Protection for every single device you own, ease of use, and special offers to save your money are perfect reasons to consider McAfee. Add advanced identity theft protection with the more expensive tiers, and you’ll see why this antivirus is worth to give it a try right now. It is strong against malware, ransomware, phishing, offers several packages to choose from, and is available both for businesses and home users.
Pros:
- Protect an unlimited number of devices
- Perfect against malware attacks
- Virus removal guarantee
- Advanced ID theft protection
- Easy to download, install, and use
- 30-day money-back guarantee to understand all the pros and cons
Cons:
- Slightly above average system impact; takes long to install
- A bit expensive compared to most rivals
Ease Of Use
McAfee is in the top-5 of the most user-friendly, effortless antivirus products. There are no hidden or hard-to-reach menus – everything is always right there in front of you. Users can schedule full scans, check the anti-spam settings, and use the parental controls from the main dashboard. It is true for all the major platforms: McAfee includes smooth apps/clients for Win, Mac, iOS, and Android.
The design of the interface is a bit too “dull” compared to some of the rivals, but you’ll get used to it in no time. The download-installation procedure is very easy. Once you choose a plan and pay for it, you’ll need to access your account and enter a license key (received automatically after the purchase). To fully install, this software requires only 20-25 minutes.
Customer Support
If you open the “Consumer Support” menu on the official website, you’ll notice a large Knowledge Base. It is divided into several topics like download and installation, account/billing, ID theft protection, and more. Scroll a bit down, and you’ll see a list of popular topics. To get quick answers to your questions, we recommend launching the Assistant. It is a chatbot, not a real person.
But, it does a great job of helping you with the most basic (but still important) questions. The Forum is also quite handy and includes all kinds of tips, tricks, and just regular topics. Of course, you’re free to use the company’s phone number and email to get in contact with technical support. If you require assistance with a complicated matter, McAfee’s experts will help you remotely for a price (one-time deal costs ~70 USD; the yearly subscription – 180 USD).
Performance
When it comes to “offline” virus scanning and real-time protection, McAfee is one of the best antivirus products on the market. It has been providing leading anti-malware protection for a very long time. AV-Test and AV-Comparatives, the most trusted third-party testing labs, always include this software into their top-5 and top-10 lists.
McAfee comes with a perfect virus removal guarantee, which means there won’t be any traces of the malicious code left behind. It does have an above-average system impact, though, and might lag a bit on outdated computers. Plus, it takes rather long to install, and the initial full scans require even more computing power to run. It’s nothing too dramatic, but, compared to the rivals, this solution is slightly more demanding.
Packages and Pricing
- Total Protection Single Device: 29.99 USD per year
- Total Protection Couples: 34.99 USD per year
- Total Protection Family: 39.99 USD per year
- McAfee LiveSafe: 39.99 USD per year
If you only own one single device, Total Protection’s entry-level plan will do an excellent job of protecting it. Here’s a list of features available with Total Protection Single Device:
- Great anti-malware protection
- Powerful firewall
- Advanced expert support
- Web browser extensions
- Reliable password manager
- Highly-secure data encryption
- Data shredder
- Fast VPN (only if you activate auto-renewal)
As you can see, McAfee’s basic package is quite generous. With Individual & Couples, you’ll get to protect up to five devices. And, it adds ID theft protection, but only for users with auto-renewal. Family, in turn, covers ten simultaneous connections. And what about LiveSafe, you might ask? It covers an unlimited number of devices for one full year. It doesn’t have any extra features or tools, though.
Free Edition, Trial, and Money Back Guarantee
McAfee doesn’t offer a free edition of its antivirus product, but there’s a generous 30-day free trial. That means you’ll get to use the full edition of the software 100% free-of-charge. However, you’ll have to cancel auto-renewal; otherwise, you’ll be billed the second the trial is over. It can be done manually (through your account), but it might be better to let customer support take care of everything.
Bottom Line
McAfee can be exactly what the doc ordered if you’re looking to cover many desktops and mobile devices. The generous list of optimization tools and the 100% virus removal guarantee only add to the overall appeal of this product. The downsides include an above-average system impact (especially during a full scan) and a slightly steep price.
