Thales - SafeNet eToken FIDO - FIDO2 Certified Security Key - Passwordless Phishing-Resistant Authentication for Web Apps, Devices & Desktops - USB-C

Meet my expectations. It's value for money

I purchased the Thales security key with high hopes for secure and seamless authentication, but my experience has been disappointing. First, there is no software or app available for Apple devices that allows you to set up a PIN on this key. Without this critical setup feature, the key cannot be used with certain financial institutions that require PIN-protected authentication. While it does appear to work with Gmail, the lack of clear instructions or setup videos made the process unnecessarily difficult. I searched extensively for guidance, but there are virtually no resources available to help users troubleshoot or configure the key effectively. To make matters worse, customer service has been very poor. I reached out for assistance, but responses were either delayed or unhelpful, leaving me frustrated and unsure how to fully utilize the product. If you’re an Apple user or need a security key for broader applications like financial institutions, I would recommend looking elsewhere. The lack of support and clear instructions makes this product impractical for many use cases.

Basic FIDO security key that functions as expected. You can use the built in software in Windows to reset or change the PIN on the device. There was no need to download any software from Thales, but I tested the Thales Windows and Android app and those both worked fine. If you understand how FIDO security keys work, you should have no issue with this. I am assuming some of the negative reviews are due to not understanding what security keys are for and how to use them.

The item description clearly states “works with windows”, that is not a lie , but not the whole truth. You can use it in windows for sites and apps, but not for windows Hello. This is very disappointing since that is why I purchased it

The product arrived perfectly. I did the setup in Windows 11 Microsoft Account settings and set the PIN there. It works flawlessly with apps like Bitwarden, Chrome and Firefox. I also used Linux and Mac and it works as expected even crossplatforming. It even works with iPhone 15 Pro. The product itself seems pretty good quality, durable and reliable. Take note that for some services like Apple ID it will ask for at least 2 FIDO devices, so I recommend buying in pairs. I bought another but the classic non USB-C one.

Satisfied with my purchase Item is as described

Many sites are now using the FIDO2 standard to have additional security for your most secure sites, such as financial sites. I tested this key with my domain registrar. I don't get in there often and I don't want people being able to steal my web domains out from under me. So this kind of key seems perfect for something like that, where I rarely get into it but it's also extremely important that nobody else can get my domain names. The key was somewhat easy to use, except that there is no physical button on the key unlike most keys. You actually just touch the end of the device to activate it, but I had to watch a video from them in order to figure that out. That seems like a poor user interface, especially as I am someone that has used these types of keys in the past. That said, once I set up the key, it works just fine. I may use this key for additional websites in the future, ones where the security really does matter more than commenting or the like. Because of the poor to non-existent user interface instructions, I'll give this a 4 out of 5. You really do just touch the end softly to activate it, so it's not hard, but it's not remotely obvious. There is a QR code, but it just takes you to a web page where they are trying to sell security to large corporate organizations and isn't the least bit helpful to an end user trying to figure out where the button is. And the product listing stating: "Features a sensitive presence detector on the USB key" doesn't mean anything to anyone. How about, "Just touch the end to log in!" as a dumbed down version that everyone can understand? Also, what is this about 4-digit PINs? "Replace frustrating passwords with a simple 4-digit PIN for accessing apps and sites." First, PINs can be any length so why even say "4"? Second, the site I used it on didn't require a PIN of any kind. I still have to use my username and ("frustrating") password and then touch the key to log in. No PINs in sight. My password is not frustrating because I use a password vault. I think that the PIN thing is for Windows, Mac and Linux logins, not "apps and sites". Seriously, hire a competent technical writer to dumb down the misleading tech jargon into something that we can read on your page and then put a quick start guide in your product for the end user (or at the very least have the QR code go to a page that tells the end-user how to operate the thing). If you want this stuff to catch on (and I think it's a pretty good idea), you really need to do better than this.

When I scanned the QR code to get started, I filled out the form and was asked to give my credit card details. I then found that a company named EZMERG had charged me $35 for something.