McAfee Review – Features, Packages, and Protection

10 Reviews

March 15, 2022 at 2:18 pm in Anti Virus

In 2011, Intel bought McAfee. The antivirus guard in 2022 is part of the Intel security system. Obviously, with a strong brand like Intel behind it, McAfee ranks as one of the top malware protection programs out there.

If you have used McAfee before, be aware that the versions offered in 2022 are considerably different. Essentially, there are two types of packages on offer: McAfee for consumers and McAfee for Enterprise.

McAfee Consumer Packages

The consumer version is now called McAfee Total Protection. You essentially get three different options under the Total Protection brand: individual, multi-device, and household.

The individual Total Protection package covers just one device, such as a computer or a handheld device. The multi-device package protects up to five devices, and you get extra features to protect your identity online. For example, if another name gets tied to your Social Security Number, McAfee would alert you to it.

The household package protects up to 10 devices, and includes identity protection features plus a tool called “safe family.” It essentially allows parents to monitor and protect children’s devices. There are extra features like limiting screen time or allowing parental control for inappropriate sites.

McAfee Enterprise

McAfee offers a separate package for Enterprise users. Businesses can benefit from three main features:

• Single Platform Endpoint Protection—Basically, malware protection for all endpoints in a hybrid system conveniently executed from a single platform. Machine learning is enabled.
• Cloud Security—With this feature, businesses can transfer files and data between a cloud service and office devices with complete malware protection. The company cloud can be completely secured without requiring manual code.
• Central Management—Businesses can set DLP controls using McAfee. Because policies can be executed from a single platform, everything is much simpler.

McAfee’s Enterprise package is quite recognized in the industry. It has won several Gartner consumer choice awards.

Whether you use the consumer or the enterprise editions, McAfee offers the same type of malware protection. This McAfee review, however, focuses on the protection and features offered by the consumer version of McAfee.

McAfee Review – The Pros

McAfee has several strong points other than its well-recognized brand. Here’s the section from this McAfee review with a list:

Top Scoring Malware Protection

If you want to know how well any antivirus program performs, you need to look at independent score tests. McAfee is a rare antivirus guard that consistently scores high on such tests. McAfee assures a 100 percent virus removal guarantee, and if the testing is an indication, it lives up to this promise.

McAfee has shown that it can block malicious files before they start downloading onto your computer. This is a must-have when browsing online. The virus guard is great at protecting against files that might transfer from external storage devices, like USB sticks.

The software offers reliable and excellent protection when browsing the web. If you are about to enter a dangerous website, McAfee would issue a warning, even if your browser doesn’t. There are great protection offers for a wide variety of threats. In addition to adware, trojans, phishing, and viruses, you can be protected against keyloggers as well. Most antivirus software programs don’t offer protection against the latter, so McAfee is a rare exception that is worth buying just for this.

Improved System Efficiency

Older versions of McAfee antivirus protection were notorious for slowing down the operating system. The latest edition has taken considerable steps toward preventing this problem. The software now comes with a performance optimization tool. It essentially means you can work as usual, and even play games, while the virus scanner runs in the background. You are highly unlikely to experience serious system lag as before.

Additional Features to Enhance Browsing

McAfee has stepped in.

McAfee Review – The Cons

Even the best malware protection brands are not without some downsides. Let’s see the cons from this McAfee review:

Scans Take a Long Time

If you want a system scan that lasts seconds, McAfee is not it. Scanning the system for threats does take some time. However, the length of scans would depend on how big your storage drives are. It’s not lightning quick, but some users may feel annoyed by the long scan times. It’s the price to pay for complete protection.

Complete Protection Is Expensive

Do you want to protect multiple devices, get access to live chat expert customer support, and maybe protect your identity online? If you want to benefit from all the features in the package, then you would need to get an expensive subscription. The basic, individual package lacks many of the additional features, like a password manager, multi-device support, and parental controls. Compared to its competitors, McAfee ranks on the expensive end.

To Buy or Not to Buy McAfee Antivirus

The 2022 consumer editions of McAfee antivirus protection have come a long way since what was on offer in the early 2000s. There are remarkable improvements and additional features worth considering.

The best part is that McAfee has optimized its scanning feature so it doesn’t hog up the RAM as the older versions used to. You can work while the scanning goes on without major hindrances. The other positive is that McAfee is pretty much the only reliable antivirus program to offer a total guarantee on virus protection. It performs well on independent tests, so you can trust the tool to keep viruses off your computer.

There are some issues to gripe about as well. Mainly, the multi-device protection and a slew of other useful features are only available on the more expensive consumer packages. The individual package offers bare-bones protection.

McAfee Review – Conclusion

Regardless of the price, you may want to invest in a multi-device McAfee subscription to keep yourself protected in 2022. The keylogger protection alone would be worth the price. If you are a parent, there are excellent features to benefit from that most standard malware protection programs don’t offer. We hope that this McAfee review helped you.