Unfortunately, I quickly learned that most Android antivirus apps are terrible - they failed to detect sophisticated or new malware, significantly reduced battery life, and even harvested user data for advertisers. I wanted to find the best protection for my smartphone and tablet. I downloaded, installed, and tested the most popular Android antivirus apps. 🥇 Norton: Advanced malware protection, Wi-Fi monitoring, phishing protection, app advisor, VPN, identity theft protection, and much more - all inside an intuitive Android app.There are an absolute ton of antivirus choices for Android users, but these four should be at the top of your list.Short on time? Here’s the best antivirus app for Android in 2023: A free service should be a long-term service with an option to upgrade to a better version of the app with a subscription. We also filtered out any “free” apps from major antivirus vendors that were only limited free trial since a free service and a free trial are not the same thing. How we testedįor these antivirus apps we installed and ran the app for each selection, as well as consulted with third-party testing firms to see what kind of protection scores the apps received. If you’re looking for active real-time scanning, for example, that is a paid option from most services. Pretty much all the features you can expect in a free app are like the ones we highlighted here. Finally, see if it has the features you’re looking for. It’s also a good idea to see what third-party testing firms are saying in their reports about various Android apps.Īfter that, you should see if the company is using ads in their app and whether you’re okay with it or not. We’ve already touched on this briefly, but you should always get your antivirus from a well-known security company.

How to choose a free antivirus for Android

Bitdefender for android phones