The shuffling behaviour is the part most people ask about, and it is also the part that is easiest to describe badly. Lockly's own product pages and support material describe a keypad that rearranges itself, and third-party lock reviewers have covered the same feature under the name random mode. What follows separates what the shuffling actually changes from what it does not, then sets out the checks that matter before a smart lock is confirmed for a Malaysian home, office, or shop.
What the shuffling keypad changes at the door
A conventional keypad has fixed positions. Anyone standing nearby can watch which positions are pressed, and anyone who later inspects the surface can look for wear on the most-used digits. A shuffled keypad removes both of those signals, because the digit that appears in a given position changes between entries.
Lockly's own description of the feature is that the keypad shuffles after every button press, which means the layout is not stable even within a single code entry. That is a stronger version of the idea than a keypad that randomises once per session. The practical effect is that an observer who watches the screen sees a sequence of positions rather than a sequence of digits, and the positions carry no reusable meaning.
What the shuffling does not change is everything else about the door. It does not strengthen the deadbolt, the strike plate, the frame, or the hinge. It does not stop someone from following a resident through an open door. It does not replace the need for a working backup entry method when a battery runs down or a code is forgotten. A shuffled keypad addresses observation and guessing at the keypad itself, and that is the whole of its claim.
Why the shuffle matters more in some locations than others
The value of a shuffled keypad scales with how close strangers can get to the door. A shop entrance facing a five-foot way, an office door beside a reception desk, and a rental unit with a shared corridor all put people within reading distance of the keypad. A gate at the end of a private driveway does not. The feature is worth paying for where the keypad is visible to people who are not residents, and it is close to irrelevant where it is not.
How random mode is switched on and used day to day
Random mode is a setting rather than a permanent behaviour, and Lockly's support and product material place it under app control. The sequence below reflects how the feature is described across Lockly's own pages and the lock-review coverage in this set. It is a description of the feature, not a substitute for the manufacturer's current instructions for a specific model.
- Pair the lock with the Lockly Home app and confirm the lock appears as a connected device.
- Open the lock's settings in the app and locate the random mode or keypad shuffle option.
- Switch the option on and confirm the change is saved to the lock.
- Test the keypad at the door by entering a known code and watching whether the digits move position as each button is pressed.
- Test the same code a second time to confirm the layout differs from the first attempt.
- Check that every user who needs entry still has a working code or credential after the change.
Two things are worth knowing before switching it on. First, a shuffled layout is slower to use than a fixed one, because the correct digit has to be located on each press rather than reached by habit. That is a real cost for anyone who enters the door several times a day, and it is the main reason some households leave the feature off. Second, the shuffle only helps if the code itself is not guessable. A shuffled keypad displaying a four-digit code of 1234 still opens for anyone who tries 1234, because the shuffle changes where the digits appear, not which digits form the code.
Where random mode sits alongside other entry methods
Lockly's wider product material describes several ways into the same door: the keypad, a fingerprint reader, app-based unlocking, and temporary codes issued to guests. Random mode applies to the keypad path only. If a property relies mainly on fingerprint or app entry, the shuffle changes very little about daily use, and its value is limited to the occasions when a code is typed in front of someone else.
Where a Lockly Self Randomizing Keypad suits Malaysian premises
The feature fits situations where a code is shared with people who are not permanent residents and where the keypad can be seen. A shop in Kuching with staff turnover, an office that issues codes to contractors, and a homestay or short-term rental where the code changes between guests all match that description. In each case the shuffled keypad reduces the value of watching someone type, and the temporary-code features described in Lockly's own material reduce the need to change a shared code by hand.
It fits less well where the door is the only barrier to something valuable and where the surrounding structure is weak. A shuffled keypad on a hollow-core door with a short screws-and-strike-plate installation does not make that door secure. It also fits poorly where the people using the door include staff who enter dozens of times a day and where the extra seconds per entry accumulate into a genuine annoyance.
Eyonic's own product review position on smart locks is that they work best when door condition, user roles, and backup method are reviewed before installation, and that for business use the choice between a standalone smart lock and an access-control panel should be checked rather than assumed. That position applies directly here. A shuffled keypad is a feature of a lock, and the lock still has to suit the door and the people using it.
Standalone lock or access-control panel
A standalone smart lock suits a single door with a small, stable group of users. An access-control panel suits a site where entry needs to be logged centrally, where many doors need consistent rules, or where a lost credential has to be cancelled across the whole building rather than at one lock. The shuffled keypad is a reason to choose a particular lock within the first category. It is not a reason to choose a standalone lock over a panel where the site genuinely needs central control.
Door condition user roles and backup entry before installation
These three checks decide whether a smart lock works in practice, and they come before any decision about which keypad technology to prefer.
Door condition covers the material and thickness of the door, whether the existing cut-outs match the lock body, whether the frame is solid enough to hold a strike plate under load, and whether the door closes squarely enough for a motorised or spring-loaded bolt to throw without binding. A door that has swollen, dropped, or been repaired around the lock area is the most common reason a smart lock underperforms after installation.
User roles covers who needs entry, how often, and whether their access should expire. A household with three permanent residents and occasional visitors has different needs from a shop with rotating staff and delivery drivers. The number of distinct codes and the ability to revoke one without disturbing the others is the practical question.
Backup entry covers what happens when the battery is flat, the app is unavailable, or a code is forgotten. Lockly's material describes an emergency power accessory port and offline access codes among its features, and a mechanical key override is common on deadbolt models. Whichever applies, the backup path has to be tested at the door before the lock is relied on, and the physical key or backup credential has to be stored somewhere that is not inside the property.
What the available evidence does not confirm
No verified specification for the Lockly Self Randomizing Keypad is present in the material behind this page. That includes model numbers, code length, battery life, wireless protocol, and ingress rating. No verified Malaysian pricing, warranty terms, distributor details, or stock information is present either, and no verified door thickness range or compatibility list. Those details should come from the manufacturer's current documentation for the specific model under consideration, not from a general article.
Practical checks and open questions
The checks below are the ones Eyonic runs before a smart lock is confirmed, adapted from its stated approach to smart lock door access. They are written as an ordered list because the order matters: a lock that fails the first check should not be carried into the rest.
- Confirm the door condition, including material, thickness, existing cut-outs, frame solidity, and whether the door closes squarely enough for the bolt to throw cleanly.
- List the user roles, including how many people need entry, how often, and which of them should have access that expires.
- Confirm the backup entry method and test it at the door, then store the physical key or backup credential outside the property.
- Decide whether a standalone smart lock or an access-control panel fits the site, based on whether entry needs to be managed centrally across more than one door.
- Only then choose the lock and its keypad behaviour, including whether random mode is switched on for the doors where the keypad is visible to non-residents.
Two open questions are worth holding onto. The first is whether the shuffle is worth the daily friction for a given door, which depends on how often the code is typed in front of someone who should not see it. The second is whether the site's real weakness is the keypad at all, or the door, the frame, or the absence of any record of who came in. A shuffled keypad answers the first question well and says nothing about the second.
For sites in Sarawak that need entry managed across several doors, or that need visitor movement and staff areas handled as one system rather than as separate locks, the wider access-control question comes first. Eyonic's work at the Kuching Immigration Office covered arrival flow, staff areas, visitor movement, and dependable daily operation, and its KTA Sarawak Sdn Bhd project covered staff movement, visitor handling, and tidy cabling in an office setting. Both are examples of the same principle: the entry hardware follows the flow of people through the building, not the other way round.
Share your location, property type and required system with Eyonic on WhatsApp at +60 11-5111 7959 for the next practical step.