Norton 360 Mobile Security Review: Good but Expensive

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Price When Reviewed

From £12.99 per year

Norton 360 Mobile Security is part of the manufacturer’s Norton 360 multilicence security package, but it can also be purchased separately for mobile only.

You choose between a subscription without VPN and identity monitoring for dark web leaks, and one that includes them. Both are relatively expensive: the simplest subscription costs £12.99 per year or $19.99 in the US and the full version with VPN for £22.98, again for the first year.

Norton doesn’t have a free version, but you can get a full refund within the first 14 days. Just remember to unsubscribe before then in the Google Play Store if you don’t want to keep paying. It’s also available for iOS.

After installation, an initial virus scan, and the usual fiddling with all the permissions the app needs, I’m greeted by a clean and uncluttered interface. It utilises the limited screen space well, but it can be a little difficult to intuitively understand where your various functions are.

VPN, for example, is under the privacy section, and it’s the only feature there. Why not just call it VPN then? However, there aren’t that many individual functions, so you’ll learn that quickly.

Scanning and VPN

You do a manual virus scan with a swipe down on the screen, and swipe up to find a security report. It logs the app and user activity, and also gives you a detailed list of installed apps and their risks, how much data they collect, what permissions they request, and more.

Norton blocks access to malicious websites in apps like Chrome, Instagram, Facebook, and Outlook. Probably more apps too, but these were the relevant ones I had installed on my test phone. Even links in text messages are scanned before you can click on them.

You can also get a quick icon to Norton Safe Search, a separate search box that provides safe search results. The same feature is also available in the Windows version of Norton 360.

The VPN (if you choose this plan) is one of the better ones I’ve tried, with fast servers, or at least fast enough, all over the world. There aren’t as many to choose from as, for example, McAfee’s service, with servers in about 30 countries. But even on the other side of the planet, they are fast enough to stream from video services, for example.

Whether that means you can always escape regional locks is no guarantee, but no VPN can claim that.

Identity monitor and more

Identity Monitor, which keeps track of sensitive information on the darknet, lets you register five email addresses, five phone numbers, ten credit card numbers, and some other information like gamer tags and passport details.

Norton’s service provides the same warnings as its competitors on whatever I choose to monitor, but is far less intrusive compared to McAfee, which doesn’t take note when I manually mark a problem as fixed. It’s much more discreet and smooth.

All of Norton’s features are individually very good. It’s 100% virusproof, it adds excellent protection for web browsing and links in instant messaging, SMS and email, and the VPN service is really good if you feel like paying for it.

But that’s it, you don’t get any bonus features like backup, call control or antitheft. Then the somewhat high price can make it hard to justify a purchase.

Specs

• Norton 360 Mobile Security
• Android 8+
• Current and previous two versions of Apple iOS
• Privacy monitoring
• Browsing protection
• Secure search
• VPN
• WiFi control
• Number blocker
• Identity monitoring