trusted formPanda Antivirus Review: A Family Friendly Choice | Several.com

Panda Antivirus Review: A Family Friendly Choice

List of Content

Panda Dome Antivirus: Protect Your Network

Panda Antivirus Review: A Family Friendly ChoicePanda Antivirus Review: A Family Friendly Choice

Pros

High malicious ware detection rate
USB rescue kit feature
Friendly user-interface
USB "vaccine" feature
Wi-Fi scanning and protection

Cons

Limited free VPN to 150 MB/day
Lacks ransomware protection on the basic plan
Firewall limited to Windows only
logo

Quick Stats

Firewall
1
Free Version
1
Included VPN
Limited to 150MB
Money-back guarantee
30 Days
Price (1-year subscription)
$22.74
Security Level
1
link
https://www.pandasecurity.com/en/

Panda Dome is an established antivirus on the market. It uses AI and cloud computing to gather information and develop its program to keep your PC safe with minimal performance effects. Panda Dome provides many features, from a free VPN to a password manager, or if you're a worried parent requiring parental control over your child's device, Panda doesn't fail to deliver.

In this review, we will further discuss Panda Dome's features in detail to help you decide if it's the antivirus for you.

Panda Dome Security and Protection

When it comes to antivirus, security is best assessed in independent test labs. Different labs have different criteria to evaluate security. For simplicity's sake, we will give one example of such a lab.

According to Panda Dome's website, the antivirus detection rate is 100%. According to independent test labs such as AV-Test lab. However, that's not the only criteria. Instead, three criteria are considered, the first is protection, the second is performance, and the third is usability, meaning how often a false positive is given to known malicious programs.

In this section, we will take a look at Panda Dome's assessment according to different third-party testing labs.
 

1. Third-party lab test results

Third-party testing labs are experts with well-constructed criteria and testing methods for testing AV products, providing an unbiased opinion on product security.
 

  • AV-Test lab

    • 6/6 points for protection, as Panda is capable of identifying malware without fail.
       
    • 5/6 points for performance, as to how much Panda takes up from the device's resources.
       
    • 5.5/6 Points for usability, meaning a low false-positive rate (i.e., unlikely to mistake none infected files for infection ones).
        Panda-AV-Tests-screenshot.jpg


 

  • AV-Comparatives

    • Panda scored 2/3 stars in the departments of malware removal.
       
    • Panda antivirus scores 3/3 stars in the impact on device performance department, which means it won't take up your device's resources.
       
    • Panda antivirus has a Real-World Protection Test with a 2/3 stars real-world protection score. According to a test conducted with 758 domains/files, this score checks the detection rate of malicious files and domains.
       
    • Panda antivirus hasn't been tested in terms of false alarms. Therefore, there aren't any results to list here.
       
    • Panda antivirus has a 0/3 score regarding malware detection. This was done by testing 10102 test cases.
        panda-AV-Comparatives-test.jpg

 

  • SE Labs

There were no test results regarding Panda antivirus in SE Labs' latest tests. Still, two other labs tested the product, and we can say that Panda rates were pretty good in both.

SE Labs rank products from AAA being the highest score, AA (Intermediate), and B (Lowest score).
 

Read about our top antivirus software Norton 360 and Bitdefender.

 

Renew and get 50% off


2. Firewall and IDS protection

Firewalls are an essential system to find in your antivirus plan; it's used to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Panda provides an effective firewall, but its use is limited to Windows only.

 

3. USB rescue toolkit

This feature lets you download a rescue kit as a failsafe on your USB and use it later. In the event malicious ware infects your device and prevents it from even booting and reaching the antivirus screen, you can use the USB rescue kit to initiate cloud-based cleaner. 

Panda antivirus provides "Panda USB Vaccine". This is a feature scanning any inserted USB device as soon as it is detected while protecting from the malware trying to spread via Auto-run. This works by disabling the "Auto-run.inf" file on the USB, which is often used by many malware programs, as there is no user-friendly way to disable the auto-run function on Windows. Currently, the USB vaccine works only on FAT and FAT32 USB devices.
 

panda-global-protection.png

 

 

View the latest offers from here!

Plans and Features

Panda offers four sets of plans, including Essential, Advanced, Complete, and Premium. Features and prices increase respectively.


1. Panda Essential

This is the most basic of the bundles. It includes real-time protection, a firewall, and a free limited VPN of 150MB per day, for the price of $17.49/year per device. The lack of ransomware protection is a major downside to this bundle.


2. Panda Advanced

This bundle adds to the Panda Essential ransomware protection, ID protection when shopping and banking, and parental control. This bundle's parental control feature makes it a good deal relative to its price of $23.49/year per device if you are concerned with parental control. However, it would lack vital features such as dark web monitoring and unlimited VPN offered by Norton 360 Plus for a slightly higher price.


