Sophos Home review, manual and guides

Sophos Home^[1] is developed by a British security software and hardware company Sophos Group Plc.

The company specializes in products for communication endpoint, encryption, unified threat management, antivirus, and security software for home and business users. Sophos has been operating in the industry for more than 30 years.^[2]

Recently, the company has expanded its product line for the consumer market. The company provides individual users with Sophos Home applications, including Sophos Home for Macs and PCs, Android and iOS devices. It also develops security tools, such as HitmanPro, Sophos XG Firewall Home Edition, Virus Removal Tool, Sophos UTM Home Edition and Sophos Antivirus for Linux.

Sophos Home is developed to protect multiple computers in a household. It offers advanced, business-class antivirus and anti-malware protection, web filtering technology which stops various types of malware and other threats, blocks unwanted and malicious web content and allows users to easily manage remote computers. The application works on both, Windows PCs and Macs.

As we have already tested Sophos Home for Mac, this time we will be reviewing Sophos Home for Windows PCs.

Sophos Home offers free and paid versions of the application. The free version provides users with security essentials such as antivirus and web filtering, while the Premium version includes more advanced features, live and email customer support and more. The paid version starts at about $56 a year and can cover up to 10 devices. If you want to check the product before purchasing it, Sophos Home also offers users a free 30-day trial of the Premium.

Test results

We have tested the program for about 10 days on our Windows 10 PC. 

Antivirus protection

Once installed, Sophos Home started its job with a full initial scan. The program works smooth and accurate, as it detected all the malicious software samples installed in the PC and quarantined them. We were more than happy with the scan results and effectiveness. The program also detects and blocks malicious and unwanted websites.

Sophos Home claims that it uses advanced business-level antivirus protection technologies available in Intercept X – its business endpoint protection.

However, when it comes to bigger tests, Sophos Home for Windows PCs was not tested by an independent testing lab AV-TEST. Interestingly, Sophos Home for Macs and Sophos Mobile Security for Android applications have been tested and received good feedback. The business version of Sophos Antivirus was also tested by AV-TEST. Sophos Endpoint Security delivered the perfect results and detected 100% of both, zero-day and widespread malware.^[3]

Additional features

Sophos Home provides a very decent feature set in both free and paid versions. For instance, its free edition includes the following:

• Real-Time Antivirus which protects PCs against widespread viruses, Trojans, worms, bots, PUPs, ransomware attacks and other cyber threats.
• Parental Web Filtering. This feature allows users to control the accessible web content.
• Web Protection feature protects users from known malicious websites.
• Remote Management allows users to manage multiple devices in any location from a web interface.
• Protects up to three devices.

The paid version includes the following:

• Advanced Real-Time Protection protects users against new and still developing cyber threats.
• Advanced Ransomware Protection protects users against the latest ransomware.
• Advanced Web Protection blocks phishing and other malicious sites.
• Banking Protection secures personal and credit card data while banking online.
• Privacy Protection protects personal data, monitors access to webcam and block attempts to record keystrokes.
• Advanced Malware Removal feature removes previous malware infections.
• Customer Support.
• Protects up to 10 devices.

As you can see, even the free version provides useful and essential features. However, if you want advanced, business-level antivirus and anti-malware protection, then you will have to purchase the paid version.

System-performance impact and scanning performance

The download of the program was pretty simple, however, the program was not as lightweight as we expected. Sophos Home added even 12 background processes and used about 400MB of RAM. Even though an average user would not even notice the slowdowns or interruptions, the amount of resources used is bigger than the average. It also has a bigger system-performance impact while working in the background or during scans. As a result, it can cause some interruptions and slow down a PC which is below the average.

The full system scan took us about 45 minutes, which is about in the middle. The scans are accurate and efficient.

User interface

Sophos Home has a very open and bright interface. The interface takes about half size of the screen and cannot be resized, only moved around. Sophos is very intuitive and easily used, as all the features and accessible within a couple clicks. 

The final verdict

Sophos Home looks like a good solution for those who want to protect multiple devices, thus, even the free version can protect up to three devices. In addition, cloud-based management is super convenient for those, who want to take control of their device’s security from multiple locations. The paid version includes business-level protection that demonstrates 100% malware detection rates.