HP tiptoes into consumer VPN space, teams up with ExpressVPN

(Image credit: Future)

The global VPN market is red hot; weeks after after Cloudflare and Mozilla unveiled their privacy solutions, ExpressVPN has scored a major win thanks to a partnership with computing giant HP. Its VPN service will be bundled with HP’s new Flagship, the Spectre x360 13 with buyers being able to use the VPN - which tops our best VPN list - for 30-days before opting for a full subscription.

We’ve been told that this is not a traditional “load-and-forget” OEM software deal which is usually construed as being bloatware. Instead, it is a deep product integration that took many months of work for teams from HP and ExpressVPN to complete, including a rigorous security review process.

HP went as far as pinning ExpressVPN to the taskbar, a clear indication of the amount of trust the PC giant puts into the VPN brand. Whether HP wants to add this VPN service to other product lines remains to be seen.

Other than a bundled VPN, the Spectre x360 13 also includes a 30-day trial to a password management, a dedicated mute mic key, a webcam kill switch and optionally, the latest version of HP Sure View, a privacy screen due to launch in January 2020. 

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.