ESET Home Security Premium
One of the major advantages modern security suites have is the bundling of several components so that you don't have several competing products running on your system and several different bills needing to be paid.
In ESET's product range, Home Security Premium is the company's security mega-suite. Existing ESET customers may know the product by a different name, ESET Smart Security Premium.
Home Security Premium includes what made Smart Security Premium a popular choice but with a few more quality-of-life improvements.
Works with: Windows, MacOS, Android
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ESET Home Security Premium
To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license. 30 day free trial available.
Central to Home Security Premium's advantages are its good threat protection and easy-to-use password manager. For those who like tinkering with settings, the security suite provides enough options to make even the most ardent power user happy.
Unlike some of the competition, the product may be sparse in terms of additional features like Identity Protection and an Unlimited VPN, but the mid-tier product has focused on improving performance by monitoring system changes, providing information on active Windows processes and network connections, helping troubleshoot Windows issues, and checking what devices are connected to your network.
That is not to say that it lacks features. Features include safeguards for browsing sessions, a data encryption tool, an anti-theft feature to help locate lost or stolen devices, a scan for vulnerable networks, prevent unauthorized use of your webcam, and block dangerous email attachments.
Licenses and Cost
One plus is the ease of purchasing the product and delivering important information to potential clients. Too often, information is poorly conveyed or obtuse, leaving someone scratching their head about what they purchased. On ESET's website, all three home consumer-grade products allow you to select how many licenses you would like, their cost, and any specials being offered.
The standard price for three licenses per year is 69.99 USD, but discounts of up to 30% have been offered directly from ESET. You will need to pay an additional 5 USD for each additional license you require.
This pricing schedule was similar, if not the same, when compared to several competitors, and cheaper than perennial editor's choice across several other publications, Bitdefender Internet Security. Home Security Premium is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Android.
Independent Lab Results
Two of the three independent labs that test antivirus products recently tested ESET's home consumer products. Neither tested Home Security Premium; however, the modules for malware protection tested by these labs are shared across the range.
AV-TEST tested ESET Security Ultimate. The difference between that and Premium is that Ultimate includes identity protection, enhanced browser protection, and an unlimited VPN. The product was awarded the company's Top Product certification, scoring full marks in Protection, Performance, and Usability.
AV-Comparatives, the other lab that tested an ESET product, tested the bottom-tier product Essential, which still shares the same anti-malware protection module. The product received the lab's Advanced+ certification, the highest it awards in the most recent Real-World Protection Test, Malware Protection Test, and Performance Test. All three tests were conducted in the last quarter of 2024, so they are as recent as possible regarding this lab.
It is safe to say that ESET provides excellent protection, as scoring full marks across the board is no mean feat. Based on protection alone, it is easy to recommend ESET. Still, there are other important considerations to take into account when dealing with security suites, like its feature set and user experience.
Installation and User Experience
ESET is easy to download and install, as it has become the industry standard. Once installed, users are presented straight away with the main Overview Tab, which is by default set to dark mode, boasting easy-on-the-eye dark grays and lighter font, and the use of green to indicate systems don't require any kind of remediation.
If the dark mode is not your preferred design, this can be changed to light mode or match your current Windows settings, which can be found at the top right of the Overview tab.
A set of seven tabs on the left lets you jump to the dashboard, start a scan, update ESET Home Security Premium, use the app's tools, dive into settings, get help, or go to the web portal for additional settings and features. The app can be resized to fit your current view window. This is a nice touch and should be an industry standard; alas, it is not.
On a surface level, these categories feel logical; however, some organizational decisions can feel unintuitive. For example, parental controls are tucked within Setup and then further tucked behind Internet Protection, both of which are off by default.
The overview tab also strangely lacks a tile that would let you start a scan. If you're used to a more straightforward layout, ESET's app will require some navigating and practice to feel less uncomfortable.
Notable Features
As alluded to above, Home Security Premium is a full-featured security suite. In this section, we will look at the features included with this product but not included in the bottom tier product Essential.
Password Manager
Simply put, ESET's password manager is simple and incredibly effective. If you currently do not have a dedicated password manager, the one provided in Home Security Premium is a great starting point. While not as feature-rich as a dedicated password manager application, the user interface is well-designed and simple to navigate.
However, be sure to save the recovery key generated during Setup. If you forget your master password, it is the only way to get back into your account.
As for the feature in day-to-day use, the extension fills in and captures passwords seamlessly, immediately recognizing login forms and even password reset fields. ESET also lets you store and generate two-factor software tokens for accounts.
This is by no means the most secure security move, but seeing how difficult it is to get some people to adopt any form of multifactor authentication, it's still a better choice than nothing at all.
Secure Data
A nightmare scenario often played out is people's laptops being stolen. Often secured by weak passwords to grant access to Windows, if there is a password, the thief now has access to a veritable gold mine of information. A great defense against this is being able to encrypt the important files.
Encryption can even prevent a ransomware attack from being utterly devastating as if already encrypted, the attacker would need to decrypt first and then encrypt, and if they don't have the relevant password, this is all but impossible.
Secure Data makes this type of encryption simple with an easy-to-navigate interface. It works by allowing the user to create one or more encrypted virtual drives to store sensitive data. When the drive is unlocked, it behaves like any other drive; when it's locked, nobody can access the files. To make matters easier for first-time users, a wizard guides them through the process of creating a virtual drive.
Once a drive is created, the user is prompted to create a password to unlock the drive so data can be accessed. It is important to note that ESET automatically decrypts the drive for the current Windows user account by default. If you leave your desk without logging out, you leave your files unprotected. Unless you've secured your Windows account with a strong password or biometric option and always lock it on stepping away, I suggest you disable this option.
Home Security Premium also includes another security module that helps prevent the unauthorized modification of files and ransomware attacks from encrypting data. These modules function by only allowing trusted applications to modify a file.
Does Premium add enough?
With Premium adding only three additional features of the Essential package, which includes features helping monitor and maintain system performance, and a comprehensive firewall to replace Windows' built-in one, users will question whether the bump in price is worth it.
ESET's offering is good for those who need a password manager, which is pretty much everyone with an internet presence, but what about those with dedicated password managers? Essential will be a far more appealing product to those looking to protect themselves with no bells and whistles. Those wanting Identity Protection will jump straight to the Ultimate package and receive an unlimited VPN.
It is felt that Home Security Premium is the awkward middle child and will lack broad market appeal.
Appearance of ESET Home Security Premium:
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