Hafele, a German home appliance brand, has introduced a range of three smart locks to the Malaysian market. While not necessarily a new technology, the company has partnered with Singapore-based Igloohome to bring the locks into Malaysia; aiming them at high occupancy homes and Airbnb owners.

The Smart Mortise, Deadbolt 2S, and Keybox each offer a different level of security for the home. The Mortise and Deadbolt 2S are door mounted locks, providing state-of-the-art key options; allowing it to be opened through Bluetooth, PIN code, cards with embedded RFID chips, or physical key.

On the other hand, the Smart Keybox is a miniature container designed to store keys. The idea here if for rental places to be able to leave the house keys in a secure location for guests to access.

With this in mind, each of the smart locks can be programmed with multiple PINs, allowing homeowners to keep track of who has been coming and going. Igloohome's partnership with Airbnb also means the PIN codes can be generated and passed to guests from the Airbnb platform itself. This enables an increased layer of security for homeowners, especially when these PIN codes can be configured to have an expiry date.

Hafele has also introduced an additional security solution that allows random digits to be entered before and after the actual PIN; preventing users from accidentally giving away the code due to constant use of the same keypad digits.

The central control panel of the Hafele Smartlocks is the Hafele Lock mobile app; available for both Android and iOS. This app allows users to create new PIN codes for the locks, manage user accounts, register RFID tags, and take note of who has been coming in and out of doors using the lock.

The Hafele Smartlocks run on AA batteries, with an expected lifespan of up to 18 months. The Hafele Lock app keeps track of the battery levels of the locks, reminding users to change for a fresh set when the battery level hits 30%.

Hafele has already begun selling the Smart Deadbolt 2S and Keybox in Malaysia - which also has the Igloohome - for the price of RM1400 and RM1100 respectively. The Smart Mortise is set to arrive in Malaysia next month for the price of RM2500. Both the Mortise and Deadbolt 2S also incur an additional RM200 installation fee, although more adventurous homeowners could potentially try to DIY them into place.