In the past I used to bounce between BitDefender/Avast and a couple others each year just to see what's new etc an see how they compare with what I'd normally use anyway which is Defender.
After a week always went back to Defender. The last test was last year in fact trying BitDefender free again when it got an update and it didn't do anything that Defender wasn't doing anyway, and Defender gets the same daily updates sometimes twice daily. Defender is more integrated into Windows too and I trust it isn't going to install a database update that flags core Windows files as an issue and suddenly I can't boot into Windows like has been the case with 3rd party Vs numerous times before.
The gist of it is that for many years now Defender is all that has been needed for 99% of users, this is still the case, and Defender has had some significant upgrades to its functions in recent years too.
Also keep in mind that the vast majority of ransomware etc will be blocked before the resident AV even catches wind of it if you are using an adblocker on your browser. uBlock Origin has default lists that manage control over blocking known ransomware and malware URLs, these lists are internally updates automatically as well so that's the first line of defence leaving the AV to do its thing for locally launched files, apps and LAN activity.
Example:
Also keep in mind that no AV installation is 100% perfect, it is simply impossible to catch 100% of everything, if that was the case then that software would instantly become the only AV used by anyone and everyone.
