Best Smart Locks of 2022 from buzai232's blog

Best Smart Locks of 2022

After buying the 8 most promising smart locks on the market and testing them side-by-side for more than 120 hours, we've found the best models for people who constantly need to remotely let dog walkers or cleaners into their home, or that manage a number of different vacation rentals. Our tests cover everything from remote management and keyless entry to overall security and installation difficulty, so we can help you find the perfect lock, no matter your needs. We can also help you decide whether you even need a smart lock, or if you might be better off with a "dumb" keypad lock.To get more news about best smart door lock wifi, you can visit securamsys.com official website.

If you're building out your smart home, our smart device product reviews may be of interest. We've tested everything from robot vacuums that map out and clean your space to smart home thermostats to help regulate your home's temperature.

The perfect smart lock provides simplicity and versatility, and in our opinion, the Schlage Encode offers both in spades. The built-in WiFi functionality creates simplicity by not requiring an additional smart WiFi hub that you must purchase and navigate separately. You can also avoid the hassle of your guests having to download apps and create accounts — the keypad allows you to share access by creating easy numerical key codes for visitors. This versatile lock gives you the ability to unlock your door multiple ways: a Bluetooth key on your phone, remotely over WiFi, with a key code, or even with a physical key. Whatever option you choose, it can be set to a particular time frame, so the housekeeper's or dog walker's code can only work between 10 am and 3 pm on a specific day. It is also compatible with many smart home platforms, allowing for control via Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa, and can even be used with the Key by Amazon service that allows packages to be delivered inside your front door.

A downside to the simplicity of built-in WiFi is the additional power requirements. This lock sticks out further than others due to the four AA batteries it requires. This impediment is mostly on the interior of the door and might be made less noticeable by the black plastic battery cover. If your door is a darker color, it may not be as noticeable. Also, the lock won't open automatically as you approach the door because there is no geofencing; you have to use your phone to unlock the lock. All in all, these are small setbacks in comparison to the many features and steady performance that make the Schlage Encode the best smart lock for most people.
If you are already building a smart home with multiple Nest devices, Nest x Yale with Connect is a solid consideration. For existing users, the Nest x Yale can be controlled through your current Nest app, simplifying setup and integrating with your current user experience. Installation is simple, and we like the slightly beefier ANSI grade 2 security rating that it boasts.

The thing we dislike the most about the Nest x Yale is that when we were sharing access via the Nest app (as in sharing access with someone else that has a Nest account and app, thus turning their phone into a Bluetooth key), we found that it can glitch quite often. We got around this by making keycodes to share with visitors to use manually instead of gaining access through the Nest app. The drawback, however, is that the codes can't be set to allow specifically-timed access, so you have to keep them updated frequently if you don't want people to have access at all hours. That being said, if you're already a Nest user, we think the familiarity and convenience of using the same app will be more appealing than an entirely different system for your lock.
If you want a no-frills, budget-friendly smart lock to share access to your home via your phone, check out the August Smart. The lock is installed directly on top of the deadbolt you already have, simplifying the installation and requiring no new keys. Once installed, it uses simple Bluetooth key functionality to lock/unlock upon pressing a button within the phone app. You can also set it to automatically unlock when you and your phone approach the door and lock when you leave. Most importantly, you can share access with anyone who has a smartphone, and you can limit when those people can open the door. For example, you can give your dog walker access only for an hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon.
The ULTRALOQ U-Bolt Pro offers just about every smart feature you could imagine. You can gain and share access via time-constrained Bluetooth keys, fingerprint scans, key codes, geofencing (automatically unlock as you approach), and an old-fashioned key. It can also link to Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control and boasts If This Then That (IFTTT) support that allows it to link up with other components of many smart homes. It offers a unique "magic shake" feature that allows you to unlock just by shaking your phone in front of it (currently, you must open the app to do this, which sort of defeats the purpose, but reports are that it will eventually work in the background). We also love the unique micro USB hub that lets you power the lock from an external source in the event of a battery outage.

Steven Tata and Max Mutter have developed their expertise in smart home devices over the past 4 years. In that span, they've used just about every smart speaker on the market, have lived with more than a dozen different WiFi security cameras in their homes, used an army of robot vacuums to clean their floors, driven around with more dashboard cameras than you can shake a stick at, and now, have used multiple different smart locks on their own front doors. Throughout that process, they've become familiar with the various smart hubs used by many of these devices and have a good sense of when these gadgets are adding value to their daily routines and when they're just serving up unnecessary complications.

Smart locks have a fairly narrow price range — most retailing in the neighborhood of a couple hundred dollars. Those that cost less generally don't come with an included smart hub. That means you'll need to spend more on a hub to access their smart features. Therefore, the top performer is also the best value, making the Schlage Encode our first recommendation for the vast majority of people. For those seeking more basic features and simple utility, the August Smart provides a great and slightly less expensive option.

Smart locks carry a hefty price premium when compared to their traditional counterparts, so they need to offer reliable and useful smart features to be a worthwhile purchase. We used every smart feature these locks offer, side-by-side, to assess both the relative usability and reliability of all of them. This includes features like Bluetooth entry, keypad entry, compatibility with smart home platforms (e.g., Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home), and activity logs. Much of our testing focused on granting third parties access to the lock remotely, as this is one of the most useful and common applications of smart lock technology. Generally, we found models that require using an app to share access somewhat clunky and unreliable, while those that utilize a keypad and temporary codes for access to be much more user-friendly.