In-Wall Safe with Electronic Keypad and 2 Manual Override Keys - Protect Money, Jewelry, and Passports at Home or Business by Paragon Safes (Gray)

Just finished installing this wall safe. A few comments on the installation. There are no installation instructions but it's all common sense and there's a few You Tube videos out there to show you what to do. The safe itself fits exactly between two studs. IMO - Having a good stud finder made all the difference. I purchased a JAXWQ stud finder on Amazon and it worked great. Also, I added a 2X4 on the bottom for the safe to sit on while installing the screws into the studs. Use a level to make sure everything is straight. The safe is no frills but solid. Installing the batteries and passcodes was easy. So overall, there were no surprises on install which I appreciate. You really can't go wrong with this safe for the price point.

I like this product. Probably not super armored but definately a theft deterant. It has 6 3/16" lags that security it within a stud bay. Most studs are on 16" centers so there is 14.5" inbetween in theory. This is almost never the case in reality so you'llBe happy to know that this wallSafe width is 14.25". Very thoughtful.I just found a stud near where I wanted the safe and cut into the area to the right and determined exactly where the opening between studs was. Then cut horizontally across until I reached the width of 14 3/8". Then Used a 2" level to plumb down 20 3/8". Used a level to get nice straight lines. Used a drywall saw to follow my layout lines. Set the safe in the hole and drilled pilots holes and then used an impact driver to set lags. The hex head is in metric. 5/16" is too small and 3/8" is just a hair too small. It was close enough that I could use the 3/8" socket to drive the lag in. Never done that in 10 years of contracting but it worked and I didnt have to track down a metric driver set or socket set.Easy to follow instructions. Simple to use. Batteries included. Pretty straight forward. Feels very secure.

The safe itself is a solid piece, hard to bust open with just hand tools. You would need some serious power to break that thing open.That said, the locking mechanism lacks greatly. When in locked position, you can rotate the knob clockwise and retract the claws about 75% which aids in easier opening with brute force. Upon investigation of the locking mechanism, this seems like a big oversight (design flaw) and can be easily fixed (I am a mechanical engineer). As a matter of fact, I fixed their design flaw within minutes with some spare metal and 2 bolts. The travel of the claw is now minimal in the locked position.I agree with the other reviewers that the overall product appearance wasn't 100% perfect. I have found several paint chips or paint flaws on the front and back. The back does not matter because the safe is installed in a wall. But the front face should not have any chips, that is just disappointing. However, a good safe is not visible all the time and instead hides behind a painting, wall rug or other object. So it is not such a big eyesore.I really like the feature of the backup key in case the batteries die (or the any of the electronic lock parts fail). It is needed for sure.The door closes tightly and without much slop. I am planning on installing a thin fire-proof seal to aid in survival of anything combustible in case of a house fire.The whole locking mechanism plate is straight and flush, no problems there.Overall, the safe does its job and we are satisfied with its performance.As for security, this is a good home safe which you need to guard, though. Anyone with a drill can open it easily in under 60 seconds.A quick installation tip: a standard crutch might aid in holding the safe up during installation.

Bought a similar product back in 2012, but recently had a problem that required that I engage a locksmith to open the safe. Unfortunately all attempts failed and it required the locksmith to destroy the safe...so I bought another one. I installed it today and it was easy peasy, though this time I will put the safe on quarterly test schedule to make sure the batteries don't leak and the solenoid does not stick or freeze. The locksmith came highly recommended and tried every trick to open the safe before drilling the lock and even then it was a very real tedious and complicated effort requiring more drilling and probing to successfully open the safe. It was well over two hours and about $470.00 (including trip charge) to open the safe.