We’ve been looking for years to recommend a smart lock for your home. The promise since at least 2012 has been a connected front door that unlocks effortlessly when you approach, and even turns on the house lights and adjusts the thermostat. Throw in a doorbell camera while you’re at it, so an app can show who’s ringing whether you’re halfway across the country or just too lazy to get off the couch.
For all the talk of breezy conveniences, congratulations are in order if you’ve put off connecting your front door to the Internet. New models are only now ironing out any shortcomings.
This lower-tech keypad lock can also be controlled by a car-style wireless radio frequency (RF) key chain remote. Tailor and share access either with custom PIN codes or with RF key chain remotes. See the larger X-Series line for more styles. It integrates with Insteon smart-home systems, which in turn can provide iOS/Android smartphone control through the Insteon app.
From $93; MiLocks
The most reliable keyless tech remains a basic lock such as the Schlage Camelot Keypad Deadbolt. The lock works with a key, too, but the idea is that you set a four-digit access code for yourself. Come home and punch in your PIN. The lock can remember up to 19 separate codes that are easy enough to reprogram or delete, to give temporary access to a worker or a guest.
The Schlage design is also practical largely because of what it doesn’t do. A 9-volt battery electronically engages the doorknob, but—because there is no wireless connection to a home security system or to the Internet—the battery lasts for years. You turn the unlocked dead bolt manually, but your reward is that you won’t have to contend with smartphone bugs or with that sinking feeling when trying to work the front door that maybe you need to reset the Wi-Fi. You have keyless convenience without any software or networking hassles.
The Schlage Camelot model ($129) keeps it simple with keyless entry and temporary access via a programmable electronic keypad. The fancier Schlage Sense products include a loud built-in alarm and compatibility with Apple HomeKit; the Schlage Connect Touchscreen Deadbolt offers connection to Samsung SmartThings and other Z-Wave hubs.
From $229; Schlage
Boring, you say. Bring on the gadgetry. It’s 2017. I want to boss my watch: “Siri, unlock the front door!”
Apple fans who want to play with the company’s vision of the connected home should look at the latest generation of the August Smart Lock, which is enabled for Apple HomeKit. The August turns your smartphone into a virtual key, with an app to create more virtual keys and an activity log to track when they’re used.
August works with your existing dead bolt, replacing the inside plate and lever but leaving the outside unchanged. This is a relief compared with the not-so-sleek look of the Schlage keypad, plus it’s a nice security feature to have the hackable smarts hidden from plain view on the exterior. Installation takes just about 15 minutes with a screwdriver, and the lock secures satisfyingly into place with two wing latches that are easy to undo if you want to move the August to another door in the future. (Check august.com to confirm your dead bolt is compatible.) You’ll have to judge the August’s aluminum bulkiness for yourself—it has four AA batteries inside along with a motor to turn and calibrate the dead bolt—but we find the industrial design, by co-founder Yves Béhar, to be handsome, like an oversize men’s watch.
The August communicates wirelessly over Bluetooth to nearby phones and can be set to lock and unlock automatically as you come and go. To remotely control the August over the Internet, you add the separate August Connect Wi-Fi Bridge (an Apple TV can also play this role). An optional keypad allows you to add entrance codes for guests who may not want to bother with the August app—think kids who don’t have smartphones yet—and a doorbell camera, both of which also work well with the slick app. You can review motion-triggered video recordings or get real-time notifications of activity. August is also compatible with Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Nest. Of course, with voice control come new quandaries. As of last summer, Alexa is reportedly smart enough to ignore unlocking commands, so you can’t shout through the front door, “Alexa, unlock the house!”
Add connected, Apple-friendly smarts to your existing dead bolt, replacing the inside plate and lever but leaving the exterior of the door unchanged. Great for those who don’t want the outside of the house to say gadget. Add-on accessories include Doorbell Cam, Keypad, and August Connect. An innovative upstart.
From $229; August
For all this magic, our favorite smart-lock convenience is the tap-to-trigger feature on the much-improved Kwikset Kevo Touch-to-Open Smart Lock released last summer. Like the August, the Kevo uses Bluetooth to identify smartphones with virtual keys close at hand, but the Kevo is infinitely more reassuring because you have to tap the lock physically to make it release or lock. The Kevo cleverly senses which side of the door you are on to further reduce automatic errors, and can also work with physical key fobs and standard Kwikset keys. Installation requires replacing the existing dead bolt, but it’s almost as easy as setting up the August. Kwikset’s touch-screen-driven Premis offers integration with the wireless security upgrades of Apple HomeKit. When buying, take care to specify the “2nd Generation” Kevo, which has better all-metal internals in a more compact package.
You will have to decide how you like the look of Kevo. While August is invisible on the outside of your home, the Kevo Touch-to-Open that we like so much flashes an unnecessarily bright LED ring that spins blue to confirm locking and unlocking (or red to report an error), and will irk some traditionalists.
Kwikset Kevo enables touch-to-open keyless entry and has a slick iOS/Android app for customizing access with virtual eKeys. Also opens with Kevo fob and standard Kwikset keys. Monitor and remotely access via the Internet with Kevo Plus. Kevo Convert works with an existing dead bolt; Kwikset Premis works with Apple HomeKit.
From $229; Kwikset
This crop of connected smart locks has come a long way in polish, security, and practical utility, and will delight home-tech enthusiasts. Know, though, that any system relying on the current Bluetooth standard still has hiccups. We’re almost ready to unlock the future.
Connected smart-lock features and Yale Assure app for iOS/Android. Add a Yale Network Module to make this Yale smart lock part of a housewide smart-home network or alarm system that works with the standards, including Z-Wave (Samsung SmartThings), ZigBee, and Apple HomeKit.
From $200; Yale
Danalock adds smart-lock features to an existing dead bolt, with a distinctive Euro design for twist controls in addition to Bluetooth connectivity to nearby phones, and connections to Z-Wave (Samsung SmartThings) smart-home hubs. The Denmark-made product includes step-by-step instructions for Airbnb hosts to send temporary virtual keys to tenants.