPhones, the application has a similar kind of vibrance as on other platforms. It means that when the application opens on an iOS platform, it will feature the same functionalities and a similar user interface so that the iOS users won’t feel left out.
The interface includes a giant button that would get the user started up online and a menu to discover and explore other relevant settings. There is also a well-developed Location Picker with many ways to search for specific cities included in it.
Also, there is a Recent Connection list which is kind of a Favorites section. As a result, the users will be allowed to include commonly used locations in a list from which they can easily access them.
When it comes to the Android application, the iOS edition also allows switching between servers without any effort and the hassle of closing up the existing connection. Hence, the entire process gets limited to a single tap which is just amazing if you switch servers frequently and regularly; usability matters.
So, when compared to Android, there are more options available on the iOS platform. The thing is that Express VPN’s protocol doesn’t include only the options for OpenVPN UDP and TCP; they also have the options to access L2TP and IKEv2.
These protocols aren’t available on Android, and this is a bummer, of course. But, here also, the kill switch option is not available. As a result, the auto-reconnect option tries to reconnect the tunnel, which is quite a good feature in poor connection or connection drop.
We’ve seen more feature-packed VPN apps, but on balance, ExpressVPN’s iOS offering is likable, easy to use, and delivers the functionality most folks are likely to need. And if you’d like to check the service for yourself, good news: as with Android, there’s a risk-free 7-day trial available.
Just like the Android version, the iOS version of Express VPN has a menu for Privacy and Security Tools wherein the users will find ways to seek confirmation if their IP address has changed and is from their selected nation or not.
They can also track any kind of DNS or WebRTC leaks from the Express VPN platform using this menu. Although other countless applications deliver the same services, Express VPN’s iOS version is exciting and fascinating.
There are many features, and of course, an excellent interface promotes the goal of the company. If the customer wants to have a check at Express VPN’s working and performance, the Android version has a risk-free 7-day period free trial. Of course, this means better interaction and improvement in the customer base. It is because the customers who were questioning the integrity of the VPN get their doubts cleared.
Browser Extensions
The software clients that Express VPN supports are pretty clean and have a very user-friendly interface. But this doesn’t mean that Express VPN doesn’t work on other browsers. It is a very famous VPN that Google Chrome users and Firefox users extensively use.
Hence, any user who wants to use his browser can use this VPN easily it. But, for this to be successful, the users need to integrate the VPN and the browser. There’s a little inconvenience when it comes to the working of Express VPN.
The thing is that the browser extensions of Express VPN are not just proxy networks but also become part of the integrated system. There is a slight inconvenience because the users will have to install this VPN and make them the browser-based interface of their PC or Mac. If you don’t install these extensions, they won’t work. But, there are many significant benefits of this too.
When Express VPN’s extension for the browser is installed in the system and run, it can develop excellent communication between the client and quickly read its state. The location of this browser extension of Express VPN will be in the same place as where the client resides, and hence, that is where the extension files will be found.
Now, when it comes to integrating the Express VPN extension into the browser, Express VPN’s functionality can be used from within the browser, which is just amazing. It makes it quite efficient and easy for any user to unblock a site from within the browser. The user can now choose their virtual location from inside the browser and quickly develop a connection.
After that, the user can browse the websites they need, and instantly, when they are done, they can switch to their normal location and turn off the Express VPN connection. It is all straightforward and user-friendly with no hassle.
One wouldn’t find the need to switch between normal and virtual networks or implement some other technicality to make the VPN work. It keeps working like a regular application on the machine, and it has quite a simple interface that many users will find similar.
Now, the fact is that this is just a browser extension, i.e., it won’t be having the functionalities as the browser has. Hence, you won’t be able to implement many functions, and there will be limitations.
For example, there is no option for marking favorites, or there are no speed testing applicable, and other options won’t be there. There are only 2 options available- ‘Connect on browser launch’ and ‘Show desktop notifications. Also, you can easily open the desktop application’s setting dialog box directly from the extension. But, it isn’t all bad.
There are many privacy tools involved in this entire management system. The Chrome and Firefox extensions of Express VPN have an easily usable setting to prevent HTML5 geolocation from working your actual location out and then revealing it.
Therefore, while you will be connected to the VPN, you won’t be getting your location revealed by any functionality, making proxy management efficient. Also, the extension will prevent any kind of WebRTC leaks, i.e., there won’t be any kind of data leakage that will reveal your IP address when you are surfing the internet while being connected to Expressvpn.
Also, the usage of HTTPS Everywhere will forcefully develop connections to HTTPS versions of all websites, if and when available. The extension also features improved localization, i.e., the extensions are readily available in about 17 languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Turkish.
Although this browser extension won’t be readily available for all kinds of users, one must have the application installed in their system to use it without any hassle. The ability was given to the user to gracefully implement this extension and use it along with the browser.
ExpressVPN’s competitors do have such great extension features, and hence, it is quite a worthwhile experience to take Express VPN’s services.
