Today’s Best Deals: Brinks Electronic Fingerprint/Keypad Deadbolt with Pro-Guard

Brinks is probably the biggest name in the armored vehicle world, so it would seem that the company should be reliable enough to protect your home door, right? Don’t get too excited yet: The Brinks Electronic Fingerprint/Keypad Deadbolt with Pro-Guard (wow!) door lock proudly bears the Brinks logo, but the actual manufacturer is Hampton Products.

Hampton manufactures a number of lock and door hardware products that it markets under various brand names. Of course, there is no shade in Hampton, but consumers should know who is behind the equipment they purchase.

Features and details

This lock is a simple product but straddles the line between commercial and residential applications. It’s not officially certified, but Hampton says the lock meets commercial-grade ANSI Grade 3 standards (the lowest ANSI commercial certification available for entry locks) and that they “test with the same methods to the same exact standards.” The lock is not BHMA certified (this is more typical for residential use). If you want to know more about ANSI and BHMA certificationYou can read all about it at the previous link.

Hampton Products

Either way, the Pro-Guard tag in the product name is the name given to the advanced security features on Hampton’s Brinks hardware, such as the steel slide, stab- and stab-resistant pins, and the “anti-pry shield.” However, it is important to note that although the device has a keypad and fingerprint reader, it is not a smart lock and does not have wireless capability. This means that all lock programming and management must be done locally via the keypad; I will talk about this in detail in a moment.

First, the hardware. Here the lock also straddles commercial and residential applications without really delving into either world. The relatively compact exterior escutcheon is available in three different colors (matt black, satin nickel and Tuscan bronze) and features a curved design with scalloped edges that would look at home on most front doors.

Christopher Null/Foundry

However, large, physical number pad buttons and an even larger lock button detract from the otherwise upscale appearance. White plastic chicks look more appropriate for an airport than a cul-de-sac. At the top of the badge is a fingerprint reader, positioned at a mostly horizontal angle; This makes access much easier than with vertically positioned readers. Finally, the lock can be opened physically. There is no port for emergency power if the lock’s batteries (four AA cells not included) fail. Hampton says the new batteries should last up to two years with normal use. This shouldn’t be difficult to achieve, considering there are no power-hungry radios on board.

By contrast, the interior badge is a dull, plasticky black brick with little to distinguish it other than a subtle thumb swivel. The small LED below the thumb turn turns green for a few seconds when the lock is unlocked and red when it is closed.

Installation and installation

It is simple to install with only a slight difference from the usual smart lock format. The outer badge is attached to a thin plate on the inside of the door, with three bolts instead of the usual two, with the bolts arranged in a triangular shape. The extra support seems to help the lock stay in place better than most; It was never listed for days of use, at least in my testing.

A single power cord connects from the outer escutcheon to the inner escutcheon, which attaches to the frame with three small screws. Note that one of these screws is embedded in a deep, narrow channel. It was difficult to insert so I had to get out a small, thin Philips screwdriver to get it into place.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Once installed, it’s time to start setting up access. Again, since this lock does not have traditional smart features, all settings must be made by entering a series of codes on the keypad. This includes everything from setting PINs to enrolling fingerprints and changing operational parameters such as auto-locking. The lock can store 50 fingerprints, 50 PINs and 50 additional one-time codes.

Since the lock has no clock or connection to an external lock, all PINs are an all-or-nothing affair. However, single-use codes are automatically deleted after single use or 72 hours after creation. Additional settings configurable via the keypad include auto-lock (0 to 99 seconds), vacation mode (disables all PINs except the master code), and the ability to mute system sounds. False login protection feature disables the system for 1 minute after 5 incorrect PIN or fingerprint scans. This function cannot be changed or disabled.

Christopher Null/Foundry

To give you an idea of ​​what it’s like to work with the keypad, saving a PIN looks like this: Press and hold lock button for 3 seconds, enter master code, press lock button, press 3, press 1, new PIN’ Enter i , press the lock button, enter the new PIN again, and then press the lock button once more. It’s not always complicated, but it does take time and requires great attention to detail while following the broadsheet user guide (available separately). onlinebut it is not the easiest document to read in PDF format).

Enrolling fingerprints requires a similar approach, with great difficulty: Each fingerprint must be assigned to a fingerprint slot (from 1 to 50), and it is up to you to remember whose fingerprint is assigned to each slot. I recommend creating a log because if you need to delete a fingerprint in the future, you can do so by simply providing the relevant slot number. Alternatively you need to delete All fingerprints are en masse and start from scratch.

Should you buy the Brinks Electronic Fingerprint/Keypad Deadbolt with Pro-Guard?

The good news is that the lock works extremely well when in use. The buttons may be ugly, but they’re large enough and spaced far enough apart that they can be pressed without making mistakes, and the lighting is bright enough to be easily seen at night. The fingerprint reader works perfectly and didn’t miss a single scan during my testing. There’s no logging or remote access features so there’s not much to test. But whatever the lock does, it does well.

In summary: If you don’t need real smart features, the Brinks Electronic Fingerprint/Keypad Deadbolt with Pro-Guard is a capable lock at a reasonable price that can free you from the tyranny of keys, as long as you understand what you need to do. I’m taking it.