Buying Guides & Product Selection

Start with knowing your door profile, understanding who are the users, then the features — in that order. The most common mistake is choosing a model before checking whether it suits the door it has to sit on.

Look at your door first: its thickness, whether it is solid timber, laminate, metal or a fire-rated HDB main door, and what lock is already fitted. A very important factor that helps you with decision making will be the digital lock that is applicable to your fire-rated door, has to be FIRE-RATED!

Next, think about who lives in the flat. A young couple has very different needs from a household with primary-school children, elderly parents and a helper — the second group needs more user slots and different access entry methods example fingerprint access for adults, card access for young children and elderly.

Only then look at features, and be honest about which ones you will actually use. Wi-Fi, face recognition, camera modules and app control all add cost; some households use them daily, others forget them within a month.

Finally, weigh the things that only matter after purchase: installation quality, warranty length, and whether the retailer will still answer the phone in year three. A workable rule of thumb: shortlist three models that genuinely fit your door, then decide between them on unlocking methods and after-sales support rather than on spec-sheet extras. The lock you never think about is the one you chose well.

Think in tiers rather than a single number, and treat anything you read online as a starting point rather than a quotation. Broadly, the market falls into three bands.

Entry-level locks cover the essentials — fingerprint, PIN and a mechanical key override — usually with simpler build quality and shorter warranty terms. The mid-range is where most Singapore households land: established brands, better fingerprint sensors, push-pull or handle-free designs, app connectivity on many models, and after-sales support you can actually rely on.

Premium covers face recognition, palm or 3D sensing, built-in cameras, video calling, deeper smart-home integration and heavier construction. Metal gate locks generally sit below main door locks, and door-plus-gate sets are usually priced as a package.Prices move constantly — with new model launches, promotions, GST-inclusive versus exclusive quoting, and whether installation is bundled — so fixing a figure in your head is not useful.

Fixing your requirements is. Decide which unlocking methods you need, whether you want connectivity, and whether a gate lock is part of the plan.

Then ask two or three retailers to quote that exact specification and compare like with like. Always ask for the delivered, installed, GST-inclusive price rather than the headline number, and confirm current pricing directly, since published figures date quickly.

For a bundle digital lock on gate lock and door lock, the estimated price in the market is $1000 (+- $200) and a single digital lock ranges between $400 to $1500 depending on the function, material and brand.

They differ mainly in how the lock body sits on the door, and that is what decides compatibility. A mortise lock has its body recessed into a pocket cut into the door's edge, with a handle or lever on each side.

It is the traditional format and suits most solid timber doors and fire-rated HDB main doors. A push-pull lock is usually a mortise lock in a different dress — the same recessed body, but no turning handle.

You push from outside and pull from inside, which is genuinely easier when your arms are full of groceries. It needs a door with enough stile width and thickness to take the larger faceplate, so check before setting your heart on one.A rim lock mounts onto the surface of the door's inside face rather than into its edge, so it requires far less cutting.

That makes it the standard choice for metal gates and for doors you do not want to mortise deeply. Being said that, rim lock are generally NOT fire-rated, so if you intend to install a rim lock, do check first if that is suitable and compatible to your door.

As a rough guide: wooden main door means mortise or push-pull; metal gate are usually rim, it’s only recent that the invention of mortise lock on a metal gate using Solity G1 comes into play. If your main door is fire-rated, the door and lock are best supplied and fitted together so the door's integrity is not compromised. Before deciding, send AN Digital Lock a photo of the open door edge showing the existing lock body.

Not strictly, but most Singapore households end up wanting both, because they serve different moments. The main door lock is the security and convenience workhorse.

A gate lock exists because of how HDB and condo households actually live: the wooden door stays open for ventilation and light while the metal gate stays locked, particularly in the daytime and with children at home. If you routinely leave the main door open, the gate lock is the one you will touch most often, and keeping a physical key for it defeats the point of going keyless at all.Households that skip the gate lock usually have a good reason — the main door stays shut all day, the gate is largely decorative, or the gate's design leaves nowhere sensible to mount a lock.

That last point is worth checking early, since narrow or highly ornate gate frames limit which rim locks will fit. The honest test is behavioural rather than technical.

