Xiaomi Smart Door Lock 5C unlocks with a fingerprint in half a second. The price is surprisingly low

Xiaomi is expanding its smart home portfolio with another addition. The Xiaomi Smart Door Lock 5C is a handle-type smart lock that relies on fast fingerprint reading, nine unlocking methods, and a Class C security cylinder. The new feature also distinguishes itself with an emergency button that opens the door even with dead batteries. Converted, it costs about 2 thousand Czech crowns, making it a very affordable piece.

The lock primarily relies on a fingerprint reader

At the heart of the lock is a semiconductor fingerprint reader located directly in the handle – after placing your finger, simply press the handle down, and the door is unlocked in one motion. Xiaomi states that the new generation reader is complemented by a learning algorithm that gradually stores the characteristics of your fingerprint and refines recognition. The manufacturer promises reading in less than half a second and a success rate of 99.29% – however, this is their own laboratory figure, so take it with a grain of salt.

But a fingerprint isn’t the only way in. The lock supports a total of nine unlocking methods – besides a fingerprint, there’s a classic PIN, one-time and temporary codes, a mechanical key, or unlocking via Bluetooth from the Xiaomi Home app. You can also set a so-called masking password: you type random numbers around the actual PIN, thus hiding the true combination from any potential observer. The lock can also be opened via NFC with a Xiaomi phone, watch, or band.

The 5C does not have facial recognition – Xiaomi reserves that for more expensive models. We wrote about one of them, the G500 lock with facial recognition and longer battery life, in the spring.

Xiaomi Smart Door Lock 5C unlocks with a fingerprint in half a second. The price is surprisingly low Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

Emergency situations are also considered. The lock features a duress fingerprint: if someone forces you to open the door, you place a pre-set finger – the lock will unlock normally, but at the same time, it will silently send an emergency notification to your contact person, without the attacker noticing.

What does security class C actually mean?

We mentioned security class C at the beginning. However, such a term doesn’t mean much to us in Europe, so it’s worth explaining. It’s a Chinese classification of lock cylinders, which categorizes them into classes A, B, and C, with C being the highest level of resistance. But beware – it’s not the same as European security classes (RC according to ČSN EN 1627 standard), which we are used to for Czech entrance doors, so the letters and numbers cannot be directly compared.

What does Class C mean in practice? The cylinder is designed to resist both destructive attacks such as drilling and non-destructive methods – picking with a tension wrench and so-called bumping, where the mechanism is activated by a bump key. While an experienced thief can overcome a simple Class A cylinder in about a minute, for Class C, the time, according to security vendors, ranges from 6 to 10 minutes or more – long enough to deter most perpetrators.

Furthermore, Xiaomi routes the cylinder directly through the entire lock body and concealed the coupling inside. Even if an attacker breaks off the front panel or forcefully presses the outer handle, the mechanism itself remains locked. Inside, a separate knob for mechanical locking has been added – once turned, the door cannot be opened from the outside.

Batteries last a year. What if they run out?

Power is provided by four alkaline batteries, which Xiaomi claims should last about a year. As soon as they start running low, the lock reports it – and if you do exhaust them, this generation’s new feature comes into play.

The lock features an emergency button that unlocks it even when it’s completely off. There’s one limit: it can be used a maximum of five times every six months. And if the batteries completely run out, you’ll find a USB-C connector on the outside – just connect a power bank, the lock will temporarily wake up, and you can open the door. The combination of the button and USB-C addresses perhaps the biggest fear with smart locks: that your own door won’t let you in.

Xiaomi Smart Door Lock 5C unlocks with a fingerprint in half a second. The price is surprisingly low Adam Kurfürst News Adam Kurfürst News

Like every Xiaomi product, this lock fits into the ecosystem. Via Xiaomi HyperOS Connect, it connects with speakers, cameras, or lights and can trigger entire home scenarios – for example, turning off the air conditioning when you leave. In conjunction with a Bluetooth Mesh-enabled gateway, the Xiaomi Home app will also receive notifications when the door remains open, when someone repeatedly enters the wrong PIN, or attempts to remove the front panel.

It is a very affordable model in terms of price

The Xiaomi Smart Door Lock 5C is being pre-sold in China for 659 yuan, which is approximately 2,100 Czech crowns converted. As mentioned before, it is an affordable piece that doesn’t match the features of more expensive models (which, for example, allow unlocking by face or palm scan). Whether and when the lock will arrive in the Czech Republic, Xiaomi has not yet announced.

Would you replace your apartment keys with a smart fingerprint lock?

Sources: MyDrivers, Gizmochina