16 Smart Locks Tested So You Don't Have To

I have 16 smart locks behind me that I've been testing for the last month and I got a lot of great information in this video about them, but I'm going to show you the most important things I learned right up front. Sound good? Number one, the best lock in my opinion is still the Lockley Visage. It's got the most features, it's got the best app, and it's got the facial recognition. You can open the door with your face. That's actually a practical and cool feature. If you're just looking to get the best lock, just get the Lockley Visage. You'll be happy and save yourself a bunch of time. Number two, if you think $350 is too much to spend for a smart lock, you're probably right, and that's why the two locks I recommend my friends and family purchase are. Number one, if they are an Apple user, I would say get the Aqara U50. It's got a lot of good features. I think it looks really nice. It's reliable, and it's got Apple Home key, so you just touch your phone to your lock, it unlocks, and it's pretty great, and you get that all for around $100 on sale, which is a great, great value. If they're not Apple users, I would recommend getting the Eufy E30. It's got a lot of great features as well. It even has a fingerprint reader, and it has matter that actually works as far as I can tell, which is pretty impressive, and you get that all again on sale for around $100, and this is really probably not good for my affiliate sales, but I see no reason to spend more than that on a smart lock unless you want the Visage, which is pretty cool. Now you can spend more money and maybe get a few more features, but I promise none of them are going to make your life really any better. You'd be better off if right now you bought the Eufy lock and took your wife out to a nice steak dinner versus buying the Schlag, or just give the $200 extra to charity, or I don't know, light it on fire. That would honestly make a better story and be less embarrassing than having to tell your friends you spent $350 on an Elford lock. Number three, this is the first big comparison lock video I've done for this channel, and my biggest takeaway from this experience is that I never want to do this again. Ever. I've done a handful of one-off lock review videos, and those were boring to make, but for some reason I thought, hey, if I do 16 at a time, that'd be interesting. Turns out it is 16 times as boring. Now like I said, there's a lot of great information about these locks in this video, but you will kind of watch my descent into madness as you go through, but as a reward for finishing, at the end you will get to see my first ever smart home music video. So let's get into it. Starting in the category of smart locks designed to make it look like you don't have a smart lock, we have the Level Lock Plus. Now while it may fool your guests into thinking it's a normal lock, it won't fool your wallet as it clocks in at a little over $400 once you add the optional keypad. But you don't need the keypad to use Apple HomeKey with the Level Lock Plus. Next, we have three retrofit locks that work with your existing deadbolt and key, starting with the SwitchBot Lock Pro. This lock is only worthwhile if you get the package that includes the keypad fingerprint reader and the SwitchBot hub, but that also adds M.A.T.A. compatibility, and it's all still pretty reasonable at $160. The Yale Approach retrofit lock with gateway and touchscreen keypad will set you back $200. And probably the most unique, and dare I say, the most satisfying to use lock of the bunch, the August lock with built-in Wi-Fi and physical keypad runs about $220, but they do go on sale for way less than that. Moving on to our complete smart locks, just for fun, I bought the cheapest smart lock on Amazon. It even has a fingerprint reader, RFID tag reader, and an app privacy agreement written exclusively in Chinese, which I wasn't at all nervous about signing. But hey, it's only $28! Next, we have the Aqara U50, which is easily the most affordable Apple HomeKey lock at $110. It has a touchscreen keypad, hidden lock, and you can add a fingerprint reader by upgrading to the U100 for an extra $40. Using this with an Aqara hub will add functionality, but it's not required if you are a HomeKit user. The Eufy E30 has both Wi-Fi and matter built in, so it connects with all sorts of platforms, plus it has a touchscreen and a fingerprint reader, all for $120. The Ultralock Bolt is another unique looking lock. It has a physical keypad, fingerprint reader, built-in Wi-Fi, and is also available in a Z-Wave model, all for just under $200. Now we have the most popular smart lock on Amazon, the Yale Assure Lock 2. This version I'm testing has a built-in Wi-Fi module and a touchscreen keypad without physical key and runs about $220. Other versions of this lock can include a fingerprint reader, a key slot, Z-Wave, and Apple HomeKey. Oh, and if you don't like the goofy red, they have normal colors too. For $270, the Kwikset Halo Select lets you choose between built-in Wi-Fi or matter over thread to connect the lock, but not both at the same time for some reason. It has a touchscreen keypad and is the only lock in our test that can easily be rekeyed to use your old house key. We're cracking the $300 barrier now with the Lockly Secure Pro Lock for $330. It's got built-in Wi-Fi, Apple HomeKey, fingerprint reader, and the patented Pin Genie touchscreen that disguises your