Malware have always been a concern on Android and, by some estimates, the number of malware apps on the Android Market (now rebranded as Play) is increasing, as we covered in a recent post AV-Test reviews anti-malware apps: avast! on top. Today we review some of the best antivirus apps available for Android, which hopefully will add another layer of defense.
It should be noted though, that the jury is out on how effective the anti virus apps on Android really are. Some people consider them useless, but a lot of people like me consider them a necessary evil.
Recommendation
After testing some of the anti virus suites, the free suites, especially avast!, appear at least as good as, if not better, than the paid suites. We strongly recommend staying with a free antivirus suite.
If you want only one security suite which not only is free with good scanning ability, along with a host of useful features, then choose avast!. Most of the other apps do not come even close to the feature set which avast! has for free. avast! also comes with a good anti-theft support, which alone makes it worth to install it.
I also prefer to use Lookout, but only for the anti-virus features. For anti-theft I still prefer avast! as I dont see the point for spending US$29.99 per year for that.
You can also refer to the handy comparison of major antivirus suites complied by Android Police.
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| Image credit: Android Police |
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| Source: AV-TEST |
avast! Mobile Security (free)Easily the best security software suite on Android. Complete security manager which includes an excellent anti-theft feature. Also came first in the AV-TEST security software tests. Highly recommended.
Features include:
- Anti virus - considered as the best by AV-TEST
- Anti-theft
- Firewall (root required)
- Web shield - URL scanning but only works with the stock browser
- SMS and call filter
- Privacy report
Probably the most popular security suite for Android. Has two versions, a free version with anti virus as well as a premium version with anti-theft support. Overall good suite but for the anti-theft features a premium version is required.
Features include:
- Anti virus
- Locate phone
- Contacts Backup
- Safe browsing - premium
- Remote lock and wipe - premium
- Anti theft - premium only
Other anti virus apps:
- Kaspersky - Will likely become better as it is backed by Kaspersky
- AVG anti virus
- Dr Web Anti-virus Light
- Norton
- Eset - Like Kaspersky, will improve, currently only available for Android 2.x
Thanks for sharing the info here. Keep up the good work. All the best.
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