wavesecure vs. mobile defense vs. lookout
Monday, January 25, 2010
there have been many questions surrounding the abundance of security applications out there for your android device and we decided it was time to finally compare the big three: wavesecure, mobile defense and lookout. (all are currently free.)
to start off this review, check out this chart we threw together comparing the different options involved in each application...
after looking at that chart, your initial reaction would probably be to want to go out and grab wavesecure immediately. and sure, it's a great app, but the one thing you'll notice missing, is the scheduling aspect. i find that scheduling is my best friend when it comes to backup applications. on your home pc, would you ever run a backup or anti-virus scan if you had to do it manually or do you just set those bad boys up to run in the background?
lookout on the other hand, which is the application i currently have installed on my droid runs scheduling but is definitely missing some key features including backups of call logs, videos, and texts messages. i love that it runs my backup at night while i'm asleep, but i'm not sure how much longer i can go without being able to backup the dozens of videos, thousands of texts, and call logs from my phone.
and mobile defense, as you may have guessed, is miles behind the other two. the app installs on your phone and immediately goes into hiding and is only accessible from their website. you can connect to your device from their site which is nice, but the options just aren't there yet. they have notices on their website confirming updates in the future which will allow backups and wipes, but right now, doesn't have either as a feature.
my verdict? all of the applications do a fantastic job at the security aspect of their functionality which is locating your device if it is ever lost or stolen. so it really comes down to those few key additional features then. do you like scheduling or do you want to be able to backup your videos, texts and call logs? i'm sticking with lookout for now, but if they refuse to add an option for video, text and call log backup, our relationship may end much sooner than they know.
additional info:
wavesecure: https://www.wavesecure.com/
mobile defense: https://www.mobiledefense.com
lookout: https://www.mylookout.com
your questions?
q: do wavesecure and mobile defense use international sms?
a: both have confirmed changes made to their systems so that international sms texts are no longer charged to u.s. customers. (not sure what that means for the rest of the world just yet.)
q: do anti-virus programs for android really work?
a: a great question. since android is a linux-based os, most believe that it is not susceptible to viruses and that anti-virus software can in the long run, cause problems to your phone. i use lookout, but i have disabled my anti-virus protection.
12 comments
Perfect!!!! Love your write up, this is what I was really looking for. ...and decision finally made... I think I'm going to go with Lookout too, and send them an email every once-in-a-while asking for what WaveSecure +offers. Thanks man!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. Sorry it took so long for me to put this together. :)
ReplyDeleteTime was fine. And I think I like Lookout so much from this that I might look at using Sprite Backup to do the rest.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spritesoftware.com/products/android
how is sprite vs mybackup?
ReplyDeleteMobile Defense has some features for root users (auto enable GPS, prevent uninstall, survive factory wipe) and their website is crazy awesome. I tried WaveSecure and I wasn't a fan. I think they are based out of Singapore. Mobile Defense and Lookout apear to be based in the United States. Thx for the review. I will give Lookout a try and disable antivirus per your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteWhen you connect to your device on Mobile Defense's website, you can't help but be super impressed. They just need to add some backup features and they'll be golden.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I actually tested out Mobile Defense's accuracy at pinpointing my location and it gave me my own address!
ReplyDeleteMoDef just seems like a light program which is the reason I chose it. Ultimately, I don't care if all my stuff is backed up bc the most important info, the contacts, are on my gmail anyway if the phone is gone.
It's all for nothing if you don't get the phone back. I would be going back to a cheapo phone anyway which won't be able to use the backup info I lost on my Droid.
The Lookout website says it can backup text messages and video. Your table says it doesn't support this feature. Not sure which is correct.
ReplyDeleteI'm at Lookout's site right now and still just doing contacts and photos from what I can tell.
ReplyDeleteThe extra features Mobile Defense has for rooted users is why I went with them. Though I have noticed Wave Secure is active in a few droid forums and passes suggestions/complaints onto the devs, that's cool.
ReplyDeleteAs far as running A/V on your droid... What are they testing that against? There are no droid virus's in the wild right now, no signature-based scanning to do because there are no samples and I don't see them developing a heuristic-based scan engine.
Yeah A/V on Android right now is basically a scam. It's appealing to those super skeptical and anal users that are still scared of using their credit card on the internet.
ReplyDeleteLookout did scan every app I downloaded, but I had no idea what it was scanning for.
One thing you could do is get Sprite Backup. It's only $5 and it's on sale right now for just a $1!! It's absolutely worth that dollar. It lets you set a schedule and choose to backup EVERYTHING including SMS, call logs, music, photos, system settings, applications, etc. Use that with WaveSecure and you're set!
ReplyDelete