The Verge's smart home reviewer has tested facial recognition smart locks, a technology she previously dismissed as unnecessary, and found a genuine use case for it: unlocking your front door hands-free without needing to carry a phone or wearable. This matters because existing hands-free options, such as geofencing or ultrawideband (UWB) radio, either work unreliably or depend on a device being on your person, whereas facial recognition works even if you have left your phone indoors, such as when working in a garden or garage.

The review covers four commercially available locks: the £300 (roughly, converting from $300) Eufy FamiLock E40, the $350 Lockly Visage Zeno, the $199 Lockin Veno Solar Face, and the $230 Switchbot Lock Vision Pro, with a further model due to launch on Kickstarter next month. These locks use infrared sensors to build a three-dimensional map of the user's face, via methods such as structured light, stereo infrared cameras or time-of-flight sensing, meaning a photograph generally cannot fool them. While the reviewer still considers UWB-based unlocking the superior overall experience, she concludes facial recognition offers a viable, if more sci-fi, alternative for those who do not want their access tied to a specific device.