If you’re like me, you use a wireless smart lock because you live in an apartment or condo and can’t run wiring to your front door. And you know what a pain battery replacement can be. I’m lucky if I can go a few months before needing to replace the four AA batteries in my aging Eufy C30. So when I got a chance to take a look at the Lockin V7 Max here at CES 2026, a smart lock that works wirelessly yet never needs to be recharged, let’s just say I was more than a little intrigued. I got even more interested when I learned it wasn’t relying on solar.
“AuraCharge requires no sunlight, no manual charging, and provides an infinite power supply,” said Bill Chen, CEO of Lockin.
In addition to three means of biometric ID like palm and vein scanning, you can also use a keypad.
Optical wireless charging
The company calls its proprietary technology AuraCharge, or optical wireless charging. The V7 Max charges using a beam of light that powers the smart lock wirelessly from inside the door using a base station that relies on line of sight within a 4-meter range. The base station does need to be plugged in, but it can charge the smart lock almost continuously as long as it’s not moved or blocked.
The base station itself isn’t particularly large, about the size of a small speaker, so you can set it on an entry table or mount it. According to Lockin, the optical output is eye-safe and has dual safety certification from TÜV Rheinland and SGS.
Lockin says that the V7 Max is designed to ease battery anxiety because, unlike disposable cells, lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and solar-powered locks, it’s not reliant on replacement or light, or limited by battery endurance.
The V7 Max has a display on both sides to allow for two-way video.
Designed like a thin 15mm mortise smart lock, the V7 Max features all the high-end capabilities of Lockin. It has three types of biometric security, with finger vein, palm vein and 3D facial recognition. You can also use keypad and voice entry. Its Lockin AI allows it to customize its user experience for 10 core scenarios, including preventing theft, detecting and managing deliveries, and indexing video for keyword searches.
It also doubles as a video doorbell, with two HD cameras on both sides with a panoramic view. There are also two 5-inch touchscreens on the inside and outside of the lock, presumably showing you people at the door and letting you interact with delivery people and others. The V7 Max supports Google, Apple, Amazon and Samsung smart home systems as well as the Matter protocol.
The AuraCharge station resembles a speaker and requires a 4-meter line of sight to charge wirelessly.
There’s also a new model of the Veno Pro Wireless, a redesigned deadbolt smart lock version of the Veno Pro, which will also use AuraCharge wireless charging if you want a more traditional smart lock look with a keypad, but also new features like vein and palm detection. It should be a more affordable option and the one I’ll likely go with if I get one, since it works as a standard deadbolt replacement rather than a more complicated install like the mortise lock.
The new Veno Pro is a more standard deadbolt replacement and shouldn’t cost as much as the V7 while still supporting optical charging.
Finally, the company is also releasing a solar-powered smart lock, the Aeon, which uses perovskite solar tech that Lockin claims has better energy conversion efficiency compared with regular solar panels. While this does rely on having sunlight, Lockin says that it can still recharge using light from overcast skies, which could be very interesting for those who don’t live in sunny California or Texas. I wasn’t able to view a model at CES Unveiled, but I expect to see one at its booth later this week.
The V7 Max has an attractive design but is more complicated to install.
All three smart locks will be available for preorder following CES, with shipping in early 2026 through Amazon and Lockin.com. We don’t have exact pricing yet, but the Lockin V7 Max may cost as much as $1,300, making it a fairly costly option, with a release scheduled for late July or early August.
