There is a scene in Back to the Future 2 where Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker finds herself in their future home.
It’s a world of pull-down projector screen TVs, a hydrator that turns a palm-sized pizza into a six-person meal, kids wearing VR headsets, and keyless home entry.
Some of the 1989 film’s future predictions are off, but the concept of using fingers as keys has, in 2025, become a reality thanks to Yale (which, by my maths, means that a flying DeLorean is right around the corner).
The home security expert has a biometric keypad that can be connected to its smart locks, allowing keyless access to your home.
The Smart Keypad 2 allows you to input a custom PIN and/or your fingerprint to open sesame. It's all controlled through - what else? - the companion Yale Home app, which allows homeowners to track entries and visitors remotely and grant access to up to 10 trusted friends, family and neighbours. It can even lock the door if you forget or have your hands too full to do it yourself.
Perfect for Airbnb hosts, frequent travellers or anyone on first-name terms with their locksmith after losing one too many housekeys, the Bluetooth-enabled biometric device looks unassuming - it won't call much curbside attention like a smart doorbell might.
But is it as clever as it seems? I put it to the test below.
Yale Smart Keypad 2 Key Specs
Set up
Once the lock's battery is charged and the keypad's batteries are inserted properly, you’ll need to follow the app's prompts to pair the two. A green tick will appear on the keypad beside the nought when you’ve done this correctly, before an update which takes several minutes.
Next, it’s time to read your unique fingerprint - a dozen taps of your chosen digit on the scanner should do it - before the big test to check it works. Lightly tap your finger on the scanner, and if the keypad lights up green, congratulations - you're in business.
The final steps are adding an entry code, opting for the app-generated one or creating your own. You can add up to nine other fingerprints for friends, family and trusted neighbours later.
Installation
Keypad installation is easy (it comes with a sticky back, much like a Command Strip, to stick on your front door, its frame or an external wall), but it’s the partner Yale smart lock - I used the Linus Smart Lock L2 - that will require a toolkit to fix to the inside of your door. This involves attaching a new backplate and connecting your door’s existing lock to the smart lock’s mechanism.
It requires confident DIY skills or a handy neighbour (mine’s called Chris). Have neither? Perhaps a TaskRabbiter can hop to it, or one more call to that locksmith.
Price - is it worth it?
The RRP isn’t much to invest in an extra layer of home security, and the careless or hapless will be grateful for the safety net (it’s much harder to lose or forget your own fingerprints, after all), but users have reported that reliability can be a little hit and miss.
While the backlight is useful, especially in low-light scenarios, the overall look of the keypad needs refining. It looks like a toy calculator. Still, you’d never guess there was a fingerprint plate hiding in the mix unless you knew where it was.
While the keypad has worked for me every time, I’m the kind of person who always needs a contingency. I’d still stash a spare house key elsewhere, or face the possibility of pawing at the fingerprint plate all night.
Verdict
Yale Smart Keypad 2
Designed to work with Yale’s smart locks, this biometric keypad allows you to turn your fingers into house keys, like something out of Back to the Future 2.
The pad can store up to 10 unique fingerprints, meaning you can give access to trusted friends, family and neighbours, and you can input special entry codes for an extra layer of security. While setting up the keypad is easy, inserting the lock will require a good level of DIY skills, as it involves twiddling with the lock’s backplate.
In testing, the keypad worked for me every time, but as someone who likes having a contingency plan for those just-in-case moments, I’d still have a spare key stashed elsewhere as some other users have reported that reliability can be a little hit and miss.
Buy now £109.98, Amazon
