By Tim Gilge
I was quite excited to be asked to review this Onnais ally SE Gun Safe, as I have tried several different types of gun safe’s for travel and bedside applications and have had some bad experiences in the past. But I wanted to take those as learning experiences and see how this Onnais SE stacked up against my prior gun safes.
The Onnais Alloy SE Safe came in a secure and well-padded box, upon first unboxing it I noticed the high-quality materials used for the packing and packaging which was a good sign to me, companies that skimp on such things will typically skimp on other things.
The Onnais SE safe is sleek in appearance and sturdy in feel, the handle, is solid metal and is easily stow-able which was attractive to me, not the most comfortable thing to carry, but to and from the car its nice and functional.
The inside of the box had pop out foam inserts as well as a plastic cage type thing I think could be used as support for different types of things you could put in the safe. The direct inside had a thin but seemingly high-quality foam on the bottom, back and lid, with no foam on the sides of the box, which could easily be rectified if needed with some minor retrofitting of the extra pop-out foam they provided.
Upon inspecting the Onnais locking mechanisms, I was at first very concerned as I noticed a plastic piece that I thought was part of the latch. Upon further inspection the plastic piece was basically an actuator to activate the locking fingers to engage, all parts of the actual locking mechanism that are visible are made out of solid metal.
The seams of the box are fairly tight, but there is most likely enough gap to get a screw driver in, however after some light prying (didn’t want to damage it before I had tested the other features) I found the solid metal construction and metal latches held firm. Keep in mind that smaller safe’s are typically breakable, if you want something unbeatable, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t exist, even a ten thousand pound safe that’s worth tens of thousands of dollars or more are beatable with the right tools and time. The question is how long can it delay an attacker, and what tools are the attackers going to have to use to beat it. It’s all a tradeoff for security, and keeping that in mind, I am impressed with how sturdy and solid this little safe is.
Could I beat it? Most likely yes, but I would need several tools, time, and I would most likely have to use foul language and the hate adult life has instilled in me over the years to do so. In my mind, that’s the best we can ask for when we want a small compact safe.
The instructions were easy to follow and not overly complicated for my admittedly simple brain, I charged the safe for about 30 minutes to get it to full before proceeding, then I followed the rest of the instructions to setup the fingerprints and RFID keychain provided, all of which was easy and fast to setup. I stored finger print scans for both my thumbs and pointer fingers to test it over the course of the month. One thing to note here is they do requirea (5) digit code, which I was not very fond of, I would prefer if they gave an option for 4-6 digits but it’s a small nitpick in the scheme of things.
They do have voice responses programed into it, they are clear and easily understandable, they also give the option to turn it off which I appreciate.
In the box Onnais provide (1) key fob, as well as (2) physical keys, charging cord (standard USB-C) and a removable cable lanyard. The RFID idea is a really good one, and I kind of wish they would have provided two RFID cards, that way I could put one on both the wife’s and my own keychains. it appeared to have an option to code multiple RFID cards, I did look online to see if I could order an extra or two, and didn’t see an option readily available on their website or a quick google search, I did reach out anonymously and received a quick reply instructing me where to find them, strangely its on Amazon (of course it is). This was the link they provided me, on amazon here.
Two key fobs for like $14 seemed reasonable to me.
Looking for a bigger gun safe? check out our Gun Vault review here.
My use / purpose for the Onnais SE safe is fairly singular, which is firearms. I wanted something my wife could take on a trip and feel secure about leaving a firearm in her vehicle or hotel room if needed as this was a concern for her.
The box was big enough for my purposes, I was able to fit my smaller EDC, a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 2.0 EZ in it with no trouble at all.
It was a tighter fit for my larger competition gun which is a modified CZ P-09, but it was able to fit it, as well as a suppressor or extra mags (but not both). With a little foam padding they provided I would have no concerns using this safe to transport any of them.
Over the course of the next month I wanted to see how the finger print worked and how the batteries lasted. I found the finger prints were on and off after a month, in its defense, I work hard and my fingers take the brunt of it. My hands are constantly worn down, covered in paint, cuts etc. I’ve personally never been a fan of relying on finger prints if my life depended on it, I found myself using the RFID and the punch buttons the most.
For testing the battery, I used it 10-20 times per day for about a week, with no change to 100% charge, then being winter in Montana, I figured, what’s a better way to kill a battery then leave it in a cold vehicle for a week? (That kills all the other batteries I have) I promptly, straight up forgot about it for about 2 weeks….
I had shooting competitions and other life things happening. It did get a little beat up sitting on the floor of my truck, but just the pretty appearance, the matte finish got some shiny spots and streaks from things being dropped or dragged over it which in my mind is fully understandable. The battery incredibly was still at 100%. We are talking 2 weeks in -15-to 30-degree Fahrenheit. I still haven’t been able to kill this battery and it slightly vexes me. The other option is that the voice read out just has pre-sets, like 100%, 75%, 50% etc. Maybe its at 80% and hasn’t reached the next tier yet. I didn’t get my volt meter out and tear into its guts so I cant say for sure.
Overall, I think the Onnais Alloy SE gun Safe is a good product for the money, nothing is ever perfect, but we find the balance we need for our applications. I would have no issues giving this to my wife for a road trip provided she had a key fob to go with it.
Where to Find it:
- Onnais Alloy SE Gun Safe Amazon
- Onnais Alloy SE Official Website/Product Page
- Extra Onnais Alloy RFID Fob on Amazon.
Thank you for reading this review, and I hope you find it helpful in your decisions.
Tim
About the Reviewer:
Tim Gilge is a “regular Joe” who is passionate about competition shooting. Tim is also a published author and you can purchase his hilarious book about growing up in rural Montana here. His book, Snakecicles will have you crying from laughing. You can find it here on Amazon.
