REVIEW – I’ve never had what I call a medium-sized safe. I’ve always had either very small shoebox-sized safes, or large 5-foot-tall safes. The Adimo 2.8 cubic foot safe review offer came along, and I figured it was time to not only upgrade my small safe but also add a bit of technology to it.
What is it?
The ADIMO 2.8 cubic foot cabinet safe features a keypad, key, and fingerprint access along with sensitivity alarms and auto door opening.
What’s in the box?
- Adimo 2.8 cubic foot safe box
- Two physical keys
- Mounting screws
- Padded feet
- Emergency battery box
Hardware specs
- Dimensions: 14.96″ wide, 21.65″ tall, 12.6″ deep
- Door thickness: 2″
- Weight: 62.83 lbs.
Design and features
The Adimo 2.8 cubic foot safe box is an attractive, yet functional safe. The integrated hinge and 5-bolt locking mechanism ensure the door is flush when closed, making it more difficult to break into. The exterior appears to be powder coated, with a slight texture to it.
An electronic display/keypad includes numbers for a passcode unlock, a fingerprint reader, and a semi-hidden physical key slot. Overall, the design is quite elegant. When the fingerprint reader or the keypad registers valid entry data, a motor will retract the door bolts and a spring-loaded mechanism pushes the door open. Four AA batteries power the safe. The physical key opens and closes the bolts when it is used.
The inside of the ADIMO 2.8 cubic foot cabinet safe features two movable shelves and an attractive fabric lining. This also helps with sound deadening.
The inside of the door also includes some hooks for hanging items, such as backup keys for other items.
Although the safe weighs 62 lbs, much of the weight is in the door. It’s always a good idea to bolt the safe to a wall, but if you don’t, you’ll need to be careful of it tipping forward when there is not much-added weight inside.
I took the inside of the door panel off to see if any areas could be easily penetrated to open the safe without the code as many cheap safes have. I did not find any easy way to do so. The bolts are also not subject to drop-opening like some cheap safes are.
The Adimo 2.8 cubic foot safe box also has a vibration alarm that will go off if it detects extreme vibration. I did set it off once while moving it and setting it down.
The safe comes pre-programmed to allow any fingerprint to open the safe. You’ll want to program at least one fingerprint before using the safe, even if you don’t intend to use that feature.
When I first received the Adimo cabinet safe, there was a spot on the front that had damage to the powder coat. Adimo then sent me a second safe, which had obvious drop damage to the bottom corner. Both safes remained operational, as the damage was purely cosmetic. However, I do believe that even though it is packed in a fair amount of foam, the heavy weight of the safe dictates that it could use a bit more packing protection.
The safe has opened flawlessly every time I have accessed it with the keypad. The fingerprint reader works well, however, it does require you to have your finger in a similar orientation as when it was programmed. This can be mitigated by adding the same fingerprint multiple times, rotating your finger a little bit each time.
The Adimo safe is advertised as “Fireproof,” however I did not find a fireproof rating on it, and there isn’t any fireproofing material inside. It’s basically just considered “fireproof” because it’s made from steel.
The emergency battery box is basically a AA battery-powered USB Type-C power supply. It can be used to power the safe if the batteries on the inside go dead. You could use the new batteries in the box to open the safe, then install the batteries from the emergency box into the safe.
The safe also has an LED light that comes on when you open the safe. It’s not really bright during the daytime, but when it’s dark, it’s bright enough to see what you’re doing without drawing attention.
What I like
- Screw holes in the back for wall mounting
- The little hooks inside are a nice touch
- Fingerprint reader and opening speed are very nice
- Good medium-sized safe
What I’d change
- Packaging needs to be better, paint was chipped on front
- Some actual fireproofing material inside would be nice
Final thoughts
Overall, the ADIMO 2.8 cubic foot cabinet safe will probably serve me well for quite some time. I like the quick 1-second opening speed, the internal light, and the padded interior.
Price: $329.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Adimo.
