Buying a new safe? Read our guide.

A safe can become an integral part of your home or office security if you know what to look for. This user-friendly guide will tell you all you need to know before you buy.

Lock Types

The type of lock you choose won't nescessarily affect the safe's security, but it can impact ease of use and your ability to compromise its security.

Key Lock

This popular method is tried and trusted. There's no PIN to forget and no risk of batteries running flat. Although there is the risk of leaving your keys lying around, and the cost of replacing lost keys. Also, depending on the level of security, replacing the keys might not be an option, so the safe itself would have to be replaced.

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Keypad

As you would with a cash machine, you enter a PIN code that you can set yourself and change as often as you like. A low battery warning lets you know when the batteries need replacing and more advanced keypads come with a time delay or an audit trail to track who opened the safe - just don't forget your code.

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Fingerprint

A safe with fingerprint locking will only open when a pre-scanned fingerprint is swiped over the fingerprint reader. The big benefit? There's no PIN code to remember. However, the cost of good quality fingerprint readers can make this type of lock quite pricey and fingerprints can wear away over time.

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Dial Combination

A dial combination lock is the precursor to the keypad. Although popular in films, they're less so in real life because they're a bit fiddly to use. The only real benefit is there are no batteries to run flat.

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Dual Locks

This combination of two locks, either two key locks or a keypad and key, means it takes two people to open it. For example, one user could hold the key while another would know the PIN code.

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