Testing The Best VPNs… Before It’s Too Late

Product reviewed

The video reviews and compares five VPN services—StrongVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, Private Internet Access (PIA), ExpressVPN, and ProtonVPN—to find the best VPN for basic users. The focus is on people who want to avoid intrusive age verification and torrent safely.

Key claims about why VPNs matter (context)

• A Utah bill would make websites liable for knowing whether users are from Utah, pushing sites toward global age verification or blocking VPN traffic (or both).
• A court challenge temporarily pauses the law until September, but the threat remains.
• The situation is framed as “VPNs may very well be going away,” adding urgency to choose a good VPN.

What the reviewer tested / what mattered most

The main evaluation categories were:

1. Ease of use (including a “parents test” to see whether non-technical users can set it up)
2. Performance (speed impact for downloads/uploads)
3. Security (largely based on a “VPN subreddit spreadsheet” rather than deep hands-on testing)
4. Split tunneling (routing only some apps through the VPN)

Torrenting and bypassing intrusive age verification are the motivating use cases, not deep power-user features.

Price notes

• Pricing was described as similar across the services: ~$2–$3/month when paid yearly.
• Monthly pricing is much higher, so the review deliberately focused on VPN quality since prices were considered “level.”

Unique points mentioned about each VPN

1) StrongVPN

• Mentioned briefly: “StrongVPN does no good if your passwords are weak.”
• No meaningful hands-on results are included in the provided subtitles, so it reads more like a transition/sponsor framing than a full review.

Overall: Not enough detail in the subtitles to judge setup/performance compared with the others.

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2) NordVPN

Pros

• Very easy setup (“parents test” pass): guided download, simple login, a large connect button, and settings that aren’t overwhelming.
• Split tunneling works well:
  • Found in settings (buried, but functional)
  • One-button enable
  • Allow list vs block list for apps
  • Works for the reviewer’s browser use case (accessing Blue Sky and Texas without ID)

Cons

• Worst performance in the speed tests:
  • Speeds dropped dramatically to about 36 Mbps down / 216 Mbps up
  • Reported reductions: ~93% download drop and ~76% upload drop
• Could be appealing if local speeds differ; the review also mentions an upsell: upgrading subscription by +$1/month (with added benefits like storage/password manager).

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3) Surfshark

Pros

• Ease of setup: passed the “parents test,” only “tad more confusing.”
• Performance: surprisingly good speed results (described as top-tier in the round)

Cons

• Split tunneling is broken:
  • “Did not work at all”
  • Many Reddit threads confirm it doesn’t work for others
  • Treated as a major problem—“almost a dealbreaker”
• Even with the speed advantage, split tunneling failure dominates usability for the reviewer.

Bonus feature mentioned

• Includes a masked email and name generator to simplify signing up for sites without spamming personal email.

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4) Private Internet Access (PIA)

Pros

• Ease of setup: described as a breeze, similar to Nord in setup quality.
• Split tunneling works “pretty much flawlessly” (with a caveat—see below).

Cons

• App UX issue for the “parents test”: the app is described as existing “in drawer form,” not a normal window.
• Randomized username and password by default:
  • Reviewer can set a custom password, but cannot change the random username
  • Considered potentially a dealbreaker for non-technical users
• Performance instability:
  • Speed tests sometimes failed to complete (“all the PIA tests” didn’t finish / unstable routing)

Split tunneling caveat

• Their split tunneling differs from an “allow/block list” model:
  • Can set apps to bypass VPN or force “only work on VPN”
  • If the VPN drops/disconnects, apps set to “only work on VPN” get zero internet
• The reviewer notes this overlaps with what a kill switch already does—so enabling split tunneling nudges users toward kill-switch-like behavior.

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5) ExpressVPN

Pros

• Has split tunneling and it “works pretty much flawlessly” in the reviewer’s testing.
• Also described as having a certain “only VPN” feature (referred to in the subtitles, but the exact feature is not detailed fully in the provided summary).

Cons

• Most annoying setup:
  • During installation, it repeatedly sends confirmation emails with codes
  • Reviewer claims five different confirmation codes just during installation
  • This forces repeated trips to email and may panic non-technical users
• Performance instability:
  • Connection faltered and did not finish during speed testing
• Split tunneling caveat (similar to PIA):
  • Behavior can effectively require/duplicate kill-switch logic (apps may lose internet if VPN disconnects)
• Masked/fake email generator:
  • Called out as the only one offering a fake email generator (a “nice, I suppose” benefit, but not enough to overcome other issues).

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6) ProtonVPN

Pros

• Clear #1 for the reviewer: “Super easy setup, easy to use,” with an appealing interface.
• Best performance:
  • Managed full 1 GB download speed in tests (best overall)
  • Strong upload: about 724 Mbps up
• Split tunneling works perfectly:
  • Feature is prominently featured on the app homepage
  • Works well for the reviewer’s browser-focused VPN use case
• Security/privacy: “best for privacy” per spreadsheet label; all five scored “nearly perfect” for security generally.

Cons

• No major cons are stated in the provided subtitles.

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Performance results (numerical highlights)

Baseline (no VPN):

• 484 Mbps down / 900 Mbps up

NordVPN:

• 36 Mbps down / 216 Mbps up (very large drop)

Surfshark:

• 770 Mbps down / 445 Mbps up
• Reviewer notes baseline comparison confusion and retesting, but the result persisted.

ProtonVPN:

• ~1,000 Mbps (1 GB) down / 724 Mbps up (best overall)

ExpressVPN:

• Decent in some tests, but connection instability prevented tests from completing.

PIA:

• Unstable routing; speed tests didn’t complete.

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Security findings

• Based on the referenced “VPN subreddit spreadsheet”:
  • All five scored nearly perfectly for:
    • No-logs policies
    • Leak prevention
    • Encryption/protections
• The reviewer explicitly says they didn’t deeply verify these themselves beyond the spreadsheet.

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Split tunneling: strongest differentiator

• NordVPN: works, but the feature is buried
• Surfshark: does not work at all (major downside)
• ProtonVPN: works perfectly and is easy to find
• ExpressVPN & PIA: work, but can use a model where apps may lose internet if the VPN disconnects (overlaps with kill switch behavior)

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Overall verdict (based on the video)

• Winner for basic users: ProtonVPN
  • Best balance of easy setup + best speeds + working split tunneling
• Main cautions
  • Surfshark split tunneling failure and Nord’s severe speed drop are significant.
  • ExpressVPN and PIA showed instability during speed testing and:
    • ExpressVPN has annoying multi-code email verification during setup
    • PIA involves random usernames

Recommendation

If you primarily want a VPN for easy use, good real-world speeds, and reliable split tunneling, the video recommends ProtonVPN as the clear choice.

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Named speakers/views

Only one primary narrator/reviewer is evident in the subtitles. Other “contributors” are referenced indirectly:

• The VPN subreddit spreadsheet (used for ratings/security and a claim about PIA being “best for advanced users”)
• Reddit threads confirming Surfshark split tunneling reportedly doesn’t work for many users
• A writer mentioned for praise related to Nord’s password manager (no further speaker identity provided)