ESET Smart Security Editor's Review

The computer security market is a tough one to crack and it takes a lot to stand out. ESET Smart Security isn't a bad performer, but there's no compelling reason to favour it over its rivals.

Most of the features are run of the mill by today's standards. There's a choice of automated and customized scans of the system. Potential threats are checked against a combination of a downloaded database and an online or "cloud" library, giving a nice balance of convenience and up-to-date protection. There's also a decent firewall that does a good job of blocking legitimate threats without irritating false positives.

The problem is that these are all things that a lot of rivals provide. The user interface does a good, if not outstanding job, of finding the tough balance between allowing plenty of control without overwhelming less tech-savvy users.

The feeling of averageness continues when it comes to resources. The software doesn't bring the computer to a grinding halt, but it does make for a minor slowdown in everyday use. System scans aren't particularly fast, but neither are they excessively time consuming.

There's nothing really to criticize about ESET Smart Security, and if it was the only option available it would be strongly recommended. As a paid-for product, however, it doesn't really have a killer feature that makes it a must-buy.

Pros: Solid performance; no major missing features.

Cons: Nothing stands out as spectacular.

Conclusions: Does the job well, but may not be most people's obvious first choice.