Our future will be filled with touch controls, whether they’re necessary or not. A capacitive gun trigger? Sounds lovely. A touchscreen light switch? Install it now. A touch-sensitive button to open your umbrella? Why not. That’s why I’m not so surprised with the Master Lock dialSpeed, a combination padlock that substitutes traditional controls with an electronic directional interface.
While it ditches the iconic dial available in traditional combination padlocks, the new electronic contraption still uses the classic hinged shackles. As such, it’s more a combination of the old and the new, retaining the same secure closure, while allowing for faster and easier entry of codes.
The Master Lock dialSpeed can save multiple personalized codes (1 primary and 3 guest codes), so you can share a locker with friends while using sequences that are easier for each of you to remember. Just in case you all get amnesia and forget all your codes, it comes with a backup master code that you can retrieve from the company’s website whenever you need it. Since it’s electronic, though, it’s purely for indoor use — get it wet and there’s no telling what can happen (probably not good).
Body measures a wide 51mm, allowing you to grab it comfortably for one-handed code entry. The shackle is made from boron carbide with anti-shim technology, too, providing a high level of cut resistance. It requires a CR2032 battery to run (5 years lifespan).
Granted, I’m not too sold on the idea of padlock that can’t get wet and requires a battery. But if you like all your stuff high-tech, the Master Lock dialSpeed is about as high-tech as a padlock gets. It’s available now, priced at $25.