X-VPN Review

Here’s a table showing all the information that X-VPN logs:

As shown above, X-VPN doesn’t log enough data to identify you. It does collect connection timestamps, but these are deleted within 48 hours. We’d like to see X-VPN reduce this timeframe to 15 minutes, like NordVPN does, or to stop logging them entirely.

X-VPN also collects information about your real-life location, but this is limited to country-level data. This is not enough to de-anonymise you, even combined with connection timestamps.

Previously, X-VPN logged different data types depending on the device in use which was confusing and arbitrary. Thankfully, the service now uses a single logging policy for every platform and device.

X-VPN has also completely overhauled the design of their website, which now looks professional and polished. While this doesn’t affect its logging practices, it does make the product feel more reputable.

Plus, X-VPN uses diskless servers which means any activity logs are periodically wiped and it offers multiple anonymous payment methods.

Though greatly improved, we’d feel more assured about X-VPN’s logging policy if it was verified by an independent audit or even a warrant canary.

Links to Chinese Ownership

X-VPN is owned by Free Connected Limited, which was incorporated in July 2017 and is based in Hong Kong.

We do not consider Hong Kong a privacy-friendly jurisdiction due to its ties to the Chinese government, a body which actively bans VPNs and engages in digital surveillance of its citizens.

Our free VPN ownership investigation revealed that X-VPN does have links to mainland China, which is a privacy concern for the reasons stated above.

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

To test X-VPN’s speeds, we connected to X-VPN servers in six different continents. We connected to each location using a 100Mbps connection and aggregated the results into an average.

Here’s a table displaying X-VPN’s speed test results:

As the data indicates, X-VPN slowed our download speeds to 64Mbps on a local connection. This is a poor result and means 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 international speeds are also particularly poor for a paid service, with an average download speed of 32Mbps across all locations.

You can expect data-intensive activities such as HD streaming, torrenting, and online video games to be especially slow while using X-VPN. We’d 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-shelf VPNs over short and long distances:

As shown above, X-VPN’s local speeds are around 33% slower than the leading VPNs on average. Over international connections, its average download speed is exactly 56Mbps slower than IPVanish.

X-VPN Free Speed Test Results

We couldn’t apply our full speed testing methodology to X-VPN Free as our VPN connection was periodically interrupted to encourage an upgrade to the paid version.

After repeated reconnections, we were eventually able to speed test X-VPN Free’s iOS app.

Below are the speed results we recorded using X-VPN’s free version:

As expected, X-VPN Free is even slower than its paid counterpart with an average download speed loss of 47%.

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

Here’s a table showing the results of our streaming tests with X-VPN:

For paid subscriptions, X-VPN includes streaming-optimized servers in 12 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.

You can see a more detailed analysis of our X-VPN streaming tests in the following section.

Unblocks US Netflix

We used X-VPN’s US-Video-N server to successfully unblock US Netflix from overseas.

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 over 3 minutes to load.

Works with BBC iPlayer

While connected to GB-Video-B, X-VPN reliably unblocked BBC iPlayer.

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.

X-VPN Free Streaming Tests

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.

As X-VPN Free automatically assigns you the server closest to your real-life location, it makes it impossible to spoof your location and unblock geo-restricted content.

We even tried using our free US server to unblock localized content, like Hulu or Max, but the VPN was detected every time.

If you want a free VPN for streaming then we suggest using Windscribe Free. It can stream 6 Netflix libraries, more than either version of X-VPN, as well as Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

Here’s a quick summary of how X-VPN performed in our torrenting tests:

Torrenting Attribute	X-VPN Premium	X-VPN Free
Average Download Bitrate	4.1MiB/s	2.0MiB/s
No. of P2P Servers	8,000+	1
Logging Policy	Some User Logs	Some User Logs
Kill Switch	Yes	No
Port Forwarding	No	No

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 X-VPN Free.

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 9.4MiB/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 are not available on its free version which partly explains its awful 2.0MiB/s bitrate.

You can see a breakdown of encryption methods and technical features that X-VPN has below:

Uses Open-Source & Proprietary Protocols

X-VPN uses a self-developed protocol called Everest to encrypt your traffic. As it’s close-sourced, we’re limited to the information provided by the VPN company itself.

X-VPN claims that Everest Protocol is built using obfuscation technology and industry-standard 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 with the Everest Protocol.

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.

We’re also pleased to see that X-VPN has listened to our feedback by adding OpenVPN and WireGuard to its app. These are secure, open-source protocols which are widely used in the industry and will keep your traffic safe.

Reliable but Paywalled Kill Switch

All of X-VPN’s apps have a kill switch but you have to purchase a subscription to use it on iOS and Android.

This is bad practice and puts your personal data at risk if you unexpectedly disconnect from the internet on mobile.

To test X-VPN’s kill switch, we forced an internet disconnection while running our in-house kill switch testing tool. In each instance, X-VPN blocked our network traffic and no data left the VPN tunnel.

Restrictive Double VPN Feature

You can enable double VPN within your X-VPN app settings to route your traffic through two VPN servers instead of one. This enhances your online anonymity by adding a second intermediary between your device and the internet.

Sadly, this feature is only available on paid plans and you can’t choose the server locations your connection is routed through. We’d like to see X-VPN implement server choice for its double VPN feature, like NordVPN and Surfshark do.

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 are not 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.

Technical Features We’d Like to See Added

X-VPN has substantially improved its available features in recent years, but it’s still missing some advanced options. Here’s a summary of some features we’d like to see added:

We tried using X-VPN on our remote Shanghai server and found our VPN connection failed to establish. This was the case with every variation of the Everest protocol we tested, as well as WireGuard and OpenVPN.

We spoke to an X-VPN representative about this and they confirmed that X-VPN does not offer service in China.

That said, X-VPN performed much better in regions with less sophisticated web censorship like UAE and Turkey. This is due to the obfuscation technology built into the Everest protocol which disguises your VPN connection as normal traffic.

You can contact X-VPN’s support in the following ways:

For most issues, we recommend you use X-VPN’s online resources rather than contacting the service directly. We found its support section easy-to-navigate with FAQs and written tutorials that resolved most of our queries. In particular, we were impressed by the router setup guide which featured usefully annotated images for each step.

If you require more help, or prefer talking to a person, we suggest emailing X-VPN directly. We found their responses genuinely helpful with a waiting time no longer than a day.

X-VPN also advertises a 24/7 live chat, which has worked in the past, but recently stops us from sending a message. You can type in your query in the text field but if you click send, nothing happens.

We’d like to see X-VPN address this issue as soon as possible.