passcode. Another popular lock is the Sludge Encode Plus. It sells for $320 and has built-in Wi-Fi, Apple HomeKey, a matte touchscreen, and honestly not that much else. On to our final column, starting with the Alfred DB2S. It retails for $300, but you'll also want to add the Connect 2 bridge for Wi-Fi control for an additional $60. It has a touchscreen keypad, a hidden keyhole, RFID reader, and it comes in a very nice box, if you're into that sort of thing. Next up is the Lockly Visage. This is the lock that was on my front door before we started this test. It's pricey at $350, but it includes all the features of the Lockly Secure Pro, plus it has face recognition, which, if you saw my review, is pretty incredible. Our final category of smart locks are those with built-in video doorbells. The Lockly Vision is a $430 lock with Wi-Fi, HomeKey, Pin Genie, all the things, plus a camera and separate door chime, and intercom, with SD card storage for video. The Eufy S330 video door lock is much more affordable at $230. It also includes a separate door chime and intercom, but does not work with Apple Home. So there's our lineup. Let's get into the features, starting with keys. Now, honestly, I haven't used a key in my house for years, but for my parents' sake, all of these locks do have a key, except for the Yale Assure Lock 2, but you can get the lock as an option in the Yale lock. Obviously, the Retrofit locks let you use your current house key, and a couple of the locks have hidden key slots, which I guess is kind of neat, and Ultralock leans into their unique look with a unique key. The Kwikset Halo also has their patented smart key that allows you to quickly rekey the lock to match the key of your choice. Moving on to keypads, they all have them, and because they all have Wi-Fi or matter either included or using one of their bridges, they can all connect to their apps remotely, which allows you to change passcodes or give people permanent or temporary access no matter where you are using their app. Each of the apps for these locks do allow you to schedule access for passcodes, so they only work at certain times. I personally prefer the button style keypads like the Ultralock because you're less likely to miss hit a number than you are with a touchscreen, but all these touchscreens here are pretty decent. The Ikaro is probably my favorite, just from the looks and feel of it. The only one that gave me a little bit of trouble occasionally was the Yale Approach. You just got to be a little more accurate hitting the numbers with your finger on that one. Now, the most interesting one is the Pin Genie touchscreen on the Lockly locks. It shuffles the numbers around so your fingerprints won't always fall in the same place, so someone won't be able to guess your code just by looking at the fingerprints on the screen. Now, a lot of these are matte screens. They don't really have that problem. The only one that really is leaving a lot of fingerprints is the Kwikset lock and the cheapo one up here. And speaking of fingerprints, that is a much more convenient way to open a door than using a touchscreen in my opinion, and fortunately, about half these locks do have a fingerprint reader, even the cheapo lock from China. Now, granted, that one was a little more finicky than the others, but it did work, and most of the readers nailed it on the first try every time, unless you have wet fingers, and that'll cause a problem for any fingerprint reader, regardless of price. I've also heard that some fingerprint readers and touchscreens can have trouble in cold weather, but I set these outside for more than two hours in 10 degree temperatures, and they all worked just fine. So I went outside in the cold for nothing. Next, if you want to keep an RFID card in your wallet or on your keychain to open door that way, you can use it to unlock the SwitchBot, LevelLock, CheapoLock, Acara, Alfred, and all of the Lockly locks. It's fast, and it works without fail, so it's a really good option if you haven't been sucked into the cult of Apple. But I have been sucked into the cult of Apple, so I love Apple HomeKey, and I want a lock that I can just tap my phone or the Apple Watch that I don't have to open the door with Apple HomeKey. Now, this works on the LevelLock+, Acara U50, Schlage Encode+, and all three of the Lockly locks. Lastly, I want to say that facial recognition is still the best way to unlock a door, and only the Lockly Visage has that. Sadly, the two video locks in this list do not have that ability, despite having a video camera in front of them. So big bonus points to the Lockly Visage for that one. When it comes to special features, several of these locks offer door detection, and they can send you notifications when the door is left open, which is nice. But I found that only the Yale lock and the August lock door sensors could be used for automations outside of their own apps, which is kind of a bummer. Also, some of these door sensors are just butt ugly. I love that the Yale ones can be hidden in the door frame, and while the Lockly sensor is probably the cheapest looking of them all, the VisionLock includes a sensor that is built into the deadbolt itself, so it is completely hidden. Batteries are a big deal with smart locks, and especially Wi-Fi locks, because that can really burn through batteries quickly. Most of these locks use AA batteries, which are pretty easy to change, and I would highly recommend