Image credit: Ultion
Until fairly recently, it never occurred to us that the simple process of locking and unlocking your front door could be made any easier. After all, the lock and key concept has remained pretty much unchanged for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
With the arrival of smartphones and wireless network technology, however, your humble door lock has joined the front line of the smart home revolution.
With a simple tap of your smartphone you can lock or unlock your door remotely, and sometimes you don’t even need to do that.
But would buying a smart lock be the right choice for you? How complicated is it to set up, and how much money are you looking at spending for a decent one? That’s what we’re here to figure out.
A smart lock is a device that either works with, or replaces your existing door lock to enable easy entry using a digital key of some sort.
Using modern wireless network technology like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a smart lock will enable you to unlock your door using your smartphone, whether manually through an app or automatically when your phone is detected in close proximity.
Many smart locks will enable you to use contactless key fobs or fingerprint sensors to gain access too.
It’s worth mentioning at the outset that the UK smart lock market is very different to that of the rest of the world, which can lead to some confusion.
Unlike our European neighbours and our cousins across the pond, who tend to separate the door handle from the lock (a so-called ‘deadbolt’ system), we in the UK tend to favour more complex and tightly integrated multipoint locks.
Thankfully, there are a number of high quality smart locks that cater specifically to this country’s ‘lift-to-lock’ approach, including the Conexis L2 (Yale, £289.99), the Nuki (Ultion, from £239), and the Origin, (Blusafe, £275), all of which we’ll discuss in greater detail a little later.
Right now, we’ll summarise by saying that a basic UK-ready smart lock set-up will cost you in the region of £200 to £300.
Besides the cost of the hardware, you might also need to factor in the cost of installation. All good smart locks should be relatively simple to fit for a competent DIYer.
If you’ve fitted a regular door lock before and are comfortable doing things like pairing Bluetooth speakers or headphones with your smartphone, you should be fine.
Alternatively, you can pay a qualified lock-fitter to come and do the job for you for around £100. There should be guidance on this from wherever you buy your chosen smart lock system, whilst some manufacturers (such as Yale) will offer ‘with installation’ bundles for your convenience.
You can buy smart locks directly from the manufacturer’s website, through online retailers like Amazon, or through popular high street stores (and their websites) such as Currys and Argos.
Just like any other smart devices, you’ll often find smart locks included in popular sales events such as Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day, so it’s worth keeping an eye out around such times.
We’ve all been left fumbling for our keys outside our front door, arms laden with shopping, while the rain pours down. Modern smart lock systems will address this all-too-common frustration in a variety of ways.
Reaching for your phone isn’t much more convenient than reaching for your keys, of course, but many smart locks will be on the lookout for your phone’s close proximity (using GPS and Bluetooth technology), and will automatically unlock your door when you’re close.
Others will supply a dedicated key fob that acts like a supermarket tap-to-pay system, or a keyring button that works like your car remote. And a few supply an integrated fingerprint sensor like the one on your phone.
Ever gone on holiday and wondered if you locked the front door behind you? It’s a truly gut-wrenching feeling that can be filed alongside ‘did I leave the iron on?’ and ‘did I feed the cat?’.
Opt for a Wi-Fi-connected smart lock system (which most either are, or can be), and all it takes is a simple check of the related smartphone app for you to know for sure that your front door is locked. In the unlikely event that you didn’t lock your door, you can just hit a button in said app and lock it remotely, from the other side of the world if necessary.
Besides this remote monitoring peace of mind, many smart lock systems will offer an optional auto-lock facility that will automatically lock your door after a brief period of being left unlocked.
Smart locks have become very popular with those who rent their properties out on short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb. With a decent smart lock system installed, you can grant temporary or conditional entry rights to customers, or perhaps offer a highly desirable 24/7 check-in window.
You can often add optional keypads to your smart lock set-up after the initial purchase, then simply change your code whenever there’s a changeover. Indeed, some smart lock systems specifically let you connect your smart lock to your Airbnb account.
This way, as soon as a guest is booked in, they’ll automatically receive an email with a unique access code covering the duration of their stay.
Perhaps you want to let your regular cleaner in at a set time each week. Or maybe you’ve finally pinned that in-demand tradesperson down to a specific date, but it’s while you’re away. This is where a good smart lock system can help. It will let you grant conditional entry rights to your property for a specific time – a two hour window every Wednesday afternoon, say.
Smart lock systems will also log who has accessed your door and when, so you’ll always be aware of who is in your home.
If you don’t find yourself contending with any of these issues, then spending the hundreds of pounds necessary to buy a smart lock may not be worthwhile.
It should also be noted that it doesn’t really provide any particular security benefits over a decent physical lock, unless you happen to receive a superior physical lock as part of the package. For sheer convenience and peace of mind, however, a smart lock is a domestic upgrade that’s hard to beat and unlikely to disappoint.
If this article has helped you decide that you want the convenience of a smart lock and its many keyless door access options, the Ultion Nuki (£239), will get you the most secure lock and the least disruptive installation process.
Alternatively, the Blusafe Origin Smart (£275), will get you built-in fingerprint access, while the Yale Conexis L2 (£289.99), is the cheapest system and offers lots of access options out of the box.
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