PRISM+ Sentinel Door Lock and Sentry Pro Gate Lock review: Say hello to hands-free convenience

PRISM+ is best known for displays, not locks — and putting a hole in your door for an experiment isn’t for the faint of heart. But that’s what I did, so you don’t have to be a guinea pig.  Thankfully, the PRISM+ Sentinel Door Lock and Sentry Pro Gate Lock are surprisingly good.

The Sentinel and Sentry Pro are designed with HDB users in mind. They come in three colours: Space Grey, Nickel Silver, and Copper Rose, which are easy to match with your door. It has a slim, discreet modern design that whispers ‘premium’ rather than shouting it. While PRISM+ claims military-grade durability, I didn’t take a sledgehammer to test this claim. However, I can confirm the locks feel robust and secure, and the deadbolts create a solid connection that feels reassuringly sturdy. (Sounds like copium, but still…)

Setup and integration: a seamless experience

Setting up these locks was straightforward, thanks to the intuitive and universal PRISM+ Connect app used for all of its smart home offerings. However, changes to lock settings (as opposed to remotely controlling) require you to be near the locks, which isn’t a significant inconvenience as these changes are often one-off.  You can also link the Sentry Pro to the Sentinel, allowing both to unlock simultaneously. This is a convenience I greatly appreciate, but it isn’t enabled by default for safety reasons.

One standout feature of the Sentry Pro is its 3D facial recognition, which justifies the extra $100 over the standard Sentry model. Mounted at waist level, I was sceptical about its accuracy, but it proved far more reliable than expected. You can also adjust the sensitivity to optimise the detection distance. It even outperformed the fingerprint scanner, which I usually struggle with due to my dry skin. Walking up to my home and having the gate and door unlock almost feels futuristic and is a considerable improvement over geofencing, which doesn’t discriminate who is at the door.

The standard package during the current promotional period includes a Scout Video Doorbell, Letterbox Lock, Wi-Fi Gateway, and remote control, along with NFC-enabled card and sticker tags (four each). While the Scout Video Doorbell and Letterbox Lock are fairly basic, they serve their function well.

The doorbell works in lit and dark places and saves footage to a 32GB SD card. The timeline nature of viewing recorded footage (on the app) is intuitive but feels a little draggy if there is plenty of human traffic in your area and you need to scroll to footage timestamped closer to midnight. The Letterbox Lock uses a pin code, and its biggest strength is its compact form that doesn’t block the letterbox flap (even though we don’t use that).

Reliable and reassuring in everyday use

In over a month of testing, the locks consistently performed as it says on the tin. The audible response confirming locks were engaged provided peace of mind, though the voice prompts could do with more clarity. I have never (touch wood) had a situation where the locks failed to lock. On rare occasions, the gate failed to unlock when the door did (when I tried to leave the house), but the fingerprint reader quickly resolved these hiccups.

Alternative methods abound for those not sold on facial recognition: PIN codes, NFC tags, fingerprint scanning, and, for emergencies — physical keys. Inside the house, unlocking is a simple button press on the handle—so simple even my elderly mother adapted to it with ease. The Sentinel also has a secondary electronic switch to lock and unlock, as well as the manual one. Possibly due to the constraints of making a slim lock, but trying to manually lock and unlock the door is a workout in itself — it’s doable but is made harder than it should be.

Battery life seems reasonable; I’m at about 60% from an 80% starting point after a month. The optional Wi-Fi Gateway allows remote unlocking, while the PRISM+ door closer ($150) is a recommended add-on to ensure optimal door lock functionality if you don’t already have one.

The PRISM+ Connect app is probably the least polished element of the product in terms of user experience, but it is generally pleasant to use. The rough edges (like the timeline mentioned previously) will likely be polished in due time; since I’ve started testing the locks, there have been two updates to refine and add features, which feels promising. That said, I’m not as concerned about these niggles, because the hardware works fine, the software is easy enough to use and all the essential settings that I would need, work.

The verdict: a strong first outing

PRISM+ has ventured into unfamiliar territory with these smart locks, and the results are commendable. The Sentinel and Sentry Pro combine security with convenience in a sleek and user-friendly package. While minor issues like occasional gate syncing issues, a manual lock lever designed for Thor’s thumb strength, and a slightly anaemic speaker, they’re hardly dealbreakers — far from it. For a first attempt, PRISM+ has nailed the essentials and delivers on the ‘everyday experience’.  I love the ‘hands-free’ lifestyle (yes, I know I still need to push open the door) and it will be hard for me to return to regular locks now.

Disclaimer: PRISM+ let me keep the locks because taking them back would mean leaving holes in my door (joke, but also true). If you are considering upgrading, this is a timely reminder that the process is not reversible; you have to patch the holes or cover them with another smart lock. Note that the opinions here remain my own, and PRISM+ had no say in the outcome of this review.