Every one of us consumes a massive amount of internet data every day. As the internet becomes increasingly media-based, people also need more storage to save all that media.
Hardware devices are limited by their storage capacities and can be a pain to buy and track repeatedly. Most smartphones don’t even come with a microSD card slot now. The simple solution here is cloud storage, especially considering waiting for uploads to finish is a problem of the past now.
Now there are several different cloud storage solutions that have popped up over the years. Google, of course, is the obvious choice for a lot of people, especially Android and Pixel users. There’s OneDrive from Microsoft, Proton’s Drive and Mega.
In this article, we’re looking at different cloud storage, one that claims to be the world’s safest. We’ll review Internxt’s features, the plans and how it compares to the competition.
We've also shared an exclusive 25% Internxt discount coupon code discount coupon code at the end of the article, applicable on all annual plans.
You can watch our Internxt review and Internxt vs Mega vs Google Drive comparison in English or Hindi below. Scroll down to continue reading the article.
Internxt features and user experience
The most important part of a cloud storage drive should be hassle-free usage, and we’re happy to report that Internxt checks that box, for the most part anyway.
Signing up
Signing up is also rather easy and basic. You create a new, dedicated account and get 2GB of free space right off the bat. There are however tasks that Internxt asks you do for additional storage which can bump you up to 10GB.
The reason why Internxt doesn’t support social logins is because of security. Every account gets its own encryption key mnemonic (or passphrase) which is required for the client to access the files.
These tasks include downloading the phone and PC apps and uploading files from them, subscribing to the Internxt newsletter, sharing a file and inviting a friend (for a maximum of four). We tried completing these tasks, but they didn’t reflect in our test account, so take this with a pinch of salt if you have better luck, you can expect up to 10GB without spending a single penny.
Internxt app availability and features
You can access your cloud drive using either the iOS or Android apps or the Windows, macOS or Linux desktop apps. And then there’s the web interface as well which is by far the easiest way of accessing and uploading files. While the Android app works just fine, the desktop app just wouldn’t let us log in, repeatedly telling us that the username or password was wrong (they weren’t).
The desktop apps seem to be primarily built to store backups, which are categorised separately on the drive’s interface. You can tell the app to track certain folders on your computer, and it’ll automatically take periodic backups of said folders.
Apart from that, there isn’t much to Internxt’s apps. They do their job and aren’t cluttered with unnecessary features. One thing to point out, however, Internxt also has this Photos feature that will automatically sync all the photos on your phone to the drive. All the app needs is permission to access your storage, which will most likely happen when you try to upload something to the drive for the first time. It doesn’t ask if you want to back your photos up, the moment you access the Photos tab in the phone app, it automatically starts syncing.
While we can see this feature being useful to some people, the fact that you’re only starting off with 2GB and considering the high-quality pictures smartphone cameras take these days, you can run out of that storage real quick if you don’t keep an eye on the sync.
Syncing and interface
Speaking of syncing, any files uploaded from your phone will immediately reflect in the drive, even if you’re using the account on another device. However, deleting files seems to be a hit-or-miss situation. We tried deleting the multiple test files we had uploaded, and while the bigger ones were deleted without a hassle, we’ve been trying to delete a 24MB PDF for the last six hours without success.
The interface for the web app, or all apps for that matter, is relatively simple, and that’s a good thing for a cloud drive. It is, after all, a mass storage space. You do get all sorts of sorting tools and a search bar to look through your files quickly; outside of that, there isn’t much to the interface or features. It’s a simple, no-nonsense storage solution for you to dump your files and forget about them.
Internxt privacy and security
Internxt proudly claims to be the “safest cloud storage for all your files, photos and more”. This is a rather bold claim to make in the face of competition like Google, Microsoft, Mega and Proton, a company known for its end-to-end encryption and commitment to privacy.
