The Philips 5000 Series is a Wi-Fi-enabled smart lock that can read your palm to unlock your door. It also works with Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, an app, a touchpad, and traditional keys, and it uses a proximity sensor to unlock your door when you approach it. Additionally, the lock has a doorbell button and a chime box. At $359.99, the 5000 Series is at the top end of the price range for smart locks, but if you're looking for a versatile smart lock that doubles as a doorbell, it’s worth checking out. For $349, the Lockly Visage Zeno Series swaps palm recognition for face recognition and supports Apple HomeKit, so it remains our Editors’ Choice winner for high-end smart locks.

Design and Features: Lots of Ways to Lock, Including Your Palm

The 5000 Series is a complete lock assembly that comes with interior and exterior escutcheons, a deadbolt latch, strike and mounting plates (and associated hardware), a pair of keys, four CR123A batteries, a door sensor, a wireless doorbell chime, drilling templates, a quick start guide, and a user guide.

Like the Philips 4000 Series Smart Lock ($189.99) that we reviewed earlier this year, the aluminum alloy 5000 Series lock comes in a matte black or satin nickel finish. The exterior escutcheon measures 7.4 by 2.7 by 1.5 inches (HWD) and has a 12-button touch-screen keypad, a chevron-shaped status LED, a palm reader that identifies people based on their unique palm vein patterns, and a doorbell button which flips up to reveal a keyway for locking and unlocking using traditional keys.

(Credit: John R. Delaney)

The interior escutcheon measures 6.4 by 2.6 by 1.6 inches and has a thumb-turn knob, a privacy button that disables PIN code and palm scan access, a proximity sensor for optional automatic unlocking, and two sliding buckles on either side that secure the escutcheon to the mounting plate. Behind a removable cover is the battery compartment and a reset button.

Contactless palm scanning is a fairly novel feature among smart locks, though we've seen it recently in the TCL D1 Pro ($199.99). Fingerprint scanning is much more common and available in some of our favorite smart locks, including the Lockly Visage Zeno Series, the Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint ($249.99), and even the affordable Proscenic L60 ($109.99).

The 5000 Series will store up to 50 palm IDs and up to 100 PIN codes. It uses Bluetooth to connect to your phone and has a built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio that connects to your home Wi-Fi network, which allows you to control the lock from anywhere and add it to your Alexa or Google Home ecosystem. This lock doesn't support Apple HomeKit, however, nor does it work with IFTTT applets that provide third-party integrations, features that are available with the Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint.

As with the 4000 Series, the 5000 Series uses the Philips Home Access mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The app opens to a home screen that contains panels for each installed lock. The panel shows the current status (locked or unlocked), the battery level, and the connectivity method (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth).

When you tap the panel for the 5000 Series, it opens a control screen with a circle that tells you the lock's status. The circle is solid and red when it's locked, and broken and green when it's unlocked. Tapping the circle locks or unlocks the door. At the bottom of the screen are Activities, PIN Code, and Palm ID buttons. The Activities button opens a screen where you can view daily lock events, and the PIN Code button opens a screen where you can create permanent, recurring, duration (time-based), and one-time PIN codes. The Palm ID button lets you scan and register palm vein IDs.

(Credit: Philips/PCMag)

The gear icon in the upper right corner opens a settings screen where you can configure Wi-Fi settings and enable the Auto-Lock and Door Sensor features so it will automatically lock up when you close the door. Here, you can also configure a feature called Grab and Go, which automatically unlocks the door when the proximity sensor on the interior escutcheon detects motion. Other settings let you enable or disable the palm scanner, configure the doorbell chime, edit your Master PIN code, and enable notifications. A Duress Warning feature will sound a siren and send an email to an emergency contact when you enter your PIN code plus 911 on the keypad.

Installation: Straightforward and Fast

Installation is relatively simple. I removed my old lock assembly, installed the 5000 Series deadbolt latch and strike plate, and secured the exterior escutcheon to the door using the mounting plate and screws. I connected the data cable to the interior escutcheon, secured it to the plate using the sliding buckles and screws, and installed the four batteries. The lock went through a quick calibration process, and I was ready to pair it with the app.

I already had it on my phone from testing other devices from the brand, but you’ll have to download the Philips Home Access app and create an account if you haven’t done so already. I tapped the plus icon in the upper right corner of the home screen, used my phone’s camera to scan the QR code on the back of the battery compartment cover, pressed the reset button, and the app immediately recognized the lock. I entered a Master PIN code and a User PIN code, input my Wi-Fi credentials, and gave the lock a name. I followed the instructions to pair the chime with the lock to complete the installation.

The 5000 Series lock worked as intended in testing. The lock was relatively quiet and responded instantly to app and voice commands, and the touch-screen keypad was well-lit and responsive. The palm scanner worked perfectly, as did my one-time and time-based PIN codes. The Grab and Go feature also worked well, but this is one element that I can do without, as I don't want my door to be unlocked without knowing who is outside first. An Alexa routine I created to have the door automatically lock when a Ring Battery Doorbell was pressed also worked flawlessly.

Verdict: Expensive, But Excellent

With the Philips 5000 Series Palm Recognition Smart Deadbolt, you can unlock your door with a palm scan, a keypad, Alexa and Google voice commands, traditional keys, or the Philips Home Access mobile app. It offers a handful of uncommon features, such as an indoor proximity sensor and an integrated doorbell, but at $359.99, it is one of the more expensive locks we’ve tested. While the $349 Lockly Visage Zeno Series Facial Recognition Deadbolt doesn’t offer palm scanning, it supports facial recognition and biometric fingerprint scanning, and it works with Apple's HomeKit platofrm, so it remains our Editors' Choice winner for smart locks.