VS-52BLX

I’ve owned the Viking Security VS-52BLX hidden wall safe for several years now, and I couldn’t be happier with it. The build quality is solid, installation was straightforward, and it blends perfectly into the wall for discreet storage. The biometric fingerprint reader has been very reliable, opening quickly and accurately, and I really appreciate having both biometric and key access as backup. It gives great peace of mind for securing valuables while still allowing fast access when needed. Overall, this is a well-designed, dependable safe from a brand I trust. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a hidden wall safe with biometric access.

First thing's first: I'm really happy with this safe. It is a lot more heavy duty than the Cannons I used at my old house. It is shipped in a thick cardboard box, with a little bit of styrofoam, wood, and thick cardboard guards for insulation. It's not the greatest, but not the worst. When I opened it up to test it I saw that the shelves were loose inside the safe with nothing more than a few foam pieces which were about as protective as duck and cover in a nuclear attack. My shelves weren't bent or anything but I saw that some other reviewers did have bent tabs on their shelves and this may be why (the shelves are metal, but the tabs to secure them are small, thin, and easily bendable). Installation is simple. You can install this whether your studs are 16" apart or 24" apart. If it's 24" you will need to do some rigging. There are plenty of ideas available online that are easy to do. If your studs are 16" apart, it's much quicker and easier, this is going to fit right between them (the 16" is from the centers of the studs, so there's actually more like 14 1/2" between them). Make sure you use stud finders that also detect metal, pipes, and live wires. Best thing is to put this in a wall that has no outlets or anything on either side. If you have an older house (like an old Victorian or Colonial in the Northeast), you may have a little project on your hands as they didn't use studs the way we do now. There are three ways into this safe. The first way is via key, which is how you have to get in initially to install the batteries. Like other safes, just unscrew the logo and the keyhole is underneath (it comes with the right size hex wrench). For me, the key fit right in and this was simple. The safe uses six batteries: 4 for the control panel, 2 for the LED panel. The control panel is easy, pop off the lid, put the batteries in, put the lid back on. The LED panel requires you to use a screwdriver to remove it. It was a little bit of a pain to get the box open but I got it. As a note, there are 6 AA batteries included with the safe, but like so many other things, the batteries included with mine were cheap and also almost dead. I expected this and was prepared for it with my own. Save yourself some trouble and use fresh batteries. Programming your new code (don't leave the default code, it's the first thing a thief will try) is simple. Scanning new fingerprints is even easier. Unlike GunVault, there are no "admin" fingerprints. Just push the red button on the inside of the safe door and you can program it. I scanned all of my fingers from 3 different angles to make sure. It's favorite scan is of my middle fingers (go figure). Most fingerprint scanners don't like my thumb prints, this one is no exception. The nice thing about this safe is that you also have the code. Since age or certain activities can render your fingerprints unreadable, the safe isn't useless because you can always punch your code combination in. To use the fingerprint, hit # and the red LED goes on indicating it's time to put a finger on the scanner. Use * to punch in a code (after you're done with the code, use * again to open). Regardless of which method you use, after you close it, remember to push # to relock it (if you forget, it will beep incessantly after a few minutes which is the warning that it's still open). As far as space inside, I know that some reviewers complained about the space behind the locking mechanism. I put a Sig Sauer P229 handgun behind it and was able to close it fine without any interference from the handgun (you won't be able to put a gun that size behind the locking mechanism while in a holster). So there is actually a decent amount of space. There are also tabs at the top to hang keyrings from so you can keep important keys in here (like keys to other safes, do NOT keep the key to this safe inside of it). As far as security goes, this thing is heavy duty. It would take some work to pry open or cut. Actually, I'd say compared to other safes of this class, it's a bit more secure. Like any wall mounted safe, a persistent thief can just cut it out of the wall with a saw and be done with it. But again, a smash and grab thief who does not have a lot of time or cart around power tools. If you are concerned, other security measures (alarms, motion sensors, cameras, etc) should be employed. For what this is, I think it's worth the money and it deserves the five stars I have given it.

This wall biometric safe is exactly what I was looking for. The fingerprint reader is fast and reliable, opening in seconds without any issues. Installation was straightforward, and the flush wall design keeps it hidden behind my wife’s clothes! It feels solid and well-built, giving me peace of mind. Highly recommend for anyone wanting quick access with concealment.

I had a number of problems with this and I really want to give it a 2 or 3 star rating, but the overall quality of the safe and the multiple ways to get into it won't allow me to do that. First the problems. It was packed in a cardboard box that looked like it went around the world strapped to the front of a bus, with a handful of Styrofoam blocks inside. Not even good Styrofoam -- it was the old kind that falls apart and makes a mess. But there was no physical damage to the safe itself, so I proceeded with the install. I opened it with the key and tried to set up the code first. It would not lock -- the mechanism operated but the lugs did not move. It turned out that I had to disassemble the lock box inside and repair a defective part (by bending it). The vendor was very apologetic and helpful in trying to resolve this and assured me they'd replace it if I could not fix it. Their instructions were thorough and included photos, but were wrong. I was able to figure out the problem and fix it pretty easily. I let them know what the problem was and they were very appreciative -- great customer service made a flawed product end up with a 4-star rating (BTW Viking never responded to my attempts to contact them -- it was the Biometric Store that helped me). It was a pretty major flaw -- it made the safe not able to lock even though it said it was locked. With that repaired, I installed the safe and that brings me to another problem that has nothing to do with this particular brand or model. Most of these safes are made for 16-inch-OC studs, but many interior walls have them 24 inches on center. So plan the location carefully because it's hard to mount this in a wall when you have a big gap to fill (I made a "box" out of 2x3's and plywood -- in hindsight I should have torn open the wall and added a stud and had somebody fix the wall). Hot tip for Viking -- this safe would be awesome in a 22.5-inch-wide model, and while you're at it make it taller too. Other problems -- like others have said, there is no room in the middle because the lock box is so big. I realize that it needs a lock and it needs to fit in a 3.5-inch space, but I've opened that lock box and it doesn't need to be anywhere near the size it is -- the mechanism is relatively small. The box is twice the size it needs to be either because they want it to look stronger or they were just lazy. With all that said, here is what I like. It seems to be put together well. It looks good. It doesn't look cheap. There are redundant methods to access it. It comes with two very unusual keys, which you should not hide so well that you forget where you put them (like I did). You can enter a four digit code -- I also forgot that. BTW make sure to set one because it will open without a code until one is set (or something like that). The fingerprint scanner is excellent. I've never been impressed by these, but this one works great. My fingerprints are old and well-worn and it reads my finger every time. You can enter something like 40 scans -- this can be different fingers or lots of the same one or two fingers to make it learn them from every angle. I've had it a few months and occasionally open it just to make sure it's still working right. So far it's been fine. If anything goes wrong with it I'll come back here and update but for now I'm happy. In spite of the problems I had, I agree with another review that said it seems like Viking looked at all the terrible reviews of other safes and decided to make a product that didn't have the same issues. They mostly seem to have accomplished that.

Excellent. The safe was easy to install. Fit right in the stud space. I know there are better ones out there but for the money, it’s great. The finger print scanner doesn’t work all the time but it’s probably my fingers being worn down from working. Great for small things and it’s easy to hide. Over all, I would buy it again.

Great unit but the shelves are crap and the locking system takes up a lot of the space inside