Over one week, notice how often you enter through a locked gate versus a locked main door. If it is most days, a gate lock earns its place. If you almost never lock the gate on its own, put that money into a better main door lock instead.

Usually yes — provided you were going to buy both anyway. A bundle is a discount, not a reason.

Retailers price door-and-gate sets together because one installation visit covers both fittings and they would rather sell two units than one, so the saving is real and typically shows up as a lower combined price, sometimes with extra cards or a longer promotional coverage included. The consideration is buying a gate lock you do not need because the bundle only costs a little more, or accepting a weaker gate lock because it happens to be the one paired in the set.

Bundles are usually built around specific pairings, so your flexibility narrows as your discount grows. Compare fairly by asking for three numbers: the bundle price, and the two standalone prices for the exact models you would have chosen independently.

Then check whether the bundled gate lock is one you would have picked on its own merits. Confirm what the bundle actually covers too — installation for both units, whether warranty terms differ between the two locks, and what happens to the price if you drop one item.

Rule of thumb: if it saves money on two locks you wanted, take it. If it saves money on one lock plus one you are unsure about, buy the one.

Pay more for what you touch every day and for what rescues you when something goes wrong; treat everything else as a bonus. In the first group sits a good fingerprint sensor, because a lock that reads reliably in humid Singapore weather with slightly damp fingers is the difference between delight and daily irritation.

Add solid build quality and a well-made handle or push-pull mechanism, since it will cycle thousands of times a year. Then insist on at least two or three independent ways in, including a mechanical key or emergency power option, a clear low-battery warning, and an auto-lock you can switch on or off.

Warranty length and after-sales responsiveness belong on this list too, even though they never appear on the box. Comfortably optional: voice-guide control, decorative finishes, elaborate on-screen app menus, wifi control, and app features you will open twice.

Remote unlocking and camera modules are also valuable options if you often let in cleaners, deliveries or relatives while you are out. A useful filter before adding any paid extra: ask how many times a month you would realistically use it.

Anything under two or three, leave it out and redirect the money towards sensor quality, build and warranty, which you cannot upgrade later.

It is worth it for some households and an expensive luxury for others, and the deciding factor is usually whether your hands are full. Face recognition unlocks as you approach, without touching anything, which is a genuine gain if you are regularly carrying groceries, a child, or an umbrella in the rain.

It also helps people whose fingerprints scan poorly — elderly parents with worn ridges, young children with small fingers, and anyone whose hands are often wet from washing up or the walk home(example domestic helper). The trade-offs are cost and consistency.

Face-recognition models sit at the top of the range, and performance varies by technology: 3D or infrared sensing generally handles darkness and odd angles better than simple camera matching, so ask specifically which type a model uses. Corridor lighting, hats, spectacles and height differences can all affect recognition, and the extra sensing usually draws more power, so expect shorter battery life.

No biometric method should be treated as flawless, which is why every good lock keeps a PIN or key as backup. Fingerprint remains the sweet spot for most families — quick, affordable and well proven.

If you are undecided, try both in our showroom [hyperlink to contact us page] rather than comparing specifications, and bring along the family member whose fingerprints scan worst. Their experience will tell you more than any brochure.

Yes, though less than most people expect, because modern locks generally hold far more users than a household needs. Count everyone who requires their own access: family members, a helper, parents who visit weekly, a regular cleaner, any tenants.

Then add a margin, because fingerprints are normally enrolled two or three times per person — often both thumbs plus an index finger — so one person can consume several slots. A family of four easily uses a dozen fingerprint records.

Although now most digital locks come with a capacity of more than 100 users, it differs by model and is usually quoted separately for fingerprints, PINs, cards and app users, so check the specific figures rather than assuming. Where household size really shows up, though, is in management rather than raw capacity.

Can you label users so you know whose fingerprint is whose? Can you delete one person's access without re-enrolling everybody?

Can you issue a temporary or time-limited PIN for a cleaner or contractor? Those are the features that keep a busy household running smoothly.

Larger or higher-turnover households also benefit from app-connected models example Hafele / Kaadas / Solity , which allow entry logs and remote removal of access. A practical showroom check: ask the retailer to delete a single user in front of you on the model you are considering. If it looks fiddly there, it will be worse at home on a Sunday evening.

