You can open the door without fingerprints or passwords. Why do smart locks sing \”empty city strategy\”?

Source: China News Network

“A 3,000-yuan smart lock can be opened without fingerprints with a few pulls” “A woman’s surveillance found that her fingerprint lock door automatically opened”…

As intelligence enters people\’s daily lives, smart locks that free up hands and prevent the phone screen from being scratched by keys have been favored by many consumers. However, when smart locks malfunction, after-sales maintenance issues also drive many consumers crazy.

It feels good to use it for a while, but the after-sales service is frustrating. Are smart locks really safe and reliable?

Does the door open automatically without fingerprint?

According to media reports, on February 2, a netizen claimed that the Philips combination lock purchased online did not require fingerprints or passwords to open the door directly. That night, a man opened the door directly and broke into his home. He later claimed that he left through the wrong door. . In this regard, Philips customer service stated that the product has expired and the repairs need to be paid for at your own expense. They also said: \”If someone breaks into the house, it is recommended to call the police.\”

After-sales chat records published by the parties on social platforms. Screenshot taken from a social platform.

Many netizens said, “It’s so scary.” “The more high-tech it is, the less reliable it is.” “Smart locks are an IQ tax.”

On February 7, Philips customer service reported to China-Singapore Finance stated that this incident was caused by a problem with the smart lock installation and will be handled according to the warranty period. The person involved also stated on the social platform that the cause of the failure was that the directional screws of the lock body were installed backwards.

China News Finance has noticed that many netizens have previously said that they have encountered such situations, involving different brands of smart locks. Among them, a netizen renovated a new house, and before he moved in, the fingerprint lock anti-theft door suddenly opened automatically for some reason.

Why do convenient and fast smart locks sing \”empty city strategy\”?

Some people in the industry said that the failure of the fingerprint lock is likely to be due to a problem with the cooperation between the square shaft and the lock body during installation: \”The square shaft is too short, which will cause the verification to fail even if the verification is successful.\” Unable to open the door; if the square axis is reversed, the door can be opened without verification. \”In addition, door body deformation, panel failure, etc. will also affect smart lock verification. \”For example, although semiconductor fingerprint recognition is highly secure, it is difficult to maintain and has a short service life.\”

Are smart locks safe and reliable?

With the steady growth of China’s smart home market,People\’s demand for smart security, especially smart door locks, is surging. Although the penetration rate of smart locks in my country is still low compared with European and American countries, data from Aowei Cloud Network show that China\’s smart door lock online market sales in 2021 will be 4.58 million units, a year-on-year increase of 31.4%; sales will be 7.1 billion yuan, A year-on-year increase of 35.5%.

According to industry statistics, since 2020, China has become the world\’s largest smart lock production and sales country. In 2022, more than 1,600 smart lock companies and more than 3,500 terminal brands will enter the market. Competition in the industry is fierce.

At the same time, the safety and reliability of smart locks have always attracted consumers\’ attention.

As early as 2019, in response to rumors that \”a small black box can open smart door locks in seconds\”, the China Consumers Association tested 29 smart door lock samples. Among them, 48.3% of the sample passwords have security risks, 50% of the samples have fingerprint identification security risks, and 85.7% of the sample information identification cards have security risks.

In the same year, the Consumers Association of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei tested 38 samples of 28 brands. The results showed that nearly 80% of the tested samples had poor reliability. According to the test results, most samples have poor reliability, falsely promote the function of living fingerprints, IC card keys can be cracked and copied, and can be unlocked with fake fingerprints.

In 2022, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a random inspection report on the quality of electronic door locks. The results showed that among the 123 batches of products inspected, 42 batches of products were found to be unqualified, with a random inspection failure rate of 34.1%. The main problems were focused on the two indicators of anti-vandal alarm function and flame retardant performance.

A certain visual smart lock. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

An industry insider told Sino-Singapore Finance that compared with the 2019 Consumers Association’s evaluation, most of the smart locks with problems currently on the market are low-priced or unbranded products. , with the development of smart lock related technologies, the quality of regular brands can basically be guaranteed. \”Although early smart locks had many problems, technically they are relatively simple to modify, and most manufacturers have already perfected them.\”

China News Finance found during the visit that regular brands of smart locks are currently on the market. Most locks have been adoptedMore secure verification methods such as CPU cards, semiconductor fingerprints, and virtual passwords are available,but some brands still use IC cards and optical fingerprints that are easily cracked. \”The main reason is that the cost of IC cards and optical fingerprints is lower, and the service life of optical fingerprints is longer.\” said the industry insider.

A salesperson told China News Finance that as an electronic product, smart locks may have various problems like mobile phones when used, and they are also constantly being updated. \”Old versions of locks are prone to various problems, so it is best to buy the latest models.\”

After-sales pain points cannot guarantee a \”sense of security\”

Possible malfunctions of smart locks are also Make after-sales maintenance a pain point.

China News Finance noticed that on a certain complaint platform, there were more than 2,500 complaints about smart locks. In addition to quality issues, most of the complaints focused on after-sales maintenance. Many netizens said on social platforms that the after-sales service of the smart locks they purchased was poor and the repairmen were unprofessional.

For example, some netizens said: \”A girl who lives alone, the door lock opened by herself in the middle of the night during the first week of use, but the customer service replied and said to contact her within 48 hours.\” \”The official installer installed it for more than an hour. , the door was broken. \”The door lock failed to open, and I was thinking about what to do if it caught fire while waiting for repairs.\” Most of the door locks involved are well-known regular smart lock brands.

A smart lock sales store in a certain home furnishing market. Photo by Zuo Yuqing

During the interview, an owner of a smart lock store told China News Finance that for consumers, the most important thing to consider carefully when choosing a smart lock is after-sales service. \”Many smart lock brands are divided into regions. After-sales service outside the region is very troublesome. A better option is to go to a well-known local smart lock store to buy, so that after-sales service is guaranteed.\”

Another smart lock salesperson told China News Finance that the after-sales service of locks purchased through different channels also differs. \”Online platforms require customer service transfer, which may be time-consuming, especially after-sales service through group purchasing channels. It is difficult to guarantee after-sales service; offline physical stores can provide door-to-door repairs in a short time due to their faster connection with local dealers.\”