Avira Antivirus Review: Is It the Best Antivirus in 2022?

Avira Antivirus Review: Quick Expert Summary

Browser Safety can be used to block ads and trackers online. Browser Safety and uBlock Origin were compared when I visited 5 sites with heavy advertising. Browser Safety has outperformed uBlock Origin in most cases, as you will see.

However I was disappointed by Avira Safety’s exploit prevention.

Exploits can be described as web-based tools that exploit software vulnerabilities to gain access or install malware. Most exploit attacks are well-known, and most browsers and internet shields can block exploit websites. Avira Browser Safety did not detect all the exploit attacks that I tested, however, it detected about 10%. Bitdefender’s protection feature detected 100%.

Avira Web Protection is very good. However, it has a poor exploit attack protection. Avira Firefox Safety’s ad blocker and tracker blocker blocks phishing websites far more effectively than Chrome and Firefox.

Device Optimization Tools

Avira’s system-optimization tools are excellent. They’re simple to use, clear up system space, and offer useful metrics to help users chart system performance over time. Avira has several main tools for optimizing devices:

• PC junk cleaner.
• Startup optimizer.
• Driver updater.
• Battery usage monitor.
• Game booster.

The computer junk file cleaner detects junk, unused files, and folders.

Avira found more than 1.3 GB junk files in my hard drive during my tests. Avira also indicated files and folders which I may want to keep, allowing you to choose whether you want to delete them. Avira’s junk file cleaner works really well. Only TotalAV is capable of detecting and removing junk files as well.

This startup optimizer will show you which programs are slowing your PC down so that you can stop them from starting at startup. Avira offers a Hyper Boost for users who experience slower boot times. In this mode, Avira asks that you reboot your computer five times to optimize the boot sequence. Although this Hyper Boost feature takes a while to set up, it can be a great tool for anyone with a faulty boot sequence. I love that the startup optimizer keeps track the time it takes to load a PC and shows the data in an easy-to-read graph.

Avira’s driver updater impressed me also. It scan all of my programs and informed me if any were out-of date. Software updates don’t only improve performance, but also provide security patches to close security gaps. Avira’s driver upgrader is an extremely useful security feature that can make sure your device is protected against most of the known exploit attacks.

Although the battery usage manager isn’t very impressive — it can place your system into low power mode, which dims it screen and prevents automatic updates. But it doesn’t track which apps are using your battery life, as Android and iOS do.

Avira’s Game Booster is a handy tool that shuts down background services and stops unnecessary services. It optimizes network settings to maximize CPU performance for high-performance gaming, particularly online games like Destiny 2 where slowdowns can occur due to network connectivity issues. I experienced less lag than I do with online games, as well as no intermittent slowdown.

BullGuard’s booster is superior to my opinion. This is because it reallocates CPUs across multiple-core processors, allowing games to run more efficiently. BullGuard or McAfee’s boosters are the only two tools that allow me increase my graphics settings and frame rates when gaming.

Overall, though, I am really satisfied with Avira’s device-optimization features. They are the most advanced of all system tuneup tools that have been tested.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

Avira Phantom VPN has good security and a decent network. It can also maintain fast speeds and has no logs. However it is not able to consistently access streaming websites. Avira’s Prime package offers Phantom VPN Pro unlimited data. However, lower-tier plans offer only 500MB of browsing data per monthly (which is not much).

Phantom VPN also supports:

• AES encryption at 256 bits All user information is protected by unbreakable encryption.
• A strict no logging policy. Avira will not log your visits to websites or files downloaded.
• DNS leak Protection. PhantomVPN supports IPv4 & IPv6 traffic.
• Malware blocker. Prevents from visiting malicious sites.
• Multiple servers locations. 1,400 Server locations in 37 Countries, including in specific states in the USA. Pro users have full access to all 1,400 server locations, while the free version has access to only one virtual host.
• Kill switch. It automatically blocks internet connection if the VPN is disconnected (only for Windows, and it only comes with the Pro edition).

Avira’s VPN speeds are quite fast. During my tests, my speeds dropped by between 25-30% and is comparable to ProtonVPN, one of the top standalone VPNs. Avira’s VPN enabled me to browse the internet, watch videos, download and play games with very little or no downtime. While I experienced slowdowns when connected to distant servers (especially long-distance ones), this is normal for VPNs.

Phantom VPN supports five simultaneous connections. That’s a good number considering the industry average is between 5-7 devices. Avira’s VPN is not compatible with routers, smart TVs, and game consoles. This can make it difficult for users who need to protect multiple devices in their home. ExpressVPN is a standalone competitor that can be installed on all devices. CactusVPN offers unlimited simultaneous connections and some VPNs that allow for multiple concurrent connections.

Avira VPN failed to work with the streaming sites that I tried. In my tests, I couldn’t access Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. If you are looking for a fast VPN that can stream well, I recommend ProtonVPN or ExpressVPN.

Phantom VPN works with all major torrenting clients and supports P2P traffic. Other VPNs with antiviruses like McAfee Safe Connect or Norton Secure VPN do not allow torrenting.

