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- User-friendly
- Affordable
- Good privacy protection
- Not the fastest
TunnelBear is one of the simplest, most user-friendly desktop VPNs out there and the Android app is just as likeable. The visual style is instantly recognisable, with its groovy cartoon style, bear-related punning and tunnelling imagery. And like the desktop version, the Android app offers a free service with limited monthly data, as well as paid-for monthly and annual plans.
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If your requirements are fairly basic, the free 1,500MB plan is probably all you need. Otherwise, youre looking at £9.49 per month or £56.99 per year for unlimited data across 5 PCs or mobile devices or £4.79 per month and £38.49 per year if you only need your Android devices covered. Either way, its pretty competitive. If you stick to the free option, you can get more data by inviting a friend or tweeting about TunnelBear: each is good for an extra gigabyte.
Setup and basic use
TunnelBear keeps things simple, and highly visual: you pick your VPN location by tapping on a cartoon map, to surface your connection through the tunnel of your choice. Theres a switch to connect and disconnect the VPN, plus a menu button for options and help, and you can also tap to upgrade to a paid-for plan or rate the app on the Google Play store. TunnelBear doesnt nag you to do either, though; the thinking seems to be that if you like the service, youll be willing to pay to use it more. Food for thought for some other VPN providers, perhaps?
Server locations
The selection of exit nodes isnt enormous, but you can tunnel to 22 locations covering Europe, North America, Mexico, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and Singapore. Theres also a UK presence if youre concerned about privacy, rather than spoofing a particular location; your IP address is disguised and your traffic encrypted, but its a relatively short hop, so performance isnt too badly impacted.
Performance
Inevitably, using a VPN slows down your connection. When tunnelling through one of TunnelBears UK servers, we saw download speeds drop from 26.8Mbits/sec to 15.2Mbits/sec, while uploads fell from 8.5Mbits/sec to 7.4Mbits/sec. Routing our traffic through the Netherlands saw speeds fall further, to 11.3Mbits/sec and 8.3Mbits/sec. Thats a big drop, but its still perfectly fast enough for everyday use and its a lot better than youll see with, say, the Opera Free VPN or VPN Monster.
Transatlantic speeds arent too bad either. Through a US server, we saw speeds of 12.3Mbits/sec downstream and 7.6Mbits/sec upstream. Thats more than fast enough for streaming video although sadly, Netflix wont work over a TunnelBear connection.
Privacy protection, meanwhile, appears rock-solid. The DoILeak.com tests suggested that we might be vulnerable to HTTP and WebRTC IP leaks, but we were able to confirm that, in fact, our true IP address wasnt being revealed.
Other features
TunnelBear has some nice advanced features and theyre not just reserved for premium customers. The GhostBear function scrambles VPN communications to make them look more like regular internet traffic, to fool deep packet inspection tools. VigilantBear is designed to keep your location private should TunnelBear momentarily disconnect. And SplitBear allows you to exclude selected apps from the VPN connection, so non-critical traffic isnt slowed down and doesnt eat into your data allowance. All of these options can be turned on or off with a tap.
Privacy and security
TunnelBear is based in Canada, which is part of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance so any data the company has on you could be shared with the US or the UK. However, TunnelBears privacy policy makes clear that the company doesnt record IP addresses or DNS queries while connected, nor any information about the applications, services and websites you use while connected to the VPN. Indeed, it explicitly affirms that disclosures to law-enforcement agencies are limited to the personal information collected when you join and pay for the service.
Verdict
Theres a lot to like about TunnelBear as a service, and the Android app is a pleasure to use. Its fast enough for normal use, it doesnt hassle you to upgrade and if you do want to switch to a premium service, its pretty good value. If youre looking to try an Android VPN with a view to buying, this ones easy to recommend.
