I rigorously tested 50+ VPNs to find the best ones for Samsung and other Android devices (compatible with Android OS 12, including 11.0, and older versions). I chose the fastest and most secure mobile VPNs and included them on this list. Topping the list is ExpressVPN — it’s fast, reliable, and secure. You can try ExpressVPN risk-free. All its plans are backed by a reliable 30-day money-back guarantee. I tested the guarantee myself and was fully refunded in 3 days. Try ExpressVPN for Android
Quick Guide: Best VPNs for Samsung & Android in 2023
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The Best VPNs for Samsung & Android (Tested in January 2023)
1. ExpressVPN — #1 VPN for Samsung and Android Devices (Fast, Secure, Reliable)
Key Features: ExpressVPN is the #1 VPN for Samsung and Android devices thanks to its outstanding features. It is compatible with any Samsung/Android phone or device (Android 5.0 up), and installation is easy — you can install the app from ExpressVPN’s official website or through a quick search on the Google Play Store. It only takes a couple of minutes to install the app, connect to a server, and protect your device. I conducted multiple rounds of speed tests on various ExpressVPN servers, and it gave me the best speeds of all the VPNs I’ve tested. Rates rarely dipped below 300 Mbps (compared to my base unencrypted speed of 350 Mbps); the only time it did was when I was connected to a server located on the other side of the world (Melbourne), which gave me 238 Mbps. But this was still only a drop of 20%, which is excellent for such distances. ExpressVPN has the perfect speeds for streaming, browsing, and mobile gaming. I often connect my Samsung phone and tablet to public WiFi networks such as coffee shops and Airbnbs, so I found ExpressVPN’s built-in safety features to be really convenient. These include:
AES 256-bit encryption with 256-bit keys (the same encryption standard used by the US government to protect classified data), so no third party gets access to your online activities Proprietary, open-source Lightway protocol designed for efficiency and reliability Independently audited TrustedServer technology that ensures no user data is ever written to a hard drive and stored Audited no-logs policy and anonymous cryptocurrency payment option IP, WebRTC, and DNS leak protection, so none of your data can be seen by third parties.
ExpressVPN’s Android-specific Protection Summary showed me how often I was connected to the VPN, and it showed which IP address and location the websites I visit are seeing. To double-check my IP was properly hidden when the VPN was connected, I ran multiple leak tests. I found that ExpressVPN protected my real IP address every single time. Streaming while connected to ExpressVPN servers makes for a pleasantly smooth experience: you can watch movies and shows in the best quality, without interruptions. My teammates and I found that ExpressVPN’s Android app works flawlessly with most major streaming services. We were able to access Netflix US and the following platforms: the following platforms: This VPN is slightly more expensive than others on my list, but it’s worth it for the premium features. Plus, the price goes down to $6.67 a month when you choose the 1-year + 3 months plan (giving you a generous discount of 49%). You can test ExpressVPN out with your Android or Samsung device for yourself, and if you’re not satisfied then you have up to 30 days to claim a refund. I tested the guarantee by canceling on the 20th day of my subscription, and the live chat support agent approved my request without asking any questions. The money was back in my PayPal account in just 3 days. Get ExpressVPN for Android
2. CyberGhost — Optimized Servers Make Streaming Easy on Samsung and Other Android Devices
Key Features: CyberGhost’s optimized streaming servers make it one of the best VPNs to use if you frequently stream using your Android devices. The “For Streaming” tab allows you to quickly pick a CyberGhost server that works with your chosen streaming platform. There are more than 35 servers in the “For Streaming” tab, and all of them are regularly tested by the CyberGhost team to ensure reliability. Mobile gamers can also access the “For Gaming” tab to find servers that are optimized to give the lowest ping rates for lag-free gaming. My teammates and I tested CyberGhost’s optimized and regular servers to see which streaming apps it can reliably access. We could watch all of our usual streaming platforms, including: Running speed tests on various CyberGhost servers showed an average speed drop of around 36%. While that sounds like a lot (especially if you have a slow network to start with), most of CyberGhost’s local and mid-range servers will give you great speeds for streaming without lag, especially if you connect to servers located close to your city or state. Its network is so extensive that, should you pick a server that is underperforming, there are usually plenty of other options at each location to switch to. Security-wise, CyberGhost offers the following features to protect your mobile internet traffic:
256-bit AES encryption ensures your traffic stays private NoSpy Servers located in Romania provide you with extra-secure and reliable server options — the CyberGhost team manages these servers in-house IP, WebRTC, and DNS leak protection so your IP address and browsing data are kept hidden Strict no-logs policy, with anonymous sign-up available when you use Bitcoin.
