- Good speeds (tested with Netflix)
- Good number of servers
- Integrated Ad Blocker
- Netflix unblocking from multiple locations
- Small number of server locations
NordVPN is a VPN service provider, that has been in the market since 2012. The company provides unlimited bandwidth (obviously), no logs and an excellent privacy policy.
The servers span across 54 countries and you can connect up to six devices simultaneously at any given time. It doesn’t cost anything for the first year – but there are some paid plans available as well which offer better features like P2P support and higher speeds. There is even a 7-day free trial period with full features.
Security Features
The encryption used by NordVPN is OpenVPN with 256-bit AES encryption. The app has a kill switch feature that shuts down your internet connection if the VPN drops out unexpectedly. It also has an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) . This is essential when using public WiFi networks as it prevents any potential attackers from sniffing traffic and stealing your sensitive information.
Lastly, it provides a DNS leak protection function which blocks all internet requests that are sent outside of their tunnel (i.e., DNS requests). By doing this, they prevent malicious websites or hackers from identifying users based on their IP addresses.
Interface
Nord VPN’s Android app interface is slick, simple and easy to use. It comes with a built-in speed test tool that measures your download speeds before connecting you to the ideal server location for your needs.
The app allows you to auto select one of five locations — Canada, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Singapore or the United States — and has options for obfuscating VPN traffic in order to bypass firewalls. You can also connect NordVPN on up to six devices at once so that all data passing through is encrypted.
NordVPN’s Android app is a mixed bag: While it boasts some advantages over the Windows client, it also has some serious drawbacks. For example, you can’t save your login credentials for any of NordVPN’s services in its Android app yet (including various proxy extensions). This requires you to manually log into each service every time you want to use them—not exactly ideal for people who like convenience and ease-of-use while browsing online on mobile devices.
Once activated, NordVPN’s service is accessible from a drop-down menu at the top of your screen. You can also choose to connect to another VPN server using a button on the left side of the app, or by tapping on any country listed in orange text at the bottom of your screen. The interface is pretty basic and cleanly laid out, but it doesn’t feel as intuitive as some other providers’ apps do, especially when you first start using it.
For example, there’s no indication that you need to tap Connect before opening a browser window or other app—if you happen to launch an app right after launching NordVPN for Android, you might immediately get disconnected again because its initial lack of connectivity isn’t obvious.
You don’t have access to advanced features like DNS leak protection here; unlike with their Windows client (more below), this feature isn’t available in their mobile apps yet so only OpenVPN protocol connections are available.
Finally, there’s a ‘kill switch’ feature which automatically disconnects from the internet should VPN servers drop out or connection issues arise.
Documentation
There are ways around this issue that don’t compromise security but require an additional step or two; however, there are no instructions within the NordVPN Android app itself explaining how to do so. Thankfully, we have a guide right here for doing just that and more (see our tutorial below), but if you’re not comfortable with taking additional steps to streamline one of your daily activities then the lack of advanced features might be frustrating as well as inconvenient. You also won’t find support for OpenConnect VPN protocol here, which is a bummer.
Pros
- Good speeds (tested with Netflix)
- Good number of servers (4400+ servers in 60+ countries)
- Great compatibility for different devices and platforms (Windows, Mac, Android & IOS)
- Netflix unblocking from multiple locations.
Cons
- Small number of server locations.
NordVPN’s Android app doesn’t offer much information about your connection status, beyond showing you that it has successfully connected. The desktop version does show more details on how long you’ve been connected and a history of your network activity. It would be nice if the same was true for its mobile clients.
For example, one reason I like IPVanish is because its iOS and Android apps both provide a detailed list of servers along with helpful info such as server load (percentage) and ping times (milliseconds).
Nord VPN’s Android client simply lists servers by country but doesn’t tell you what their load or ping time are. It also only shows the number of available connections per server; it’d be good if this could list other useful details too, such as whether any are P2P-friendly or allow double encryption.
As far as customization goes, NordVPN offers plenty of servers to choose from, but you can’t change the server’s type (P2P vs. streaming) or connection protocol (OpenVPN UDP vs. TCP).
This is fine for most people, but if you want a particular combination of settings then IPVanish may be a better choice.
Bottom Line
NordVPN’s Android app is adequate for use on mobile devices, but it doesn’t have any advanced features like ad-blocking or automatic kill switch capability. It also lacks support for OpenConnect VPN protocol and only supports connections via the more secure OpenVPN protocol in Settings > Advanced settings (though you can manually designate servers to connect to from Settings > Connections).
NordVPN’s approach here isn’t as intuitive as other apps we’ve tested, so users who are new to VPNs might find this frustrating at first.
We experienced a few connection issues while testing NordVPN’s Android app. For example, it had trouble connecting to servers automatically at first on multiple occasions and required us to go into Settings > Connections > Show advanced settings before we could manually pick a server based on its country code or browse for one directly using the built-in map view. The map also doesn’t display your current location or show where each server is located in real time; you have to tap each individual dot in order to get this information if you want it—an issue that made choosing a nearby server difficult when traveling internationally, especially since there are no sorting tools available within this interface either, unlike with some other providers’ mobile apps. That said, once we were connected most of the time our internet experience was pretty much like that which we’ve come to expect from VPN
About NordVPN
In 2012, four childhood friends came together to build NordVPN. They had spent a lot of time in different parts of the world but saw the same picture: growing internet censorship, content control, and intrusive government surveillance. In other words, they saw a rapidly growing need for an internet security tool that’s easily accessible to everyone.
Specification: NordVPN for Android
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