Smartphones are now commonly used as popular PC substitutes for a variety of daily tasks including online shopping, banking, instant messaging, video conferencing, and emailing. However, with the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, mobile devices are becoming a prime target, particularly through fraudulent apps and phishing websites that aim to steal user data or money. These malicious apps often disguise themselves as fake versions of popular apps that have been downloaded by millions of users from Google Play.

ESET Mobile Security and Antivirus includes many more powerful features for users who pay for the premium version, though you will find that even the free version is an excellent security tool for Android devices.

Tested ProductsWe have reviewed and tested the following products for this report. We congratulate the third-party security vendors, who have demonstrated that their solutions are effective and reputable, and helped to raise the standard for all mobile security solutions. The latest products were taken from Google Play at time of testing (May 2025). After the test, manufacturers had the opportunity to fix any flaws we discovered. Any bugs or issues discovered during the review that we consider critical must be fixed, and an updated app version must be published on Google Play within three weeks of reporting the issue. Any problems that have already been solved are noted in the reviews. The versions listed below apply to the updated product reviews.

Mobile security products are designed primarily to safeguard mobile users and their devices from threats such as malicious apps, phishing URLs, fraudulent emails, and other harmful links. In 2021, we also evaluated how well some security apps for Android protect against stalkerware. This type of software operates covertly, enabling unauthorized individuals to spy on device owners without their knowledge or consent. While the lines between stalkerware and legitimate software, such as parental controls, can sometimes be blurred, Google Play has implemented stricter policies in recent years to combat this issue. Consequently, stalkerware is typically installed through sideloading since it is not available on Google Play.

Both ESET and Google had a bug in their respective products at the time of testing, which led to an increased number of missed detections. The vendors have informed us that these bugs have since been fixed in updated versions of their apps. ESET was still able to meet the certification criteria despite the issue. Google, however, narrowly missed the certification threshold due to the elevated number of misses caused by the bug.

In this report, we aim to help readers evaluate both the built-in security measures of Android and various third-party mobile security apps. Our report covers results from malware protection and battery consumption tests, along with reviews assessing the functionality, design, and overall usability of each security app. While some of the tested apps may offer additional features such as an app manager, network monitor, or system optimizer, our primary focus is on security aspects, including anti-malware, anti-theft, web protection, and privacy protection.