I haven't had it long enough to comment on the battery life. A year seems reasonable.
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How many are trusting smart door locks?
- Thread starter ericgtr12
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I haven't had it long enough to comment on the battery life. A year seems reasonable.
I just looked at mine the other day and its still at 99% and I have had it for over 2 months now.
The keypad is physically connected to the lock on the inside, there is a cable that runs through the door so it is all powered by the same set of batteries which are located inside the house.
It does but what are the odds of your battery on your iPhone dying and then getting home and the lock and/or the keypad's batteries (that last for well over a year) being dead as well?
I've had my August lock for about 2 years now. Before I could tell that the lock batteries needed to be replaced, the August app gave me persistent, nagging notifications. It was impossible to miss. But yet, I still hadn't gotten around to buying new batteries. It took weeks before I started to notice the batteries weaken, the motor turning with more effort. I got a set of new batteries and haven't changed them since for what feels like another year now.
The bottom line is, there's no reason to get locked out. You're worse off if you only have a metal key that you lose. You'll have to call a locksmith. I'll just have to punch in a code or borrow a friend's phone to log in and open my door.
Great Discussion... I just added ecobee and a smart lock and smart doorbell seem like the next logical options
Less than two months after starting this post I ended up with the Schlage Sense, compatible with Homekit. I still worry about any lock accessible wirelessly like this but we have it latched with a separate lock from the inside when we're home so we feel better about it. That said, it's great (but expensive) piece of tech and another notch in our smart home.
My home is now renovating, and I am looking for a smart lock.
After few weeks for reading. I end up decide go back to the fingerprint lock. There are few reasons.
1) I've been using the fingerprint lock for many years already. Never have any serious issue. The only minor issue is that when my hand is dirty, the fingerprint lock may not able to recognize on the 1st try.
2) There are many generations of the fingerprint lock already, almost all problem is fixed. The new fingerprint lock even has a backup port to access the 9V battery from the outside, never need to worry about battery issue). On the other hand, the smartlock at this moment is still the 1st gen product, relatively more issue. However, for a lock, I really need >99% reliability.
3) Only few smart lock can lock / unlock the door without pull out the phone. If I don't mind to pull out something, sure the key is quicker. And using the key is easier than open the apps etc.
4) For those smart lock which don't need to pull out the phone (e.g. Kevo), seems not reliable enough. Only around 60% accuracy (they are secure, won't open for anyone don't have the e-key. However, may need try more than once to lock / unlock the door, which may be a problem when I want to get in / leave my place in rush).
5) Yes, metal key is the backup, however, one of the big reason that I want a smart lock is because I don't want to bring my key. That's why I need the lock has >99% reliability. I won't take my key.
6) Current generation fingerprint lock operation is quick, very quick (if compare to those smart lock which use e-key, but not open by apps. Again, I don't want to pull out my phone for unlocking the door).
I really want a smart lock badly. However, just no smart lock that fulfill my personal requirement at this moment. If there is a lock that is "fingerprint lock + smart lock". So that I can use fingerprint to operate my door, but can still unlock the door remotely via the internet, and check the lock status / operation record on my phone (e.g. Apple make a smart lock that use the touch ID), that may be a perfect solution for me.
After few weeks for reading. I end up decide go back to the fingerprint lock. There are few reasons.
1) I've been using the fingerprint lock for many years already. Never have any serious issue. The only minor issue is that when my hand is dirty, the fingerprint lock may not able to recognize on the 1st try.
2) There are many generations of the fingerprint lock already, almost all problem is fixed. The new fingerprint lock even has a backup port to access the 9V battery from the outside, never need to worry about battery issue). On the other hand, the smartlock at this moment is still the 1st gen product, relatively more issue. However, for a lock, I really need >99% reliability.
3) Only few smart lock can lock / unlock the door without pull out the phone. If I don't mind to pull out something, sure the key is quicker. And using the key is easier than open the apps etc.
4) For those smart lock which don't need to pull out the phone (e.g. Kevo), seems not reliable enough. Only around 60% accuracy (they are secure, won't open for anyone don't have the e-key. However, may need try more than once to lock / unlock the door, which may be a problem when I want to get in / leave my place in rush).
5) Yes, metal key is the backup, however, one of the big reason that I want a smart lock is because I don't want to bring my key. That's why I need the lock has >99% reliability. I won't take my key.
6) Current generation fingerprint lock operation is quick, very quick (if compare to those smart lock which use e-key, but not open by apps. Again, I don't want to pull out my phone for unlocking the door).
I really want a smart lock badly. However, just no smart lock that fulfill my personal requirement at this moment. If there is a lock that is "fingerprint lock + smart lock". So that I can use fingerprint to operate my door, but can still unlock the door remotely via the internet, and check the lock status / operation record on my phone (e.g. Apple make a smart lock that use the touch ID), that may be a perfect solution for me.
The problem with biometric based locking mechanisms is that they require an enrolment process. If you or your immediate family are physically available to complete the process, then it is great. However, if you want to provide access for a babysitter, temporary contractor, friend, etc., it can be more problematic.
That's why I want a smart lock with the fingerprint function. One of the main reason I want a smart lock is that I can send out (and destroy) the e-key to anyone at anytime. Kevo is the closest to what I want, but after I study more than 1000 reviews, I just can't accept it's reliability.
Anyway, at this moment, the fingerprint lock works well. I can give out passcode / RF Tag to the others. Not exactly what I want, but good enough until a real good smart lock exist.
My opinion is that anyone robbing a house of the middle class wouldn't have the intelligence to be able to hack one of these locks. I would think the people that are smart enough to be able to hack into these would be targeting the upper class.
And given the ease with which most locks can be picked, it's not clear how much sleep one should lose over potential smart-lock vulnerabilities
A.
This. I was worried about somebody remotely hacking a smart lock until I looked up YouTube videos of locksmiths testing the mechanical security of a lock. Drill a hole, feel for the springy thing, profit!
This is why I always have a manual bolt lock from the inside that we use only when in the house. Nothing is totally fool proof but we do feel better with it.