Best VPNs for Android in 2022
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What is a VPN?
When you connect to a virtual private network, or VPN, it routes your web traffic through an encrypted connection to a server operated by the VPN company. The monitor will see all web traffic (and that of other VPN clients) flowing in and out of the VPN server, not your Android device. Also, when you are connected to a VPN, your real IP address is hidden. All a malicious advertiser or explicit spy will see is the IP address of the VPN server. This protects your privacy but also makes it difficult for anyone to discern your location because IP addresses are geographically distributed.
All this helps to protect your privacy on the Internet. Advertisers and companies are keen to know your habits, but a VPN makes it difficult for them to track you online. A VPN also prevents your ISP from seeing what you’re up to – which is a good thing, because they’re also eager to monetize your data.
Our experts tested 19 products in the VPN category this year
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Mobile devices are unique in that they have many ways to communicate with the Internet through both Wi-Fi and onboard cellular radio. They’re also on the move with us, outside of our secure home networks and into all sorts of other places. We’ve seen some great research hinting at the privacy consequences of mobile devices: fake wi-fi devices that impersonate familiar networks can prey on thousands of unexpected devices, and phony base stations that can track phones (and possibly intercept data). These are strange concerns, but it is important that you understand the worst case scenarios to protect yourself.
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What is a VPN is not
Much of the security industry relies on fear, uncertainty, and suspicion among consumers. Although there are absolute threats to your privacy and security, there is no single tool that will protect them all.
While some VPN services claim to protect you from malware and phishing sites, standalone antivirus software undoubtedly does a better job. One of the most serious threats people face is an attacker taking over an account. To guard against this, we highly recommend using a password manager to create strong, unique passwords for every site and service you use. We also recommend enabling multi-factor authentication, wherever available. While VPNs make it difficult to track you online, advertisers and snoopers have a variety of tools at their disposal, such as browser fingerprinting. We highly recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy settings of the Android operating system and the browser of your choice.
Keep in mind that although VPNs improve your online privacy, they are not true anonymity services and you cannot use one to connect to hidden websites on the dark web. For both of these activities, you must use the Tor network for anonymity. The Tor client Android apps are on the Google Play Store, so getting online with Tor is simple.
Finally, a VPN is just as likely to have as much insight into your online activity as your ISP, so it’s important to choose a VPN you can trust. When we review VPNs, we read privacy policies and interview company representatives to understand the efforts they make to protect customers. If you don’t think you can trust a particular VPN for any reason, choose another. There is a lot.
Do VPNs work with Netflix?
A common use of VPNs is location spoofing. When you send your web traffic through an encrypted tunnel to a remote server, the data appears to originate from the VPN server rather than your actual location. Journalists and activists have used this ability to get around restrictive internet controls imposed by various governments.
But for most people, location spoofing with a VPN is to stream content that is limited to specific geographies. However, video streaming services are starting with wisdom. We’ve noticed that Hulu and Amazon Prime Video also frequently block access when they detect a VPN. Note that streaming companies have their rights to block VPN users. Just because you pay to watch Netflix in the US doesn’t mean you’re allowed to watch UK Netflix.
Some VPNs work with Netflix, but their effectiveness can change on a daily basis because streaming companies and VPN services play a cat-and-mouse game of plagiarism and bans.
VPN and Speed
Not surprisingly, redirecting your connection to other servers, possibly far away, can negatively affect your internet speeds. Usually, a VPN greatly increases your latency and reduces your download and upload speed. The severity of the impact depends on the location of the VPN servers and the network infrastructure that the VPN provider can access, among other things.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has restricted our access to the PCMag Labs testing network, requiring us to change how VPN speed tests are performed. Instead of testing all products once a year, we continue to test VPNs and update the results continuously. Note that we do not look at VPN performance over cellular connections. This is because we cannot control how or when a phone connects to cell towers. Instead, we only test speeds on Windows devices. Our latest results are in the table below.
What makes a good VPN for Android?
Although Android phones and tablets are a drastically different form factor than desktops and laptops, what we look for in a VPN remains the same.
The number and distribution of available VPN servers provided by the company matters. Having a lot of servers in many places means that finding a server near where you live and while traveling should be easier than a service with only a few server locations. Having a large number of servers also means that there are many options when spoofing your site.
The location of the VPN company is also important. Depending on where the company is headquartered, local laws may require the company to keep user data. This is not a good thing, especially if maintaining your privacy is your primary concern. We read each company’s terms of service and interview representatives to understand the security and privacy measures that a VPN provides.
Another important feature that Android owners should look out for is split tunneling. This allows you to decide which apps are sending their data over the VPN connection and which are traveling outside of it. This is useful for apps that frequently block VPN access or require a lot of bandwidth but not security – such as video or music streaming apps as well as mobile games.
The price and number of licenses per subscription are two important factors to consider. VPN services range from free to incredibly expensive, but it is usual for the service to allow five simultaneous accounts per subscription. Some companies are starting to move away from this restrictive model, which is good news for consumers. If you are paying more than about $10 per month, make sure that the VPN service offers features that justify the price. Our list of the cheapest VPNs is a good place to start and our list of free VPNs gets the job done without requiring you to open your wallet.
Finally, it is worth considering trying out a VPN app. If it’s ugly, confusing, or hard to use, you probably won’t use it. A good VPN app doesn’t have to be a work of art, but it should be reliable and easy to use. Look for apps with simple interfaces and those that provide most, if not all, of the functionality that you find in the desktop version of the app.
VPNs on the go
VPNs help protect your privacy, even when using your smartphone or tablet. It won’t protect you from every threat, of course, but it’s a simple way to be safer.
(Editors’ note: While they may not all appear in this story, Encrypt.me, IPVanish, and StrongVPN are owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company.)
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