X-VPN Review

X-VPN collects aggregated device and bandwidth data, but neither can identify you.

It does log your email address, but you can easily bypass this with an alias email and pay via cryptocurrency to avoid a paper trail.

Better yet, the VPN uses diskless, RAM-only servers that wipe your activity data following every restart. This means nothing is stored on physical hard drives, which was confirmed by a recent independent audit of X-VPN’s logging policy.

Moreover, X-VPN has begun publishing annual transparency reports and maintains an intact warrant canary, claiming to have never handed over user data.

However, the free tier comes with a catch: it uses third-party ad platforms like AdMob and InMobi, which monetize your device’s telemetry data. This isn’t akin to logging your browsing activity, but it’s still poor for a VPN.

While these privacy upgrades are praiseworthy, an audit is limited in scope and only offers a point-in-time snapshot. X-VPN has yet to pass the ultimate test for proof of its logging practices: a server seizure or court case.

Historical Links to China

X-VPN’s ownership has changed to LightningLink Networks and its jurisdiction has moved from Hong Kong to Singapore. However, it’s unclear whether this represents a genuine change of ownership or just a corporate rebrand.

Either way, we don’t consider Singapore a privacy-friendly jurisdiction due to its membership of SIGINT, an international coalition of spy agencies that share data on their citizens.

Worse still, our free VPN ownership investigation revealed that X-VPN does have links to mainland China, a country notorious for state surveillance.

Jin Li, the company’s director, and Chengdu Zhuozhuo Technology Co, the sole shareholder, are both based in China’s Sichuan province.

For paid subscriptions, X-VPN includes streaming-optimized servers in 9 countries. We used these to unblock every popular streaming service we test, without fail.

While this is excellent, we’d like X-VPN to bake this into its standard servers instead of needlessly separating them out.

Most notably, we used X-VPN’s US-Video-N server to successfully unblock US Netflix from overseas.

X-VPN’s dedicated US Netflix server always unblocked the streaming service.

The stream loaded almost immediately and we didn’t notice any video buffering or drops in the resolution.

We also tried several of the standard US server locations and were surprised to see that none of them work with Netflix. We’d like X-VPN to fix this disparity as it wastes time having to open a separate menu and locate the dedicated servers.

Better VPNs, like NordVPN, automatically assign you a server within its normal server list that works with the streaming service.

We also found that X-VPN works with Netflix Australia, but its slow international speeds meant that the stream took two minutes to load.

Similarly, the GB-Video-B server always worked with BBC iPlayer in our testing.

We used X-VPN to stream the latest season of Race Across the World.

This worked to stream both live content and on demand without any issues. However, we found that X-VPN’s standard UK servers weren’t as consistent at unblocking BBC iPlayer and often required a second or third attempt.

Free Tier Disappoints for Streaming

X-VPN’s free tier is a bad choice for streaming as it fails to unblock a single platform. This has been the case since testing began and is unlikely to change.

Since the desktop apps automatically assign you the server closest to your real-life location, it’s impossible to spoof your location and unblock geo-restricted content.

You can choose your server location on the mobile apps, but the end-result is the same.

If you want a free VPN for streaming then we suggest using Windscribe’s free plan. It can stream 5 Netflix libraries, more than either version of X-VPN, as well as HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

These are a poor set of results and mean X-VPN is one of the slowest paid VPNs we’ve reviewed. There are currently over 30 VPNs we review that register faster local download speeds than X-VPN.

Its long-distance speeds are just as disappointing, with an average decrease of 68% across all international locations.

You can expect data-intensive activities such as 4K streaming, torrenting, and online gaming to be especially slow while using X-VPN.

We recommend using one of the leading VPNs for speed, instead.

You can use the chart below to see how poorly X-VPN’s speeds compare to top-rated VPNs over short and long distances:

As shown above, X-VPN’s local speeds are around 33% slower than the leading VPNs on average. Our advice: save your money and look elsewhere.

Free Tier Delivers Slower Speeds

We tested both X-VPN tiers on the same Lenovo laptop for consistency. Since the free desktop app disables manual server selection, our speed tests were restricted to the US.

As expected, the free plan is even slower than its paid counterpart with an average download speed loss of 46%.

Although this isn’t the worst result for a free service, its limited server network and persistent ads mean we can’t recommend using X-VPN.

X-VPN uses a self-developed protocol called Everest to encrypt your traffic. As it’s closed-source, we’re limited to the VPN company’s own claims that it uses obfuscation technology with AES-256 encryption.

It’s also compatible with several transmission protocols such as UDP, TCP, HTTP, and TLS — all of which are listed within the app.

We used Wireshark, a packet analyzer, to analyze our network traffic while connected to Everest.

X-VPN’s proprietary protocol successfully encrypted our traffic.

As shown above, X-VPN encrypted our traffic. While we can’t evaluate Everest protocol’s strength or reliability, it will successfully conceal your online activity at the very least.

Thankfully, X-VPN also includes OpenVPN and WireGuard within its apps. We strongly advise you switch to WireGuard, since it’s secure, open-source, and widely used in the industry.

