X-VPN Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

Fast but Not Consistently Across Servers

X-VPN gave me fast speed results when I connected to nearby servers, but my speeds slowed down as I tested servers further away from my location. Also, switching between protocols generally reduced my speeds drastically. That said, the default protocol usually provided better speeds during my tests.

Speed Test Results

X-VPN provided me with average speeds of 15Mbps across the majority of servers I tested. My base speed was consistently around 35Mbps, and the highest speed drop I experienced when connected to servers in the US or Canada was 57%.

With these speeds, I had no problems streaming, gaming, or torrenting — a 1GB file took about 10 minutes to finish downloading. When I was using other countries’ servers, my download took about 40% longer and occasionally slowed my web browsing speeds.

Although, as with most VPNs, speeds usually drop with servers further away from your location, X-VPN had a drastic drop in speed. When I tested servers located in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine, the speed decreased noticeably, ranging from 35% to 50%.

I tested various protocols offered by X-VPN to check how they impact speed. One protocol, called A, was not very efficient. Another one, called B, actually made the speed faster on all servers. However, using Protocol E with the server farthest away from my testing location in Australia slowed down the speed by 97%. This makes it not a good choice for activities like watching videos or downloading files.

While X-VPN speeds dropped significantly with servers far away from my location, I had better luck when I tested ExpressVPN. There wasn’t a drop in speed of more than 20%, even with the farthest server from me. I also got super-fast speeds with ExpressVPN across all servers that I tested.

Is X-VPN Fast Enough for Gaming? Yes, on Short-Distance Servers

X-VPN is a really good solution for making your online gaming better if you connect to a server near you. It has servers optimized for popular games like Roblox, PUBG, LOL Wild Rift, and IN-BGMI, which means you’ll generally get a faster connection and fewer interruptions.

I tested the speed and found it’s pretty good, with a delay of 70-88 ms. But, if you connect to a server that’s far away, the speed gets slower and there’s a longer delay of up to 400 ms.

Server Network — A Wide Selection of Servers for a Small VPN

X-VPN boasts a global network of 8,000+ virtual servers, sourced primarily from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Rockspace. These servers are mostly located in Europe and Asia, with a few in Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas.

I established connections with servers situated in numerous countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and various other regions. Having more servers decreases the likelihood of a single server overloading.

On the premium version of X-VPN, I found a long list of servers to connect to, including ones optimized for streaming and gaming. No matter which server I connected to, I got unlimited bandwidth. On the other hand, X-VPN’s free version didn’t give me the option to select a server of my choice. It automatically chose a random server.

Security — X-VPN Is Serious When It Comes to Security

X-VPN keeps it simple by focusing on the most important features and leaving out unnecessary security elements. Many VPNs use this method to attract customers who aren’t tech-savvy, but X-VPN doesn’t actually offer enough options to customize the service. The lack of customization can be a problem for some users.

The few noteworthy security features offered include:

• Military-grade encryption – XVPN’s AES 256-bit encryption ensures that your personal information and data are protected. It is a secure method of encryption that encrypts data into a random string of characters that are difficult to break.
• Multiple protocol options – when it comes to security protocol, X-VPN has a total of 9 protocols that you can choose from. Each protocol goes by a letter (Protocol A, B, C, D, and so on) and is differentiated by 4 features – the length of time it takes to connect, speed, security, and unblocking ability. I could choose to have a higher connection speed over security or vice versa, but there is no other way to tell the difference between each protocol while connected. It’s a strange method, but X-VPN claims they have done this so your privacy is a top priority, and your data remains encrypted.
• Kill switch – X-VPN has a feature called a “kill switch” which is dependable, but you need to turn it on yourself. Once I turned it on, it stopped me from accessing the internet when my connection was lost or weak.
• Split tunneling – X-VPN also has a split tunneling feature it calls “app control”. The feature allowed me to exclude certain apps like my mobile banking app (that requires access from my banking location) from the VPN tunnel while enabling me to torrent with VPN security safely.

