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Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Excellent virus protection
- Many useful features
Cons
- Questionable VPN
- A few annoyances
Our Verdict
For under £2 a month, or even cheaper if you pay annually, the app has a useful bundle of features. Even the free version can work for those who tolerate intrusive advertising. But avoid paying for vpn, there are clearly better ones.
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Best Prices Today: Avast antivirus & Security
If you download and install Avast Antivirus & Security (or sometimes called Security & Virus Cleaner), you’ll be given a choice during installation: buy a paid subscription or continue with the free basic version, but with inapp ads. You then get almost as much functionality without the cost.
The adverts in question are very annoying and intrusive, but only while you are in the app. Most of the time, an app like this runs in the background and is as discreet as other security apps. That is, semidiscreet, there are still some popups and notifications when it wants to attract attention.
In addition to app control, which according to AV tests is slightly better than Google Play Protect with a 100% detection result in the latest measurement, you get a bunch of features.
These include basic protection against malicious websites, link checking for emails and texts, and a “photo vault”. This uploads selected photos from the archive or directly from the camera to a special, encrypted folder. You also get a junk cleaning tool that can remove unnecessary files.
Helping you with safe practices
The app includes clear visual stepbystep guides to use other apps like Instagram and Tiktok in the safest way possible. I wouldn’t call it a feature in itself technically, but a welcome bonus.
Then there’s also the option to have an email address monitored so you get alerts if it’s included in any known hacker leaks. However, this requires an extra step – registering an account with Avast. You can also scan the WiFi network you are connected to for any vulnerabilities.
Price
If you want to get rid of the adverts, you’ll have to pay £1 a month just like AVG Security & Virus Cleaner. This Premium plan is billed as £11.99 for the first year then £19.99 a year afterwards.
You’ll also get some additional features, such as enhanced phishing protection on the web and in email, app locks for “sensitive apps” so you can lock them behind extra PIN codes or biometrics to open them. You also get scheduled system scanning and cleaning, and fully automatic scanning of WiFi before you connect to it.
What you don’t get is a VPN, which is part of the Ultimate plan for £2 per month (billed at £23.99 for the first year then £39.99). The VPN service is pretty slow when I test it, so it’s questionable whether it’s worth the money.
Alternatively, you can get Avast One Silver or Avast One Gold for £32.49 or £69.99 for the first year respectively and this includes protection for three or five devices across Windows, Mac, Android, and iPhone/iPad.
Specs
- App lock
- Encryption (images)
- Privacy overview
- Browsing protection
- VPN
- WiFi control
- Identity monitoring
- Android 8+
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and adapted from Swedish.