NordVPN: A Powerful VPN with Flaws the Ads Gloss Over

NordVPN itself — and other VPN review sites — credit the VPN’s streaming performance to its branded SmartPlay feature, which switches between DNS servers to help you access geo-blocked content.

But here at Top10VPN, we aren’t swayed by marketing buzz and tell it straight. While this feature is highly effective, it’s not unique to NordVPN at all: it’s actually used by many top streaming VPNs, like Windscribe and PrivateVPN.

NordVPN’s superior performance is most evident with Netflix, where it successfully unblocked 17 libraries. What impressed us most is that the VPN automatically connects you to a server that works with US Netflix, a feat no other VPN matches.

However, the VPN is currently unable to access Netflix’s India and Netherlands libraries. This needs to improve, especially given that rival VPNs like Windscribe and ExpressVPN successfully unblock these regions.

This problem isn’t unique to Netflix, as we found that the VPN generally struggled to access Indian platforms. For example, we were left frustrated trying to stream JioHotstar with NordVPN, and ended up using ExpressVPN instead.

Thankfully, it excels in other international regions and remains our top choice for watching BBC iPlayer. Over years of testing, the VPN has consistently bypassed geo-blocks on the platform, allowing us to stream live and on-demand content in 1080p (Full HD).

It’s an excellent option for US streaming services, too. We used its New York server to watch YouTube TV, Peacock, and many others from overseas. Though it often worked first time, NordVPN also has servers in 21 US cities to switch between if you have any issues.

You can also use its generous spread of US servers to bypass local restrictions on NFL games. It works almost every time, as long as you select a location outside of the blackout zone.

Aside from its consistency, we also liked how compatible the VPN is with most streaming devices. That said, we’d like to see it take a page out of ExpressVPN’s book and introduce a router app for maximum coverage.

All of its apps use NordLynx by default, which is simply WireGuard with the addition of double NAT. Don’t be fooled by this marketing trick: its configuration is no different from any other VPN that uses WireGuard.

The reality is that NordVPN has chosen to brand its protocol to try and differentiate itself.

The VPN uses ChaCha20 to encrypt the traffic in its VPN tunnel and establishes the connection with a 2048-bit DH key.

To verify this worked, we analyzed the data packets passing through our network using Wireshark. As you can see in the screenshot below, NordVPN’s encryption meant that our internet traffic was shown as random text, preventing any third party from monitoring our activity.

Its kill switch also successfully prevented our real IP address from leaking when we simulated a sudden VPN connection drop.

The VPN is unusual in that it provides two types of kill switch: an internet kill switch and an app kill switch. The former works as usual, cutting your internet if the VPN disconnects, whereas the app kill switch lets you designate specific apps for protection.

We recommend using the system-wide internet kill switch for added security, especially if you’re torrenting files.

Multiple audits have proven the VPN’s security infrastructure, including a recent Cure53 audit which reviewed the source code of all NordVPN apps and extensions.

With NordVPN, you can browse the internet as if you’re located in many popular countries, including the US, UK, Australia, and Canada.

But what really sets the VPN apart is its number of server locations in Africa and Asia, two continents regularly overlooked by most other VPN services (including ExpressVPN).

This represents an expansion of over 80% compared to 2023, when the VPN had servers in just 60 countries.

One area that needs improvement is its availability of city-level server options, especially in the US. Despite a recent increase, NordVPN provides servers in 29 fewer US cities than PIA, and 36 fewer than ExpressVPN.

Interface & Ease of Use

Desktop (Windows & Mac)

The first thing you’ll notice upon start-up is the sheer number of features on the app home screen.

Half of the app’s interface is taken up by Threat Protection Pro and Dark Web Monitor. Considering neither is part of a VPN’s core function, this feels wildly disproportionate.

That said, we liked that the previously large map graphic has been given a reduced role. It is relegated to the app background, no longer interactive, and only serves to show your connected location.

We also really liked that the server list was always visible in alphabetical order. This made it quick and simple to select a server location.

Using the VPN itself was a mixed bag. We loved its quick connection times, but we hated its pause function. Instead of immediately disconnecting, like every other VPN, NordVPN only pauses your connection.

We can’t emphasize enough how annoying this is. You can manually disconnect by clicking the pause button and selecting the option from a drop-down menu, but this really should be one click.

Mobile (iPhone & Android)

We found NordVPN’s mobile apps easier to use than the desktop versions. Although the apps still give a lot of screen space to the interactive map, we much prefer this to seeing Threat Protection and Dark Web Monitor.

We also found scrolling to find a server much faster than on desktop.

That said, there are some odd design choices on mobile, too. For instance, the statistics tab feels unnecessary, since there’s no real benefit to knowing how many days in a row you’ve connected to the VPN.

This strikes us as an attempt to mimic popular social media apps that reward “streaks” to encourage regular usage.

We also found the pause function even more frustrating on mobile, as we weren’t able to have a ‘set-and-forget’ experience, like with most mobile VPNs.

There is a ‘disconnect’ button, but it requires scrolling down the server list and tapping on your specific location. This wasn’t entirely obvious at first and takes far too much time.

Streaming Devices (Fire TV, Apple TV & Android TV)

We tried out NordVPN on streaming devices like Amazon Fire TV and Android TV, and found it mostly easy to use, but with some changes needed.

The horizontal scrolling interface for selecting servers felt clunky and time-consuming when using a TV remote. We would have preferred an alphabetical or continent-based organization to make server selection faster.

As shown in its transparency reports, NordVPN has never forwarded a DMCA request to a user. This suggests that users’ downloads are kept private and untraceable.

Though we can’t fault its commitment to user privacy, we don’t find it the easiest VPN to use for torrenting. While all of ExpressVPN’s servers include built-in P2P support, NordVPN requires you to select a dedicated server.

You can find these under the “Specialty servers” tab, labeled as “P2P”. This is a separate server list with 14 fewer countries than its standard server network, excluding Argentina, Israel, and South Korea, among others.

Any attempt to torrent in a non-P2P location causes the app to automatically reroute your traffic through servers in Canada or the Netherlands. Depending on your physical location, this can massively slow down your file-sharing speeds.

In the table below, you can compare how fast NordVPN downloaded a 20GB torrent versus other VPNs:

As you can see, NordVPN downloads files faster than most competing services. We’d like to see port forwarding added for further improvement, but it isn’t essential.

If this is a sticking point for you, Proton VPN includes port forwarding and is an excellent VPN overall.

Multi-Hop Servers Provide Double Encryption

Threat Protection Blocks Malicious Websites & Ads

Meshnet Allows You to Get Another IP Address for Free

Dedicated IP Feature Compromises Anonymity