Look for forgiving unlocking methods, predictable auto-locking and a straightforward mechanical backup. For young children, a PIN or card is often easier than a small fingerprint the sensor struggles to read, and the interior handle or push mechanism should be something they can operate in an emergency.

Equally important is the reverse: many locks offer a child-lock or double-lock setting that prevents the door being opened from inside, which matters if you have a curious toddler and a corridor beyond. Ask whether the model you are considering has one and how it is switched on.

For elderly parents, favour large, clearly lit keypads with tactile feedback, adjustable voice or beep prompts, and low physical effort at the door — push-pull designs suit weaker wrists far better than a stiff lever. Worn fingerprints are common with age, so choose a lock with a capable sensor and always keep a PIN or card as a second method, plus the mechanical key stored somewhere the whole family agrees on.

Auto-lock deserves a deliberate decision rather than a default. It protects a household where someone forgets to lock up, but it can also shut out a parent who steps outside to throw rubbish.

Before buying, let the least tech-confident person in the household try the lock themselves. That is your real usability test.

Choose a built-in camera if you want one device and one app; choose a separate video doorbell if you want a better camera or more flexible positioning. A camera integrated into the lock is tidy, runs off the same batteries, and ties video directly to lock events, so who arrived and who came in sit on the same timeline.

There is nothing extra to mount, which matters on HDB corridors where drilling options are limited and the metal gate gets in the way of a wall-mounted unit. A standalone video doorbell usually offers a wider field of view, better night performance and more storage choices, and it keeps working normally if you later change your lock.

It also lets you place the camera where it actually sees people, rather than wherever the lock happens to sit. The costs are a second device, a second set of batteries or a wiring decision, and often a second app to manage.

Either way, be realistic about the practicalities: video features generally depend on a stable Wi-Fi signal reaching your door, cloud storage may involve a subscription, and any camera facing a shared corridor should be angled to cover your own entrance rather than your neighbours'. Simple way to decide: to see who is outside before opening, a doorbell wins.

To know who came in and when, the lock camera wins. If your house happens to have a metal gate, getting a digital lock with a built in camera might not be that feasible as it may affect the viewing angle.

The difference is how far away you can be and still interact with the lock. An offline lock has no radio at all — everything happens at the door using fingerprint, PIN, card or key.

It is the simplest, usually the cheapest, has the least to go wrong, and tends to give the longest battery life because nothing is transmitting. A Bluetooth lock pairs with your phone within roughly the same flat, so you can unlock from your phone, add or remove users and read logs while nearby, but not from the office.

A Wi-Fi lock joins your home network, typically on 2.4GHz, and reaches the internet, so you can unlock remotely, receive notifications when someone enters, and issue a one-time PIN to a contractor while you are out. Some models achieve this through a separate gateway or bridge rather than built-in Wi-Fi, which is worth clarifying before you buy.

The trade-offs are cost, battery drain, and dependence on your network and the manufacturer's servers. If the internet goes down, connected features stop, though the lock itself keeps working normally at the door.

Before paying extra for Wi-Fi, stand at your main door and check your phone's signal strength. HDB entrances are often the weakest spot in the flat, and a lock that cannot hold a connection gives you the cost without the benefit.

For most households an app is a genuine convenience rather than a necessity, and it earns its keep only if you regularly need to let someone in when you are not home. The real everyday value is narrower than the marketing suggests: remote unlocking for a cleaner, relative or delivery; a notification telling you the children reached home safely; temporary PINs you can issue and revoke without meeting anyone; and a log you can check when you cannot remember whether the door was locked.

If two or three of those describe your typical week, take the app. If you are a couple who are usually home together and both comfortable with fingerprint entry, an app adds cost, another account and password, and reliance on your network and the manufacturer's servers for little daily gain.

There is nothing second-rate about an offline digital lock — plenty of well-built models carry no radio at all. Deeper smart-home integration, linking the lock into scenes, lighting or a hub, is a further step again, and worth it mainly if you already run a smart home and want the door included.

A fair test: over the past month, how many times would you actually have used remote access? Fewer than two or three, and the app is a pleasant extra, not a reason to raise your budget.

