We compared Sophos XG and Sophos XGS based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
These include the need for more intuitive user-friendliness, clearer interface, enhanced stability, and improved alert management. Users suggested improvements such as easier navigation, better display of options, and more efficient alert handling. Some users also reported occasional performance issues and system crashes, indicating areas that can be refined for a more reliable user experience.
Features: Sophos XG is known for its advanced threat protection capabilities, seamless integration with security tools, and exceptional technical support, while Sophos XGS focuses on robust security measures, comprehensive network visibility, and efficient performance.
Pricing and ROI: The setup cost for Sophos XG product varies depending on user feedback. Customers have emphasized the overall cost of implementation, the initial investment required, and the licensing arrangements. On the other hand, feedback on Sophos XGS suggests that some users find the product competitively priced and of good value, but there are concerns about significant setup costs and complexities in licensing. Experiences with setup costs differ among users for both products., The Sophos XG product offers positive ROI with its effective protection and simplified network management. On the other hand, Sophos XGS provides a significant increase in ROI by improving security infrastructure and streamlining security operations.
Room for Improvement: Sophos XG has room for improvement in user-friendliness, interface clarity, and stability. Users desire more intuitive navigation, clearer options, and improved alert handling. Performance issues and system crashes are also a concern. Meanwhile, there are areas of opportunity for improvement in Sophos XGS according to user feedback.
Deployment and customer support: The reviews for Sophos XG and Sophos XGS show that the duration required for deployment, setup, and implementation phases varies among users. Some users reported longer deployment duration for XG compared to XGS, while others mentioned similar timeframes for both products. Context is important in understanding the differences., Users have reported positive experiences with the customer service and support provided by both Sophos XG and Sophos XGS. They appreciate the expertise, prompt responsiveness, and willingness to address concerns shown by both teams.
The summary above is based on 79 interviews we conducted recently with Sophos XG and Sophos XGS users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"The FortiGate controls the user's activities and maximizes my bandwidth use overall."
"We use a southern institution that's audited for IT security and the reporting that automatically comes off the unit makes it much easier to meet compliance standards and makes it easier as far as the amount of time that has to be spent to compile that information. If you get your reporting set up correctly when you initially set it up, you just select the one you want and hit print. The auditing trail on it is the best feature."
"Fortinet FortiGate protects against internet-based threats, both internal and external. It is scalable, stable, easy to use, and easy to install."
"FortiGate is flexible and easy to use."
"One of the nice things about FortiGate is that it can be deployed on the cloud or on-premises. You can actually do both. That's the biggest reason why I stick with this solution as opposed to something like Cisco Meraki. Another nice thing is that I can log directly into a FortiGate or get to it through their FortiCloud access products. They're pretty reliable and consistent. One of the reasons why I started using the product was their single pane of management. I can deploy their line of firewalls in conjunction with their switching and access points, and I can manage the entire network from one interface. I don't have to log into one interface for the firewall, another one for the access points, and another one for the switches. These firewalls have access point controller functionality built right into the system, so I don't even have to purchase additional devices to manage them."
"Fortinet has a very good solution for Secure SD-WAN. One very good feature is that they have robust and simple FortiOS through which they provide all solutions. That's their strength. There's not much complexity involved with the Secure SD-WAN solution of Fortinet as compared to Cisco's solution, which has a lot of flexibility but complexity also comes with that flexibility."
"Fortinet FortiGate is a stable solution."
"We use the filtering feature the most. It has filtering and inbuilt securities. We can create customized rules to define which users can access a particular type of site. We can create policies inside the firewall."
"This kind of strategic technology makes it much easier to remove malware and address vulnerabilities quickly."
"Using Sophos endpoint and the firewall, synchronized security is easy."
"Overall, this is a good product and I would recommend it for small to mid-sized customers."
"The VPN access for users is also a great thing, especially nowadays when working from home."
"The most valuable features are the reporting, dashboards, and graphical user interface. It gives a good overall picture of what is happening over the network."
"The performance is good."
"Most of the features Sophos XG has are valuable. However, if I have two different ISP, I'm able to create an automatic switch between the two ISPs. I can do the same thing for the cloud as well. If I have two subnets coming from the cloud, I'm able to create a type of switch between both of them where if there is traffic on one and has the traffic drop, I'm able to switch to the other ISP without any problems. It's a normal feature and I get to enjoy the ability to switch between services with no issues."
