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Turbo VPN - Full Review
With scammers, advertisers and even ISPs wanting to know about your every move online a virtual private network (better known as a VPN) is an essential service for any security-conscious internet user. VPNs allow you to re-route your internet connection through servers around the world, protecting your data by masking your identity from prying eyes.
As well as ensuring your privacy, there is a range of additional reasons you might require a VPN. You may wish to bypass geo-restrictions or prevent your ISP from throttling your bandwidth, and with so many competing services around it can be difficult to know which one to choose. Turbo VPN has been gaining in popularity amongst mobile VPNs, so we tested it out see how good it really is.
Speed
The processes a VPN uses to protect your identity have a detrimental effect on your internet performance, with speeds likely to be significantly lowered when you connect to the internet via your VPN.
Compared to other products on the market, Turbo VPN does not perform well in this regard. Our testing showed a reduction in download speed of almost 70% and a reduction in upload speed of over 55% – which could make streaming high quality video a frustrating experience with endless buffering.
With rival products in a similar price bracket offering much better results, Turbo VPN is one to avoid if you require good internet speeds.
Servers
Turbo VPN’s server base of 29 locations in 15 countries around the world is extremely limited by modern standards, which could cause problems as you are likely to get worse performances if you connect to a server that is far away from your location. With NordVPN leading the way with over 5,000 servers worldwide, Turbo VPN’s offering is another major drawback.
This may also be problematic if you require a VPN to get around geo-restrictions, as Turbo VPN does not provide servers in a wide array of countries, limiting the content libraries you will be access (see the Streaming section below for more details).
Features
One thing to consider when buying a VPN is the features that each service offers, as each VPN boasts different functions aimed at different needs. Unfortunately, once again Turbo VPN is sadly lacking in this regard – the lack of a kill switch (a function which automatically disconnects you from the internet if you lose your VPN connection, ensuring your activity isn’t made public) is a major issue if you require robust security measures.
Turbo VPN’s limited servers make the omission of a kill switch especially problematic, as you will not always be connected to a reliable server – and if you do disconnect from the VPN, your activity will no longer be private.
Streaming
If you’re a fan of a show that is only available abroad, you may have struggled to find ways to view it – many streaming services now employ geo-blocking to limit content libraries to specific regions, with different content libraries available in different areas. This can be very frustrating – but a VPN can offer a way around it, allowing you to route your connection through a server in the country where the show is available.
Turbo VPN’s paid plan did manage to bypass geo-restrictions for Netflix, iPlayer and a number of other streaming services during testing, although the small server base means you can only unblock content from the fifteen countries where they host servers. The free plan Turbo VPN provide did not allow us to unblock any region-specific content at all, as this service is only provides on the specially optimised streaming servers that are part of the paid ‘VIP’ package.
Torrenting
The ongoing legal situation regarding torrenting – the software itself is legal, but is frequently used for illegal purposes – means many ISPs automatically block torrenting websites and apps. VPNs can allow you to bypass these blocks by masking your online activity, preventing your ISP from knowing that you’re using torrents.
Once again, however, Turbo VPN is not the VPN for you if you require this function. The service explicitly bans the use of torrenting software, saying simply “please don’t use bit torrent with VPN or it will get [your] account blocked.”. With so many other VPNs offering the ability to circumnavigate blocks on P2P file sharing software, Turbo’s omission of this function is another major drawback.
Gaming
Dedicated gamers will be aware that a slow or unreliable internet connection can be a nightmare, making online gaming difficult or impossible due to lag and dropped connections. During peak times, some ISPs limit the user’s bandwidth, which can lead to issues when playing online – but a VPN can help this, by masking your activity from your ISP.
Of course, you have to weigh this up against the speed loss the VPN connection itself creates, and the near-70% loss of download speed that Turbo VPN showed during testing means you may experience some problems when playing games online.
Free Trial
Turbo VPN has a free service, but there are a number of limitations compared to the paid option. The free service has a smaller number of servers, slower internet speeds and doesn’t allow you to bypass the geo-restrictions applied by most major streaming apps.
FAQ
Is Turbo VPN good?
We would hesitate to say it is outright bad – it does at least secure your connection – but the number of drawbacks Turbo VPN has compared to similarly priced VPNs makes it difficult for us to recommend it.
Is Turbo VPN legitimate and safe?
It’s fair to say the jury is out on this one. The company’s website doesn’t provide anywhere near as much information as it should, and the information it does provide suggests it collects and retains a lot of data that other VPNs do not.
Does Turbo VPN keep logs?
TurboVPN does not log IP addresses you connect through when using the VPN, and doesn’t monitor your internet activity.
Does Turbo VPN work on Kodi?
TurboVPN can easily be installed on Kodi.
Does TurboVPN work on Firestick?
The product works on Firestick, although you need to use a Downloader App to install it.
Verdict
Ultimately, there isn’t a huge amount to recommend about Turbo VPN. It does protect your identity when online, although this is somewhat offset by the amount of data it collects from you itself.
Limited internet performance, a small server base and a lack of important features like a kill switch and split-tunnelling make this one of the weaker products on the market. With so many rival VPNs available for a similar cost, TurboVPN is one to avoid.