Endurance Test with 25 Apps: the Best Security Apps for Android

Halftime in the endurance test – 7 apps with maximum point scores

While thus far only 7 out of 25 apps managed to achieve the full 13 points, 7 additional apps are a mere two-tenths behind them. This means that more than 50% of all the apps tested are really good. Also very good: among the 14 apps mentioned, a total of 6 are freeware system protectors.

The apps with 13 points originate from Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Qihoo 360, Sophos, Symantec, Tencent and Baidu. The latter app is only available in Chinese, however. The additional apps with 12.8 points all have one thing in common: in the test concerning their protection performance, they all committed one tiny error that led to the brutal point deduction. That is why they all scored only 5.8 out of 6 possible points in this category.

Over 21,000 malware apps in the test

In terms of protection performance, the apps have always been tested in two phases. First, the objective was to pass the real-time test, in which infected apps, some totally new and some merely a few hours old, are required to be detected and filtered out. Overall, this included over 10,500 apps. In the second test phase, the objective was to detect and remove the malware apps in the reference set. These apps with malware are extremely dangerous and at the time of the relevant test launch, they are a maximum of 4 weeks old. In total, the sets contain an additional 10,500 apps.

This most difficult phase with a total of 3 separate test rounds was mastered absolutely error-free by the apps from Baidu, Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Qihoo 360, Sophos, Symantec and Tencent.

Battery killers and prone to false alarms?

The rumor that security apps drain the battery dry is definitely false. In all 3 test rounds, the power consumption of the security apps was monitored. The lab dispels all the rumors: all the apps put hardly any load on the processors of the devices and thus go easy on the batteries. So there are no battery killers.

Another encouraging sign: the data traffic generated by the system watchdogs is so minimal, that it is even negligible on devices with limited data volume.

In an additional test, the security apps are required to recognize other normal apps as benign and are not allowed to block their installation. For this purpose, the laboratory loaded some 6,000 apps from the Google Play Store and 3,000 apps from other sources. The result: only 5 out of 25 apps stumbled here and there, falsely detecting a clean app as malware. These were only individual cases, but they cost some apps valuable points.

What extras would you like?

In terms of extras and additional features, there are vast differences among apps. Because most features are not directly security-relevant, the lab only awards one point here. All the apps in the endurance test received one point. However, there are a few basic features that every app ought to have, such as anti-theft functions. These are found in 20 out of 25 apps. This extra feature is not included on the 5 apps from: Antiy, Cheetah Clean Master, NSHC, Qihoo 360 and Tencent. The frequently sought-after function of safe browsing is also included in many apps. Only Baidu, Bullguard, NSHC and Tencent do not have it.

In many apps, there are additional extras such as call blocking, filtering of messages, parental controls, backup or encryption. Some paid apps offer a free test phase in which all the features are activated. Once this test phase has ended, normally only the protection feature remains active.

Initial positive interim assessment

Although the endurance test still has at least 6 months to go, the initial interim assessment is very positive. The table shows 7 apps with the maximum point score of 13 and an additional 7 apps with 12.8 points. This means that, at the top of the table, 14 out of 25 apps are already neck and neck.

The apps with 13 points originate from Baidu, Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab, Qihoo 360, Sophos, Symantec and Tencent. It is interesting to note that the apps from Baidu, Qihoo 360, Sophos and Tencent are even free of charge. However: the app from Baidu is only available in Chinese, and Qihoo 360 and Tencent are missing the anti-theft protection functions. Thus, the app from Sophos remains the free option alongside the best paid apps from Bitdefender, Kaspersky Lab and Symantec.

For some apps, the next 6 months will involve an additional grueling regimen of tests. Whether they will still be ranked at the very top of the table remains to be seen.