Here’s the checklist sheet for Surfshark’s score.
I inspected NordVPN under these 28 elements.
And the score is out, 85 over 100!
ExpressVPN Score Card
| Inspect Elements | Checked | Point Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Kill Switch | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Outside 14 Eyes | ✓ | 4/4 |
| No Logs | ✓ | 4/4 |
| OpenVPN Protocol | ✓ | 4/4 |
| AES-256 | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Double VPN Servers Routing | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Private DNS | ✓ | 4/4 |
| No Bandwidth Limit | ✓ | 3/3 |
| P2P Function | ✓ | 3/3 |
| Public Wifi Protection | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Own Server Farm | ✗ | 0/4 |
| Google Play Review | 612,077 | 5/5 |
| App Store Review | 3,984 | 5/5 |
| Download Speed Reduction | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Upload Speed Reduction | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Latency/Ping | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Ad-Blocker | ✓ | 2/2 |
| Unlimited Devices | ✗ | 0/2 |
| Obfuscation/Camouflage Mode | ✓ | 3/3 |
| DNS Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| WebRTC Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| IPV6 Leak Test | ✓ | 4/4 |
| Auto Connect | ✓ | 4/4 |
| GPS Spoofing | ✗ | 0/4 |
| Secure Hotspot | ✓ | 3/3 |
| Auto Cookies Deletion | ✗ | 0/2 |
| Ddos Protection | ✓ | 2/2 |
| Scan Downloaded File | ✗ | 0/2 |
Ranked 3rd among all the best VPNs tested.
- Beta Distribution for Google Play and App Store Review
Playstore review of 4.5 stars rating from 612,077 individuals score is 0.86
Appstore review of 4.7 stars rating from 3,984 individuals score is 0.92
Remark:
Calculation closer to 1 is better.
1.00 < x < 0.8 – earn 5 points
0.79 < x < 0.6 – earn 4 points
0.59 < x < 0.4 – earn 3 points
0.39 < x < 0.2 – earn 2 points
0.19 < x < 0.0 – earn 1 point
- Speed Test
| Type | Without NordVPN | With NordVPN | Difference in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download | 31Mbps | 29Mbps | -6.45% |
| Upload | 26Mbps | 27Mbps | +3.85% |
Remark:
We are using fast.com to run the speed test for download and upload speed.
x < 5% – earn 4 points
x < 10% – earn 3 points
x < 15% – earn 2 points
x < 20% – earn 1 point
- Latency / Ping Test
| Locations | Without NordVPN | With NordVPN | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 313 ms | 302 ms | -11 ms |
| San Francisco | 209 ms | 268 ms | +59 ms |
| Sao Paulo | 426 ms | 402 ms | +24 ms |
| Hong Kong | 66 ms | 125 ms | +59 ms |
| Amsterdam | 202 ms | 257 ms | +55 ms |
| Moscow | 387 ms | 225 ms | -162 ms |
| Average | 267 ms | 263 ms | -4 ms |
Remark:
Greater the measure distance, higher the ping time will be .
x < 60 ms – earn 4 points
x < 100 ms – earn 3 points
x < 150 ms – earn 2 points
x < 200 ms – earn 1 point
- DNS Leak Test
Hello from the Lion City. Did you know that there were seven Merlions in Singapore? I bet you don’t.
- WebRTC Test
It’s all in good hands with NordVPN turned on.
- IPV6 Leak Test
Passed.
- Misc – Server Farm
If you check out the NordVPN server list page, they have over 5792 servers across 59 countries.
That’s a lot of servers at your disposal. But unfortunately, some of them are rented as confirmed by NordVPN themself.
Their support was spot on and prompt.
Here’s their full answer.
- Misc – GPS Spoofing
Here’s another letdown from NordVPN that I’ve actually gotten confirmation on.
Here’s their full answer.
Email replied
Hello, Joe,
Thank you for your letter.
Unfortunately, NordVPN does not hide your GPS – it hides your IP address.
You may try fully disabling your location services/GPS on Android: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3467281?hl=en
If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask!
Best Regards,
Rodrigo Iglesia
Customer Success Team
NordVPN.com
Final Word
85 over 100 is definitely a good score, especially if you are going to utilize NordVPN for Netflix streaming.
However, it makes NordVPN look a league down from ExpressVPN or Surfshark which is in the range of 90 marks.
… or read our NordVPN review here.