Avast One - Pick and Choose Your Level of Protection

I hate the subscription-based economy we've ended up with.

But you know what I hate even more? Computers, phones and other devices that are slow, out of date or even open to attack from hackers, scammers and other criminal actors.

So, I've resigned myself to having to pay for solid, dependable cyber-security.

The question is; how much do I need? And how much should I pay?

Avast One is a new way of doing things.

You can download all of Avast's comprehensive protection and digital maintenance tools for free, run a scan - or to be more accurate, an entire suite of scans - see where your system is coming up short, then take further steps from there.

By "Taking Further Steps" - I mean paying. But we'll get to that.

As a package, Avast One could well be the most comprehensive collection of security, privacy, repair and cleanup tools I've ever seen brought together within a single app.

In fact, it's overwhelming.

Obviously, the best place to start - no matter which device you've installed Avast One on - is by running a Smart Scan. This starts with the usual check of your virus definitions, looks through your files for any signs of malware or viruses, then moves on to ensure any real-time protection you've activated is still activated and working as it should.

This ranges from the usual firewall and email scanners to some of Avast's more bespoke gatekeepers - like Ransomware Shield, which keeps any folder or folders you designate away from the prying fingers of would-be ransom attackers - or Real Site, which prevents you from accidentally visiting any spoofed banking, shopping or browsing pages, no matter how authentic they may seem.

Some tools are old-school - File Shield scans everything you download before you can open something you didn't expect.

While other tools are more cutting edge; If you've integrated AI into your workflow, AI Agent Protection can be your chaperone, keeping a close eye on your "helpful" robot friends to make sure they don't sneak into your system when you're not looking and do the dirty on you.

Network Inspector is seriously useful. Not only will it scan your LAN and Wi-Fi for any security vulnerabilities but it will compile a list of all the connected devices (I currently have 69, would you believe?) and then scans them too. If there's something on there I don't recognise, I can now hunt it down and find out exactly what it's up to.

Making my way down the Avast One dashboard, I quickly arrive at the Cleanup section; again a very easy way to hunt down files, apps, shortcuts and other "temporary" wastes of space and then nuke them with extreme prejudice.

The App Uninstaller can be rather revealing. You can list your apps in order of when they were last used. If that time gets too long, they're gone.

Some sections in Avast One are more like a compilation of hints and advice - do you know how to protect your identity on TikTok and Facebook? Avast One does.

Other sections are links to different apps entirely.

You won't get far without being told to install Avast Secure Browser. We've talked about this in previous reviews but just as a refresher, this is Avast's own privacy-focussed browser. You can import your bookmarks from other browsers, opt to use Avast's own search engine and even use a form of Avast VPN right from the search bar.

Sounds great... except for the shortcuts that come pre-installed for things like Amazon, AliExpress and Booking.com. These spammy links also feature on the default start page and if you scroll further past them, you get a sort of news feed which is a mix of actual stories and pure, unadulterated clickbait, such as; "Knee Arthritis: Rub This One Thing In Every Night."

Sure, you can turn a lot of that rubbish off - but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence when the whole point of Avast Secure Browser is supposed to be a safer, privacy-first online experience.

So I have mixed feelings. Which is not to say I don't have a lot of love for Avast One overall. Being able to update drivers and review and update any apps you have installed with a few mouse clicks seems like magic

And as for SecureLine VPN - it's got to be one of the most feature-packed, effective VPNs out there. It has an extensive list of locations to choose from, you can connect to the fastest location by default, the best location for peer-to-peer file sharing or - and this is one I hadn't seen before - you can DOUBLE VPN; literally connecting one VPN location through another, making yourself exponentially more difficult to track.

I'd assumed that kind of dual-layer re-routing would cripple my download speeds, but as I demonstrate in the video below, apparently not.

Oh, and yes, you can even test your Wi-Fi speeds with Avast One too.

If that level of privacy still isn't enough, just choose the IP Rotation option instead. This literally swaps out your IP address every 5 to 30 minutes. You just can't get much more invisible than that.

There's no doubt, Avast One is comprehensive. As long as you pay.

While the free version of Avast One protects against viruses, malware and ransomware and Avast Assistant can help you sniff out online scams, any of that other cool stuff I just talked about is subscription only.

That's fine - but there's something about the way Avast lets me scan for problems, presents me with a nice, friendly button to solve them, only to flash me with an app-concealing splash screen explaining if I want to fix my device, I'll need to subscribe. Then, even if you close that window, you'll get another pushy ad you'll have to click away before you can get back to the main menu.

I was gifted the Premium level of Avast One for the purposes of this review - but at only NZ$69.99 to protect up to ten devices for the first year, it's something I think I'd have seriously considered paying for anyway. 

However, it turns out Premium still isn't Ultimate (NZ$89.99) and even I found myself confronted with those same imposing splash screens when I tried to use certain tools I thought I could access from the main menu.

And the hits just keep on coming.

Even just today, a week after I signed up and signed into the Premium version of Avast One, I received an email informing me I only have a day left to save 44% on Cleanup Premium. Stop hassling me!

I get there are two markets out there; people who respond to reasonable messages about the integrity of a brand and the efficacy of its products... and people who respond to an old-fashioned hard sell.

I'm just not the kind of guy who's comfortable handing over his credit card details in exchange for a free trial. If you have faith in your product, let me try it without the hassle of having to remember to cancel the day before my trial ends. If I like it, I'll keep paying. And guess what, Avast? I reckon most people would like it.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on Avast One.