On the plus side, I checked to see if there were any DNS leaks and saw that my IP address wasn’t revealed even with an extended test. This comprehensive DNS test involved carrying out 36 different queries to ensure that the servers could pass all the tests to confirm it as genuinely airtight. There were also no WebRTC, IP, or data leaks while I was connected to the VPN.

Privacy — X-VPN Promises to Protect Your Data, but Do They?

There are some serious red flags with X-VPN’s privacy policies. The company claims it does not log user activity, including original IP address or other personally identifiable information. But, after looking closer, it seems like they keep some information for up to 2 days, which doesn’t match up with what they said about not logging anything.

The specific data includes:

• Account data like email address, registration date, and subscription status are kept for support purposes.
• VPN usage data like network type and connection timestamps are kept for VPN service optimization and troubleshooting.
• Payment data like purchasing method, timestamps, and transaction IDs are used for troubleshooting. X-VPN warns that more information like geolocation, the cardholder’s last name, and even the last four digits of your credit card can be collected independently by third-party payment platforms.

X-VPN will only keep the App Activity Data for a maximum of 48 hours, as stated in their privacy policy, and solely for the purpose of providing user support. The collected data will then be permanently erased from its system. This ensures the protection of your privacy while also enabling the provider to deliver efficient support.

X-VPN is located in Hong Kong, which could lead to government intervention and monitoring. Hong Kong has its own laws that are not the same as the rest of China. However, because of the National Security Law, the Chinese government has some authority in Hong Kong that might interfere with your rights to privacy. Plus, Hong Kong’s collaboration with the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group could put your privacy at risk.

I was unimpressed by X-VPN’s logging policy, especially considering its jurisdiction. I prefer a VPN that is located in a privacy-friendly location and has an independently audited no-logs policy. For example, ExpressVPN’s privacy claims have been audited by PwC and it’s located in the British Virgin Islands.

Editors' Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.

Torrenting — Supports Torrenting, With Fast Speeds

After examining X-VPN closely, I can confirm that it can help with downloading torrents safely. The company’s website makes it clear that it endorses P2P file sharing, and my conversation with a representative of the company confirmed this. Choosing a server in the United Kingdom ensured the fastest download speeds, and my anonymity was protected throughout the torrenting session.

X-VPN also offered fast speeds that allowed me to download a 700MB file in less than 5 minutes. I was impressed with the speeds I got. While at it, remember to check the rules and regulations in your country on torrenting. Please also note that my team and I don’t support illegal file sharing.

Does X-VPN Work in China? No

It was disappointing to learn that X-VPN doesn’t work in China. As I was not physically present in the area, I contacted VPN’s customer service to learn more about its capabilities. The live chat support agent confirmed that X-VPN doesn’t work in China.

If you want to travel to China and need to securely access the internet, then I recommend using ExpressVPN which consistently proves to work in all parts of China and other highly censored countries.

X-VPN offers several customer support options, including a live chat, email support, and a question-answer forum. However, I encountered a significant delay in connection and response times during my interaction with X-VPN’s customer service.

When I compared the wait times to other VPNs’ customer service, I was frustrated at how much longer X-VPN made me wait to receive the help I needed. I found X-VPN’s help page was not much help either, as it answered only about 20 basic common questions.

X-VPN’s live chat isn’t 24/7 but 18/6, so support wasn’t always available when I had a question. I was able to find out that live chat hours are from 2-10am GMT and 11am-7pm GMT on weekdays on the company’s support page. When I initially attempted to connect with support via live chat, I did not receive a response for 2 days. Subsequently, responses took anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes after posing my questions. Despite these challenges, the representative was knowledgeable and provided insightful responses to all of my queries.

When I contacted X-VPN through its email support, I got the same response time whether I was emailing from a premium or free account. The reply was slow since I didn’t receive a response until half a day later. Despite the delayed response, this was still faster than initially contacting X-VPN through live chat support.

I tested this by contacting X-VPN with separate emails for my premium and free accounts. I wanted to see if both accounts would get helpful and genuine responses from the representative trying to help answer my questions. I received the same answers and the wait times were similar for both.

Additionally, X-VPN provides support in eight additional languages, beyond English, including Arabic, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hindi, French, Bengali, and Azerbaijani.