McAfee Antivirus Review — Is It Good Enough in 2022?

McAfee delivers excellent real-time malware protection and some of the most effective web protections available at an extremely affordable price. McAfee also offers many useful additional features. They offer coverage for up 10, and US users can get coverage for unlimited devices.

McAfee antivirus scanner received a 100% score in all my malware detection tests. This included Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS and iOS devices. It was able to identify and block both sophisticated and simple threats, such as trojans. Spyware, ransomware. and cryptojackers.

McAfee also has many more features than the majority of antiviruses.

• Wi Fi Network Protection and Firewall.
• Anti-phishing protection.
• A virtual private network (VPN).
• Performance optimization.
• Password manger.
• Parental control.
• Identity protection (only for US customers)
• Secure file storage.

McAfee is a great company with many features that work as promised. In my tests, McAfee blocked more malicious sites than Chrome or Firefox. McAfee’s WiFi protections and firewall are also superior to those offered by premium competitors like TotalAV, Avira and Avira.

McAfee’sVPN is not for me. It logs your activity, it doesn’t allow torrenting, and it can’t access some streaming sites. McAfee’s VPN does work with Netflix and Amazon Prime, but it won’t work with Disney+ and Hulu.

McAfee is still my favourite antivirus. It comes with a high quality malware scanner, an extensive range of security features and an easy-to-use dashboard. And all this for a very affordable price.

McAfee offers 1-year plans with McAfee for 1, 5, 10, and unlimitted devices. But coverage for unlimited devices can only be obtained for US users. McAfee also offers highly discounted 2-year plans (Multi-Device and Family plans) which make McAfee among the most affordable premium antivirus solutions in 2022. McAfee offers 30-day money-back guarantees on all plans.

• Norton 360 Antivirus Review

McAfee Full Review

McAfee offers a range of security options and is a premium antimalware suite.

McAfee Security Protections performed very well on my MacBook Pro (and iPhone), as well as my Samsung Galaxy Galaxy S5 and iPhone.

McAfee’s 2022 internet security suite is undoubtedly one of its most outstanding — it’s extremely reliable, very user-friendly, and has a 2-year subscription plan that is among the most affordable.

McAfee Antivirus Scanner

McAfee’s anti-virus scanner uses traditional malware detection techniques, which are used to check files against McAfee’s massive virus database. It also uses heuristics, which detect potentially dangerous files based their behavior.

I downloaded various malware onto my computer before testing McAfee’s virus scanner. This included trojans, spyware, viruses and other malicious software. I then installed McAfee to run a scan of my entire system. The scan found all of my malware. The result was not surprising, but I am not surprised.

McAfee wasn’t my first time testing its scanner. A few months ago, I ran my standard series malware tests and McAfee received a perfect malware detection rate.

McAfee has been consistently a top-rated antivirus against all types malware. There are no other brands that can compare to McAfee, Bitdefender, TotalAV and Avira. Each brand successfully detected and removed all malware samples in all of our tests.

McAfee’s entire system scan took just over an hour. It is comparable with Bitdefender and Norton, but Avira’s scans only take 40 minutes. McAfee ran a quick scan. This took just 2 minutes. McAfee specializing in custom scans takes a little longer depending on the files being scanned.

McAfee’s scanner does cause system slowdowns. That’s the only thing I don’t like. McAfee scan my computer slower than normal. It was still possible to surf the internet, use word processing programs, and do some work but I couldn’t watch a video, or play a gaming program. McAfee is able to schedule scans for you whenever you wish, so you can schedule your system scan when you aren’t using your PC. Avira, TotalAV, and other antivirus programs don’t have any impact on a system’s performance.

McAfee’s antivirus scanner ranks among the top on the market. McAfee antivirus scanner offers excellent protection against both known as unknown threats. My only gripe is that the antivirus scanner caused my PC to slow down during a full-system scan. However you can schedule full scans in the evening or during non-peak hours.

Firewall

McAfee’s firewall is powerful and easy to use. However, it can also be configured easily. It runs flawlessly straight out of the package. McAfee identified a range of test threats during my testing. This included exploit attacks, network intrusions, and malware programs trying remote servers to communicate. McAfee firewall protection was much more reliable and effective than those provided by Windows or macOS.

