Talk to the palm! That’s the idea behind a growing number of smart locks that can read your palm rather than your fingerprint, and budget smart home manufacturer Wyze has just announced its own take.
Available starting today, the Wyze Palm Lock isn’t the first smart lock capable of the palm-reading trick; recent locks from Eufy, TP-Link’s Tapo brand, TCL, and Phillips can do the same thing.
What sets the Wyze Palm Lock apart is (unsurprisingly for Wyze, a company known for its budget-friendly devices) the price: just $129.99, versus $200 for the TCL D1 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock and a whopping $399 for the Eufy FamiLock S3 Max (which, to be fair, is a smart lock with an embedded video doorbell).
As with other palm-reading smart locks of its type, the Wi-Fi-enabled Wyze Palm Lock verifies your identity by scanning the unique pattern of veins beneath the surface of your palm. Such palm-based biometrics are said to be faster and more accurate than more typical fingerprint scans, and even better, a wave of your palm will do; in other words, you don’t have to touch anything to unlock the door. All biometric data is stored locally rather than in the cloud.
Don’t want to use the palm reader, or need to grant access to someone without enrolling their palm? An illuminated keypad stores up to 50 unique access codes, and there’s also a standard keyhole protected by a slide-down damping cover (keys are included).
The new Wyze Palm Lock also has an illuminated PIN pad and a sensor that can recognize if the door is open or closed.
Wyze Labs
A gyroscope-powered auto-lock feature senses whether the door is closed by detecting the real-time angle and movement of the door, thus helping to guard against jammed locks or damage to your door frame from closing the door with the lock’s bolt extended. An integrated alarm, meanwhile, will sound following an “excessive” number of failed unlock attempts, according to Wyze. And if you’re worried about a bystander sneaking a peek at your PIN, the lock allows you to add extra digits before or after the code to disguise it.
The lock is powered by a dual-battery system, including a removable lithium-ion battery that promises up to six months of battery life, while a secondary backup battery provides up to two weeks of power in case the main battery fails. If both batteries were to die, you can still fire up the lock using a power bank via the integrated USB-C power port.
The Wyze Palm Lock arrives with an IP53 rating, meaning it offers protection against dust particles larger than 2.5mm and water sprayed at an angle up to 60 degrees on either side of vertical. So while the lock isn’t completely dust- and waterproof, it should be able to withstand wind-strewn debris or water sprayed from a hose. We’ll happily tell you more about what IP codes mean.
The Wyze Palm Lock can be remotely monitored and controlled via the Wyze app, and it’s compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.
We’ll have a full review of the Wyze Palm Lock once we get a sample unit for testing, so stay tuned.
This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks.