Quick Verdict: The “iPhone” of VPNs
NordVPN is annoying. It’s expensive. The price bumps after two years? Steep. But… it works.
If you want the absolute best security and speed, and you don’t mind paying a premium, this is it. If you want cheap, go with Surfshark.
Rating — 4.8/5 Stars
You see the ads. YouTubers shill it. Podcasters read scripts about “military-grade encryption.”
Marketing noise. Ignore it.
Most VPN reviews are fake. Bought. Paid. Written by people who never opened the app.
This is different. I have been breaking firewalls for a decade. I don’t care about PR claims. I care about utility.
The Operational Questions:
When you are in a Beijing hotel, does it tunnel out? When you need US Netflix from London, does it work? Can it handle a 50GB torrent without choking?
I lived with this app for a month. I pushed it hard. Here is the data.
The Speed Test (Real Numbers)
They claim speed. I demand proof.
Setup: London. 1 Gbps Fiber. Baseline — 920 Mbps.
Protocol: NordLynx. This is WireGuard. Lighter code. Less overhead than OpenVPN.
The Data (2:00 PM Peak):
- Local (UK to UK) — 850 Mbps. (Loss: ~7%). Imperceptible.
- Trans-Atlantic (UK to New York) — 640 Mbps. (Loss: 30%). 4K streaming handles this easily. Zero buffer.
- Long Haul (UK to Japan) — 240 Mbps. (Loss: 74%). Latency is high. Physics wins here. But pages load.
Analysis: Legacy protocols (OpenVPN) slash speeds by half. NordLynx holds the line. Gamers: use local servers. Streamers: use anywhere.
The “Killer App”: Meshnet
Reviews ignore this. They shouldn’t. Meshnet is the strongest tool in the suite.
Forget the public VPN. Meshnet builds a private encrypted LAN. Between your hardware.
My Use Case:
- Transfer: Sending 10GB raw video from phone to PC. Direct. Encrypted. Fast.
- The “Home Node”: Desktop PC stays on in London. I fly to Spain. Laptop connects to Meshnet. Traffic routes through the London PC.
Netflix sees London. The Bank sees London. The hotel admin sees garbage data. You are invisible.
Cost? Zero. Essential for remote access.
Security: RAM & Panama
Hardware matters. Standard servers use spinning disks. If police raid the datacenter, they seize the disks. They analyze the data.
NordVPN removed the disks. They run RAM-only.
The OS lives in volatile memory. Pull the plug? Data evaporates. Nothing to seize. Nothing to analyze.
Jurisdiction:
Base of operations: Panama. No data retention laws. Outside the “14 Eyes” surveillance pact.
Verification:
Proof is better than promises. They hired PwC. Then Deloitte. They opened the doors. “Find the logs.”
Proof is better than promises. They hired PwC. Then Deloitte. They opened the doors. “Find the logs.”
“Result: Clean. No tracking. No history.”
Stealth Mode: Obfuscation
Scenario: You are in a restricted zone. School. Corporate network. China.
Admins block VPNs using DPI (Deep Packet Sniffing). They spot the cryptographic handshake. Blocked.
Obfuscated Servers bypass this. They strip the metadata. They wrap the tunnel in SSL/TLS. It mimics HTTPS traffic.
To the firewall, you are browsing Wikipedia. The encryption is hidden inside standard web traffic.
Note: Toggle protocol to “OpenVPN (TCP)” to enable this. NordLynx does not support it yet.
Threat Protection Pro
I use uBlock Origin. But Threat Protection is interesting.
It is not just a DNS sinkhole. It analyzes the specific URL. It strips tracking parameters (the ?utm_source= junk).
I loaded ten heavy news sites. Banners? Gone. Autoplay video? Stopped. Load times improved because the ad-tech script didn’t run.
It is aggressive. It might break some login portals. Toggle it off if that happens.
The Negatives
Perfection is a myth. Here are the faults.
1. The Map UI
Desktop? Fine. Mobile? Nightmare. Tapping “Slovenia” on a 6-inch screen is impossible. It zooms. It misses. List view is mandatory.
2. Renewal Costs
The hook: $3.09/month. The sting: Autos-renewal at $8/month after two years.
Strategy: Cancel auto-renewal immediately. Negotiate with chat support when the term ends.
3. Linux CLI
No GUI for Linux. Terminal commands only. nordvpn connect. Functional, but archaic.
Streaming: The Netflix Audit
I tested ten servers. Not just one.
Netflix US:
- New York — Pass.
- Dallas — Pass.
- Miami — Pass.
UK TV:
- BBC iPlayer — Pass (London).
- Channel 4 — Pass.
DAZN:
The difficult one. DAZN detects proxies aggressively. Success rate: ~40%. You will need to swap servers to find a clean IP.
Cost Analysis
Three tiers exist. Ignore the upsells.
- Basic: VPN only. The smart play. (~$3/mo).
- Plus: Adds NordPass. Good manager, but 1Password is better.
- Ultimate: Cloud storage. Expensive. Stick to Google Drive.
Recommendation: 2-year Basic plan. Monthly plans are financial errors ($12+).
FAQ
Does NordVPN keep logs?
No. They sit in **Panama**. The laws there don’t force them to store anything. Plus, the servers run on RAM. Reboot the machine, and the memory wipes itself clean. PwC checked it. Deloitte checked it. It’s clean.
Does it work in China?
Yes. But you need to tweak one setting. Go to the app settings. Switch to “OpenVPN (TCP)”. Then toggle **Obfuscated Servers** on. This wraps your traffic to look like standard web browsing. It fools the firewall.
How many devices?
You get **10 slots**. Phone, laptop, iPad, whatever.
Trick: Put it on your home router. It counts as one slot, but covers the whole house (Xbox, Fridge, Ring Doorbell).
Is there a free trial?
Android has a 7-day trial. Everyone else? You pay first. But the **30-day refund** is real.
“I asked for my money back on day 29. I got it back in my account three days later. No arguments.”
Will it lag my games?
If the server is next door? No. My ping went up by 4ms. You won’t feel it.
If the server is in Tokyo and you are in London? Yes. It will lag. Distance matters. Physics is real.
The Verdict
Hype is annoying. But sometimes, popularity is justified.
NordVPN is polished. It is consistent. It unlocks content.
Cheaper? Surfshark.
More technical? Mullvad.
But for most users—who just want safety and Netflix—this is it. It wins on utility.
Heads up: Referral links used. If you buy, we get a commission. Cost to you? Zero. We test, you decide.