McAfee’s firewall is packed with security capabilities. McAfee users can:

• Select which programs have access to the web.
• Open and close certain network ports.
• There are 4 levels of network protection.
• Modify trust settings for stored networks.
• Activate software intrusion detection.
• Whitelist certain programs.

McAfee firewall is very flexible. I also like that it allows me to choose from a variety of options. Users who are less tech-savvy can still set the firewall to automatically stop suspicious activity, with little user input.

McAfee’s firewall has one problem: it does not provide very detailed logs. McAfee tells you what network activity is blocked, but doesn’t give you any explanations for why.

McAfee’s firewall provides top-of-the line protection for network users. It has a program blocking tool and network intrusion defense. Advanced settings are also available for tech-savvy people. McAfee’s diagnostics could provide more information about threats, but it’s still one the best firewalls I have used.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

VPNs route all web traffic through a secure servers, which encrypt all your data and hide your online traffic. VPNs also hide your IP address, making it appear you’re connecting from another place. For example, if a US-based user connects to a UK server, the VPN will give them an IP address, which allows them to browse the Internet as if they were in the UK.

McAfee Safe Connect VPN makes browsing and streaming of content easy.

McAfee Safe Connect VPN offers 1,900+ servers in 41 countries. It’s a solid network, but it isn’t as extensive as what standalone competitors like ExpressVPN offer. ExpressVPN has 3,000+ server locations in 94 countries. McAfee Safe Connect VPN offers encryption with 256-bit AES encryption. It also has a kill switch (Safe Connect), that can disconnect you from the internet if your VPN connection drops.

I was successful in accessing Netflix and Amazon Prime. I was also able to watch movies on smaller streaming services like Pluto TV. But, Crunchyroll and others blocked my access. I recommend ExecVPN, or CyberGhostVPN as a reliable VPN for streaming services.

McAfee Safe ConnectVPN also stopped my torrent client downloading or uploading files in my testing. My top choices for torrenting VPNs are ExecVPN and ProxyVPN.

McAfee Safe Connect VPN does have some positive aspects. However, there are also some drawbacks. McAfee Safe Connect VPN does not have a great privacy policy. McAfee Safe Connect VPN keeps logs about what websites you visit and your IP addresses.

McAfee Safe Connect VPN performed extremely well in my speed testing. While I was connecting to a US server, I experienced very fast speeds. However, McAfee Safe Connect VPN maintained reasonable speeds for browsing on distant servers in Europe or South America. Websites took about 4-5 seconds in Australia.

McAfee Safe Connect VPN’s interface is intuitive, speeds up local servers at lightning speed, and supports Netflix. However, logs of online traffic are stored and IP addresses are not saved. Furthermore, it doesn’t support P2P and lacks many other standalone VPN services. McAfee Safe ConnectVPN is safe and a good choice for general browsing and streaming.

WebAdvisor (Windows Only)

McAfee WebAdvisor prevents exploit attacks, phishing and browser-based malware. WebAdvisor is compatible with Chrome Firefox, Edge, Edge, and Explorer.

WebAdvisor analyses every website you visit and detects exploit attacks. The program also finds phishing sites in a huge database that is constantly updated.

WebAdvisor prevented all phishing and exploit attacks that I tried. It found many sites that were dangerous and not detected by Chrome or Firefox’s built-in protections.

WebAdvisor has an optional Secure Search mode. This assigns color-coded safety ratings and ratings to your search results. However, it does not provide ratings for many sites. It did give “Dangerous” ratings for some pirate websites. It also didn’t label any safe sites as dangerous.

WebAdvisor is able to rate links on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. In my testing, this link rating was surprising accurate. It labeled most of the links as safe. Additionally, it flagged phishing pages when a friend was hacked through Instagram.

WebAdvisor has a reputation for being one of the most trusted online protection tools. Its antiphishing protections and anti-exploit protections surpass Chrome’s. Additionally, WebAdvisor’s search engine is very useful and helps users find unsafe sites.

Performance Optimization

Total Protection is a collection of performance optimization tools designed for web browsers and desktops. But it’s not easy to use. These are McAfee’s optimization tools for performance:

• QuickClean.
• App Boost.
• HTML Boost.

McAfee’s QuickClean eliminates cookies from your computer and other unwanted temporary files. You can access it only from the PC Security tab. Click on the “Tracker Remover” button.

QuickClean scan took less that one minute and saved me almost 2GB of space on my computer.