Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home
  3. News

This smart lock adds a Touch ID-style fingerprint sensor to your door

Add as a preferred source on Google
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Smart locks are basically everywhere at this point, and there are all sorts of ways to lock down your house. But Lockly’s latest offering brings something both familiar and unique to your front door that will keep you secure. The company’s Secure Plus lock uses a 3D fingerprint scanner and algorithm-generated passcode that should make your home uncrackable.

Lockly’s newest security system basically puts Touch ID on your front door. It can scan and store up to 99 fingerprints that it knows to trust and allow into the home when it recognizes them. The 3D sensor supposedly can’t be tricked with a replicated fingerprint or photograph and will only unlock when it identifies a physical match.

Recommended Videos

Beyond the fingerprint scanner is the company’s randomly generated access code system that features prominently on the front of the device. There are four circles populated by three numbers. Each time you use the door, the digits change positions on the keypad. While your access code remains the same, it would be next to impossible for someone to guess it by watching you enter the code.

Perhaps most impressive about Lockly’s proprietary algorithm system is the fact it doesn’t require any sort of internet connection to work. The numbers move around in an effectively random pattern so your door remains safe from any would-be intruders waiting to get in. This also mitigates any concerns about hackers manipulating the lock via an internet connection — though the door does support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth internet connections.

Once you’re in the house, whether you entered by fingerprint scanner or access code, Lockly can also make sure that you’re locked in. You can set up a custom time frame for the security device to automatically lock the door, just in case you or your family members forget to.

Of course, on the off-chance things go haywire with Lockly’s high-tech security features or the battery dies (it uses AA batteries that last for a full year), there is still the option to use a physical key to unlock the door.

Lockly’s Secure Plus lock will retail for $250 for the deadbolt version and $270 for a latch version. The company is also selling its Secure lock, which features the access code system but not the fingerprint sensor. That goes for $200 for the deadbolt and $230 for the latch.

AJ Dellinger
AJ Dellinger is a freelance reporter from Madison, Wisconsin with an affinity for all things tech. He has been published by…
My smart home experiment has reached its natural limit
Smart-home technology keeps improving, but being easier to automate doesn’t make everything worth automating
Computer, Electronics, Laptop, Smart Home

The first device I added to my smart home was a light bulb. It seemed like the safest possible place to start. I could turn it on from anywhere, put it on a schedule, and eventually work it into routines with everything else.

Then I tapped the button in the app and waited. The delay was only about half a second, but half a second is surprisingly noticeable when the alternative is a wall switch that responds immediately and has never once asked for a firmware update. Using my phone was worse. I had to unlock it, find the app, open the right room, and tap the light I could have switched on several steps earlier.

Read more
Google Home’s Interactive Storytime feature has me wondering who actually asked for this
Google Home gets interactive AI storytime, smarter alarms, and broader camera support.
Computer, Electronics, Tablet Computer

Google Home's latest update introduces several new features, including Gemini-powered Interactive Storytime. While I’m not sure who asked for the feature, it lets families build original stories about specific topics on the fly, instead of just listening to a known story. 

So what's the big new feature here?

Read more
Proxima wants to move blood tests into the home, and it has cleared an important early hurdle
The portable analyzer delivers blood-count results in about 20 minutes, but its promise depends on transparent clinical data
Furniture, Table, Desk

Algocyte’s Proxima is designed to run blood-count tests from a small finger-prick sample and send the results to a clinician in about 20 minutes. For patients who need frequent monitoring, that could mean fewer trips to a clinic or laboratory.

The device has also moved beyond the concept stage. Proxima carries UK conformity credentials, while Algocyte operates under a certified medical-device quality system. Those steps give the project more weight than a prototype shown at a launch event.

Read more