Bitdefender Total Security: A Comprehensive Review
Bitdefender Total Security stands out as one of the top antivirus software options available, thanks to its user-friendly interface and robust security features. The app starts with a reassuring message at the top — “you are safe” — in a style that evokes the whimsical tone of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This simplicity is reflected throughout the software, making it an ideal choice for users who want comprehensive protection without the complexity often associated with security tools.
One of the standout features of Bitdefender is its ability to operate efficiently on your computer without significantly impacting performance. Even during full system scans, the software remains lightweight, which is a major advantage for users concerned about system slowdowns.
Key Features of Bitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender offers more than just basic antivirus protection. It includes a firewall that controls how applications connect to the internet, a limited free Virtual Private Network (VPN), and a password manager called Bitdefender SecurePass. While the password manager is available as a separate app, it’s included in some antivirus bundles, providing added convenience for users.
There is also a limited free version of the software, along with a 30-day trial for testing the full version. Additionally, a 30-day money-back guarantee is offered once you’ve subscribed, giving users peace of mind when making a purchase.
While Bitdefender may not be the cheapest option on the market, it delivers a broad range of protective services, making it excellent value for money.
Why We Love Bitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender Total Security is a modern antivirus app that bundles multiple tools into a single, easy-to-use interface. The software sits as a small red icon in your system tray, displaying a “you are safe” message when you hover over it. Clicking it opens the dashboard, where you can access shortcuts for system scans, account management, and support.
The most interesting tab is titled “Protection,” where you’ll find settings for antivirus, online threat defense, and the firewall. Most of these features should remain enabled, but if something prevents your PC from operating normally, this is where you can adjust settings. For example, if the firewall blocks a network service you know is safe, you can sort it out here.
If you use email clients like Outlook or Thunderbird, you can also turn on Bitdefender’s anti-spam service to filter out unwanted messages.
The privacy tab allows you to activate the anti-tracker browser plugin, which is available for Edge, Firefox, and Chrome, as well as open the VPN app. A free version of the VPN is available, but it’s severely limited to just 200MB of data transfer per day. That may be enough for occasional banking or shopping while abroad, but for more extensive use, you may need to consider a subscription or one of the best VPN services.
Additional Privacy Settings
Two more useful privacy settings are video and audio protection, which prevent malware from hijacking your webcam and microphone. When an application like Teams requests access to your webcam, it appears on a list inside Bitdefender. From there, you can grant or revoke access, or add applications you know are safe before they ask. If you spot a program that shouldn’t be accessing your camera feed, you can cut it off, or block all access to the webcam with a single click.
Even more intricate is Safepay, a secure web browser designed for online banking and shopping. Available only on the Windows version of Bitdefender, it isolates itself from the rest of the system, uses a VPN, and even has its own on-screen keyboard to prevent keyloggers from intercepting your keystrokes. You can visit any site with it and add them to your bookmarks, and if your passwords are stored in Bitdefender’s SecurePass password manager, it can access them so you don’t need to type them in. It’s an elegant solution to the problem of having your payment details stolen online, though it shouldn’t be necessary on a properly protected and updated system.
More Features
Other notable features include a desktop widget for Windows that displays the device’s protection status, secure file shredding, application profiles to tailor the protection Bitdefender gives you depending on what you’re doing, and the ability to remotely lock, wipe, or display a message on your device if it’s stolen. You can also password-protect the app itself, so that attackers can’t switch off its protections. It’s a comprehensive package.
Performance of Bitdefender Total Security
On my test PC, Microsoft Teams uses between 200 and 500MB of RAM even when it’s doing nothing. Bitdefender, in contrast, uses less than 100MB for its main interface app while idle. I did notice a background process using a lot more, however, with well over 900MB of RAM and up to 25% of CPU time being used while a full system scan was in progress. Updates also occur without notifying the user, and it can check for them as frequently as every hour.
The full system scan attempted to scan the entire contents of a linked Google Drive account, and took many hours to complete, but was able to detect a trojan present in an Android file that was being synced to the PC from another computer via the cloud. It wouldn’t have affected a Windows machine, but might have compromised any phone it was installed on.
The same was true of the antivirus test files I subjected it to, all of which were detected. While Google Chrome’s own security often intercepted potentially malicious sites first, Bitdefender’s browser functionality leapt in after I decided to ignore Chrome and visit the site anyway. The app also assigns a green tick to known safe sites when you search in Google (but not Bing) when using Chrome, Firefox, or Edge.
Should You Get Bitdefender Total Security?
Bitdefender is a compelling antivirus and computer security package. The Total Security package costs £99.99 (at the time of writing, a 41 per cent discount was in place for the first year, bringing it down to £59.99) per year for up to five devices, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS. That renewal price is slightly less than that of Norton 360 Advanced, which you’ll need for five installations – that’s cheaper in the first year. As such, it’s good value if you’re going to be using it across multiple devices for many years.
It’s also effective, picking up the scent of all the suspicious files I waved under its nose, and is easy to use too, with an uncomplicated interface. Overall, this is a strong offering in the computer security software sector.
How I Tested Bitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender was installed onto a fresh Windows 11 PC as its only antivirus software, with Microsoft Defender’s periodic scanning switched off. The PC was then used for everyday tasks such as web browsing and office work, downloading files, and allowing the antivirus software to work in the background. It was also used for more proactive testing, running deep system scans on the PC and deliberately allowing it to visit antivirus test sites to see if it detected their simulated threats.
During testing, I considered the following criteria:
- Features: I took into account the range of features on offer, from video and audio protection to password manager functions and those designed to secure online banking and shopping transactions.
- Privacy: I assessed the level of online threat defense, spam filters, and whether the firewall prevented my PC from operating normally.
- Performance: I subjected Bitdefender to antivirus test files, to see how well it performed.
Why You Can Trust IndyBest Reviews
IndyBest provides readers with honest and thorough reviews and expert recommendations. Our experts conduct rigorous testing with the products they review, to assess how they perform, and whether they’re worth your time and money. Ian Evenden is a writer and editor specialising in gaming, computing, science, and technology. He has been contributing to IndyBest since 2021, applying his keen eye for detail and high standards to tech reviews such as the best antivirus software, VPNs, wifi extenders, and cloud storage systems.