However, if you want to use post-quantum encryption (PQE) to protect against future ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks, you are forced to use the TLS or TLS-2 protocols.

It’s disappointing that you can’t combine WireGuard with PQE, a limitation you won’t find on rival services like Surfshark.

Unreliable Kill Switch on macOS

Both the paid and free tiers of X-VPN include a kill switch, an essential security feature that blocks your internet connection in the event of a VPN disconnect.

We used our custom-built tool to stress-test X-VPN’s kill switch by simulating a variety of connection drops.

While the kill switch fired successfully on Windows and mobile, it leaked our data on macOS.

Your data is at risk should your VPN connection fail on Mac.

In the last two years, the number of countries offered by X-VPN has increased by almost 50%.

This impressive expansion puts it within touching distance of the 100+ countries offered by household names like Surfshark and NordVPN.

X-VPN provides coverage in regions typically less served by VPN services, too. There are servers at both ends of Africa (Egypt and South Africa), multiple servers in the Middle East, and options in South America.

X-VPN’s server network encompasses all six inhabited continents.

The VPN provides city-level choice in four countries: Australia, Canada, France, and the US. While it isn’t quite on par with the best VPNs, we found the coverage of 18 US cities useful for bypassing sports blackouts.

Western-Centric Free Server Network

The free version of X-VPN supports a more modest network of 14 countries.

Most of the servers are located in North America and Europe, with the exception of Australia and Singapore.

This is impressive for a free VPN, although you can only manually select your location on iOS and Android.

All of X-VPN’s apps follow a clean blue and white color palette, creating a pleasant contrast that looks sharp on any screen.

In general, the apps are easy to pick up and start using, with one major exception: the free plan is hard to find upon initial launch.

Before you are given the option to use the free version, you are forced to swipe through (or click out of) a carousel of images promoting its premium tiers.

Here’s a more detailed overview of our experience using X-VPN across different devices and platforms:

We tested X-VPN using qBittorrent and a fixed 10MiB/s connection. We downloaded a 1GB test file in under four minutes with X-VPN’s paid servers. It took us twice as long when we tried to download the same file with the free tier.

X-VPN is one of the slowest torrenting VPNs we’ve tested, even on its paid plan. Its average bitrate of 4.1MiB/s compares poorly to top VPNs, like PIA and ExpressVPN, which have a download bitrate of 9.6MiB/s and 9.8MiB/s respectively.

That said, we’re pleased to see that X-VPN has improved its labeling of P2P servers, opting to append ‘BT’ to the end of the server name. Previously, it called them ‘Ultimate Line’ servers and restricted their usage to a specific VPN protocol which was confusing and arbitrary.

X-VPN’s P2P-optimized servers aren’t available on its free version which partly explains its awful 2.0MiB/s bitrate.

To use X-VPN on Smart TVs, game consoles, or other internet-connected devices that lack native VPN support, your only choice is to manually install the VPN on your WiFi router.

We don’t recommend you do this, since it requires some technical knowledge and risks bricking your router. Even if successful, you’re limited to one server location at a time.

If you need to use a VPN on a variety of devices, ExpressVPN has apps for all compatible platforms, a Smart DNS tool, and even its own router model.

Standout Split Tunneling

X-VPN includes split tunneling on all of its apps as long as you sign in with a paid account.

This feature lets you customize which apps and websites bypass or enter the VPN tunnel. For example, you may want your banking app to remain outside the VPN tunnel, to avoid restricting your account.

X-VPN gives you granular control over split tunneling.

Not many VPNs let you tailor split tunneling to this extent, so it deserves recognition.

Unique Multi Tunneling Feature

X-VPN lets you connect to multiple server locations simultaneously via a single VPN connection, thanks to its ‘Multi tunnel’ feature.

For example, you can route your Netflix app through a US server, BBC iPlayer through the UK, and DAZN through Canada, all at the same time.

X-VPN redirects you to your account dashboard to configure multi tunnel.

In our testing, this feature worked but it did sometimes cause a lag in web page responsiveness and video loading times.

That said, we’re impressed by this innovative feature and welcome its inclusion across X-VPN’s apps.

Now Includes Modern Obfuscation Tools

X-VPN supports a variety of protocols to hide your VPN traffic and bypass online censorship.

In our experience, choosing Everest > TLS-3 in your app settings, provides the best results.

Only the Everest protocol supports obfuscation tools.

While we couldn’t consistently access our remote test server in Shanghai, we suspect X-VPN will perform better in less censored regions.

Static IP Is Limited to Mobile Apps Only

X-VPN provides a static VPN IP feature but only for paid plans on its mobile apps. To access it, go to Advanced Features > Static IP and you’ll be presented with a choice of recent VPN IP addresses you’ve used.

These IP addresses are only stored on your device and aren’t logged by the VPN service.

We’d like to see X-VPN add the option of a dedicated IP address, too. This is an IP address only you can access which lets you set up IP blocklists, secure remote connections, and more.