ESET Home Security Premium review: Simple protection with a complex heart
At a Glance
Expert's Rating
Pros
Clean interface
Good antivirus protection
Advanced settings
Cons
Parental controls have limited utility
Unclear pricing
Our Verdict
ESET Home Security Premium may have changed its name, but not its character. It still offers good antivirus protection, along with useful tools like a password manager and PC utilities. Power users will most appreciate this security suite for its advanced settings, which give more control under the hood. However, parents may need a more robust set of tools for monitoring their kids’ activity.
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When we last reviewed ESET Home Security Premium, it had a different name. Officially it did, anyway. Despite the update, the antivirus suite formerly known as ESET Smart Security Premium is still called the very same in the app—and has kept its fundamentals, too.
Those core qualities start with good threat protection and an easy-to-use password manager. They include enough advanced settings to potentially satisfy power users, too. In fact, if you like your apps to have less handholding and more digging around, ESET could be perfect for you…so long as you can forgive some features for not living up to their hype.
As with other security suites, ESET Home Security Premium’s antivirus and firewall serve as the key fundamentals of the app. Together, they shield your PC from malware (including ransomware), suspicious websites and downloads, and potential network attacks. The software also can scan for vulnerable networks, thwart unauthorized use of your webcam, and block dangerous email attachments. Parental controls and a password manager are available, too.
However, unlike similarly priced rivals, Home Security Premium is more sparse with its ancillary protections. You get safeguards for browsing sessions (like for banking) and a data encryption tool, as well as an anti-theft feature to help locate lost or stolen devices. No identity protections (like dark web scanning) come with the Home Security Premium plan — you must upgrade to Ultimate to get those.
Instead ESET’s mid-tier plan leans more heavily toward PC utilities. These focus on Windows performance — they monitor system changes, provide information on active Windows processes and network connections, help troubleshoot Windows issues, and check what devices are connected to your network.