Best free antivirus for android
- Thread starter ZeePriest
- Start date
Reasons explained.Quite a few people will feel offended now.
It would be an entirely different scenario had OP provided information about the given choices, and why they couldn't decide. For example; Unable to decide between several key features between X, Y and Z. Can you help me decide?
Unfortunately no information is provided, therefore we are only able to second guess the nature of the question. What did you gather from "what is the best" and "vote"? If you've been on the web for long enough, "what is the best" doesn't solve anything for anyone.
Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers.
Edit: Not intended to offend, unless you get offended.
My favorite teacher used to say that there ain't stupid questions but stupid answers. Not meant to insult you but you don't know the intention of the question asked above. Maybe he's just interested in our personal opinions...
Android AVs are of little utility, they can't protect your device integrity against targeted attacks but kernel level mitigations such as SELinux can.
www.xda-developers.com
There is also a security focused custom ROM called GrapheneOS which ships with even more restrictive SELinux policies, a hardened kernel, full disk encryption and more. Sadly it's only available for Pixel devices.
TBH I dislike Samsung's KNOX but it effectively detects when the device has been tampered with non-official OS/recovery by burning a physical efuse located on the phone's mainboard and permanently changing the warranty bit to 0x1, if the user haven't purposedly installed a custom ROM the device should be discarded to protect data security.
Here's why you should be wary of installing anything that sets SELinux to permissive
An undocumented Android feature allows any arbitrary app to gain root access on a permissive SELinux environment. Read on to know more!
www.xda-developers.com
There is also a security focused custom ROM called GrapheneOS which ships with even more restrictive SELinux policies, a hardened kernel, full disk encryption and more. Sadly it's only available for Pixel devices.
TBH I dislike Samsung's KNOX but it effectively detects when the device has been tampered with non-official OS/recovery by burning a physical efuse located on the phone's mainboard and permanently changing the warranty bit to 0x1, if the user haven't purposedly installed a custom ROM the device should be discarded to protect data security.
The good thing about Dr.Web Light is that it has a deep scan feature unlike the other AVs. Correct me if I'm wrong.
If you visit their website you can see that they offer both free and premium.
- Apr 18, 2016
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if I have to pick 1, it will be Bitdefender or kaspersky
if I can choose another, I would choose Virustotal.com
before installing any apk, upload it to VT. If kaspersky, BD, avast, norton, drweb say it's malicious, then don't install it
apps from play store is generally safe, not always but most of the time
there is no need for a realtime AV on android
if I can choose another, I would choose Virustotal.com
before installing any apk, upload it to VT. If kaspersky, BD, avast, norton, drweb say it's malicious, then don't install it
apps from play store is generally safe, not always but most of the time
there is no need for a realtime AV on android
Agreed, as do a lot of others here, and the poll doesn't even include it. Sophos is fully featured and has web protection but is still fairly light. Many of the other free apps such as Bitdefender and Kaspersky have no web protection. Avast does, but when I used it some time ago it had loads of adverts and really slowed things down.
So for me it's Sophos without question.
Here are some opinions on av programs for android:
www.av-comparatives.org
www.xda-developers.com
www.itproportal.com
www.androidcentral.com
www.pcmag.com
www.techradar.com
www.tomsguide.com
www.google.com
Mobile Security Reviews Archives
Integration of new technologies into smartphones also brings risks of malware, phishing and concentrated attacks on sensitive data. This section contains tests and reviews of Mobile Security products.
www.av-comparatives.org
Does your Android smartphone need an antivirus app?
Worried about adwares, malwares, and other types of viruses? We explain whether you need an antivirus or not on your Android phone.
www.xda-developers.com
Best antivirus for Android 2021: Bitdefender, Norton, Kaspersky and more
Android phones need security protection, but which is best for you?
www.itproportal.com
Best Android apps of 2025: Great apps in every category
From the best keyboards, VPNs, to music streaming, we shortlist all the best apps across genres in the Android ecosystem.
www.androidcentral.com
Norton Security and Antivirus (for Android) Review
Norton Security and Antivirus offers lab-tested antivirus protection, along with excellent phishing protection and robust anti-theft tools for your Android.
Top Android Antivirus for 2025: Secure Your Device and Data
The best Android antivirus apps help keep your Android devices protected
The best Android antivirus apps in 2025
The best Android antivirus apps protect your devices, data and your privacy
Best Android antivirus? The top 8 tools
There are plenty of antivirus tools for Android. Here's how the top 8 measure up in protection, usability and features.
F
ForgottenSeer 89360
Sophos is not good against phishing and the threats it will block whilst browsing will be Windows threats. Trend Micro with default-deny for web or NextDNS when set-up to block websites newer than 30 days is the real deal for anyone who wants to stay away from phishing.
As per request by @ZeePriest. Changed Lookout Mobile Security to Sophos Intercept X.
Poll has been reset to account for all changes.
Poll has been reset to account for all changes.
Sophos is the only free option that offers web protection for android as far as i know. Do you know any other free mobile AV that offer this feature?
BTW, i agree that NextDNS is a good option.
It's some time since I used it but the free Avast app had web protection but it had loads of ads and was very resource heavy for me. Sophos is much better and regarding its effectiveness against phishing threats, I always found it pretty good. Whenever I've tried it with random samples from phishtank it blocks most of them. It also passes the AMTSO phishing test:
Feature Settings Check - Phishing Page for Android based Solutions - AMTSO
Verify if your Android security software detects phishing pages To verify if your Android security software detects phishing pages, your system will attempt to open the AMTSO Phishing Test page. This page does NOT contain any malicious content nor does it try to phish details, but by an...
www.amtso.org
Dr.Safety by trend micro do everything sophos does and more and it's free.
I had Dr.Security that was wrong it's Dr.Safety.
I had Dr.Security that was wrong it's Dr.Safety.
Last edited:
Wow, i didn't know that Dr security was from trend micro! Is it just a rebrand and exactly the same product?
F
ForgottenSeer 89360
You can download even the official Trend Micro product and without activation or anything, web protection will be available.
i am using kaspersky however i am using premium one . Really Excellent protection to invest in
Ty!
I don't use Kaspersky premium anymore cause it lacks support for many browsers, like Edge and Brave
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