Norton 360 Deluxe review

Norton is one of the best-known and longest-running names in security software. The company has been buying up its rivals, such as Avira and BullGuard, and has now completed a merge with Avast (which itself already owned AVG), making it a security behemoth.

This should be reassuring if you’re thinking about subscribing to Norton 360, partly because it’s clear the company is doing well, but also because that’s a wealth of security expertise from the combined teams that’s sure to make 360 an even better service down the line.

Not that it isn’t already great: it’s a comprehensive package which can protect all your devices from viruses, monitor the dark web for your personal details, hide your location (and IP address) with its VPN service, help you keep your kids safe online, manage your passwords and more.

For the price – even the regular annual cost, and not just the discounted first year – you get good value and top-notch antivirus.

Features

Norton 360 offers different tiers beginning with Standard, then becoming more comprehensive with Deluxe, and topping off with Advanced (or Select + LifeLock in the US).

There’s also a cheaper, more basic option – AntiVirus Plus – but that’s not strictly part of the 360 range.

As well as getting more features, the more expensive tiers also protect more devices: one for Standard, five for deluxe and 10 for Advanced / Select + LifeLock.

The all have the same core antivirus protection and unlimited use of the VPN, plus a password manager and dark web monitoring (except in the US Standard package, which omits it).

Norton 360 is the only antivirus subscription that also provides online storage for backups, and you get more storage with each tier: 25GB, 50GB and 75GB respectively.

However, this differs in the US where the figures are 2GB, 50GB and 250GB. Just note that this is strictly for Windows: you cannot use that space to make any backups from Android, iOS or macOS devices.

The top two tiers comes with Norton’s parental control software, and only the most expensive package gives you support for identity restoration and a credit report (in the UK) and LifeLock identity theft protection in the US.

There are lots of other features besides, including webcam protection, speed-up and clean-up tools, an automatic app updater and a smart firewall for Windows, a firewall for macOS, plus SMS filtering and calendar protection on mobile.

Apps

Like many of its competitors, Norton 360 has a relatively slick-looking and easy-to-use interface on all the devices it supports.

My Norton is the ‘face’ of the suite on Windows and macOS. It’s a dashboard that gives you an at-a-glance status of the major features available, so it’s obvious whether they’re set up and enabled or not.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Helpful “Fix Now” and “Turn On” buttons make it easy to deal with any features that aren’t enabled.

Many of these you’ll configure during installation, and it’s nice that the cloud back is enabled with a single click, though this protects common folders such as Documents. If you want other folders backed up, you’ll need to go in and add them to the list.

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Good web protection is essential these days, and Norton provides plenty of cover. There’s Browsing Protection, for example, which prevents web-based malware exploiting known vulnerabilities, and sites are flagged by reputation in search results. Web downloads are also analysed, and after scanning, a report on their safety pops up.

The only snag is that it wants you to install four extensions in each web browser you use: Norton Home Page, Norton Safe Search, Norton Safe Web and Norton Password Manager.

Home Page and Safe Search can be safely ignored, as it replaces your normal search engine with a Norton-branded version of Yahoo or Ask.com. Our advice is to just enable Safe Web, which puts a reassuring green tick next to search results from your favourite provider.

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After you’ve run an initial Smart Scan and you’ve been given the all clear, you can pretty much close down the app and let it do its thing in the background. You’ll see obvious yellow pop-up messages whenever the software thinks you should be aware of something, such as your cloud storage being full or that some of your personal information was found on the dark web.

On the latter point, Norton 360 doesn’t quite do as good a job as McAfee. It may tell you that certain details were exposed in a data breach, including which email address it was, but it won’t tell you which password or any other data was found, only the type of data that may have also been leaked.

Jim Martin / Foundry

So while there’s advice on what to do next, such as changing your password, you don’t get a full picture of how severe the leak was. You have to log into the compromised service manually and change your password.

But, if you use the included password manager, this can attempt to automatically change passwords for certain accounts.