Phantom VPN is an average VPN. While it’s worth the price of the Avira Primepackage and a great value, there are better options for standalone use. Avira Phantom VPN is a great choice for those who want a quick, secure, and reliable VPN with many international server locations.

Password Manager

Avira’s password manger offers secure password storage, intuitive interface, and security features. Norton Password Manager, however, is also quite good. Avira is also one the few password managers that provides unlimited password storage as well as syncing across multiple devices. Avira Antivirus Pro plans and Avira Antivirus Pro plans are both free and include Avira Password manager Pro.

Avira’s password administrator includes these key features:

• 256-bit encryption.
• Login to your mobile device with Biometrics.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Password generator.
• Autosave & auto-fill.
• Data breach monitoring (Pro version).
• Password vault auditing (Pro version).

Avira’s password manger dashboard is extremely clean and easy-to-use

It also contains a browser extension which can save and automatically fill your login information as well as generate strong passwords. It’s available for Chrome and Firefox as well as Microsoft Edge and Opera.

A password generator is the one thing that’s missing in the browser extension. A password generator is available within the desktop application. However, it would really be helpful to have one in your browser extension when you create new accounts.

Avira also offers a great mobile app. This allows you to sync logins stored in your vault from other devices.

Avira’s vault monitoring tool is very good. It organizes all my unsafe logins, whether they are repeated, weak or old. I can then go down and change them to improve my vault health. Although I wish Avira had a password auto-change function like Norton and Dashlane, it does a great job. Data breach monitor gives you live updates when your logins have been detected in any public data breaches.

The password manager by Avira is lacking certain features. It doesn’t work with 2FA tokens like YubiKey. Also, it doesn’t support family password vault share like 1Password or live darkweb monitoring like Dashlane. But it’s still a solid password manger.

Avira Password Manager is an excellent choice if you are looking for a simple, secure password manager with helpful additional features. You can also get most of the features for free!

Additional Features

Avira has muchmore features, such as:

• File encryption. Protect files and folders with passwords
• File shredding. Deletes files in a way that hackers can’t retrieve them.
• Network traffic manager. Displays the number of applications that are connected to Internet and gives you the ability to stop some connections.
• Process manager. Monitors all processes running and stops them if they aren’t necessary.
• Disk defragmenter. Increases speed and organization of hard drives.
• Recover files from deleted files.
• Safe Shopping This browser extension recommends shopping online for better deals.

I love the file shredder. It was easy to erase everything from my hard disk in a matter of seconds. Avira has many useful features, including the disk defragmenter, process manager, and file shredder.

I wasn’t impressed with Safe Shopping Browser Extension. It didn’t notify me of better offers and sometimes offered humorous alternatives. For example, it notified me of a Amazon low-price Terrarium when I was browsing for Animorphs Books.

Avira Ease of Use and Setup

Avira is the most user-friendly antivirus I have tested.

Installation took less than 10 minutes. Avira was faster than other antiviruses, such as TotalAV. However, the entire process of installing Avira took less than 10 minutes.

Avira’s features make it easy for non-tech-savvy users to run an antivirus scan or use the device optimization tools.

I was able schedule scans in just a few minutes by clicking the calendar icon and setting scan frequency.

Avira offers many scanning options. This is one of the best perks. This could prove overwhelming to those not familiar with technical terms, but Avira’s interface makes it simple to scan and schedule.

Avira was able to scan my entire computer without affecting my CPU. That is far less than when I ran McAfee and Panda on my computer. They both took up more than 50% of my CPU while running a virus scanner. Avira enabled me to use my computer as normal while the scan was ongoing, so I could view YouTube and edit videos without any system slowdowns.

Avira’s installation and use is straightforward. Easy access to all security and device optimization functions will be available even for novice users. It’s extremely lightweight and won’t impact the performance of your CPU-intensive applications.

Avira Mobile App

Avira has a mobile app that is compatible with both Android and iOS. It provides many useful features in an intuitive user interface.

I tested out the Android app on my Nokia 6-1 smartphone. The iOS app was also tested on my iPad.

The Android antivirus scanner took only 5 minutes and didn’t cause any slowdown. I downloaded a massive Android-specific Malware Database to my Android device. It returned the same result that the desktop app did: 100% of my test file were either removed entirely from my phone or put in quarantine.

These features are part of Avira’s mobile apps:

• Web protection.

• Anti-theft device finder.
• Camera protection and microphone protection.
• App locker.
• Call blocker.
• VPN.
• Password manger.
• Performance optimizer.
• Alerts for Identity Breach
• WiFi network scanning.
• Protection for Siri (iOS only).
• iOS upgrader (iOS only).

I really like the permissions manger and microphone protection. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of which applications have which permissions. The prompts on my iPhone are very helpful to me to manage them.

The performance optimizer works well too. Avira helped me to free up storage on my external microSD cards. The optimizer tool made my phone run much smoother.

Although it’s the weakest feature of the Anti-Theft feature, it still works well. The accuracy is acceptable — it found my device at my neighbor’s home across the street. It definitely works better that Google’s or Apple’s devices locator apps, which I always found to be a little cumbersome. Avira’s anti-theft function isn’t nearly as impressive as Norton’s. Norton can locate a device within 65ft.

