[ChiragM]

One of the first interactions you have with your car is through the key. Holding on to it has great symbolism - you are holding in your hands the key to freedom, control, ownership and pride. Over the years, car keys have evolved from unimpressive flat pieces of metal, to having molded plastic heads, and eventually to having electronics capable of radio-frequency communication and even display screens in-built!

Listed below are the types of keys found for the majority of cars sold today. Vote for the ones you prefer in the poll above, and tell us why.

Conventional key with lock/unlock buttons

Many entry-level cars today get these conventional keys with lock/unlock buttons added on them for keyless entry. Unlocking might be modernized, but cranking her up is still done the good ol' fashioned way.

Flip key

The same basics as the conventional key, but in a completely different form factor. The metal folding away into the plastic body is handy as it makes the key more convenient to pocket. The larger plastic area allows for additional buttons too, like the convenient boot release button.

Smart key

Smart keys have really gained popularity for mass-market cars in the last few years. The convenience of simply pressing the request sensor on the door handle to unlock the car is unparalleled. Add to that, it means you also get the bonus of a 'Start/Stop' button. Some smart keys are the in the form factor of a card (eg. Kicks), while others are more elaborately designed, like the Tesla keys which are shaped like a car.

Smartphone App

Image Source
Keys to some cars like Teslas are also integrated into smartphone applications. You can use the phone to lock/unlock the cars and control some of the functions pictured above as well.

Wearable Band

Some cars like a few Hyundais and Tatas come with a wearable band, which can be used to unlock as well as start the car. Pictured above is the band that was made available with the first-gen Creta facelift. Some of these bands even have additional features, similar to fitness trackers.

[Rehaan]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!


I'll pick the Smartkey.

Not having to fish around in my pocket, press a button or poke a key into a keyhole every time I want to get into my car is one of those seemingly tiny changes that actually makes a massive difference!

The downside however, is that I find start/stop buttons fidgety and there's always some vagueness to its usage when you're trying to do something other than start the engine. Press once? Long press? Press twice? Don't press it with the door open? Did I press it already and it's just slow to react? Argh.

Give me an old school crank-up any day!

[landcruiser123]

Voted for the conventional key. I still have a conventional key in my '12 Ford Fusion and love it.

That said, smart keys are convenient - especially when you have to start the car, close the door to let it warm, and clean snow. You never have to worry about locking the key (bunch) inside the car.

[KiloAlpha]

I voted for conventional key, flip key, smart key, and other.

What is the "other" you might ask? Well, for me, it implies "I don't really care as long as it is a key". The type of key for me is pretty irrelevant.

[andafunda]

Conventional key or biometrics. Everything else in between is a compromise on reliability, security, convenience and robustness.

[railfanwithk750]

+1 for biometrics. Fingerprint sensors have become very mainstream. What's stopping car manufacturers from incorporating a fingerprint sensor instead of the traditional 'request sensor' on the handles?

[Wanderers]

Voted smartkey. I drive grand i10 with smartkey and a ford with flipkey. The convenience of not touching the key at all is unparalleled. It remains in pocket throughout. single press or double press is no brainer, one get use to it. Also never faced issue of low battery, the battery shows signs of weakness before it is completely down.
However, I do believe that future keys will be app, siri/equivalent or face id/ touch id based. Imagine you need a Tata ID to buy a car.

[vb-saan]

Voted for Smart key and flip key – either of these are good for me; the flip key is good as it stays neat in the pocket like a smart key and still give that old-school mechanical feel.

My least preferred option here is the band; but I feel it will be more acceptable once the feature gets into mainstream wearables like Apple Watch.

[GTO]

From the current options, my top choice is a conventional key & a flippy key. I find the ritual of inserting a key & cranking weirdly satisfying . Plus, the key is always in the "right" place. I don't like smartkeys because it is easy to forget where you kept them, they can fall out of your pants (I wear track pants a lot) and on many occasions, I have handed over the car to someone, but walked away with the smartkey in my pocket. I find smartkeys very easy to misplace. Smartkeys are also the most expensive to replace / repair.