Fit comes down to a handful of measurements plus whatever is already in the door, and any competent retailer can confirm it from clear photos.

• Door thickness, and whether it is solid timber, laminate, hollow-core, metal or a fire-rated main door
• Door lock position— this is crucial for resale HDB houses that comes with narrow gap between door to the gate
• The existing lock type and cut-out size, plus the backset, meaning the distance from the door edge to the centre of the handle
• Distance between door to gate - Sufficient gap so that when both door lock and gate lock is installed, it doesn’t collide to one another.
• For gates: frame width and whether the design leaves a flat area for mounting a rim lock else there might be a possibility to do modification.

Most locks need either an existing mortise pocket of the right size or a new one cut to suit, and push-pull models in particular demand adequate stile width. Fire-rated doors add a further consideration, since drilling can damage the internal core; a factory-fitted mortise, or a door and lock supplied together, is the safer route, and certification applies to the tested combination rather than the lock alone.

The fastest check is a photo assessment: send the retailer the door face, the open door edge showing the existing lock body, the gate, and your measured door thickness. Specialists such as AN Digital Lock offer this free over WhatsApp.

Only if the door itself needs replacing — a digital lock does not require a new door. Most HDB main doors accept a digital lock perfectly well, and changing only the lock is cheaper and quicker.

Replace the door when it is warped, water-damaged, badly scratched, no longer closing squarely against the frame, or when you are changing the look of the entrance as part of a wider renovation anyway. That said, if the door is going regardless, doing both at once is the sensible sequence.

The lock body can be mortised at the factory rather than cut on site, the alignment between door, frame and lock is set up once, and you avoid paying for two separate installation visits. For fire-rated main doors this is more than convenience: certification applies to the door and lock as a tested assembly, and factory fitting avoids on-site drilling that could compromise the core.

If fire rating is relevant to you, ask the supplier for the certification documents (Certificate of Conformity) covering that specific door-and-lock combination, and verify any door-replacement requirements with HDB or an HDB-licensed contractor rather than relying on verbal assurance. A simple test: open and close your existing door slowly.

If it drags, will not latch cleanly or shows uneven gaps, replacing it alongside the lock will save trouble. If it closes well, keep it and spend the budget on the lock.

Decide early, install late. The lock should go on near the end of your renovation, after the dusty and wet works are finished, because hacking, tiling, carpentry and painting throw up dust and knocks that no one wants near a new lock, and because your contractors need free access to the flat while works are running.

Most households have the lock fitted in the final week or two, alongside other finishing items such as lighting and blinds. Deciding is a separate matter from installing, and it should happen much earlier.

Do your showroom visits and settle on a model while you are still confirming your door and carpentry decisions, because the two interact. If you are replacing the main door or fitting a fire-rated set, the door and lock should be planned together so the mortise can be factory-cut, and doors and metal gates often carry lead times of several weeks.

Leaving it to the end can mean waiting after everything else is done. Coordination is the real skill here.

Your interior designer or contractor should know when the lock installer is coming so the door is not still being painted that morning. Practical takeaway: book the installation date once your painter has a firm completion date, and keep a temporary conventional lock in place so the flat stays secure during works.

Best option is to buy after you collect your keys — or at least avoid committing to a specific model and paying in full before then. Until you have the keys, you cannot confirm the one thing that determines compatibility: what HDB actually installed.

Door thickness, the factory lock cut-out, the gate design and the finish all vary between projects and even between blocks, so a model that suited a friend's BTO may not suit yours. Collection day is also your first chance to measure, photograph the door edge, and check that the door and gate arrived undamaged.

None of that means waiting to think about it. The months before collection are ideal for browsing, visiting showrooms, narrowing to two or three models and learning what your budget realistically buys.

Just hold the final decision until the actual door is in front of you. There is a timing nuance worth raising.

Promotions and package deals often carry validity periods, so if you are offered a deal before collection, ask whether the model can be swapped later without penalty should it turn out not to fit, and whether the installation date can be scheduled flexibly. The clean sequence: collect keys, photograph the main door edge, gate and existing lock, send those to us for a compatibility assessment, then confirm the model and book installation towards the end of renovation.

