Great user-interface A solid amount of additional features Its game mode can save you from pop-ups when you don't expect them Its scans don't take up too much of system resources
Cons
It falls behind its competition on almost any independent lab test You can't opt out from data collection carried out by the company VPN client is extremely limited if you don't pay
Panda Free Antivirus (Panda Dome)
Price: $
Free antivirus tools which don't interfere with anything you work on your computer and which still provide good security performance are rare. You have probably already tried out plenty of different ones and each one of them probably had its flaws. Let's see whether Panda Free Antivirus is worth a shot!
It can run on any version of Windows newer than Windows XP SP3. Its interface is quite modern and its appearance pretty much sets it apart from its competition. Now, lets mention two of its most interesting features.
These features include a VPN client and a game mode. To be honest, the VPN client is extremely limited, allowing only 150MB of use per day. The game mode is quite useful, as it prevents Panda Free Antivirus to interrupt you or minimize the games window when turned on.
It otherwise offers three levels of protection. The scanner checks files newly added to your computer for known malware signatures. There is also a heuristic monitor which analyzes the code and your computers behavior in real-time, and everything suspicious is uploaded to Pandas servers for further analysis.
Lastly, there is a real-time file scanner, which also blocks suspicious apps from running. These layers of protection can be turned on and off independently. Scans can be run manually or scheduled to run at specific times in the future. Still, its antivirus performance is not that great and it falls behind its competitors such as Avast, Bitdefender and Kaspersky.
The company gathers information about your usage habits, and unfortunately, there isn't an option to opt out. Panda Free Antivirus also reports a large number of false positives, with only Windows Defender being worse in that area.
Reviewed by Vedin Klovo (editor rating 3.5 out of 5 stars)