From upcoming trends, I'd love the idea of a smartphone app or biometrics. I lived with a Tesla for a couple of days and absolutely loved the convenience that its well-designed smartphone app offered. Walk up to the car and simply drive away!

[sumeethaldankar]

Conventional and flippy key. Hate the smart keyless entry type keys. These are just another way to add more expense to your pocket in case something goes wrong. If the battery in the keyless thing is dead you may have trouble starting the car. I know you can touch the start stop button with the key receiver in this case but I am not comfortable with such a thing. You now have to worry about two batteries, the car's and the remotes. Also it is more fun to "do the twist" while starting up a car while the modern push button thing feels as if we are starting up some appliance.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by GTO

From the current options, my top choice is a conventional key & a flippy key. I find the ritual of inserting a key & cranking weirdly satisfying .!

I voted for conventional key for exactly this reason. Cranking the engine (the old fashioned key turning method) is one of the most satisfying experiences for me.

Further, as you correctly said, they key is always in a "designated place" and that eliminates one more confusion for me as to where to keep the key and where to find it.

I have one car with conventional key and the other with smartkey. I do not find any advantages of the smartkey over conventional key in my day to day driving.

However, I am open to the idea of wearable band (because that will always be in the right place - on my wrist - and I do not have to figure out where to keep the keys), provided it combines the key with all other functions I need from my wrist bad. I already wear a FitBit, and I need all the functionalities of that. I do not want to wear additional gadget on my wrist. But if the future wearable key is either combined into my existing smart watch or has all the functions of a smart watch, then it could be a great device!

My absolutely last choice would be a phone app. Fiddling with the phone screen to lock/unlock the car, finding the right app from the myriad of apps on the phone, and worrying about accidental usage of the app when I am doing other things on the phone would be unnecessary distractions. I feel a phone app is an overkill for a simple problem of locking/unlocking the car and driving away.

[libranof1987]

Voted for the Smartkey.

Pros:
- Works perfectly with push button start, where you needn't take the key out of your pocket/bag at all.
- The car will start even if the Smartkey runs out of battery: a physical key is within the Smartkey to unlock the door and per Ford, the steering module can charge the Smartkey enough to detect the key and start the car.

Con:
- You can at times, forget to ensure the key is within the car. It is very likely that the driver may step out with the key and someone else might drive the car, as the car will not shut down even if the key is not physically in the car.

In a country like ours where the car is majorly the "house car" where multiple might use it, the app/band would be a hassle in terms of convenience and ease of use.

There is one more type: the Smartcard. This is essentially what rental companies such as Zipcar use abroad. Owners/subscribers have the Smartcard which they can use to lock/unlock any car. Of course, this would be overkill for a personal car.

[Eddy]

Smartkey for me. I find it very convenient.

And on the other hand, a wearable band is a complete no-no.

[Ace F355]

The picture of my key bowl speaks for itself



Conventional or Flip keys for me. Our Honda was a conventional key, which I converted to OEM Flip design because of the length of the key blade that used to get a bit uncomfortable in pant pockets. On the other hand, our Venue is smart key enabled (not the pic above) - whose key while convenient to use, I tend to forget about whenever handing over the car to someone.

My personal preference are the conventional/flip keys for my own use case.

[chinmaypillay]

I love the conventional key with the lock/unlock, as I believe the key should be where it is meant to be. Being an absent minded person, it will be easy to lose they key or forget where I keep them.

Besides it eats into useful cupholder or storage space which is a premium in most of the cars. The satisfaction of turning the key or quick reaction when the car is stalled in traffic can't be replaced. Guess another advantage would be cranking the car when it has low battery or something, I think its difficult to do that with the start/stop button.

More electronics, more gizmos more tension. I believe attention should be on the driving rather than remembering where I keep each of my stuff, including the key :P