Getting back to My Norton, there’s also a web portal where you can sign in and get an overview of your Norton account, all the devices which are protected under your subscription as well as manage that subscription (including changing renewal settings).

Jim Martin / Foundry

The portal is also where you can see your backed up files (and search for and download specific ones), check dark web monitoring, manage parental controls and view a protection report for Android and Windows devices.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Norton offers the most features for Windows. SafeCam is a useful feature exclusive to Windows users. It monitors for apps which request use the camera on your device and alerts you so you can block those attempts if necessary. It will let programs known to be reputable access the camera without bothering you, too.

There are also optimisation tools: Optimise Disk, File Cleanup and Startup Manager. They’re not really security features and can be considered more of a bonus.

The File Cleanup facility is useful as it frees up space occupied by temporary files. Startup Manager uses community data to let you know which of your apps use a lot of resources so you can decide which ones to disable.

Finally there’s a useful Graphs section showing all major events including malware detections, scans and security alerts, along with the use of performance tools.

It’s also worth mentioning the smart firewall, also just for Windows.  As well as blocking external attacks – just like Windows’ own firewall – it also monitors apps and warns you if it thinks they might be abusing your internet connection. It uses a database to know which apps are reputable and allows them to use the connection without bothering you, but will closely monitor unknown apps.

There’s a two-way firewall included on the macOS version of Norton 360, along with the VPN, Password Manger and a cleanup tool that can free up storage space.

Android and iPhone apps

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A few years ago, using Norton on a phone or tablet meant installing a bunch of separate apps. Unfortunately, that’s still largely the case, although the VPN is now part of the main Norton 360 app.

The password manager, identity monitoring and Norton Family are still separate apps.

Jim Martin / Foundry

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You may not need to install all four, especially Norton Identity if you are happy to manage dark web monitoring from a PC or laptop.

The password manager is perfectly good, syncing your logins across your devices, telling you how strong your passwords are and offering to update passwords for certain websites. It will offer to remember new logins when you visit new sites, and auto-fill them next time you need to log in.

There’s also a Notes field where you can add extra information. The only notable feature missing is the ability to share logins securely with others.

It should go without saying, but on iPhones and iPads, there’s no antivirus because of the way iOS and iPadOS are designed.

Security comprises checks to make sure you have a passcode set and warns you if there is an iOS update available. It will also identify any suspicious-looking Wi-Fi networks and automatically enable the VPN when your device connects to any “compromised” networks.

Norton 360 can also filter spam text messages and warn you of any calendar invites with risky links.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Safe Web is also available to warn you of potentially dangerous websites, but this requires the VPN to be connected all the time. The same goes for the ad-tracker blocking feature.

If you have Android instead, then you get a very similar looking app, but this time with real-time malware protection. Norton doesn’t only check apps when you install them, but as they launch, offering better protection than some Android antivirus.

As with iOS, the home screen is split into Security, Identity and Privacy. The first of those isn’t just antivirus: it also includes web browsing protection, Wi-Fi and SMS protection (similar to what you get on iOS) and Device Security that checks for things like software updates you probably should install and risky settings such as having developer mode enabled.

There’s a useful App Advisor which looks at your installed apps, tells you if there are any problems and highlights those which use a lot of data. It will also give you a safety score for apps in the Google Play Store, putting you in a better position to decide whether to install them or not.

As on iOS, if you tap on the Identity section, you’ll be prompted to install the separate LifeLock app. Again, it’s a shame this isn’t yet integrated.

The VPN section offers a couple more settings than on iOS, including split tunnelling (the ability to run some apps outside of the protected VPN connection) and a kill switch.

Performance

Norton’s antivirus has performed consistently well over the years and is a reliable defence against all types of malware, including ransomware.

According to AV-Test’s latest Windows report, it achieved perfect scores for protection and usability and dropping only a half-mark for performance because it was found to cause apps to install more slowly than its competitors.