The native Android app comes with Split Tunneling and an ad-blocker, features that are unavailable on iOS apps. Split Tunneling allows you to keep a simultaneous connection to your local network, letting you access personal banking or weather apps, for example. I was slightly let down by CyberGhost’s ad-blocker feature as it only blocks ads that potentially contain malware, so it was mostly ineffective against YouTube and other non-malicious pop-up ads. I found PIA’s ad, tracker, and malware blocker to be a more effective alternative. CyberGhost’s flat-out monthly plan is quite expensive and is only covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. However, purchasing a 2-year + 2 months plan brings CyberGhost’s monthly rate down to $2.19 a month. Because the 2-year + 2 months plan is covered by a reliable 45-day money-back guarantee, you can use CyberGhost all you want for 45 days, and get your money back if you decide you don’t like it. To test the legitimacy of CyberGhost’s money-back guarantee, I requested a refund via live chat. I provided my email address to the customer support agent (keep your order/reference number ready in case they ask for it) who approved my request in less than 10 minutes. The money was back in my PayPal account in 6 days. Try CyberGhost on Android
3. Private Internet Access — Customizable Security Features Keep Android Data Private
Key Features: Security-oriented users, especially those well-versed with VPNs, will appreciate how customizable Private Internet Access’ security features are. You can adjust PIA’s security settings to suit your needs. It offers the following security features to choose from:
AES 128 or 256-bit encryption for OpenVPN. While AES 128 boosts speed and is secure enough to protect my data, AES 256 gives extra protection against brute-force attacks Automatic kill switch that cuts off all connection between your Android device and the internet in the event the VPN disconnects Multi-hop feature (optional) passes internet data through various servers to make sure no third party can link your online activities to a single VPN IP address Optional ad, tracker, and malware blocker that blocks all ads, rather than just openly infected ones.
PIA has the largest server network among all the VPNs on this list: 35000 servers in over 84 countries. There’s at least 1 PIA server located in every US state, so you won’t have issues accessing websites and channels exclusive to your home state no matter where you might be in the world. My teammates and I were able to access the following platforms while connected to PIA: Using PIA to unblock BBC iPlayer and DAZN was a bit of a hit-and-miss: some servers worked, while some didn’t. Speed tests showed that PIA’s global network causes an average speed drop of about 35%. While PIA was fast enough for bufferless streaming in the best possible quality on most servers we tested, users on slower WiFi connections can enhance speeds by using the OpenVPN protocol and connecting to local servers. Connecting to faraway servers caused significant slowdowns during testing, resulting in some instances of buffering. It’s worth noting that PIA is based in the US, the heart of the 5, 9, and 14 Eyes alliance. This is an intelligence-sharing deal between multiple governments. However, PIA doesn’t keep logs, so it has no user data to share. If you’d rather use a VPN headquartered in a jurisdiction with no ties to intelligence-sharing alliances, ExpressVPN is your best bet. ExpressVPN is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, a jurisdiction with no data retention laws and difficult court order acquisition procedures. All PIA plans are backed by a solid money-back guarantee, essentially letting you use PIA for free for 30 days. Paying upfront for a 2-year + 2 months plan brings the monthly cost down to just $2.19 per month, so you’ll be saving up to 82% if you do decide to continue your subscription. I wanted to see if PIA’s money-back really works, so I reached out to PIA’s customer support via live chat to request a refund. The agent approved my request in less than 10 minutes, and the money was back in my account within a week. Get PIA for Android
4. PrivateVPN — Stealth VPN Feature Makes It Easy to Bypass VPN Detection Technologies
