Turbo VPN Review

Below is a summary of the data that Turbo VPN logs:

Turbo’s privacy policy isn’t the most accessible (the default font size is extremely small) but its logging policy has certainly improved from past iterations.

This is not the worst logging policy we’ve reviewed and you can’t be identified from this. However, Turbo claims that it doesn’t store timestamps of VPN connections, but it must log some if it knows when a connection is successful.

Turbo VPN also logs the aggregate amount of data transferred – this is fine and can’t be used to identify you.

The privacy policy states that Turbo VPN “may be compelled to disclose your data where [it is] served with a valid court order.” This is particularly troubling when coupled with Turbo’s suspect past and its ties with China.

It’s also worth noting that Turbo previously had one of the worst logging policies we’ve seen. While its current policy is a step in the right direction, we have no way of verifying if Turbo VPN follows it in practice.

Until Turbo VPN can provide real-world evidence of its logging practices, such as a third-party audit, we can’t call it a private or safe VPN service.

Worrying links to China

Turbo VPN is developed by a firm called Innovative Connecting. It has released a number of other basic, free VPNs, including VPN Proxy Master, Snap Master VPN, Solo VPN Pro, and VPN Proxy Master Lite.

It’s incorporated at 38 Beach Road #29-11 South Beach Tower, Singapore. Singapore is a nation of intrusive surveillance, government snooping, and has links with the Five Eyes — a US-led intelligence sharing network.

Additionally, our independent research shows Turbo VPN’s strong links with Mainland China.

The director of Innovative Connecting is a Chinese national and entrepreneur by the name of Danian Chen, who is also the CEO of LinkSure — the company behind ‘WiFi Master Key.’

Once described by Forbes as “one of the most influential young leaders in China,” Danian Chen is listed only in corporate filings and has no public association with the company.

The fact that Turbo VPN is owned by a Chinese national, and the service’s privacy policy states it will hand over your personal information to legal authorities ‘if ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction’ is highly problematic.

To calculate Turbo VPN’s speed rating, we tested the speed of the connection between our location and Turbo VPN servers around the world.

Here’s a table showing Turbo VPN’s speed test results, in full:

Throughout the testing process, Turbo VPN repeatedly throttled our connection speeds. While connected to Turbo VPN’s Germany server, our speeds reduced by 92%.

This is an unacceptable result and only fast enough for general web browsing.

Turbo VPN claims to not put any caps on bandwidth or data usage, but it does operate a ‘fair usage’ policy.

Based on our experience with the service, running a few speed tests seems to surpass what it considers to be fair. Expect frequent and server throttling when using Turbo VPN.

Turbo VPN is a bad VPN for streaming across all devices. Here’s a list of the popular streaming platforms it unblocks:

Its Windows app was able to unlock HBO Max with ease but its quality was subpar. The Android app could also stream HBO Max on its single US server but it took multiple attempts with awful video quality.

We were able to access HBO Max on Turbo VPN’s single US server.

All Turbo VPN applications failed to access Netflix in any region. The VPN also doesn’t work with Prime Video, Disney+, or BBC iPlayer.

Some users have claimed to be able to access Netflix, but only through premium VIP servers which are inaccessible to free users.

There are far better streaming VPNs available – do not use Turbo VPN for streaming.

Here’s a quick summary of showing how Turbo VPN performed in our torrenting tests:

Previously, Turbo VPN blocked P2P traffic on its servers and its privacy policy warned that your account could be suspended if you attempted to torrent while using it too often.

In our most recent tests, we were able to successfully torrent on Turbo’s US server and any reference to account suspension has been removed from the privacy policy.

However, we contacted the Turbo VPN support team and they confirmed that both torrenting and P2P connections are still banned on the VPN’s servers.

Turbo VPN does not allow torrenting on any of its servers.

Regardless, even if Turbo VPN did work with torrenting, we would still not advise to use it. Historically, its logging policy has not been good enough to entrust the service with your identifiable data.

The absence of a kill switch on the free version is another major drawback for torrenters. A kill switch is a security essential for file-sharing.

Turbo VPN makes it quite clear that the app won’t work in China. It claims this is for ‘policy’ reasons.

Even if it were willing to let you use the VPN in China, it lacks the technologies to effectively beat the Great Firewall.

You may have some luck using Turbo VPN in other censored countries with less effective internet blocks. We don’t recommend doing so, though. You shouldn’t put yourself at risk by using this bad VPN in countries which frown upon VPN usage.

You can see the full list of connection protocols, encryption ciphers, and advanced features Turbo VPN offers in the table below:

It’s unlikely that you’ll find a VPN quite as unsafe as Turbo VPN.

As part of our free VPN investigation we detected unsafe functions, DNS leaks, and virus/malware on the app.

Turbo VPN also uses third-party advertising platforms to obtain sensitive information “for personalized advertising purpose [sic].”

This goes against everything a VPN is supposed to do and what it represents.

Your personal data is not secure, with Turbo VPN not even maintaining its own DNS servers, which means that your web traffic is routed through third-party servers even when you’re connected to the VPN.

Turbo VPN relies on third-party DNS servers.

There are multiple VPN protocols listed within the app (although they vary depending on what device you’re using). OpenVPN is the default across all operating systems.

Of the protocols on offer, there are three we’ve never heard of before: SSR, ISSR, and Trojan. Given how Turbo VPN performs in every other regard, we don’t trust a bespoke protocol to properly encrypt your data.

You can’t be certain which protocol you’re using on the free version of Turbo VPN.

The ability to choose protocols is reserved for the premium version on Windows and macOS.

In another undesirable first for Turbo VPN, we have never before seen a VPN which paywalls its kill switch.

Turbo VPN’s kill switch is exclusively a premium feature across all devices.

We consider a kill switch to be the most basic, fundamental privacy feature for a VPN. It tells you everything you need to know about Turbo VPN’s priorities that it withholds the kill switch for paying users.

You can reach Turbo VPN’s customer support in the following ways:

Turbo VPN has recently performed a complete overhaul of its customer support. Where it was once almost non-existent, it’s now actually on a level equal to some of the most popular VPNs.

The biggest contributor to this is its 24/7 live chat. This is accessed from a chat window on the support page. It first runs your query by a chatbot that attempts to find an answer from its minimal FAQs section. However, if you don’t get what you need there you can be instantly forwarded to a live support agent.

The agent responded extremely quickly, and was actually helpful in addressing the issue we had, too.

Email support has been improved, too. You now fill out a simple online form and will be emailed a response in the coming hours.