What factors should be considered when purchasing smart door locks?

Smart door locks can be said to be the most popular single item in decoration in recent years, especially loved by young people; but in fact, smart door locks have been introduced into China for almost ten years, but the previous smart door locks were very expensive, single-function, and even had many flaws in some experiences; and people's thinking was generally conservative at that time, and they felt that fingerprint locks were not safe, so the early use of smart door locks was also very rare.

The original smart locks were very complicated in terms of setting, operation and use. I remember that my uncle's house had a password lock installed, which was this kind; because it could only be unlocked with a digital password, in order to ensure safety, every six months, I had to sneak around, find a quiet night, under the light of the corridor, and reset the password step by step by looking at the manual with complex words... But I have to say that entering a password is more convenient than carrying a key.

Now the latest smart locks can be paired with mobile phones while sitting on the sofa, set up linkage with other security devices at home, and support multiple ways to unlock, such as NFC, facial recognition, etc., which can be said to be much more convenient.

The most important thing is that the price of fingerprint locks is much lower than before, and it has changed from a luxury item to a must-have item.

The entry level of smart door locks is very low, but it is still very difficult to succeed. Although there are thousands of brands on the market now, most of them are OEMs and find factories to do OEM, so it is still difficult for ordinary consumers to choose; the brands that make professional door locks generally have better product quality, and most of them have offline stores, so the pre-sales and after-sales experience is better; but the disadvantages are also obvious. The basic models have a single function, and the flagship models have more functions, but the premium is serious.

The advantages of door locks of Internet brands are fast technology iteration, diverse functions, and more styles than traditional brands; in addition, they have better marketing capabilities than traditional brands and can be spread among young people; the disadvantage is that the quality and after-sales are relatively weak.

Cross-border brands combine the various characteristics of traditional door lock brands and Internet brands. The capabilities shown by different brands are different, so I won’t expand them one by one here.

1. Budget and price

The first thing to consider is the price. Since the Internet brands have lowered the price of smart door locks, the prices of most fingerprint locks are concentrated between one thousand and two thousand yuan; if the price is below five hundred yuan, it is generally not credible, except for the half-sale and half-gift activities of the merchants. After all, you get what you pay for. Later, I will recommend some reliable locks to you according to the price.

Here I would like to remind everyone that there are still various crowdfunding activities for new products on the Internet. If it is an unknown small brand, it is strongly recommended that you avoid the pit, because the product has not been made yet, and you don’t know how it is, let alone the reputation.

2. Material

I personally think that the color selection of smart door locks is best to be consistent with the color of your door body. This has two advantages. First, it can keep the style of home decoration coordinated. Secondly, I think it also has a little security effect. How to say it, the door lock is not conspicuous and thieves are thinking about it. If it is a golden door lock, it is estimated that the neighbors will come to visit.

In terms of materials, you need to pay attention to the panels and handles, especially some cheap door locks, which look like metal but are actually plastic products. After a long time of use, the paint will fall off and it will not look beautiful enough.

3. Quality and after-sales service

Smart door locks are not like mobile phones and headphones, which are fast-moving electronic products that will not be replaced for decades. In terms of quality, they must be reliable first. The handles, fingerprint modules, and appearance materials of the door locks must be formally verified. Think about it, if the fingerprint module fails, it will be a terrible thing to be locked out of the door; the other is the after-sales problem. If you are unlucky enough to be caught, the smart door lock has some minor problems, there is no offline after-sales outlet, and calling 400 is outsourced customer service... Then you will regret it.

4. The more functions, the better

Some brands of smart door locks have various main unlocking methods, but after years of experience in using smart locks, I use fingerprint unlocking the most, followed by digital unlocking; as for other unlocking methods, such as remote unlocking, face recognition, and voice unlocking, they are generally immature. For example, in risk monitoring, a certain brand of face recognition fingerprint lock can be successfully opened through black and white photos of a person at different angles.

5. Recognition accuracy/speed

Whether the smart lock is sensitive and accurate is also a reference for judging whether a lock is high-quality. Especially for the elderly whose fingerprints are generally shallow, have manufacturers adopted better recognition solutions or alternative solutions?

6. Look at the lock core/lock body

In addition to the unlocking method, another thing to consider for security is the lock core.

Currently, the more commonly used lock cores are A, B and C-level lock cores.

In terms of structure,

Class A lock cylinders are mostly flat or crescent-shaped, with one row of grooves on one or both sides; Class B lock cylinders are similar in shape to Class A, but have two rows of grooves on the surface; Class C lock cylinders have two rows of grooves on one or both sides, and an S-shaped key slot is added, which increases the difficulty of unlocking.

In terms of unlocking time,

For example, thieves can open Class A and Class B lock cylinders in a few minutes with tools, while Class C lock cylinders take dozens of minutes to open;

7. Circuit design/black box The design of electronic circuits is difficult for ordinary consumers to judge, so the easiest way is to read the official introduction or ask customer service whether they can prevent "black boxes".

8. Is the sky hook useful?

I think the sky hook is a very safe-looking one, but it is not recommended for students who install smart locks.

The original intention of the sky hook is to increase the lock points to prevent the door from being pried open violently. However, most of the burglary cases in my country are technical unlocking, and the door is unlocked by studying the correct key opening method.

Another reason is that the smart lock is double-sided, not only to "lock" but also to "get out". The lock tongue of the top and bottom hook will not only increase the difficulty of breaking and dismantling, but also be difficult to retract in the event of a fire.

Moreover, the door lock using the top and bottom hook also needs the motor of the smart lock to drive, so it will consume more electricity, thus affecting the battery life of the lock; and the safety of the family is not only related to the door lock, but also to the public security of the community and the city.