The latest Philips smart lock is a palm reader

At CES this week, Philips Home Access—a division of Philips NV—is demonstrating its new Wi-Fi Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt, featuring a sensor embedded in its exterior escutcheon that scans the palm of your hand and unlocks its deadbolt once it’s verified your identity.

It might seem like a Star Trek prop, but a sensor in Philips’ 5000-series lock scans the pattern of veins in your palm, an unchanging physical attribute that’s unique to you, same as a fingerprint. But unlike a fingerprint reader, you don’t need to make physical contact with the sensor for the lock to operate.

In addition to palm recognition, the Philips Home 5000 can be unlocked with a PIN code, including one-time-use PINs; the Philips app; or a physical key. The lock can store up to 50 unique palm patterns, 100 PINs, and an unlimited number of one-time use PINs for granting temporary access to your home.

When you’re inside your home, Philips’ Grab & Go technology features a proximity sensor on the lock’s interior escutcheon. When the sensor detects your hand reaching for the door handle or lever, it will automatically unlock the door for you.

Philips Home Access

Philips Home Access

Philips Home Access

Visitors can push a large doorbell button at the bottom of the lock, triggering a doorbell chime that you plug into an outlet somewhere in the house. And as its name indicates, the Philips Wi-Fi Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt offers Wi-Fi connectivity, which means you can operate the lock from anywhere you have broadband access. The lock can also be controlled via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands.

One potential drawback: Philips’ new lock is powered by four CR123 batteries, and it doesn’t offer a means supplying backup power should those die while you’re out and about. That will leave you reliant on the physical key if you don’t change the batteries in time. Some competing smart locks have terminals to which you can touch a conventional battery for temporary power. Then again, you’re more likely to carry a key in your pocket than a battery.

Philips Home Access says its Philips Wi-Fi Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt will be available later this year in satin nickel and matte black for a suggested retail price of $360. The Philips Home Access 5000-series joins the entry-level 1000 series launched in March, 2023, the 3000-series Wi-Fi retrofit lock introduced last September, and the 4000-series—available in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Z-Wave configurations—that began shipping in December.