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Endurance Test: Always Use the Best Security App for Android!
There are quite a lot of security apps for Android, but do you know which is the best? The current endurance test from AV-TEST shows trusted security apps for Android devices. These apps fend off the best malware, go easy on the battery and can distinguish between friend and foe. The experts from AV-TEST tested 11 Android security apps in the test lab with nearly 18,000 dangerous apps over a full six months. The result demonstrates how important it is to defend your own Android device with the right security app.
many security apps show that they can do a really good job
Many users still think Android is built so securely that you don't need any protection software. This assumption is not entirely false, but it just not entirely correct either. Even the latest Android systems have recurring system vulnerabilities, which are normally closed by updates. But the older the Android version, the more vulnerable the devices. While the security apps cannot close the gaps, they do intercept the dangerous apps targeting these gaps with exploits.
That is why it is important to use a consistently reliable security app on your Android system. Because smartphones in particular are mostly available around the clock and offer good performance. Facts that cyberattackers gladly seek to exploit for their purposes.
Strong Android protection – but over the long haul!
Spot tests of Android security software may offer good clues, but they don't show how well a security app protects over a long period. The latest endurance test from January to June 2024 provides decisive proof as to which app provides the best long-term protection for an Android system. The lab experts from AV-TEST thoroughly examined all 11 security apps in terms of their protection, performance and usability. The last point clearly shows whether a system sentry can truly distinguish between friend and foe apps.
The security apps came from the following vendors: Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee, Norton, Google, Sophos, Avira and Protected.net. The test also included Google Protect. This protection is pre-installed on every device with Google Services and is intended to constantly examine existing and new apps and fend off dangers when necessary. The current test also reveals how consistently this is achieved.
The result of the endurance tests looks really good. In terms of test scores, each app is able to achieve a maximum of 18 points. A total of 7 out of the 11 apps examined achieved this top score. All other apps tested still delivered good results of 17.1 to 17.8 points. A look at the chart with detection rates further separates the field of apps. 5 security apps showed error-free performance in all tests.
The lab at AV-TEST examined 11 security apps for Android over a period of 6 months: 7 out of the 11 apps examined achieved the top score of 18 points
Each security app was required to detect and thwart well over 18,000 dangerous Android apps
11 security apps against nearly 18,000 dangerous apps
The testers examined in the lab the security apps throughout a 6-month period, with nearly 18,000 dangerous apps. The test proceeded in two steps. In the first, the real-time test, all system sentries on the device were required to detect just under 9,000 totally new malware apps freshly unearthed on the Internet. In the second step, the task was to filter over 9,000 attacker apps, which have been already known for 4 weeks, but which are highly dangerous.
The security apps from Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, Kaspersky and Norton intercepted all attackers 100 percent in both protection tests. The apps from Avira, McAfee and F-Secure committed minor errors in the 6 months in the real-time test, achieving 99.9 to 99.7 percent. In the second phase, however, they always reached 100 percent on detection.
The app from Sophos is almost neck-and-neck with the previously mentioned group, yet it committed minor errors in both test segments: 99.8 and 99.9 percent. All of the 9 security apps mentioned received the possible 6 points.
The apps from Protected.net and Google Play only received 5.8 points, as they committed more errors in detection during the endurance test. Google Play came in last place with 99.5 and 99.8 percent.
Who has been draining your smartphone battery?
No matter how effective a security app is, if it overloads the phone's CPU and drains the battery, then it is only logical that it will be quickly ditched from the device. That's why the lab at AV-TEST checked all 11 apps in terms of how much system power they require to do their job. To do so, over the course of the test, the required system resources and CPU loads were recorded. The data traffic caused by the system watchdog also costs power. But the testers provide reassurance: none of the apps stood out negatively in the areas examined. All of them require few CPU resources, thus going easy on each device's battery.
The system protectors for Android from McAfee showed consistently solid performance in the endurance test, garnering the top score of 18 points
The security app from Norton received the maximum points in all test disciplines, thus achieving the top result of 18 points
In the end, the Android app received the maximum 18 points – especially in detection, the app delivered strong performance of 100 percent without exception
The system sentry for Android systems earned the highest point score in all test categories, racking up 18 points as a final result
The security app exhibited only top scores in terms of protection, performance and usability, and thus earned the highest point score
The security app from Avast achieved the top score of 18 points in total in the endurance test
A false alarm again?
Each user has to be able to rely on the fact that an app loaded from the Google Play Store or another app shop will be safe. Yet again and again, harmless apps may be wrongly flagged and blocked by the security app.
As part of the exercise in the endurance test, the experts copied over 10,000 harmless apps from the Google Play Store and other app stores onto the devices and installed them. This task was completed totally error-free by the Android system protectors from Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, F-Secure, Google, Kaspersky, McAfee and Norton. For the good performance, all security apps received the full 6 points.
Repeatedly, the security app from Sophos wrongfully detained individual applications during installation, thus receiving a minor point deduction: a total of 5.7 out of 6 points.
In the latest endurance test, the security apps from Avira and Protected.net continuously warned the user during the installation of harmless apps. That regularly cost points over the 6-month period. Both apps ended up with 5.3 out of 6 points.
Strong apps against dangerous malware
The endurance test with 11 security apps from January to June 2024 revealed many good products for Android devices. At the top of the chart, achieving the maximum 18 points were the security apps from Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, F-Secure, Kaspersky, McAfee and Norton. However, the remainder of the tested apps followed close behind with quite good scores of 17.8 to 17.1 points. Definitely not bad end results.
The system protectors for Android from Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, Kaspersky and Norton deserve special mention. These apps detected all attackers in the test without exception throughout the 6-month period – which, after all, involved over 18,000 malware samples.
The Google standard protection didn't fare too poorly in the test, but anyone wanting perfect protection ought to install a security app.
