The best smart lock for a keyless home

The best smart lock for a keyless home

The best smart lock for a keyless home
    While traditional lock-and-key systems have improved over time, the basic mechanism

hasn’t really changed since the first lock was invented more than a thousand years ago: A

piece of metal that is just the right shape pushes pins inside a lock into the proper

position, allowing the lock mechanism to turn. As a society, it’s been tough to replace a

system that has worked reasonably reliably for literally a millennium.
    Updated September 1, 2021 to add a link our news story covering Yale Home's

announcement that it was upgrading its Yale Assure line of smart entry locks to the Z-Wave

700-series. 
  You can thank the hospitality industry for finally pushing locks into the digital age.

Hotels learned long ago that keys are easily lost, expensive to replace, and simple to

bypass, as thieves can pick locks or simply make copies of a key to allow for unfettered

future access. On the flipside, hotel guests have readily accepted key cards (and in some

cases, smartphone-based solutions) as the primary means of getting into their room. The

electronic solution is just so much simpler. Lost hotel key card? Replacing it is no big

deal.
    But the biggest benefit of electronic entry systems is that they are highly

configurable. Digital locks can be changed at a moment’s notice (which is why that old

hotel key card in your wallet isn’t good for anything), and the property owner can

generate a record of when each door was opened. In a more advanced setting, different keys

can be generated for the same lock, so a homeowner can tell when each member of the family

came in, or when the housekeeper arrived.
    Whether you have a teenager who tends to break curfew or merely want to give temporary

access to houseguests, service providers, or Airbnbers, home use fingerprint lock are an incredible

upgrade over the old way of doing things. Ready to make the jump to smart lock technology?

Here are our top picks of the market at the moment. 
    Some will argue that we should have named the Level Touch our top pick in this category

—it earned a higher score, after all—but Level treats iOS users better than it does

Android users. Kwikset also ditches the old familiar keypad in favor of a fingerprint

reader on its latest smart losck. This enabled the company to dramatically shrink the

footprint the lock presents on the exterior side of your door. Kwikset also gives you the

option of opening the lock with a conventional key, in the event the reader won’t

recognize an authorized fingerprint (should your skin prune up after a dip in the pool, for

instance). 
    Remember all those times you've reached your front door only to spend the next few

minutes fumbling around for your keys? It's frustrating and it happens to us all. But

if you're looking for easier ways to get in and out of your home, you might want to buy

a smart lock.
    These smart home devices allow you to unlock doors from anywhere through an app on your

phone, or they can open when you're in close proximity to your front door. While smart

locks won't necessarily make your home any safer, they do allow for more control and

efficiency. Not only will they make sure you never again have to drop everything in your

hands to look for keys, but tuya

smart door lock can lock and unlock your door from anywhere and extend digital

"keys" to friends, family, caregivers or anyone else who regularly visits your

home. 
    Sure, you can still use a regular ol' key to open a smart-lock-equipped door (or

most of them, anyhow), but don't be too quick to discount the convenience of

connectivity -- especially when your hands are full of grocery bags, squirming tiny humans

or anything else that makes it tough to rummage around for your keys. And when you crawl

into bed, only to second guess whether you locked the door or not, you won't need to

throw on a bathrobe and stumble to the front door. You can just pick up your phone and

check the lock status. 
    That said, not all smart locks are the same. There are keyless options, Bluetooth

options, locks that use your fingerprint, locks that fit on your existing deadbolt and

complete deadbolt replacement locks. It can be tricky to navigate if you're new to

smart home tech. Here's a look at today's smart lock options, what you need to know

before buying one and how to choose the right lock for your needs. 
    Models like the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, Kwikset Kevo Convert and Sesame

TTLOCK Smart Door Lock are

designed specifically to clamp in place over top of your existing deadbolt hardware. All

three work with a lot of standard deadbolt brands. In August's case, the compatibility

ranges from Arrow Hardware and Baldwin to Defiant, Kwikset, Schlage and many more.

(Here's August's and Kwikset's deadlock compatibility charts for more details.)
    With these retrofit setups, you get to keep the hardware already defending your door

and add a layer of connectivity over top of it. This also means you get to keep your

physical keys. Retrofit smart locks are the simplest way to add connectivity to your door

without replacing your entire deadbolt system.
    The other option is to replace your existing deadbolt altogether. The majority of smart

locks take this approach, including the Schlage Sense Bluetooth Deadbolt, the Kwikset Kevo

and the Yale Assure SL Touchscreen Deadbolt. There's even an "invisible"

smart lock called Level Lock that is just a deadbolt replacement, so you can keep your

existing hardware.
    Locks like these will take a little more time and effort to install, but it's

definitely doable for a novice DIYer. Since most locks are entire deadbolt replacements,

you're going to have significantly more options if you go this route. Similar to the

retrofit versions, you just need a screwdriver and about 20 minutes. Just remember to make

sure that your door is smart-lock compatible before buying in. 
    Another tip: Snap a picture of your existing setup before you begin, so you can reverse

the install if you run into any unexpected issues with the new smart lock. A new deadbolt

may mean a new set of keys (unless you choose a keyless model), so everyone in your family

who wants a physical key will need a copy of the new one.
    A smart lock needs to be able to communicate with the rest of your smart home setup and

with your phone. Most will do that using one of three common communication protocols:

Bluetooth, Z-Wave or Wi-Fi.
    There are pros and cons to each, so you'll want to be sure to understand the

differences before making a purchase.
    Bluetooth
    Examples: August Smart Lock, Poly-Control's Danalock (Bluetooth version), Schlage

Sense Bluetooth Deadbolt, Kwikset Kevo, Friday Lock
    Bluetooth is a common smart-lock protocol because it doesn't burn through battery

life as quickly as Wi-Fi does. After all, it's not like you can plug your deadbolt in,

and who will remember to change the batteries on a door lock? With Bluetooth, your

lock's batteries should last a year or longer.
    The downside to Bluetooth is that your range is somewhat limited — roughly 300 feet in

a best-case scenario, and probably a lot less than that depending on how your home is laid

out. It's enough to control your lock while you're at home, but wander too far

afield and you'll lose the connection.
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    Something else to keep in mind is that Bluetooth locks will connect directly with your

phone or tablet. You don't need any sort of hub device to act as translator, since your

phone already speaks the language. That's convenient if your smart-home aspirations end

at your lock, but hubs grant you the ability to control multiple connected devices from a

single app, which can be more convenient than dividing home control among an assortment of

device-specific apps.
    There are still some neat integrations available with Bluetooth-only

hotel smart door locks,

though. For instance, the August lock has an opt-in auto-unlock feature that's tied to

your phone's Bluetooth. Lock your front door, leave home, then return within Bluetooth

range, and your front deadbolt will automatically unlock.
    If you want to control your lock remotely, adding passcodes or letting people in while

you're away, you're going to need a Z-Wave hub or Wi-Fi-connected smart lock.
    Z-Wave
    Examples: Poly-Control's Danalock (Z-Wave version), Schlage Camelot Touchscreen

Deadbolt, Yale Real Living Touchscreen Z-Wave Deadbolt
    Z-Wave smart locks are available from brands like Schlage, Poly-Control and others.

Unlike Bluetooth locks, Z-Wave locks don't connect directly with your phone. Instead,

they'll need to connect to a Z-Wave-compatible hub. That hub will translate the

lock's Z-Wave signal into something your router can understand — once it does,

you'll be able to connect with your lock from anywhere.
    Samsung's SmartThings and the Wink Hub are two examples of Z-Wave control hubs.

SmartThings in particular works with a bunch of third-party Z-Wave locks, from Kwikset and

Poly-Control to Schlage and Yale. (Here are the complete lists of SmartThings- and Wink-

compatible locks.)
    The range of a Z-Wave connection is about 120 feet, so the lock will need to be at

least that close to the hub — though additional Z-Wave devices can act as range extenders

by repeating the signal from the hub and sending it further. The Z-Wave signal can bounce

up to four different times, for a maximum range of about 600 feet (walls, doors and other

obstructions will all take a toll on range).
    Some Z-Wave locks like the Schlage Camelot Touchscreen Deadbolt ($239 at Walmart)

don't offer their own app — instead the interface for the lock will pop up in the app

of whatever Z-Wave hub you use. This can either leave you feeling disappointed that you

don't have detailed, dedicated settings for your lock, or happy to not be downloading

yet another app with yet another log-in. Again, it's all about preference here.
    Z-Wave's biggest setback is the requirement of an additional hub to talk to Wi-Fi.

The plus side is that you can connect to more third-party devices than a standard Bluetooth

lock — if you have SmartThings or another hub. But, if you don't plan to use a bunch

of other devices in conjunction with your lock, Z-Wave may not be right for you. 
    Wi-Fi is available as an optional add-on with some wooden door hotel locks.

For August's line of locks, a $79 August Connect plugs into a power outlet and bridges

the connection between the Bluetooth August lock and your Wi-Fi network. The same goes for

the $100 Kwikset Kevo Plus. Once you've plugged in these accessory devices and made

that connection, you can control your lock from anywhere with an Internet connection.
    In 2020, August released a smart lock with Wi-Fi built in. Schlage and Kwikset are also

ditching Wi-Fi modules, so I'd advise against filling up another outlet in your home

with a Wi-Fi module if you aren't dead set on a specific smart lock. That said, built-

in Wi-Fi will likely drain your batteries quicker than Bluetooth, so stock up on the

required batteries. 
    With Wi-Fi enabled, you can lock and unlock your door remotely, create new users or

access codes from anywhere and view your lock's status and activity log. Connecting

your smart lock to the internet with Wi-Fi is going to give you the most options for

features, including integration with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.