Key Features: PrivateVPN’s Stealth VPN feature makes it easy for you to access platforms and websites, even those with sophisticated VPN-detection technologies. This setting ensures no third party can detect that you’re using a VPN by making your VPN data look like normal HTTPS data. This adds an additional layer of privacy to your online activities, especially if you’re accessing the internet from high-censorship jurisdictions. You can quickly enable this feature in the Settings tab. When my teammates and I tested PrivateVPN on most major streaming platforms, we found that it worked with most of them, including the following: I was able to watch shows in HD while connected to PrivateVPN. From time to time, I would experience a few seconds of buffering while on Netflix, but it was barely noticeable. PrivateVPN purchases its network directly from the IP transit provider, not from a middleman, so users get higher-quality connections in spite of the smaller server network size. While PrivateVPN’s servers provide stable, high-speed access to a lot of websites and apps, its network of 200 servers in 63 countries is small in comparison to my other recommended VPNs. However, I was impressed with the performance of all the servers I tried, and it still has excellent global coverage. Just be sure to check it has a server in the location you need before purchase. Plans start at just $2.00 per month, making Private VPN one of the best monthly VPNs on the market. Thanks to a 30-day money-back guarantee, you can test PrivateVPN with Android yourself for free, as long as you request a refund before the 30-day period is over. I tested the guarantee by sending an email to PrivateVPN customer support on the last day of my subscription. In the email, I included the reason why I was canceling (I just said I didn’t need PrivateVPN anymore). The money was back in my PayPal account after 5 days. Try PrivateVPN on Android
5. IPVanish — unlimited Simultaneous Device Connections Protect All Your Personal Android Devices
Key Features: With an allowance for unlimited simultaneous device connections under 1 plan, IPVanish is one of the best VPNs to use if you own a lot of Android devices. It also offers unlimited bandwidth, so when I connected a Samsung phone, an Android tablet, and an Android TV to IPVanish servers at the same time, I didn’t notice any slowdowns. Not even when I streamed on the Android TV while playing mobile games on my phone. IPVanish also offers a great list of security features to protect all your Android devices, including:
Military-grade AES 256-bit encryption as standard, plus 6 VPN protocols to choose from Kill switch to cut the internet connection if the VPN drops out DNS, IPv6, and WebRTC leak protection keeps your data hidden Audited no-logs policy ensures users’ online activities stay private.
IPVanish isn’t as good at accessing streaming platforms compared to the other options on this list, but it worked with a few of the bigger platforms. My teammates and I were able to stream content from the following apps while connected to IPVanish: One problem I found with IPVanish is that it doesn’t accept cryptocurrency payments, so it’s impossible to sign up for IPVanish anonymously. If anonymity isn’t the main concern for you, IPVanish accepts most major credit cards and PayPal. You can try IPVanish for free for 30 days, thanks to a reliable money-back guarantee. Keep in mind that the money-back guarantee only applies to yearly plans and longer. Claiming a refund on your IPVanish purchase is easy — you won’t even have to talk to a customer service representative. Simply cancel your subscription from your account dashboard. When I did, my request was approved immediately, and the money was back in my PayPal account within the same day. Get IPVanish on Android
How to Install a VPN on Samsung & Android Devices
Installing a VPN on your Samsung and Android devices is pretty straightforward, especially if you’re using a VPN with a native Android app. Alternatively, you can install the VPN manually through an APK download if you’re using an older Samsung or Android device or aren’t able to access the Google Play store. I’ll be using ExpressVPN as an example, because its native app is easy to install via both the Google Play Store and APK.