getting some rechargeable batteries, because you're going to be swapping them out every six months to a year, depending on how much use the motor gets. The Levellock Plus gets a little bit worse battery life than the others, because it only has a single battery, and it's kind of a weird type, so stock up on the CR2s. The Locklys, Elfrid, and Eufy S330 have their own lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, which is really the way to go with these. Lockly actually includes two of these batteries with each lock, so you always have power even when you're recharging. Unfortunately, the Elfrid and Eufy only have one battery, so you're left in the dark for a few hours while that's recharging. Also, the Elfrid is the only lock of the bunch that actually has a screw-on battery cover, which is just annoying and unnecessary. Of course, the biggest drain on a battery is the motor, and I'm happy to say that locks have come a long way in the last few years, as far as making them quieter. I'll play all the sounds here, so you can decide for yourself, but honestly, none of them are that bad. The little beeps and announcements each lock makes when it does its thing is actually louder than the motor, but you can turn those off, and you definitely should. Now, let's look at compatibility and performance. Now, I like to automate things, so it's important to me that my lock integrates with my home automation system. Now, the good news here is that all of these locks are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. For Apple Home users, you'll want to stay away from the Yale Approach, the Cheapo Lock, the Elfrid, and the Eufy S330, because those are not HomeKit compatible. When it comes to integrating with dedicated smart home hubs, things get a little more dicey. Now, because they're all compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, you can, using virtual devices and things, hack your way into compatibility with a lot of these hubs, but as far as native integrations go, SmartThings has the most. Home Assistant has six integrations, but can also integrate directly with any HomeKit device, if you don't also want to use it in HomeKit, so that adds some potential right there. The Homie Pro actually has a decent number of official integrations from the bigger lock brands too, which is nice, but if you have a Hubitat Elevation, that's a big fat donut from them as far as official integrations go with these locks. Now, saying something is compatible is one thing, but how do they actually perform? The MatterLocks have been surprisingly outstanding. The Kwikset Halo Select works every time, and it is always accurate. The SwitchBot Lock Pro works well, but I've noticed that the status doesn't always update across all of the platforms. I would say the most reliable lock across all the platforms has been the Yale Assure Lock 2, but it is noticeably slow to react to commands from Apple HomeKit. As for the rest of the locks, they are all very reliable when controlled by their own apps. It's when you try to control them with other apps that they just occasionally miss. I think the issue is that when they're not used for a while, they kind of go into a sleep mode, and when they do, they don't react to commands from other apps, but they will wake up to commands from their own apps. My solution to that, and it does seem to work pretty well, is that if I want a lock to say, lock when I leave the house, I might send out that command multiple times, right? Two or three times with a little delay in between, and it'll usually hit it from one of those. It's kind of a hack, but you do what you gotta do sometimes. So, after all of this nonsense, which locks do I recommend? Let's start with the most secure. Honestly, I don't put a whole lot of stock into this. I mean, even if I had a perfectly unbreakable lock, they could just break a window if they want to and get in. But if security is your main criteria, the Lockly offers the most secure tech with its pin gene technology and overall stronger, beefier metal construction. The Alfred lock is also quite solidly built, so that's not a bad choice either. Actually, now that I think about it, you know what the most secure lock of all these is? It's this cheapo lock right here. Because the deadbolt in this thing is so poorly constructed that it broke within two weeks of me actually installing it in a door while it was in the lock position. Finally, to get it off, I had to take the door off its hinges. So, you are not going to beat that level of security, nor do you want to. So, let's move on to best value. The best value lock on this list is easily the Aqara U50. With this, you get an Apple home key lock for under $100. Going to beat that. Second place, I'm going to put the Eufy E30. You get a fingerprint sensor, you get matter compatibility, all of that for under $100. That's a pretty good value right there. All right, let's move on to the most overpriced lock. So, even at only $28, the Latin Crapola lock, whatever you call this thing here, is the worst value on the list. Maybe the worst value on Amazon. Now, I will say the electronics, the keypad, that worked shockingly well for a $20 lock, but you should not have to break down your own door to get into your own house. In second place for worst value is the Elfrid lock at $350. It just doesn't do as much as a $350 lock should. And in third place for worst value is the Schlag lock, $300, and it doesn't even have