TCL D1 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock Review: Futuristic But Limited

Did you know that palm veins were unique enough to use as a security measure on a smart lock? I didn’t, but TCL did, and I’m happy they figured it out. The TCL D1 Pro smart lock’s headlining feature is using your palm to unlock it, which is fascinating—and I liked it a lot more than I expected to.

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Price and Availability

The TCL D1 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock is available on Amazon for $169.99, though on-page coupons and discounts frequently drop it lower.

The Palm Vein Accuracy Surprised Me

I’m used to using a fingerprint or a PIN to unlock my front door—I’ve used those methods for years. But palm vein? I had no idea that palm veins were as unique as they are.

I set up the palm vein unlock and planned to turn it off after some testing, because how accurate and secure could it really be? It turns out that it’s pretty secure. I’ve not even been able to fake it with my opposite hand. My wife and I can’t get it to trip out when only one of our hands is programmed.

The palm vein unlock is also extremely reliable. I didn’t expect to like the feature much, if at all—but it’s become my favorite part of the lock. Every time I walk up to the door, I just set my hand in front of it and about half a second later it’s saying “Unlocked” and I can enter my house. No pin entry, I don’t have to worry about drying my hand off if it’s wet, and it’s extremely reliable.

You actually don’t have to have your hand on the lock for this function to work, either. The palm unlocking function works with your hand a few inches away from the lock, which is even more intriguing.

I Wish the App Was Better

TCL is leveraging the Smart Life app for its D1 Pro smart lock. I get it, the Tuya platform is tempting to use for brands as they don’t have to build their own app. However, it does have some drawbacks.

This smart lock is compatible with both Alexa and Assistant, but not HomeKit. A surprising revelation was that it doesn’t work with Home Assistant either, which I fully expected it to when I found out it worked with the Smart Life app.

The app is also pretty unintuitive. I’m a techie person, and I’ve done everything from building my own apps and websites to running a small server farm in my office but this app threw me for a loop more than once.

I’m used to the Smart Life app for my smart plugs and switches, but the way the app handles smart locks is very different. The settings are cumbersome to access, and the functionality of the lock can be hidden in random places.

For instance, I was trying to figure out where the auto-lock delay was. I couldn’t find it—until I clicked the bell icon that said “Set.” I guess this stands for settings? But why not use a cog or wrench as an icon? It’s things like this that make the app unintuitive.

That’s also not all the settings. You set up members and temporary passwords in another area. Do you want to hook it up to your Alexa or Assistant ecosystem? It’s not under Set, it’s under the pencil icon in the top right.

Overall, this app needs a full overhaul to be more user-friendly.

Six Ways to Unlock—But No Geolocation Is a Pain

The TCL D1 Pro smart lock features six total ways to unlock—palm vein, app control, voice control, key fob, PIN, and a physical key. However, one thing that it’s sorely missing is geolocation functionality.

While you can get this function through something like Alexa or Assistant, I prefer to use it through a native app whenever I can. With my Yale/August smart lock, I always used the stock app for geolocation unlocking (and locking) and it worked great.

However, the app is sadly missing any geolocation functionality, and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to be added in anytime soon, sadly. On the bright side, the NFC fobs are kinda fun to play with and are a great way to share access to your home without giving someone a PIN or physical key.

Once the Lock Is Set Up, It’s Reliable

While I do wish the app was better, and I want to use geolocation to unlock this smart lock, I really have to say that once it’s set up, it’s ultra-reliable.

I’ve used several smart locks, and reliability is something that I’ve fought in the past. Sometimes it would take a few times to get a PIN code to recognize on one of my locks, and another one just wouldn’t reliably push the deadbolt into the strike plate.

The TCL D1 Pro wasn’t plagued by this at all. It worked reliably every time. The PIN code worked when I needed it, but I rarely used that because the palm vein unlocking was just so convenient.

Something I wasn’t expecting was just how strong the motor on this lock would be. The two other smart locks I’ve had on this front door would sometimes struggle to pull the door all the way closed with the deadbolt, but the TCL D1 Pro didn’t struggle one bit.

Overall, this lock is extremely reliable and worked great every single time I used it.

Should You Buy the TCL D1 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock?

I wish the TCL D1 Pro smart lock was a bit more affordable. At $170, there are a lot of options out there for smart locks. When on sale, it offers much better value, though.

If you don’t mind not having HomeKit or Home Assistant integration, and you can get by without the geolocation function that I sorely miss on this smart lock, then I do think it’s a solid purchase.

The palm vein functionality is both fun and functional. When I swap this lock out for another one, that’s a feature I’m going to miss for sure. Overall, if you need a smart lock that’s reliable, has a lot of ways to unlock, and still features a physical key backup if the batteries die, then the TCL D1 Pro is a solid choice.

Brand

TCL

Connectivity

Wi-Fi

Integrations

Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa

Battery

Removable rechargeable

The TCL D1 Pro Palm Vein Smart Lock takes a traditional smart lock and adds a unique feature. With multiple ways to unlock the D1 Pro, you’ll be able to authenticate with a PIN code, smartphone app, voice control, physical key, or your palm’s vein. The palm vein unlocking method is reliable, easy to use, and simple to set up, making it ideal for accessing your home.