Antivirus apps for Android devices are some of the most downloaded apps from the Google Play Store. Usually, you do not need antivirus software, that is, if you play it safe, only download legitimate apps and enable security settings.
There are hundreds of lousy antivirus apps out there. If you do decide to get an antivirus app, you’d better get a safe and efficient one.
Here is a list of the top seven anti-virus and anti-malware apps for Android.
Avira
Avira is relatively new in the Android antivirus market. It developed immensely over the past year. The app features necessary device scans, real-time protection-external storage scans, and many more goodies.
Anti-theft support is embedded alongside privacy scanning, blacklisting, and administration features.
Also, Avira is pretty affordable and light on processors.
360 Security
360 security has some decent security features but many bad aspects too. It works by scanning your apps for potential malware. Its find rate is high, sometimes even aberrant – the app sometimes reports Facebook as malware.
Overall it is a decent, basic antivirus app that gives users relevant data about their system’s vulnerabilities.
The great thing about the app is that it also features some phone booster/accelerator features.
Bitdefender Antivirus
Bitdefender Antivirus is one of the few free antivirus apps. It remained constant over the years.
It provides an essential scanning feature, simple UI, and decent performance.
All it does is scanning and waiting to study again. It’s that basic.
The only downside to the Bitdefender Antivirus is the constant advertising that is mandatory to most free apps.
AVG Antivirus Free
AVG is one of the most famous names in the antivirus apps domain. It is the same as AVAST, who purchased AVG about four years ago.
The app provides scanning functions and vulnerability analysis.
It also uses Google Maps for an intelligent anti-theft tracking feature, but not as advanced as the one of AVAST.
ESET Mobile Security and Antivirus
ESET is another big player in the antivirus and anti-malware world. It includes scans, anti-theft support, a security auditor feature, scan scheduling, and many more features. It offers a one-month trial upon installation and is generally a mid-tier antivirus at an accessible price.
Norton Mobile Security
Norton Mobile Security covers most of the primary, previously mentioned features while also including protection from threats like malware, spyware, or other cyber attacks. Extra features include logging device position when the battery is low, real-time protection, anti-theft mode, and more.
Unfortunately, Norton is one of the pricier solutions on this list.
Google Play Protect
Google Play Protect is Android’s antivirus app. It scans the apps on your system and then compares them to the original versions from Google Play and notifies you if something is wrong with an app.
It provides a very potent barrier of security when combined with the existing protection in Google Play. Plus, it is free and most likely already running in the background on your device, and the best part is that you don’t have to lift a finger to use it.
In combination with common sense and some internet safety knowledge, Google Play Protect might return better results than any other antivirus app on this list.
