AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test February-May 2026

[stonjean633]

Not my; it's AV-Test report.

I thought BD made massive leap on optimization.

That makes us question how reliable AV test is.

 

[Jonny Quest]

I thought BD made massive leap on optimization.

That makes us question how reliable AV test is.

Optimization in what way, backwards? In the AV-Test it got a perfect score?

 

[stonjean633]

Optimization in what way, backwards? In the AV-Test it got a perfect score?

BD could have good detections but is heavy on system resources.
I'm not a fan of it.

 

[Jonny Quest]

BD could have good detections but is heavy on system resources.
I'm not a fan of it.

Yep, I absoluty agree.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

BD could have good detections but is heavy on system resources.
I'm not a fan of it.

Yep, I absoluty agree.

It is been said for years and it is one of those controversial topics. in my experience, BD either works perfectly for you (very light on resources with zero issues), or it is your worst nightmare. I have had luck running it with zero issues only on a newly installed Windows. If you install it on an old Windows installation then good luck hahahah.

 

[Jonny Quest]

It is been said for years and it is one of those controversial topics. in my experience, BD either works perfectly for you (very light on resources with zero issues), or it is your worst nightmare. I have had luck running it with zero issues only on a newly installed Windows. If you install it on an old Windows installation then good luck hahahah.

I have AV Plus installed on a Windows 10 desktop, but that PC is not my daily driver. I bought it about a month ago as to be a legitimate user when I occasionally help out on the forum. It's the only version I personally would use. And you're right, it can be a 2 edged sword.

 

[Sorrento]

Out of just interest I've installed BD AV+, I haven't used BD for some time so took a trial seems fine UI an improvement on the past, no problems I removed the unneeded VPN & it went OK.

 

[gery79]

BD could have good detections but is heavy on system resources.
I'm not a fan of it.

couldn't agree more

 

[Sorrento]

The strange thing is I expected BD to be heavy but it don't appear to be so at least on this PC, fan speeds (Case/CPU) which I usually go by have been normal despite higher than normal indoor temperatures around 28C+so not sure what BD have done since last time I used it, actually I can live quite happily with it now which has surprised me!!

 

[Jonny Quest]

The strange thing is I expected BD to be heavy but it don't appear to be so at least on this PC, fan speeds (Case/CPU) which I usually go by have been normal despite higher than normal indoor temperatures around 28C+so not sure what BD have done since last time I used it, actually I can live quite happily with it now which has surprised me!!

As long as you don't open up Task Manager and look at all the processes, you're, we're, fine And the Memory use will settle down a bit more in 2-3 days.

 

[micasayyo]

Hi, I'm surprised that in the "Files blocked incorrectly" section:

Microsoft Defender performs better than ESET Home Essentials Security, and in the:

Summary Results
Test period: February – May 2026 (400 test cases):

Microsoft Defender blocked 99% of files and had 0 false positives, while ESET Home Essentials blocked 98.5% of files and had 2 false positives.

Is this because ESET had an off day or because Microsoft has improved significantly?

 

[RoboMan]

Hi, I'm surprised that in the "Files blocked incorrectly" section:

Microsoft Defender performs better than ESET Home Essentials Security, and in the:

Summary Results
Test period: February – May 2026 (400 test cases):

Microsoft Defender blocked 99% of files and had 0 false positives, while ESET Home Essentials blocked 98.5% of files and had 2 false positives.

Is this because ESET had an off day or because Microsoft has improved significantly?

What has changed is that Microsoft has invested heavily in:

• Cloud-based reputation systems
• Machine learning and AI-assisted detection
• Behavioral monitoring
• Massive telemetry from the Windows ecosystem
• Faster cloud-delivered signature updates

Also, it probably has the biggest malware database in the market, due to its huge userbase (advantage of being pre-installed on all Windows installations).

As well, I wouldn't say ESET "had an off day". 2 samples out of 400 is not a big difference in these tests. AV-C groups products into "clusters" because small percentage differences are often not statistically significant enough to claim one product is definitively better. Defender was in Cluster 1 and ESET in Cluster 2, but both still achieved very high protection rates.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

Hi, I'm surprised that in the "Files blocked incorrectly" section:

Microsoft Defender performs better than ESET Home Essentials Security, and in the:

Summary Results
Test period: February – May 2026 (400 test cases):

Microsoft Defender blocked 99% of files and had 0 false positives, while ESET Home Essentials blocked 98.5% of files and had 2 false positives.

Is this because ESET had an off day or because Microsoft has improved significantly?

The difference is insignificant and shouldn't cause anyone to worry about it.