The most disappointing was their technical support, falling far below our expectations as well as those of the industry in general.
A few false-positives were detected during testing, but real-time detection was otherwise acceptable.
All things considered, Avast Pro Antivirus 2015 winds up being an average antivirus software solution.
Certified by:
- AV Comparatives
- AV-Test
- ICSA
- VB Bulletin
- WestCoast Labs
Virus & Spyware Protection: 91%
Avast's performance was confirmed in independent testing labs for having generally good protection. However, Avast did have a number of false positives (wrongly identified threats). While false positives are a concern, we tend not to judge this as harshly as long as there are reasonably few
Overall, an impressive antivirus protection record.
Resource Usage: 88%
Generally light, Avast's resources used less than 1% CPU while in real-time protection mode, and only about 20MB of memory on our 2GB RAM testing PCs.
During a full system scan the CPU usage ranged from 25%-75%. At the same time, memory was consistent at around 30MB with only a few peaks as high as 80MB.
User Interface: 85%
Click images to enlarge
Avast's user interface is easy to use and very user-friendly. The overall design is modern looking and clearly labeled, making whatever you need to find easy. 
There are a handful of accessible tools that are simple enough for anyone to use and understand.
Aside from Avast's poorly labeled technical support links, their user interface is one of the nicer ones we've seen this year.
Technical Support: 50%
For an otherwise decent product, Avast really drops the ball when it comes to technical support.
At first glance, their support looks top-notch. There's a forum link, a support ticket option, a searchable knowledgebase, and even a phone number.
But that's where things get fuzzy. Fast.
In order to submit a ticket, there are several hurdles to overcome, including annoying pop-ups and many selections to be made just to be allowed to ask your question.
Even if you label your question "critical," you may not get a response for a few days.
This lack of transparency and clarity is very disappointing from Avast.
If you're ready to call them instead, there's a whole new set of problems to deal with.
During our testing, we called their technical support center who claimed to have centers in the Czech Republic as well as the US. However, we were routed to Costa Rica for some strange reason—even though we were calling from the US (perhaps because of the time zone similarity).
While it true Avast will give you free support for minor issues like configuration, installation help, etc., that's where the "free" part ends.
For help with a real virus infection, you're going to need to pay a one-time fee of $119 for them to remove it for you (or $179 for a whole year of service). This is the highest one-time fee of any of the antivirus companies we've seen this year.
Add in some bad customer reviews, and Avast's technical support is downright disappointing for an otherwise decent antivirus software.
Conclusion - Overall Score: 76%
- Easy-to-use interface
- Unique "Sandbox" and "SafeZone" features
Even though Avast misidentified a handful of false-positive threats, we'd rather see them catch the wrong stuff then nothing at all.
The biggest place where Avast falls flat is its technical support. Not only is it the most expensive we've seen this year, but it's also the most difficult to use. Even if you think you'll never need technical support, at least having the peace of mind of good support can be worth everything. Unfortunately, Avast doesn't deliver in this department.
Overall, Avast Pro Antivirus 2015 is a decent antivirus software with good extra features. However, there are far better options for a well-rounded security suite.
0 comments:
Post a Comment