Avira’s mobile apps have a lot of features. They provide advanced malware and app scanning, optimize device performance, monitor privacy violations, and offer an array of good anti theft tools.

Avira Customer Support

Avira has a very high level of customer support. The customer support is particularly good via the telephone and online.

Avira has a number of customer support options.

• Email support.
• Telephone assistance.
• Online knowledgebase.

There is no live chat option. That is the best option for me.

Avira provides no customer support for paid users. I used the knowledge base to fix some issues related to the antivirus setup. The knowledgebase is extremely helpful, and it provides detailed answers that can resolve most issues.

A toll-free number is available for premium users. It provides support between 9-11 p.m. Central European Time for more than 30 countries,including many European and Asian ones. The toll-free number is not available to all countries. They can however call another number and will be charged the local rate.

Avira telephone support was helpful in answering my questions about installation. They were very friendly and gave me clear advice.

Premium subscribers will also be able to contact support by email. Avira received my message within 24 hours. I think they should have responded sooner. Norton’s support team will reply within two hours.

Overall, Avira offers decent customer support. The knowledge base provides a wealth of information, telephone support is fantastic, and email support can be slower, but support reps are very helpful.

Is Avira a Good Antivirus in 2022?

Avira remains one of the top antiviruses currently on the market

The high malware detection rates, the wide variety of outstanding internet security features, and the user-friendly interface back this claim.

Avira can be used by anyone, even non-tech-savvy. Avira is lightweight for an advanced antivirus scanner. It takes up less CPU than other antiviruses.

I was also impressed at the number of additional features like the secure password manager, comprehensive device optimization tools, and automatic software updating. While the VPN is excellent, there are also better standalone VPN options.

Avira would be great if it offered parental controls, identity protection, and more robust mobile anti theft features like McAfee and Norton. But Avira is still a great value antivirus and has some great extra features.

Avira, an excellent low-cost antivirus software, is highly recommended. The 30-day money-back guarantee means you can test it risk-free for 30 days.

Is Avira’s antivirus protection good?

Avira received a 100% detection rate for malware in my tests. Its real-time scanner engine and antivirus scanner were able detect and block viruses, ransomware as spyware, rootkits and other malware.

Avira has combined their scanning engine with cloud technology to provide lightweight and thorough malware detection. This makes it as effective for antimalware protection as premium products like McAfee.

Does Avira have a free version?

Avira provides a free version its antivirus that uses the same powerful scanner engine as the premium one. Avira’s Free Version even provides real-time protection. This is a rare feature for an antivirus program!

Avira Security Free is my favorite free internet safety program in 2022. However, the free version does not include many additional features.

Avira Prime offers all the premium features of Avira, including a great password manager, extensive system optimization tools and a decent VPN, at a very affordable price.

Will Avira slow down my computer?

It’s a lightweight antivirus software that takes up very little of my computer’s processing time compared with other brands.

Avira uses cloud-based technology in its scanning engine. Files are secure scanned using Avira’s servers. Bitdefender, a competitor, also uses cloud-based scanning technology for high-performance antivirus scans without CPU drain.

Is Avira’s VPN safe to use?

Avira’s VPN can be used safely. It uses AES encryption 256 bits, has no logs policy and has a kill switch.

Avira’s VPN works well for torrenting, general browsing, gaming, and streaming, but not for streaming.

ExpressVPN is a reliable VPN that offers excellent streaming capabilities.

Avira Antivirus

Name: Review Avira Antivirus

Description: Avira stands out from other antiviruses thanks to its system optimization tools. You can optimize your system to speed up booting or to concentrate the resources on one task such as video rendering. It even includes crypto mining functions, which allows you to make money while your computer is offline. It is important to keep in mind that not all features can be used on macOS as well as Windows. Mail protection and download scanning are only available for Windows users.

Offer price: $45.99 to Up

Currency: USD

Operating System: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS

Application Category: Avira - Brand Review

Author: Best Antivirus

[ More ]

• Security
  (4)
• Features
  (4)
• Ease of use
  (4.5)
• Customer Support
  (4)
• Pricing
  (4.5)

Overall

4.2

Summary

I was pleased to see outstanding scores from independent test laboratories. Avira Internet Security scored the maximum 6 points on performance, protection and usability tests by AV–Test in October 2021.

AVComparatives has also shown impressive results with tests that were conducted in September and Oct 2021. Experts claim that it has blocked 99.2%of cyber threats. It is rated highly in terms of performance and features for malware protection.

Avira Antivirus is a great security product that has a good price/quality ratio and produces great results.

Pros

• Feature-rich free version
• Compatible with all major platforms
• Offers 30-day money-back guarantee
• Real-time protection
• Features to protect online browsing
• Includes VPN services

Cons

• Some features are only available on Windows
• Can’t protect more than 5 devices
• Free version limits VPN usage
• Browser extension is needed to use all of its features

• Avira for Windows
• Avira for macOS
• Avira for Android
• Avira for iOS

Source : #safetydetectives
Editor by : BEST Antivirus KBS Team