While neither of the aforementioned cloud storage solutions compromises the security, Internxt seems to be doing things similarly to Proton. Your account is permanently tied to your cloud drive, and losing your password or resetting it could mean a permanent loss of data, making your password all the more important here.
This is because Internxt uses your password to encrypt your encryption key itself, meaning the company doesn’t have access to your key or by extension, your data. Every time you log in, your password is used to decrypt the extension key, which lets the client access your drive. They do give you a backup key to recover your account, but if you lose the backup key and forget your password, you can kiss your files goodbye.
This isn’t a drawback, just the way encrypted cloud storage works. Internxt is built for Web3, meaning the information they encrypt and store is decentralised. The platform is also open-source and built on a blockchain meaning every bit of its code is out there for the public to audit and all of its actions are traceable on the blockchain.
The drive employs end-to-end encryption to encrypt your data before it even leaves your device, ensuring that your files don’t reach the internet in their raw, readable format. The files are encrypted in AES256, and passwords are hashed with a randomly generated salt.
Does this mean Internxt can call themselves the “most secure” cloud storage service? Probably not. But their claims are backed by the technology they use, so you’re all good in the security department. Just don’t lose your password or the backup key.
Internxt vs Google Drive vs Mega
Internxt is already on par with the competition regarding security; however, that sadly doesn’t apply to other features. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you want from your cloud storage solution, can leave you wanting for more.
Google is the absolute king when it comes to features. Google One gives you constant storage space and even suggests old and big files you haven’t used in a while for deletion to save space. Not to mention they have an entire dedicated dashboard for managing your storage space.
While not offering as many features as Google, Mega still edges ahead in terms of its mobile app. The web interface has the exact same features as Internxt, but Mega’s phone app is better made. The same goes for desktop apps as well. Google’s and Mega’s desktop apps will let you manage your entire drive and backup files without a hassle. Internxt’s app wants to do the same but runs into hiccups along the way.
Storage space is the same story. Google offers 15GB of free space with every account; you don’t have to do any tasks to get more. Mega offers 20GB, lowered from its previous 50GB, and Internxt only does 10GB — 8GB of which is subject to you completing the tasks.
As for download and upload speeds, here’s what we found. Keep in mind these speeds were recorded when uploading and downloading a 1GB zip archive over a standard 50mbps connection to all three drives.
| Service | Download Speed | Upload Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Internxt | 46.8 Mpbs (peak) 38.7 Mbps (average) | 25.2 Mbps (peak) 17.6 Mbps (average) |
| Google Drive | 49.6 Mbps (peak) 45 Mbps (average) | 48.2 Mbps (peak) 27.6 Mbps (average) |
| Mega | 49.1 Mbps (peak) 46.2 Mbps (average) | 22.1 Mbps (peak) 16.8 Mbps (average) |
The pricing for the three services, however, is a bit different. All three services offer different prices and storage capacities in different tiers. While Google and Internxt are similar in terms of prices and offerings, Mega has a huge difference in price and capacity.
| Service | Free Tier | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internxt | 10GB | 20GB | € 0.89/month €10.86/year | 200GB | €3.49/month €41.88/year | 2TB | €8.99/month €107.88/year | – |
| Google Drive | 15GB | 100GB | €1.63/month €16.31/year | 200GB | €2.64/month €26.35/year | 2TB | €8.16/month €81.56/year | – |
| Mega | 20GB | 400GB | €4.99/month €49.99/year | 2TB | €9.99/month €99.99/year | 8TB | €19.99/month €199.99/year | 16TB | €29.99/month €299.99/year |
All things considered, if Internxt’s data capacity offerings suit you and you don’t exactly need the additional features Google provides, Internxt is actually a rather good deal when it comes to cloud storage. It’s safe, keeps your data isolated and is a no-nonsense solution if all you want is a safe space for your files online that’s also easy to share at the same time.
Internxt discount coupon code
If you like Internxt and want to buy one of its plans, use code CT25 on this link to get 25% off on the purchase of any of Internxt's annual storage plans.
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