a fingerprint reader. You can do better than this. I'm going to give a dishonorable mention to the Level Lock Plus, $400 to make it look like it's not a smart lock. That's a dumb waste of your money. And also to the Lockly Secure Pro. For $329, it does have a lot more features than the Schlag or the Elfrid, but for $20 more, you can have the Lockly Visage. So, that's just kind of a no-brainer in my book. Best app. So, there's no real standout apps in this bunch. They're all relatively crimulent, but overall, I'd have to say the Lockly has the best app. It has the most features. It looks pretty good, and it's relatively easy to find whatever you're trying to do. For second place, I give it to Schlag. I don't know. Schlag is fine. Now, it was hard to nail down a best app, but there is definitely a worst app, and by a landslide, that is the Yale Access app. It's ugly, and no matter how much you use it, it just doesn't make any intuitive sense. Second place goes to the Elfrid app. Like the Elfrid lock, there's just not a lot to like about it. Most attractive lock. Now, this is completely subjective, but I really like the Yale Assure lock too. It's just very elegant. Now, even if you don't like the red, the black version is very classy. In second place, I'll give it to the Acar lock. It just has a very modern look that appeals to me. And all right, I'm going to give the Elfrid some credit. You get third place Elfrid lock. It is a nice looking lock, just not nice enough to buy. Now, honorable mention, I'm going to give to the Level Lock Plus. If I spent that much money on a lock, I actually want to show some of the technology, but a lot of people do seem to love the minimalist look. You get an honorable mention. Congratulations on your $400 purchase. Moving on to the ugliest lock. Now, there's only one lock in this whole list that my wife said would not be allowed in our house for any reason, and that is the SwitchBot Lock Pro. Now, I don't mind that it looks like an Atari controller personally, but when you look at it from the side, my God, you can have Thanksgiving dinner on that thing. You're going to poke someone's eye out when you open the door. You get no points. A distant second place is going to go to the Lockley Xeno family of locks. All three have the same look. It's industrial. It's just not the most attractive. I don't hate it. You know what? Forget it. There is no second place. SwitchBot, you get this award by yourself. You deserve all the shame for being as ugly as you are. It's a decent lock, but you're ugly. Best video doorbell. Congrats to the Eufy S330. You win for having a video quality that is slightly more adequate than the Lockley Vision and also looking a little more like a doorbell, which is a critical feature of doorbells. Most pointless gimmick. So the worst feature of all these locks as far as I'm concerned is actually the video doorbell integrated into the lock. That's why I didn't spend much time talking about it. Maybe there's some situations where it makes a little sense to have an integrated video lock, but that's not where a doorbell belongs. Nobody's going to find it. You can't connect it to your home door chime, so you got to plug in their own little electronic chime thing. And lastly, if you have a storm door, the only thing you're going to see is the inside of your storm door. So for that reason, I'm out. All right. So finally, which of these locks is overall the best and will be going on the front of my house? And the answer, if you haven't figured out yet, is, of course, the Lockley Visage. None of you beat it. Once you go facial recognition, you never go back. So Lockley's my favorite. Thanks for watching. It started with a simple plan, a curious review. 16 locks upon my door, each one fresh and new. Different brands, different claims, the latest, greatest tech. But as the days kept dragging on, they blurred into a speck. First one said it's lightning fast, took a minute just to sync. Second one had military, but felt like brittle zinc. Third one's app was feature-packed, it crashed at every turn. By the time I hit the fourth, I had nothing left to learn. 16 locks, all the same. A thousand settings, different names. Some had touch screens, some had keys, all unlocked so easily. What have I done? Where did I go wrong? This was supposed to be fun, but it's gone on too long. Fifth lock swore it read my palm, spoiler, it did not. Sixth one had a magic mode, but still the thing just fought. Seventh one was sleek and smooth, but still it beeped too loud. Eighth one had a hidden flaw, it locked me out my house. I used to care, I used to try, but now my patience run bone dry. Every lock, the same old tale, just different ways to slightly fail. Dartieth one, tenth one down the list, my eyes were growing dim. By number twelve, I couldn't tell where one lock stopped next begin. By fifteen, I had lost the will to test or even think. And when I reached the final one, I just stood and stared and blinked. Sixteen locks, all the same. A thousand settings, different names. Some had touch screens, some had keys, all unlocked so easily. What have I done? Where did I go wrong? This was supposed to be fun, but it's gone on too long. Now my door is full of holes, my soul is full of doubt. Sixteen locks have drained my mind, I wish I'd sat this out. Maybe next time I'll review chairs or something with more flair, because sixteen locks have taught me well, I just don't really care.