"The performance of Sophos XG is generally good and it is stable."
"All the features are valuable, in my opinion, but for us the most important features are the network security, application control, and web server protection. Sophos Sandstorm is another good feature off the top of my head."
"XGS' most valuable feature is ransomware protection."
"In this solution, the most valuable feature is that it's a security device. Maintaining security is very valuable for us. The other feature that we did not find in other products is that it works well with thin client environments."
"It's very easy to manage this solution."
"I like the Sophos UI. It interface has a more comfortable feel than the competitors."
"It's easy to use, and the service is good. If anything goes wrong, their support system is very reliable."
"It's user-friendly and quite easy to configure. It's easy to communicate with the Sophos support team."
"The VPN is the best feature."
"Some configuration elements cannot be easily altered once created."
"Fortigate's hardware capacities could be improved."
"I would like to see improvements in the support from Fortinet. Here in the Philippines, whenever we have problems with a Fortinet product, we mostly ask for support from distributors and resellers and not directly from Fortinet."
"Web security solutions can be improved."
"Fortinet could improve the windows opener or the virtual IP solutions for opening windows. The virtual IP settings need improvement as firewalls are trending in new development directions."
"I think they need to improve more in order to be a competitor with the leaders of the field."
"The biggest "gotcha" is that if the client purchases what they call the UTM shared bundle, which has unified threat management on both, it's not as easy to manage if you have more than one firewall."
"With the reports, you can see it, and you can get good feelings so upper management can go, "Oh, wow. That looks pretty." However, it's very basic."
"I think that the main area for improvement is the quality assurance of the updates."
"The two main areas where this product needs improvement are routing and reporting."
"They can lower its price. It is very expensive. We are looking for a less expensive solution depending on our budget. They can also improve it in terms of firewall protection."
"One feature I would like to add is remote wipeout capability. This would be useful in cases where a user leaves the organization and fails to return their laptop. Remote wipeout would allow for the deletion of data from the device with a single command. Regarding technical support from Sophos XG, it's generally satisfactory. However, the response time could be improved. It takes around one hour to receive assistance, but reducing this to 30-45 minutes would benefit us."
"Since Sophos took over Cyberoam, the online technical library and support library have become super messy. To get a piece of information is becoming a nightmare. They need to reorganize the online technical support and technical library."
"Sophos XG could improve by being more stable and for it to be able to be used for large enterprises."
"The user interface could be improved and more bandwidth management would be helpful."
"The only area that requires improvement is scalability."
"In the new release 19, there should be the implementation of a cloud service that you can use to set up the IPSec tunnels, and the SD-WAN from the WAN dashboard, and then you can push that configuration out to every firewall that you have."
"The SD-WAN feature isn't very good. It's there, but it doesn't work properly."
"Reporting could be improved. The structure could be better because most of the reports aren't detailed."
"I would like to see them in third-party evaluation reports like Gartner, Magic Quadrant, or Forrester to make it easier for us to show our customers that Sophos is a leader in the market."
"I rate Sophos' support five out of 10. It's sometimes difficult to contact them, and finding a solution is not easy."
"In version 18 of Sophos XGS, the log details are not very good. However, in version 19 they are more detailed. The Fortinet FortiGate has better detail overall compared to Sophos XGS. They provide updates to the solution frequently, but they do not fix the problems that exist."
"Its pricing could be better."
"I would like to see a history of the monthly bandwidth utilization, the bandwidth consumption for a period of time."
Sophos XG is ranked 7th in Firewalls with 192 reviews while Sophos XGS is ranked 17th in Firewalls with 60 reviews. Sophos XG is rated 8.2, while Sophos XGS is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Sophos XG writes "Easy to use and deploy with an improved pricing structure in place". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sophos XGS writes "Easy to use, simple to learn, and offers great reporting". Sophos XG is most compared with Netgate pfSense, OPNsense, SonicWall TZ, Meraki MX and Sophos UTM, whereas Sophos XGS is most compared with OPNsense, Netgate pfSense, WatchGuard Firebox, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Meraki MX. See our Sophos XG vs. Sophos XGS report.
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