It is important to keep in mind that, as with computers and laptops, there is a real possibility that your smartphone will be infected with viruses and malware. There is no longer an excuse for not protecting your smartphone or tablet as well.
Luckily, there are also apps available for Android that will keep you away from malicious content. Read on to find out which are, in our opinion, the best antivirus for Android.
Comparison: What are the best antivirus for Android?
360 Security
It is one if not the best antivirus on the Android system, as it is currently used on more than 200 million smartphones around the world, in addition to providing all the necessary security of course, this small application will offer other features.
It turns into your phone’s RAM “booster”, which allows you to kill unnecessary apps in the background, and provides a brand-new power-saving feature to help you monitor the apps you use the most and conserve battery life.
Avast Antivirus – Scan & Remove Virus, Cleaner
Avast is known to be effective, whether it is about scanning for viruses, blocking apps completely, or protecting your privacy, Avast takes care of everything to make your experience smoother.
It is also possible to wipe all storage space (including memory cards). In addition to that, the application provides a firewall to manage the traffic (Wi-Fi and data) of your applications as you wish. The “Privacy” section allows you to collect a lot of information about your phone and your network.
However even if this solution seems appropriate, Avast has been pinned down around exploiting the personal data of its users, so we invite you to consider other options as a priority.
AVG Free Antivirus 2020 – Mobile Security
AVG is an antivirus that is already known on PC and works well on mobile devices as well. Apart from that, AVG Antivirus for Android provides information about your device’s performance, in particular the battery condition (temperature and health) with the ability to set the power saving mode.
Finally, the app offers everything you need to scan files, real-time protection when surfing the Internet, analyze your SMS / MMS and a panel of options to protect your apps or block calls.
Avira Antivirus Security for Android
Avira, also known on the PC for its great efficiency, speed and low consumption of resources, is fun to find on Android. This does not mean that the portable version of the anti-virus program is a beast that searches for viruses, but it does adopt a simplified interface as much as possible that goes to this point, and that is as long as you create an account.
For the rest, we find an anti-theft device to locate a lost or stolen Android device, and even options to lock it remotely or delete the data on it directly. It is also possible to create a blacklist to block unwanted contacts that used to annoy you.
Antivirus and Mobile Security, AppLock and Booster
Trend Micro like Kaspersky, Symantec, or McAfee is one of the experts in computer security on computers. Trend Micro is a Japanese company that is often featured in the rankings of the best antiviruses in the world. Naturally his introduction to Android relies on this knowledge to provide a complete and effective suite just like that of direct competition.
In this package you will find an antivirus, of course, with a very high detection rate. The app is monitored before, during and after installation, the same goes for browsing URLs, which are scanned and blocked before accessing them. This is also in the traditional web browser or in the built-in browser for some applications.
The system also includes dedicated safeguards for mobile payments (against phishing) or for monitoring public WiFi networks (to avoid very low security ones). In addition to that, the app includes optimization tools to clean the system from programs that you do not use or that consume a lot of RAM.
Bitdefender Antivirus Free
Bitdefender also offers a free solution on the Play Store, where the app developer highlights several features related to its application, its low impact on autonomy, cloud support to more easily detect potential threats and a small number of manipulations that need to be performed to take advantage of effective protection in all circumstances.
The solution is limited to certain functions, and Bitdefender in particular offers another paid version for those who want to further enhance the security of their smartphones, locate the device if it is stolen, analyze the web pages visited, and lock the smartphone remotely.
Dr.Web
Dr.Web is a fairly popular Russian app with a community of over 70 million users (according to developer numbers). It has been downloaded over 100 million times from Google Play. It is there to protect you from all potential threats on your Android mobile devices, but this differs from others in some advantages, but it also contains disadvantages.
First of all, its main advantage is its lightness, in fact you will need less than 1 MB to store the application on your phone, it is the lightest antivirus for Android, you will find yourself facing a very simple interface that reaches a point with a scanning module (fast, complete and dedicated), and SpIDer Guard and Statistics.
SpIDer Guard is the monitor that monitors your device in real time to intervene at any time if potential threats are detected.
Dr.Web integrates a large number of features such as a high-performance anti-spam and a fast scanning system if you don’t want to wait or control access to the Internet or anti-theft device (in case of loss or theft). But as we told you, in addition to its advantages, this antivirus also has a major drawback.
In fact, the free version is the Light version limited to some features and if you want to unlock all the features you will have to pay 58.13 € for a lifetime license.
ESET Mobile Security
ESET goes beyond simple antivirus software with advanced features like protection from unwanted calls and texts, anti-phishing, and even anti-theft.
So ESET offers a free version of a powerful antivirus to check your smartphone against threats, but also a shield against ransomware, a tool to scan devices that connect to your device’s USB port (useful when charging your smartphone on unknown ports), or real-time protection.
All this with automatically updated virus definitions, ESET has always been a fairly respected benchmark in the industry for the effectiveness of its antivirus software and respect for users’ personal data.
Kaspersky Internet Security
Kaspersky is one of the primary computer antivirus programs, and it has definitely become a necessity on a smartphone. Its application is well thought out and it allows for some welcome features.
For example, we have screening of the sites you visit on your smartphone, blocking unwanted calls and SMS messages, Kaspersky offers all its expertise on its Android app and then we must realize that the app is pretty nice while designing materials and protection.
McAfee antivirus
That’s another big name to add to the list, McAfee known to many Windows users. The publisher provides an application that improves the performance and security of Android smartphones.
McAfee offers an all-in-one solution; Anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware, and device optimization. Here is a list of features described by the editor:
Security Lock and CaptureCam: Locks your device and takes a photo of the person trying to unlock it.
Anti-Spyware: Prevents thieves from accessing your personal data.
Remote data wipe: Wipe selected data or restore factory settings with anti-theft functions.
Back up SMS, contacts and restore data.
Positioning, Tracking and Alerting: Find your phone, locate it on the map, set an alarm or get step-by-step assistance to get it back.
Anti-theft uninstall protection: Prevent a thief from uninstalling your app
Manage the antivirus application for your mobile security remotely via the web portal https://www.mcafeemobilesecurity.com/ or via SMS from any laptop or tablet computer
Other Features: Pair Android Wear and SOS
App Protection: Identify apps that put your personal data at risk.
Call blocking and SMS filtering.
Conclusion
We hope this list helps you to familiarize with the best free antivirus solutions for Android. Feel free to comment to give us the name of the antivirus program you are using, and if possible, your reasons for choosing or simply ask questions and discuss mobile phone security in general.