Support
The world is full of networking technologies like the Virtual Proxy Network. There are many technical errors that any VPN service is susceptible to. But, the challenge is figuring out what is troubling the customer. It is where comes into effect the VPN service provider’s customer service.
Yes, it is hard to please a customer, but ExpressVPN has beneficial customer service, and this is noticeable from satisfied paying customers of the organization. Well, before you feel the need to get on a live call or chat, the platform has already written down detailed explanations for various popular problems and their solutions.
Express VPN has a customer support site wherein customers can look up the answers related to their query and solve any errors. There is quite a lengthy list of very detailed articles and contain the solutions to numerous problems that customers face daily.
Of course, it is much convenient for any user to find out the answers from the guides that the platform provides to troubleshoot. So, if you are looking to solve the problems arising from slow connection speeds or having trouble changing passwords, or if you want to cancel your subscription, all your answers are present in the troubleshooting guide beforehand.
The articles provided for support are carefully explained in great detail, and there it is written as if explaining to a customer who has technical knowledge. It makes these articles very easy to understand and to interpret without any hassle.
The articles elaborate on a given problem and explain how they would have risen and how a person with no technical knowledge can solve such problems. These articles come with multiple solutions, and to resolve all of the user’s problems, each article is linked with another.
Hence, if a user has solved one problem but is having difficulty solving another, he will be directed to that problem from the article itself, maintaining the concept of relevancy. Here is a common example for your better knowledge- while most VPNs might give the solution of trying another server, Express VPN will provide the customer the reference to a link to a detailed article.
If you are having difficulty setting up ExpressVPN or want a step-by-step guide, there are 8 different tutorials for the Windows installation of Express VPN. Many guides and tutorials feature all the knowledge and information on the installation of Express VPN apps on android and software on PC.
The manual setup and installation of Windows Express VPN software are quite gracefully shown in tutorials. It just doesn’t end here. There are 4 tutorials on Mac, 4 on Android, 4 on iOS, and even Linux guides. There are guides for Ubuntu, Pi, Raspberry, and more operating systems are present also.
Now, searching your issue and then the solution for it can be pretty tricky in such a data stream. But, Express VPN support has got a solution for that too. The search engine followed by the search engine is very effective in scanning the entire data stream and scans about 250 articles back-to-back to give you the appropriate results.
Of course, many people find it quite efficient to enter specific keywords to get the content suiting their needs. Now, in those cases wherein the support website cannot help a user, there is also 24/7 customer live support via email and chat.
In case of lightning-fast results, live chats are recommended by ExpressVPN. These are super-fast in solving the issues that are faced by customers and hence, should be opted in case none of the articles on the support site works.
Now, in the case of email support, the company has cleared that it can take up to 24 hours for the company to reply to the emails sent by any user but, many people get their emails by the end of the first hour itself, proving that the 24 hours count is just in extreme cases of extreme traffic.
The replies sent via mail will contain all the solutions that any customer needs or want and are very detailed. Hence, finding out the problems and correcting them becomes more accessible with the 24/7 constant customer support.
When it comes to the live chat services, they too performed incredibly, and hence, no issues were detected. The chat services were accurate and, of course, fascinating. The replies contain all the solutions to any user who encounters a problem, and the responses are quite genuine with instant solutions.
Of course, with the enhancement of chatbots and automation in AI-related software, a customer will get a bot-like reaction in a matter of minutes. It could be that the problems are solved instantly on the chat, or you can get an agent for proper exposure.
Now, when it comes to the duration, the agents are, of course, on a chat with the customer until the problem is diagnosed and sorted out. But, in the case of those users who know what they are doing and have considerable technical knowledge, they don’t need to pay for this premium service and interaction because they already know what they are working on.
The fact is that customer support is limited to sorting out low-level technical difficulties. They also readily solve complex issues like connection issues or the most efficient servers for US Netflix and other OTT platforms.
These issues are resolved without any hassle, and the response is immediate. It is why ExpressVPN has an entirely different reputation when it comes to customer support and gratification. Helpful advice and other issues are explained excellently, and hence, this creates a considerable gap between Express VPN and other VPNs.
Final Verdict
Well, it can be concluded that this is indeed a premium quality Virtual Proxy Network or VPN. The services are top-notch, and of course, the organization can be trusted. The services that ExpressVPN provides have stood up to our expectations and even succeeded in exceeding them. Indeed, the customer support and the platform’s privacy are entirely appropriate, and the usage is straightforward to implement.
It is because of the user-friendly nature of the interface. Another remarkable fact about ExpressVPN is that it has pretty powerful blocking abilities, and hence the expenditure doesn’t matter much. Of course, the professional and powerful services of the platform subdue the expensive nature of Express VPN. Being satisfied with the expenditure is what matters.
Dilip is freelance software and tech content writer. At TopItSoftware mostly write about the best software. In his free time is doing graphic design work.