Best Anti-malware Apps for Your Android Smartphone

Our top picks for the best antivirus app provide real-time protection for your Android phone with premium features like on-demand scans. We’ve focused on solutions that not only excel at mobile security but also serve as virus protection across multiple platforms, including PCs, Macs, Android smartphones or tablets, and iOS operating systems. While you can buy stand-alone security products for your smartphone, we recommend taking advantage of bundled suites to get the best value and protection for all your devices.

Our recommendations have strong malware and antivirus protection coupled with anti-theft features that are essential for mobile devices like app lock and device tracking. But our top three picks go a step beyond with extras that can protect your Android device from unsecured Wi-Fi connections and offer additional bells and whistles like call blocking and VPN protection.

Be aware, though, that all these impressive features may cause some moderate lag on your device, especially when you first power up. And, as you might expect, Norton Premium comes with a slightly larger price tag that reflects those extra features. Figure in what you might shell out for a monthly password manager subscription and the cost of covering up to 10 devices, and you'll realize Norton Security Premium adds up to a terrific bargain.

Decide which of your devices require additional protection and prioritize the most critical. For example, if you have only an Android tablet, the best antivirus and malware protection for a Mac may not be relevant to you. But if you do a great deal of work on your laptop in coffee shops, casually surfing the internet, you may want to look for robust unsecured Wi-Fi warnings and anti-theft features for your Windows device.

All antivirus software goes through rigorous testing, and you should be able to find each product’s score via independent testing agencies. Look for the percentage of sites blocked, number of viruses identified, ratings on usability, and additional information about the kinds of malware the product was most effective at detecting.

If your home PC is the extent of your relationship with the internet, anti-theft protections might seem silly. But for the majority of internet users, risk comes primarily through mobile devices that expose the increasing amounts of personal data we keep on our smartphones. Anti-theft protections like remote lock or snapping a picture of the thief can not only prevent the costly loss of your latest generation Android but also keep your private information out of the wrong hands.

The usefulness of some of the features included with these security suites is going to depend on your risk of exposure and online behaviors. For instance, an antivirus product with webcam protections is going to be a priority if you often have remote meetings. But if your exposure to the internet on your mobile device is almost entirely limited to online shopping, you might be better off paying attention to cybersecurity tips than paying for anything with a VPN attached to it.

In addition to scouring the internet for reviews from actual customers and ratings from consumer agencies, we also carefully considered testing results on protection and usability from independent software collectives like AV Comparatives and the Independent IT-Security Institute. See more about our methodology to find out how we ranked the products on this list.

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• Internet Safety: How to Avoid Online Scams
• Understanding Malware and Other Malicious Software