TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock review: I feel like a sci-fi movie hero

Price When Reviewed

$199.99

Best Prices Today: TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock

$169.99

First, we ditched our housekeys for a numerical code that unlocked our doors, then we moved up to sometimes balky fingerprint readers. The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock ups the ante with an amazing palm vein reader that takes just 0.3 seconds to unlock your door once you present your hand in front of its tiny scanner.

TCL, best known for its budget-friendly TVs, moves further into the home security market with its second generation of smart door locks that hit the market alongside its B1 Security Camera. The D2 Pro is the top of the line and TCL’s only lock to feature a palm vein reader.

The D2 Pro also features a built-in doorbell (but not a camera). Pressing the doorbell button a sounds a chime on the lock itself, and it also sends a push notification to your smartphone. You can unlock the door six ways: With your palm, of course, by tapping a PIN on its numeric keypad, using the TCL app, with a voice command (via Amazon Alexa or Google Home), with an NFC keycard or fob (not included), or a physical key (two are provided). Each of those methods has its own advantages and, if you’re not looking for a lock to seamlessly integrate into one brand’s suite of smart home products, the D2 could be an excellent choice for your home security.

Build quality

James Barber/Foundry

The D2 Pro comes sports an aluminum housing—silver, with black accents—that’s all hard angles and sharp corners, a design that echoes the future imagined by the movie Robocop. The vaguely brutalist design won’t be for everyone, even though TCL’s promotional literature hopefully points out a resemblance between the D2 Pro and the Tesla Cybertruck.

Its specs are typical: The lock is rated IP55, meaning that no amount of dust can get inside and cause the lock to fail, and that it’s protected from water jets coming from any direction. It has an operating temperature range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to around 140 degrees F (-20 C ~ 60 C). It has the customary adjustable bolt to accommodate doors with different-sized backsets (2.36- or 2.76 inches, 60- or 70mm), and it fits in either a 1.5-inch (38mm) or 2.13-inch (54mm) cross-bore (an adapter is included for the larger diameter). 

TCL has not submitted this deadbolt for ANSI or BHMA certification, so there’s no standardized rating as to its suitability for commercial (ANSI) or residential (BHMA) installations. The two standards bodies measure such things a open/close cycles, survivability after repeated hammer blows, and the quality of a lock’s finish, among other things. That missing rating could be an issue if your insurance carrier or local building code requires such certification (although that’s not typical). We have another story that explains ANSI and BHMA certification in more detail if you want to know more about it.

Setup and installation

James Barber/Foundry

Setup and installation were easy and incredibly straightforward, at least until the final step. First, I had to give the included 10,000mAh battery a full charge, which I did overnight before the day I planned to install. That battery is removable and is charged via USB-C cable. If the battery dies while you’re out and about, you can use the USB-C port on its exterior escutcheon to charge enough for the lock to operate.

Since I was replacing a previously installed deadbolt, I didn’t need to replace the strike plate on my door jamb. That made for quick 15-minute install that only required a Phillips-head screwdriver.

After installing the battery in the unit and the TCL Home app on my phone, I was able to use the app to connect to my wireless network with the D2’s built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter (5GHz networks are not supported).

James Barber/Foundry

If the process ended here, I’d be telling you how easy this lock was to install. Unfortunately, my lock required four incremental firmware upgrades before it was ready to use. Would it be easier if the lock could just download the latest firmware upon its first connection to the internet? Absolutely! Is it possible to write the software so that these incremental steps aren’t required? I have no idea, but this isn’t an issue I’d previously encountered when reviewing other smart home devices. Fortunately, there was mostly good news once the updates were complete.

Well, almost. I realize that the app was written to work with all TCL smart home devices, but I had trouble setting up the palm vein reader after the app asked me to set up both a security code for using the app and another one that would allow me to unlock the D2 Pro (and any of the other locks in the D2 line).

I had to dig around in the app’s settings for a few minutes before I found what I was looking for. After navigating to User Management > Administrator (me), I found the palm vein settings and was able to set up the palm security.

