Wyze’s new palm-scanning door lock has a second, backup battery

Wyze has announced its first smart door lock that can be opened by simply hovering your open hand over it. The Wyze Palm Lock is launching today for $129.98 making it more affordable than similar palm-scanning smart locks including the $359.99 Philips Smart Deadbolt that launched last year. But your palm isn’t the only way to unlock it. If it’s the dead of winter and you’re wearing gloves the Palm Lock can also be opened using a physical key, by punching in a code, or using Wyze’s mobile app.

It’s not as cheap as Wyze’s $80 Wyze Lock Bolt that we called the “Best budget smart(ish) lock” in our buying guide, but the Palm Lock includes more functionality. Battery life is rated at up to six months thanks to the use of low-power millimeter wave radar that only wakes the lock when a person is detected nearby. Its primary battery can be removed so you can recharge it indoors, while a smaller secondary battery will keep the lock powered for up to two weeks. Should both batteries die, an external power source can be temporarily connected to a USB-C port allowing it to be unlocked using an access code.

Palm vein recognition has been shown to be a more secure and accurate method of biometric security than fingerprint readers, and simply waving your hand over an infrared sensor requires less precision than scanning a fingerprint. The Wyze Palm Lock can store palm vein IDs for up to 50 users, and generate up to 50 unique entry codes giving access to people whose palms haven’t been registered.

Wyze’s Palm Lock is Wi-Fi connected so it can also be locked and unlocked from anywhere your phone has internet access or using voice commands through smart assistants like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. For added security, the lock incorporates a gyroscope that detects the door’s angle and movements. It can be set to automatically lock the door when it senses it’s been closed all the way, or start audibly chirping after a set period of time if it detects the door has been left open.