Trend Micro is a multinational cybersecurity company that has been developing capable antivirus products since 1988. Its 2020 range includes Antivirus+ Security, Internet Security, and Maximum Security.
The great thing about the Trend Micro 2020 collection is that all the solutions are available as free downloads and you can put them to the test during the 30 days after the installation. You don’t even need to leave your email address or any financial details.
Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security
As the provider’s starter antivirus solution, Trend Micro Antivirus+ Security is a Windows-only single-device product. In addition to basic antivirus and anti-phishing protection and the industry-standard URL filtering capabilities, it also equips your device with Trend Micro Pay Guard, creating an extra layer of security between hackers and your banking transactions inside your default browser.
Antivirus+ Security does its job quietly and seamlessly, although it will hog more of your device’s resources than some. However, this will only slightly affect your device’s performance.
Users can run several types of scans (although not at the same time) – full, quick, or custom where you select which folders or drives need to be checked. Scans of specific items can be triggered by right-clicking on them and choosing this option in the menu. That said, the scans are a bit slower than average.
One of the additional features is the Folder Shield, which watches over your Documents, Pictures, One Drive folder, connected USB drives, or other locations you choose, to protect them against ransomware. It will trigger an alert each time there’s an attempt to modify the files in these folders by trusted processes.
Furthermore, the browser extensions have a useful social networking protection feature that analyses the links on social networking sites and informs you if they’re risky, in addition to the usual automatic URL checks before any of the links are clicked. The URL filtering feature can be customized for the various levels of blocking rigorousness.
There’s also a spam filter that works with Outlook. It’s disabled by default and you’ll have to go through the small Settings button on the interface and enable it there. Do note that it often delivers false positives. The product also has a fun little extra – you can customize the interface by adding a background image.
Opting for the solution’s one-year license will cost you $30 during the first term, increasing to $40 afterwards. Going for the two-year option comes at the price of $60, or $65 after the first term is over.
Trend Micro Internet Security
A more powerful product, focused more on protecting your privacy on the World Wide Web, Trend Micro Internet Security increases its coverage on three devices and entails additional features. These include tools for the more speedy operation and maintenance of your device, a parental controls system, as well as social media privacy optimization.
Internet Security’s many PC optimization capabilities allow it to quickly check your device for health during the regular antivirus scan or to start the check separately yourself, showing the problems in your Windows firewall and user account settings, as well as all the missing Adobe and Microsoft updates in the ‘Security Vulnerabilities’ list. It also includes ‘Potentially Incompatible Programs’ to show which apps are interfering with the antivirus or your device’s performance. Other useful options include the ‘Reduce Computer Startup Time’ allowing you to disable programs launching during boot, ‘Regain Disk Space’ that cleans up unnecessary files from your device, as well as ‘Clean Privacy Data’ which removes your personal data from browsers, apps, and Windows.
Speaking of privacy, there are several separate tools that put its protection on a whole new level. The first is the Privacy Scanner that recommends privacy-focused changes in your web browsers and social media accounts. The second is the Social Networking Protection feature that highlights safe URLs in your social media feeds in green and dangerous ones in red. Finally, the Data Theft Prevention measure protects specific user-defined information (credit cards, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) from ever leaving your device and ending up in the wrong hands.
The parental controls offer the usual website blocking capabilities according to the content category, as well as blocking unsuitable images in search engine results, and access to search engines completely or sites that haven’t been rated yet by Trend Micro. You can also limit Internet access to apps in terms of specific hours and days.
Internet Security can be yours if you’re willing to pay $40 during the first year, or $80 after the initial period. You can also choose to take a two-year license which includes better discounts – $60 for the first two years, $125 afterwards.
Trend Micro Maximum Security
Maximum Security is Trend Micro’s top-of-the-range solution that offers more functionalities than the provider’s other two products, along with extending the support on Mac, Android, and iOS devices, as well.
If you need to protect five devices at the same time, then this is a great option for you. Not only does it provide extended coverage, but it also throws in a basic Password Manager and Vault to password-protect specific folders with sensitive files. In case your device gets stolen, you can use the Vault remotely to seal the folder even if the thief has your password. The Password Manager will import your credentials from web browsers, LastPass and Kaspersky Password Manager and check all your passwords for weaknesses.
The Mac app is almost the same as the Windows one, except it lacks Pay Guard and device optimization tools. Android users will also make use of almost all the tools available in the Windows version, and there’s also a Secret Snap feature to take a photo of anyone trying to access your device without permission. The iOS app, however, doesn’t get anywhere near the Android version, although it still offers more than some competitors – suspicious website, tracker, and ad blocker, parental controls, and Wi-Fi checker.
This product is surprisingly cheap during the first one-year pricing term – only $39.95, after which its price tag increases to $89.95. The initial two-year licensing period is priced at $69.90, or $139.95 when you renew.
Final verdict
Trend Micro’s 2020 collection offers a solid choice of protective solutions for various types of users – a basic option for modest users who don’t require expensive protection, a midway one for those with higher expectations, as well as the ultimate solution for the most demanding users which, in truth, does lag behind some of the competition. The highlight is definitely its privacy-protecting capability that shines in the two more expensive solutions.
