ESET Mobile Security is a security app for Android phones and tablets. It checks applications and files for malware, blocks harmful web links and provides controls for protecting financial apps, restricting access to selected apps and responding to a lost device. Its free edition supplies antivirus protection, while a Premium subscription adds these other protection tools and automatic scans.
Malware scanning in ESET Mobile Security
Real-time protection starts with the device and checks files in download folders when they are opened, created or run. An on-demand scan lets the user examine the device separately, choose the scan depth and review any threats that need a response.
Smart scanning covers installed applications, Android executable files and libraries, SD-card content and archives nested up to three levels deep. The In-depth option checks all file types in internal storage and SD cards, regardless of their extensions. During a scan, ESET Mobile Security displays results and statistics; it also saves a brief summary in Scan Logs.
For a detected threat, the user can choose removal or ignore it. Ignored threats remain accessible for removal later. Premium users can schedule scans for selected dates and times, or use an on-charger scan that starts when the device is idle, fully charged and still connected to its charger.
Web links and financial apps
Anti-Phishing and message links
Anti-Phishing checks visited websites against ESET’s database of malicious sites and domains. It blocks a matching destination and displays a warning. Integration with supported browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge, extends this checking to the site’s subpages. Less fully supported browsers and apps receive top-level domain checks.
Link Scanner examines links before they load. It uses ESET Mobile Security as the default handler for opening links while allowing the usual browser to remain the user’s everyday browsing app.
SMS protection checks messages for malicious links, and notification protection checks links received in notifications before they are opened. Anti-Phishing also works with supported social apps and apps that use protected browser components; it is unavailable through Samsung DeX.
Payment Protection and Safe Launcher
Payment Protection maintains a list of protected banking and payment apps. It adds some financial apps automatically, and the user can select others. The protection scans these apps and prevents other applications from observing their launch, reading their on-screen information or replacing that information.
Safe Launcher brings the protected apps together in one place. Selecting an app there starts a quick Payment Protection scan and produces a notification with its results. Opening a financial app through this launcher supplies an additional layer of protection compared with opening it elsewhere.
App access and lost-device controls
App Lock
App Lock requires a PIN or pattern to open selected applications, even when the phone itself is unlocked. A saved fingerprint can also unlock an app, with the PIN remaining available as a fallback. The user chooses which apps to protect and can enable a prompt to lock newly installed applications.
Re-locking can happen immediately after an app closes, after the screen turns off or after one minute. An intruder alert can photograph someone after a series of failed unlock attempts; the photo appears after the next successful unlock of that application.
ESET Mobile Security Anti-Theft
Anti-Theft connects the device to ESET HOME for remote locking and location tracking. A locked device can display the owner’s contact details, giving a finder a way to respond. Camera capture can save front- and rear-camera photos to the device’s Gallery and the Anti-Theft portal after a failed unlock attempt or SIM removal.
Automatic locking can respond to changes involving a trusted SIM card or a chosen number of unsuccessful unlock attempts. The user controls the attempt threshold and a correction interval, or can choose immediate locking once the threshold is reached. Unlocking an ESET-locked device requires the password of the ESET HOME account managing it.
SIM-removal locking is unavailable on CDMA, WCDMA and Wi-Fi-only devices. Anti-Theft’s location and camera functions also depend on granting the relevant device access.
Call rules and security checks
Call Filter
Call Filter blocks incoming calls according to rules the user creates. Its last-caller option turns the most recently received number into a block rule. Number patterns can cover a range or prefix, with separate allow rules for exceptions. Blocked incoming calls do not display call notifications, but their names, numbers and event times remain in the call log for review.
The filter needs a device that supports calls and messaging, and it needs to be the default Caller ID and Spam app for its rules to work correctly. The Google Play edition does not block outgoing calls.
Security Audit
Security Audit groups installed apps by permissions that can involve charges, location tracking or access to identity information, contacts and text messages. Opening a category explains the access involved; opening an app shows its permission details.
Device monitoring checks conditions such as potentially unsafe Wi-Fi, nearly full internal storage, active roaming, USB debugging and root access. Individual components can be disabled from monitoring. These indicators help the user inspect device settings and app access.
Network Inspector
On devices running Android 12 or older, Network Inspector discovers devices connected to the router and then checks them for vulnerabilities such as open ports, weak router credentials and firmware problems. New devices receive a notification and a star marker. Discovery can run manually or automatically.
A list view and a Sonar view show connected devices and their history. Devices can be renamed and assigned categories so they are easier to identify. Selecting the router provides access to its web interface, where the user can manage network access.
Free and Premium features
| Function | Free | Trial and Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Antivirus and real-time scanning | Included | Included |
| Security Report | Included | Included |
| Scheduled and automatic scans | Not included | Included |
| Anti-Phishing, Payment Protection and App Lock | Not included | Included |
| Anti-Theft, Call Filter and Security Audit | Not included | Included |
| Network Inspector on Android 12 or older | Not included | Included |
The free edition can be used without a time limit. The trial temporarily enables Premium functions, while paid access continues until the subscription expires.
Security Report
Security Report brings module status and activity together, including scans, detections, protected apps, blocked calls and inspected links. It allows inactive modules to be enabled from the report screen and can send a brief monthly Android notification. Counts reflect the functions in use, and categories with no occurrences may be absent.