A typical package should cover the lock, standard installation, basic setup and a stated warranty — but "typical" varies enough that only a written quotation settles it. Many Singapore retailers include free installation, GST, delivery, initial user enrolment, a starter set of cards or fobs and the first set of batteries.

Some do not, and the difference can be substantial once you compare two quotes properly. Add-ons that commonly surface later, and are worth raising upfront:

• Non-standard installation — unusual door thickness or material, extra cutting, removal of an old lock, or a second visit
• Gate lock installation billed separately from the main door lock
• Extra cards, fobs or tags beyond the number bundled
• A gateway or bridge required for Wi-Fi and remote features on certain models
• Subscription fees for cloud video storage on camera-equipped models
• Disposal of the old lock, minor patching, or door and frame adjustment

None of these charges are unreasonable in themselves. The problem is only when they arrive as a surprise on installation day.

Ask for the final installed price in writing, GST inclusive, listing exactly what is in the box and what installation covers. One follow-up question surfaces most surprises: if my door turns out to be non-standard, what is the additional charge, and will you tell me before proceeding?

Often, yes — not because the hardware is always poor, but because the parts that fail you are exactly the parts a cheap overseas purchase leaves out. A lock bought from an overseas marketplace typically arrives with no local installation, no warranty you can practically claim on, no parts supply and nobody to call when the sensor stops reading in year two.

Firmware and apps may be region-locked, manuals may be in another language, and consumables such as specific cards or replacement panels can be awkward to source. If the unit fails, return shipping usually costs more than the original saving.

There is a compatibility issue as well. Locks built for other markets may assume different door thicknesses or fitting standards, and if your main door is fire-rated, the door and lock need to be considered as a combination — something a marketplace listing cannot tell you.

That is different from saying every affordable lock is bad. A lesser-known brand sold locally, installed properly and backed by a real warranty can be entirely sensible, particularly for a bedroom door or a rental unit.

The test is not the price but the support behind it. Ask who installs it, who honours the warranty, where spare parts come from, and how long the seller has operated in Singapore. If any answer is vague, the saving is borrowed rather than earned.

Compare on four axes — length, coverage, who honours it, and how a claim actually works — because headline years on their own are misleading. Length is the easiest thing to compare and the least informative: a warranty may run for a stated overall period while individual components carry shorter cover, and terms often differ by brand and by model within the same shop.

Ask for the period in writing for the exact model you are buying, not the shop's best case. Coverage is where quotations really diverge.

Check whether it includes parts and labour or parts only, whether the fingerprint module, mainboard, motor and handle are all covered, and what is excluded — usually batteries, physical damage, water ingress, misuse and unauthorised repairs. Then ask who honours it: the retailer, a local distributor, or an overseas manufacturer.

A warranty you can walk into a local showroom with is worth more than a longer one you would have to claim internationally. Finally, the process.

Is service on-site, or must the lock be uninstalled and sent in? What is the typical response time?

Is there a call-out or transport fee? Is the cover transferable if you sell the flat?

Put the same question to every retailer and compare answers side by side: for this exact model, how long, parts and labour, serviced by whom, on-site or send-in, and what is excluded? In AN Digital Lock, we are transparent when it comes to warranty terms and owners are also able to transfer the product warranty over to the new owner.

Ask the questions that expose fit, total cost and after-sales, because that is where regret comes from — rarely from specifications. Start with compatibility: will this model fit my door and my gate, and can you confirm that from photos or a site check before I pay?

If your main door is fire-rated, ask whether the door and lock have been tested together as an assembly and whether the certification documents can be shown to you. Then cost.

What is the final installed price including GST, what would cause it to rise, and what exactly is in the box — how many cards, batteries included, any gateway needed for app features? Then after-sales, which is the part you are really buying:

• How long is the warranty on this exact model, and does it cover parts and labour?
• Who services it — you, a local distributor, or an overseas manufacturer?
• What is the typical response time if the lock fails, and is service on-site?
• How long have you carried this brand, and are you an authorised retailer for it?
• Can I see and try the model in person before deciding?

Finally, ask what happens if you change your mind before installation. A retailer who answers all of this plainly and in writing is usually the one to buy from; vagueness at quotation stage rarely improves after payment.