Expert rating
Benefits
- Simple and clean interface
- Extended banking protection
- Great VPN
Disadvantages
- Lack of guidance in the app
- Expensive subscriptions
Our Verdict
This is not an app you buy to keep your phone secure. It’s an app you can install on your phone if you’ve already purchased a license elsewhere. And even then, it’s not particularly feature-rich.
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The F-Secure Total Security & VPN app is not available for purchase separately. Instead, you access it with a multi-license subscription, either F-Secure Internet Security or F-Secure Total.
It costs at least £39.99 per year or $49.99 in the US, with, unusually, no discounts. The difference between Internet Security and Total is that with Total you also get a VPN, a password manager, and identity monitoring that checks online if your sensitive data has been leaked.
So if you just want the security of a mobile phone, it will cost you prohibitively expensive.
If you get F-Secure for your PCs, however, it is more affordable to add an additional user for an Android device. But still not as cheap as some other Android security packages.
It’s also not the easiest experience to get a subscription. I navigate through the app and access the F-Secure web interface, but there is no way to go to the store to buy what I need. This can only be done in a computer’s browser, which doesn’t seem intuitive or smart. Why make it difficult to buy a product?
Slow installation
Once the trial subscription is secured (30 days is longer than most), installing and configuring the application turns out to be quite tricky. There are many permissions needed for an active security app, and I’m not getting very good information or instructions on how to enable them. But with some blind trial and error, it ends up working. This can be a little difficult for those who are less accustomed to it.
Protection against malicious apps is slightly better than with Google Play Protect, but not as 100% strict as some other providers. On top of that, you also get effective phishing protection that ensures you don’t accidentally click on shady links.
F-Secure claims the app will give you extra protection when banking and shopping online, but what exactly it does is unclear. It is likely to monitor network traffic when you navigate to well-known banking sites and online stores, similar to F-Secure’s banking protection on a Windows computer.
The app also checks the properties of the Wi-Fi network you’re connecting to and alerts you if it appears unsafe. It’s always up to you whether or not you want to log in anyway. But only if you have an F-Secure Total subscription, as this particular feature doesn’t appear to be included in Internet Security.
Parental controls get a boost
Finally, there is also a parental control called Family Rules, which, like VPN and Solution Manager, is installed as a separate application. Here, F-Secure praises the quality, performance and stability of the VPN. This is a true premium service.
Overall, this is still a good set of features that can improve everyday security. However, it feels like something is missing, like a good backup function or real theft protection with tracking. And the fact that you can’t buy it separately for mobile is a definite downside.
Specifications
- Application control
- Browsing protection
- Banking protection
- VPN
- Wi-Fi control
- Parental Control
- Android 10+
This article was originally published in our sister publication PC för Alla and has been translated and adapted from Swedish.
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