Unlocking your door

TCL says its own lab results show that its palm vein tech is 99.9999 percent accurate. The infrared light reads the veins under your skin, avoiding both the positioning and pressure issues that affect fingerprint readers. And if you believe the Mission: Impossible movies, using your palm instead of a fingerprint will prevent an intruder from engineering a workaround from prints you might leave on a drinking glass or door handle.

James Barber/Foundry

Once I had it up and running, the palm vein reader instantly unlocked my door once I mastered the waving gesture.  If you’re worried about security, TCL stores the palm data on the device itself, a feature that also makes it possible to open your door when your Wi-Fi or broadband is down.

The numerical keypad was 100 percent reliable in my testing, as was using the controls in the TCL Home app. Setting up with Alexa and Google worked as well as you might hope, and the ability to unlock the door for a visitor via voice command is a definite plus.

TCL does not include an NFC keycard or fob with the D2 Pro, so I was unable to test that entry method. Based on its performance with the other entry methods, I would expect them to work seamlessly as well.

Note that you can only unlock the door via the TCL Home app when there’s an active internet connection to the D2 Pro. Also keep in mind that this lock doesn’t support Matter or Apple Home, so you won’t be able to integrate the lock into that kind of smart home setup. There’s also no Bluetooth, Thread, Zigbee, or Z-Wave support, as is typical of a Wi-Fi lock.

The TCL Home app

James Barber/Foundry

The TCL Home app looks simple at first glance, but there are a host of options buried in its settings. You can set up a security code for each device you add to the app. Users must type in the code to access the settings. You might want to skip that extra level of security because it’s a chore to type it in every time you want to make an adjustment.

Tap the Settings gear icon to get access to Auto Lock, which sets a time (between 10 seconds and two minutes) for the door to automatically relock after opening. If you enable that setting, however, be aware that the lock has no means of determining if the door is ajar before it throws its bolt. That can lead to damage to the molding around your door if someone tries to close the door while the lock’s bolt is extended.

Wrong-Try Protection locks down the D2 Pro for a time (2- to 5 minutes) after a set number of wrong code attempts. There’s volume control for both the doorbell and the pleasant British accent that delivers voice prompts. Away Mode disables all user permissions aside from the master password.

On the main screen, you can check the battery level, set up one-time-use passwords for visitors or service people, unlock the door with a long press, or access an Events Summary that tells you who unlocked the door at what times over the past seven days. Parents can monitor curfews by creating a Homecoming Reminder that alerts the administrator if a user has not unlocked the door by a certain time.

TCL offers other options, too

If you’re looking for a lower-priced lock from TCL the TCL D2 Plus ($119.99) swaps the palm vein scanner for AI-enhanced fingerprint recognition; retains the app, keypad, and physical key options for unlocking; Wi-Fi connectivity; voice control; and IP55 weatherization. But it relies on 8 disposable AA batteries (with a 6-month lifespan) rather than rechargeable power.

The base TCL D2 ($79.99), meanwhile, offers the simplest feature set: unlocking via PIN, app, or key; the same aluminum alloy build; IP55 weather resistance; Wi-Fi connectivity; and voice-assistant integration. It also runs on 8 AA batteries.

Should you buy the TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock?

The TCL D2 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock replaces the D1 Pro model that came out last year, and it features impressive upgrades. The 10,000 mAh battery in the D2 Pro offers 10 months of battery life, where the D1 Pro’s 7,800 mAh battery was limited to 9 months. The D2 Pro is more water resistant, with an IP55 rating compared to the D1 Pro’s IP54. There’s also no doorbell on the D1 Pro. The palm vein technology and other unlock methods are the same on both models.

Unlocking a door by waving a hand in front of a sensor can feel like we’re finally living in the future that Star Trek promised on those after-school reruns. The palm-vein entry is secure and reliable, a godsend for anyone who’s usually lugging packages with them when returning home.

TCL offers all the other basics, including individual profiles, one-time codes, and remote unlock that you’d expect from a high-end smart home lock in 2025. The firmware update experience could use some work, the app needs a bit more polish, and TCL should really find a way to have its devices better integrate with other manufacturers’ smart home hardware. This lock’s touch-free entry is just too magical to be stuck in a smart home silo.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks.