Hysteria2 or VLESS + Reality: what differs and which to pick
Both protocols give you a private connection, and they are built on opposite principles. Hysteria2 runs over UDP and wins on unstable networks. VLESS + Reality runs over TCP with the TLS handshake of a real site and works where UDP is dropped outright. Here is when to use which.
What Hysteria2 is
Hysteria2 is a protocol built on QUIC, the transport Google designed for HTTP/3. QUIC runs over UDP and does something TCP cannot: it recovers a lost packet without stalling the whole stream. In TCP a single lost packet holds up everything queued behind it — head-of-line blocking. On a wired connection the difference is invisible, but on a mobile network, where 2-5% loss is ordinary, it decides everything. On top of that, TLS 1.3 encryption is built into QUIC itself, so a connection is set up faster than with a VPN over TCP.
What VLESS + Reality is
Reality is not a protocol of its own but a way of setting up the TLS connection for VLESS. An ordinary TLS-based VPN needs a domain and a certificate of its own — self-signed or issued for that domain. Reality works differently: the server carries out the TLS handshake with the certificate of a real third-party site, and a key only your app knows tells your connection apart from the rest. That is why VLESS + Reality works where only HTTPS on port 443 is open.
Packet loss: where Hysteria2 wins
Mobile networks lose packets constantly — handing over between towers, weak signal, a congested cell. Over TCP that shows up as speed collapsing in waves, because the connection keeps waiting on retransmission. QUIC in Hysteria2 handles each stream independently, so a loss in one does not hold up the rest. In practice the difference shows wherever loss exceeds 1-2%: on the underground, on a train, on crowded Wi-Fi. That is why Hysteria2 is first in our server list.
Strict networks: where Reality wins
Hysteria2 has one weak point — it runs over UDP, and UDP is often dropped wholesale. Corporate networks, hotel Wi-Fi and a few carriers pass only TCP on ports 80 and 443. There Hysteria2 cannot come up at all, however it is configured. Reality rides TCP on port 443 — the port every HTTPS site uses — so it works on those networks. The other side of that: TCP copes worse with packet loss, and on an unstable network VLESS loses more speed.
What to pick in practice
Start with Hysteria2 — the app labels each entry with its protocol. On most networks it is faster and steadier. If the connection will not establish, or drops immediately, switch to the VLESS entry for the same country, which is Reality. Nothing needs configuring: both servers are already in the subscription and the app remembers your choice. If neither works, the problem is usually the network rather than the protocol — try mobile data instead of Wi-Fi.