Samsung Galaxy S6 and newer
Android 5 and newer
Older Samsung & Android devices
Install ExpressVPN on Android
Comparison Table: 2023’s Best VPNs for Samsung & Android
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Why You Need a VPN for Samsung & Android
Contrary to what most people think, your Samsung and Android devices need as much protection as your other devices. Hackers can intercept the traffic between your device while you’re connected to public WiFi or set up a fake WiFi in order to get hold of your sensitive information. By encrypting your internet traffic, a VPN helps keep your personal data safe, even if you’re accessing sensitive information while connected to public WiFi. High-quality, premium VPNs can help you enjoy the content you’ve already paid for while you’re abroad. Most streaming sites and news websites block visitors located outside a specific jurisdiction. Connecting to a VPN server in your home country allows you to access your favorite streaming and websites as you would at home. Using a VPN also protects you from internet throttling. Some internet service providers will slow users’ connections down when high-bandwidth usage is detected (e.g. torrenting, gaming, streaming, etc). A VPN encrypts all your online activities, so your ISP can’t target you when it’s choosing users to throttle. Whenever I suspect ISP throttling, all I do is connect to ExpressVPN to get faster speeds. You can test ExpressVPN out with Android and Samsung completely risk-free as it’s backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee — if you don’t like it, you can easily get a full refund. Download ExpressVPN for Android
How I Tested and Ranked the Best VPNs for Samsung & Android
The sheer amount of VPN options available for Android makes it tricky to find the best one. Here are some important features you should take into consideration when choosing a VPN for your Samsung or Android devices: Try ExpressVPN for Samsung
Warning – VPNs That You Should Avoid
Many Samsung and Android VPNs that pop up when you do a quick Google Play Store search are free. The trouble is, while good free VPNs do exist, free VPNs on the Google Play Store often have questionable privacy and security practices. If you’re downloading a VPN for personal privacy, be aware that VPNs such as the ones below actually do the opposite by tracking, logging, and selling your data:
Thunder VPN
ThunderVPN’s Terms of Service reveal exactly why it’s not a good VPN. It collects and stores identifiable data such as:
Your internet service provider Device OS version Device manufacturer and model The language of the device App version Times when connected to the VPN, plus the total amount of data transferred per day, etc.
Aside from storing all this information, ThunderVPN fails to specify exactly how long it stores user data, where it keeps it, and how it protects the data stored in its systems.
Betternet
Betternet might have a sleek-looking website, but an academic study revealed an outrageous amount of trackers and ads embedded in the app. For a tool that promises privacy, I found it a bit counterproductive for Betternet to be selling marketers access to its users’ data.
CloudVPN
While it offers unlimited bandwidth, CloudVPN allows a list of advertisers to collect data through your device. The recommended VPNs in this article take pride in strong no-logging policies and protect users from any government seizure, but CloudVPN’s Terms of Service directly state that it will share user information with law enforcement if it receives requests to do so.
Snap VPN
Snap VPN’s Terms of Service state that it collects various identifiable information:
The Terms of Service also state that advertisers may be able to collect user information, too. This means you may get a sudden influx of annoying targeted ads out of nowhere.
Turbo VPN
While its Privacy Policy is pretty transparent, there’s very little information on the company behind TurboVPN. TurboVPN’s parent company, Innovative Connecting, is based in Singapore. However, most of the company’s directors are Chinese citizens, 2 of whom still have registered addresses in China. Since VPNs should protect privacy, it’s difficult to trust a company that has potential ties to a country with shady privacy laws.
Yoga VPN
Like CloudVPN, Yoga VPN has no qualms about sharing user data with authorities in the event of an official request. Yoga VPN’s parent company LANPIPER PTE LTD is headquartered in Hong Kong, with another address located in China — not very reassuring privacy-wise. Use ExpressVPN for Android
What’s the best VPN for Samsung phones?
