Charles,

[This is my not-an-expert-on-smartphones opinion.]

Putting antivirus on a phone is like putting curb-feelers on a modern car.  They look silly, lower your MPG, might make you feel a bit better but are not really helpful if you aren't already good at parking nor useful if you are.  The manufacturers of curb-feelers would be more than happy to accept your money, and the (mostly fake) sites telling you which are the best curb-feelers are both getting their dime from advertisers and answering the question asked of them (even if it is a silly question).

Erich


On Wednesday, August 28, 2024 at 21:44, Charles Meyer eloquently inscribed:

> My esteemed listmates,
> 
> I'm researching which are the best Android AV protectors.
> 
> I found Tom's recommending Bitdefender $15/y but didn't mention the
> free version.
> 
> On reddit I found this curious post on reddit...
> 
> "Well you don't need AV on Android. There's built in Play Protect and on
> some devices and there's also built in device protection like in
> Xiaomi's and Samsung's... In my experience 3rd party ones drain battery
> and slow the phone down, so it's better just to use built-in antivirus."
> 
> I have a Samsung cell.
> 
> Is my Sasmung built in protection sufficient, in your opinion?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Charles.
> 
> Charlotte County Public Library