3. Panda Complete

This bundle offers what Panda Advanced does in addition to a data shield, a password manager, and a cleanup tool.

The password manager is the most valuable of these tools, allowing you to store multiple passwords, encrypt them, and reuse them with a master password. The data shield allows for the encryption of sensitive files on your PC to secure them and allows for file shredding to prevent deleted data recovery. The cleanup tool optimizes your device so that it can run more smoothly.


4. Panda Premium

This plan includes an added unlimited VPN service powered by hotspot VPN to the bundle, an update manager, and 24h live customer support.
 

specs-panda-av.JPG

 

Note!
As discussed already, while a perfect malicious ware detection rate is provided, it does affect speed ever so slightly. Scanning with Panda could drop performance and hence is not advised during heavy load periods. Scan scheduling feature should help you decide when to scan to avoid performance issues.


Panda Dome VPN

One of the included features is a free virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt your data outgoing to the internet and provide an anonymous status on the internet. And while Panda Dome VPN is effective in these areas, it is limited to 150 MB per day of traffic data, which is very low compared to other free VPN products.

If more data is required, you can go for the Panda Dome Premium plan for unlimited VPN traffic access. However, it lacks two key features: a kill switch which means if the VPN connection fails, your IP could get exposed, and the ability to switch servers on the free version means you can't bypass geo-restricted content.
 

panda-vpn.png


 

Read about our top antivirus software Norton 360 and Bitdefender.

 

Save 35% On All Plans!

 

Wi-Fi hacking protection

Did you know that Wi-Fi hacking is easier than hacking devices connected to Wi-Fi? Many old Wi-Fi products use wired equivalent privacy (WEP) encryption, which is very easy to hack; even the better-encrypted ones can be hacked. Panda Dome provides a Wi-Fi scanning and protection tool included in all of its packages to protect your Wi-Fi from getting hacked.


Panda Dome Password Manager

You can buy this product alone or as part of the premium bundle. It can create robust passwords, save and encrypt them until you need the password again. This works via a master password, and all saved passwords are decrypted and used when needed by entering your master password.

This helps you only have to recall one password to enter all your accounts while not being at risk of losing all your accounts if one of your accounts gets hacked. Panda Dome Password Manager has a zero-knowledge policy as they don't keep any of the encrypted passwords nor the master password.
 

panda-password-manager.JPG

 

Note!
This policy functions as both a privacy feature and a risk factor, in case you forget your password, you wouldn't have a way of retrieving it.


Panda Dome gaming/multimedia mode

This is a mode implemented automatically whenever your device goes into the full-screen mode or upon request. It stops the updates, the self-diagnosis, and the scheduled scans, which means more performance power.
 

A Special Offer Is Only One Click Away!


User Experience

Panda antivirus is easy to install and use. They offer support 24/7 via:

  • Tickets.
  • Email.
  • Knowledge base.
     

Pricing and Payments

Let's compare Panda's four plans with their prices:

Plans Panda Essential Panda Advanced Panda Complete Panda Premium
Real-time protection Included Included Included Included
Firewall Included Included Included Included
Free VPN Included

limited VPN of 150MB per day

Included

limited VPN of 150MB per day

Included

limited VPN of 150MB per day
Included

Unlimited VPN
Ransomware protection N/A Included Included Included
ID protection N/A Included Included Included
Parental control N/A Included Included Included
Data shield N/A N/A Included Included
Password manager N/A N/A Included Included
Clean up tool N/A N/A Included Included
Update manager N/A N/A N/A Included
Price per year $17.49 $23.49 $29.49 $35.49


Free trial

Panda has a 30-day trial period on its products, so you can try them before you decide to make a purchase.


Money-back guarantee

Panda has a 30-day money-back guarantee for users to enjoy the product and decide if it meets their expectations.


Payment methods

  • Credit Cards.
  • PayPal.
     

Get the limited 35% off now!

 

Final Verdict

Is Panda Dome worth your time? Panda Dome definitely has features making it a strong contender. It offers some features which other antiviruses offer at higher-priced bundles, such as the parental control feature for less. If one of these features interest you, then Panda Dome might be the antivirus for you.
 

Read about our top antivirus software Norton 360 and Bitdefender.
logo

FAQs

Does Panda Dome provide a free VPN?
Does Panda Dome firewall work on all devices?
Can I leave the Panda Dome gaming mode on at all times?
Does Panda Dome have a money-back guarantee feature?
What payment methods does Panda Dome offer?
Does Panda Dome offer a parental control feature?