ExpressVPN tops the list of best VPNs for Samsung and Android phones. Its intuitive Android app, which works perfectly with all Samsung phones running Android 5.0 and above, is pretty easy to install. I had no issues browsing buffer-free, gaming lag-free, and streaming in HD while connected to all the ExpressVPN servers that I tested. ExpressVPN is one of the best VPNs to access Netflix’s US library, as well as numerous other libraries and streaming services.
What’s the best VPN for an Android TV?
Both ExpressVPN and CyberGhost are great VPNs for Android TVs. ExpressVPN is the best VPN for Android TV in terms of speed, while CyberGhost’s optimized streaming servers make it easy to choose the right servers for the streaming service you’re trying to access.
Are there Android VPN browsers?
Yes, but they aren’t very safe. The best way to keep your devices safe is to use a quality VPN for Android. This is because browsers such as Opera only protect the data that passes directly through them. For example, if you access your financial information using your banking app, your sensitive information will be unprotected. Another downside is that you won’t be able to use the VPN browser alongside your Android streaming apps. On top of all that, most Android VPN browsers are not backed by no-logs policies and might slow your speeds down significantly when in use. The only way to stay fully protected is with a recommended Android VPN that has a dedicated app or APK, such as the ones listed in this article.
Which Android VPN is best for Netflix?
ExpressVPN is the best VPN for watching Netflix on Samsung and Android devices. It’s consistently fast and reliable, so you can enjoy your favorite shows and movies without lag or buffering. During testing, my teammates and I were able to watch shows in countries around the globe while connected to ExpressVPN servers.
Can I use a free VPN on my Samsung phone?
Yes, but it’s not recommended. Unlike premium VPNs for Samsung and Android, free VPNs won’t really protect you online. On the contrary, a lot of free VPNs have been reported to sell users’ data to third parties, or even worse, infect devices with malware. Performance-wise, free Samsung and Android VPNs often come with stringent data caps — you might not even be able to finish a 30-minute episode of a show before your data provision runs out. Some free VPNs only offer limited server options, while others are so slow you can just forget about streaming altogether.
Can I use my Android VPN on my PC?
Yes, the top VPNs work with PCs and other devices. All of my recommended VPNs are compatible with a wide range of different devices and operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Each VPN offers simultaneous connections under one subscription, so you can protect all your personal gadgets.
Can I share my Android VPN connection over a WiFi hotspot?
Unfortunately, you can’t share the benefits of your Android VPN with other devices via a WiFi hotspot. Android’s operating system prevents this. If you connect another device to your Android’s WiFi hotspot, you’ll only be able to share the IP address from your internet service provider, not your VPN’s IP address.
What’s the best VPN for Android tablets?
ExpressVPN’s native app works really well with any Android device, including tablets. Like all of the top Android VPNs on the list above, it’s compatible with Android 5.0 devices upwards. ExpressVPN’s detailed step-by-step guides even make it easy for anyone to manually install it (via APK file) on Android 4.0 or older, or on devices that can’t access the Google Play Store.
Get a Fast and Secure VPN for Samsung & Android
There are lots of Samsung and Android VPNs out there, but not all of them can protect your devices adequately, without slowing your speeds down. Most VPNs that show up on Google Play have questionable privacy practices, if not contain outright malware. Testing more than 50 VPNs showed that ExpressVPN is the fastest and most secure choice for Samsung and Android devices. Its native app is compatible with most Samsung and Android devices (including TVs), and it worked really well with the streaming apps that my team and I tested. ExpressVPN comes equipped with advanced security features, including military-grade encryption, a kill switch, and an audited no-logs policy, so you can connect to public WiFi without any worries. ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee so you can try it out with Android and Samsung devices for yourself completely risk-free. If you’re not satisfied, you can always get a full refund. Get ExpressVPN for Android
