Customer Reviews

SentrySafe QE4531 Fire-Safe Water-Resistant Safe with USB-Powered Connectivity, 1.2 Cubic Feet, Black

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

F****** Garbage.

That's the kindest thing I can say about this safe, and other Sentry safes. It is hard to convey, clearly, just how low quality these products are. In this particular case the handle is weak and can start to come lose, break, with little trouble. The safe is picky about which batteries it will operate properly with. If you use the wrong batteries it will appear to work, but it will not actually unlock. We *nearly* missed a trip to Mexico over this, and no $300 safe is worth missing a family vacation. The electronics inside are the cheapest electronics I have seen in any product I have ever owned. I've seen nicer electronics in tableside alarm clocks and children's toys.

Find a company which actually cares even the slightest bit about its products and its customers.

P.S. Amazon needs to allow me to give a product zero stars.

Garbage.

I can't speak to how fireproof this safe might be. But I can tell you about the lock mechanism, from cold hard experience, as this has the same internals as similar models. After ours broke, we could not even dispose of the mass sitting in our back room. We can't risk that someone else might open it an access our old files and computer backups.

The official recommendation from SentySafe appears to be "tap it with a rubber mallet, spray wd-40 in, and try again. We did, and finally managed to get the stripped and nearly useless mechanism to budge. The construction on the mechanism is inferior consisting of a mix of pot metal held in place by plastic guides. This is cheap made in China junk that just won't stand the test of time. Only buy it if you don't plan on opening or closing it very often.

This safe generally provides everything we expected: a solid, secure and relatively compact tool to store our vital documents and data. Unfortunately the safe arrived with a significant dent along the entire side panel and a slight breach in a seam that made us question the integrity of unit's fire/water resistence. We did not exchange the unit as another reviewer did, but the condition definitely temptered our excitement when the safe arrived. One other minor issue is the cheap plastic handle with a rickety feel. Overall good product.

I was skeptical from some of the other reviews but I decided to take a chance on the safe. I waited now about 8 months to write a review, and the safe works great for what I use it for. If your looking for a good heavy sturdy home safe this one does the job. I have been using this now for about 8 months with no issue's. I have not had any issues with the locking mechanism which I have read that others have. I also like it because it is a good heavy sturdy safe, and nobody would be able to pick it up and run with it. For what I use it for(Documents,Valuables,etc) it does a fine job.

The first safe was delivered to me damaged real bad. It had been damaged in shipping. However when I notified Amazon it was taken care of immediately and another safe arrived within five days. I am perfectly satisfied with the outcome and also with the quality of the safe. It is very easy to operate.

I know that Sentry cuts corners with cheap materials wherever they can; not exactly the formula you want for protecting your most valuable items. I also know that this isn't a blog site but I have a question regarding this safe (I don't own it, my star rating reflects Sentry products and what I can only assume is a MAJOR DESIGN FLAW). If you use the USB to back up files from your computer, what would stop someone (a thief for example) from hooking a computer up to your safe and stealing your important/personal files? Especially if you used this for a business! An employee could be copying all of your files without leaving a trace.

I have figured a way they could address this, and maybe they have taken steps to prevent this, but if you are willing to settle for Sentry quality (or lack there of) I would NOT use the "backup" system unless you are confident nobody else can access your info. Just a thought, hope it helps.