However, that was no problem on Android where it took top marks in all categories as it also did on macOS. It sailed through SE Labs’ tests as well, earning it the top rating along with quite a few of its rivals.

Jim Martin / Foundry

As if that weren’t good enough, Norton offers a “100% guarantee” that any viruses that do get onto your device will be removed by its own experts. And if they can’t get rid of it, you get your money back. Just note that this now applies only if you have auto-renew enabled for your subscription.

The Windows app is discreet with few pop-ups appearing at all. Occasionally, you’ll see a message about the background scan completing. But because it runs when you’re not using your computer, it’s hardly intrusive. In fact, one of the only times you’re guaranteed to see a pop-up is when Norton analyses downloaded files for you, which is a good thing.

Norton Secure VPN

Previously, we weren’t overly impressed with Norton’s VPN service, but conceded that since it wasn’t costing you any extra, it was fine to use for an extra layer of security and privacy online.

Now, though, it’s an altogether more compelling proposition. You can now choose a region to connect to (there’s a list of 29) and it managed to unblock US Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+ and BBC iPlayer – an unexpected surprise.

However, that was using the Windows app. It did not unblock Netflix on iOS for some reason.

There are no limits on bandwidth, so you can use the VPN as much as you want, but it doesn’t offer apps for streaming devices, so if you wanted to use it on an Amazon Fire TV Stick, for example, you’d need to jump through a few hoops to install the Android .apk file.

But there’s more good news, as Norton has added WireGuard support, and there’s a kill switch and split tunnelling. It means that, while it isn’t at the same level as  NordVPN, it really does add value to Norton 360.

Norton Family – parental controls

If you have kids or teenagers, you’ll no doubt already be battling to restrict the amount of screen time they have. Google and Apple have decent free options for parents, but they only work on their own platforms. So you can’t control total screen time and other things across multiple devices.

Norton Family  can, although unlike the best parental control software such as Qustodio, you can’t set one overall time limit using Family. Each device has its own allocation, so if your daughter uses up all the time allocated to her Android phone, she can simply pick up her iPad and carry on.

Of course, there are other features, including location tracking, decent web filtering and the option to simply warn older kids but still allow them to visit sites. There’s also a School Time feature which blocks games and other distractions when kids need to do their homework.

If you have a lot of devices that need monitoring and restricting, Family will control an unlimited number of them, which is relatively unusual for parental control software, and you’re getting the same set of features as those who subscribe to Family on its own.

The biggest limitation here is that there’s no support for Macs at all.

Norton 360: Price & availability

Norton 360 Deluxe – the tier that covers five devices – officially weighs in at £89.99 / US$109.99. But a big discount is available for the first year that brings the cost down to £29.99/US$49.99.

Remember that this also includes 50GB of cloud storage, something that rivals simply don’t offer, making this a particularly tempting deal.

You can manage your renewal settings easily in the My Norton web portal where you can also enable two-factor authentication to help protect your account.

If you let your subscription lapse, chances are you’ll get a renewal offer that’s cheaper than the full prices listed above. At least, that’s what happened to us in April 2023, with the offer to extend for a year at half price.

This review is part of our roundup of the best antivirus services, but it’s worth pointing out that Norton still sits at the top of this list in 2023, having held the coveted spot for several years now.

Verdict

With so many features – most of which are genuinely useful, it’s easy to recommend Norton 360 Deluxe to anyone with up to five devices to protect.

It could save you having multiple subscriptions, too, as the VPN service is better than you would expect. The password manager is good, too.

As ever, malware protection is top notch, and the cloud backup still hasn’t been matched by Norton’s rivals. This offers extra protection for your important files, though it’s a shame it’s still only for Windows.

If there’s a weak component, it’s Norton Family. It’s pretty good, but we’d like to be able to set a single time limit across devices.

Identity protection is reasonably good too, but it’s worth understanding that in 360 Deluxe, this is just a notification service. If you want full-blown ID theft protection (with insurance) you’ll need 360 Select, which is available only in the US.

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