THE BEST ANDROID SECURITY SUITES

The most widely used operating system in the world is far from invulnerable. Lindsay Handmer reveals the best security systems for your Android devices.

The most widely used operating system in the world is far from invulnerable. We reveal the best security apps for your Android devices.

Last year, Android accounted for 76% of all smartphones sold, totalling over 1 billion devices. With a large variety of hardware and OS versions (not to mention slow security updates), Android is increasingly being exploited by malware. Unlike self-replicating computer viruses, Android security problems are mostly from malicious apps, or external phishing or other security threats.

Google actually scans 200 million+ Android apps (via Google Play) each day, and finds problems on less than 1% of devices. Most of those are from users loading apps from less secure stores, not Google Play. While Android has a whole range of built-in protections, many companies have released their own antivirus apps. Stopping malware is a key goal, but they also bring loads of extra features, from privacy setting advice and backups, to call blocking or text message phishing protection. The best Android antivirus apps also run quietly in the background, are easy to use and have little to no impact on performance or battery life.

Despite all the excellent offerings, picking the best app can be tricky. Most are offered with basic free versions, and paid or subscription upgrades to unlock extra features. The very best offer all (or almost all) features for free to consumers, and make their money from paying corporate clients. We have reviewed our favourites, but it is worth trying a few to see how it runs on your particular device, and which features are most useful. Don’t forget to check out Android’s built-in security, such as tracking and remote wipes via Android Device Manager.

HOW WE TESTED

Using antivirus testing results from av-test.org, we compiled a list of 20 apps with the best average detection rates in 2016. We then tested the usability and features of the 20 apps, using a Nexus 6P running Android 7.0. Based on malware detection rates and hands-on testing, we chose the best three apps to highlight as the top picks, alongside six more that are almost as good and could be worth checking out, depending on your particular needs. You can also find a full list of features for each Android security app on the previous page — for the sake of saving space, we’ve combined them on the same page as the Windows test results.