The three common pricing models for Android antivirus apps are entirely free, fully paid, and freemium.
Similar to fully paid apps, freemium apps provide you the option of choosing between a limited number of functions for free or upgrading to the premium version, which gives you access to all of their features. A lot of feature-rich apps may also include a lot of advertisements.
The top Android antivirus apps may have features like anti-theft protection, a "advisor" to help you review and select apps, a Wi-Fi network security scanner, or an app lock that needs a passcode to open particular apps.
In general, premium tiers and paid apps range in price from $15 to $30 each year. Some app developers, however, make an effort to restrict the range of devices on which you can download their premium/paid versions. While some add a super-premium tier that, frequently for a reasonable charge, provides you limitless access to a VPN or identity protection service.
Malware protection is still the most crucial consideration when picking which Android antivirus programme to use.
In this category, Norton and Bitdefender are in the top, with Kaspersky not far behind. While the integrated Google Play Protect still needs some development, Avast is good but not fantastic. Due to the fact that neither firm has recently submitted its apps for lab testing, we are unsure about Lookout or 360 Security.
How we examined the top Android anti-virus programmes
We compared the security protection provided by each of the top Android antivirus apps using the most recent data from the independent German lab AV-bimonthly TEST's tests. This evaluates how well Android security apps can find risks such as zero-day malware.
We also reviewed the outcomes from the previous two years because certain apps' scores varied from one test to the next.
AV-Comparatives (opens in new tab), an Austrian lab, tests practically every Android antivirus app available on the Play Store once a year, including those that don't collaborate with testing labs. We also used some of their findings. These tests are, however, less thorough.
We employed the performance benchmarking programme Geekbench 5 on a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 running Android 12 to gauge the effect antivirus apps have on an Android smartphone's overall performance. We initially ran Geekbench without an antivirus app to get a baseline for each app, then we ran it with one of the review apps installed, and we ran Geekbench again throughout each app's full scan.
From there, we examined the amount and value of each app's features in further detail and determined which features are only available to premium customers. We also evaluated each app's installation procedure and user interface.
Kaspersky Editor's Note
We understand why Kaspersky antivirus software has been prohibited from use by U.S. government agencies and defence contractors. Using Kaspersky software would pose an unacceptable risk for people and organisations involved in national security and key infrastructure because the company is Russian and antivirus software can peep deeply into a PC.
The Kaspersky software is still in our opinion usually secure for home users. There is no proof to the contrary that we have seen. Researchers from Kaspersky are well-known in the antivirus sector.
It is entirely up to you if you decide to utilise Kaspersky software. On how well antivirus software functions and how simple it is to use, we can only provide advice. Undoubtedly, there is antivirus software out there that has fewer geopolitical implications.