Review: The new August Smart Lock with built-in Wi-Fi is our favorite yet

August smart locks are preferred, and for superior purpose. The retrofit style and design can make them quick to install devoid of replacing your existing deadbolt. It is smart ample to get the job done with smart household setups for Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit and Amazon Alexa. We gave many generations of August locks our Editors’ Choice Award for their quick installation, good app and smart household integration. Now, there is a new a single on the scene. Hi, August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. 

Slimmed down and additional smartened, it is the best a single but. It arrives with constructed-in Wi-Fi, negating the require for the extra August Connect ($58 at Amazon) plug-in modules. At $250, the new lock is pricey but it is in the identical rate array as the previous generation lock, and properly value your cash if you’re seeking to get your entrance doorway online.

I popped it on to the back again of my doorway and lived with it for a week. Here’s what you require to know. 

Scaled-down smart lock style and design

August’s exceptional retrofit style and design stays legitimate to its roots in this fourth-generation model. What is remarkably diverse is the measurement. The August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock is 45% lesser than its predecessors, measuring two.eighty three inches in diameter and just 1.eighty one inches in depth. Whilst there is never been just about anything specifically unpleasant about the lock, putting a significant chunk of metal on the inside of your doorway is not an inside designer’s dream. 

Approximately all smart locks have to have this aesthetic obstruction, relying on a large battery and thumb latch housings mounted on the inside side of your doorway. I was delighted with the small scale of this August model. It is so a great deal considerably less distracting, partly because I am a bit more accustomed to seeing smart locks on doorways by now, but also because it is truly substantially lesser. A smart household should really mix in, in my impression, and August’s style and design is a great deal improved in that regard. 

The style and design group, which contains renowned designer Yves Béhar, stayed legitimate to the original style and design, though generating small updates. You will detect a marginally diverse ridge sample about the sides of the lock, created to improve grip. I are unable to discern a large difference, but I am not bothered by it, both. Alongside that ridge is a cleverly positioned August emblem to support you explain to no matter whether your doorway is locked or not. On the within, the August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock is powered by two CR123 batteries. I’ll talk more about people afterwards.

Putting in the August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock

As generally, putting in an August smart lock is a breeze if you have ten minutes and a screwdriver. You will also want to download the August app obtainable on iOS or Android, as there is a practical guideline with animations to wander you via the approach. Since it is retrofit, you won’t require to a great deal at all to your physical deadbolt, over and above taking away the thumb latch on the inside side of the doorway. Following, you’ll healthy on the August plate and proper adapter for your lock, and clip on the Wi-Fi Sensible Lock with its two locking wings. 

I’ll choose a second right here to address my typical smart lock tips. 

1. Be absolutely sure your doorway closes properly before you start this approach. Sensible locks have problems calibrating and totally locking doorways that require an extra shove to close absolutely. 
2. Make absolutely sure the deadbolt moves freely and there is not any friction in the lock’s mechanics. 
3. Make absolutely sure you have a superior Wi-Fi link. This impacts not only the installation, but the lock’s daily overall performance, far too.
4. Hold your screws structured. Which screw duration goes exactly where can truly make a difference on a smart lock. 

It is crucial to do your best to keep the cam bar (see underneath) centered in the August back again plate though you protected the screws. If you locate that it is far too much up or down, loosen and readjust the screws though keeping a bit of force on the plate to keep it in location. It is complicated to healthy the vital adapter if factors are not lined up neatly. 

The August procedure is the most straightforward smart lock installation out there, and the direction in equally the app and printed, in-box guidance are quick to adhere to. No surprise there. If you’re worried about compatibility with your existing deadbolt, August has a practical site listing suitable designs from most models. 

A improved smart household lock

Let us begin with the apparent. This is the initially August lock with Wi-Fi constructed in. That implies you no longer require to obtain the $eighty August Connect module to management the remotely. Whilst it is the initially August lock to involve Wi-Fi, it is not the only lock on the industry with the improve. Schlage and Kwikset also have Wi-Fi designs (equally also priced at $249), and it is probably the way of the foreseeable future for most smart locks.

A lot of smart locks link via Bluetooth to your telephone, which lets you management the lock when you’re in close proximity to it. For management outdoors of that array, in truth for management from anyplace in the environment, you require Wi-Fi. Formerly, smart lock makers have relied on a plug-in Wi-Fi adapter, like the August Connect, to combine Wi-Fi, but the smart lock landscape has improved a great deal since the initially August lock. Redesigns in Wi-Fi chip technology built it feasible for companies like August to get the job done it into lock style and design more quickly. Right after that, it is all about fantastic-tuning lock and app overall performance to get the most battery daily life feasible out though continue to hanging on to that Wi-Fi sign properly. 

As for compatibility, the August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock functions with Alexa, Google and Siri for voice commands as properly as routines and automation with your system of choice. Assigning virtual keys to supplemental lock users continues to be no cost, a spotlight of August’s insurance policies, and you’ll also get lots of options for setting notifications when some thing takes place, or won’t, at your doorway. The August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock arrives with a DoorSense sensor, so you can know if a person leaves the doorway open or closes it but leaves it unlocked. 

I have generally been fond of August’s geofencing auto-lock and -unlock capabilities, and that continues to be legitimate for this model. When your cell unit is two hundred meters (656 feet) from your household both leaving or returning, the lock will lock or unlock, if you’ve got decided on to convert on that functionality. It necessitates that you keep Wi-Fi enabled on your cell unit, and it labored properly in my screening. That is a significant support not getting to fiddle with keys or an app to open the doorway. Auto-lock can also be custom made for time, so you can set the doorway to lock anyplace from instantly soon after it is unlocked all the way up to 30 minutes afterwards. 

Wi-Fi is not quick on batteries, and this is the initially August model with the CR123 battery. The group at August estimates the lock’s batteries should really past three to 6 months. That is a shorter suggested lifespan than the 6 months to a calendar year promised for the more mature, AA designs.

In accordance to August, the no. 1 issue in battery daily life is the high-quality of your Wi-Fi link. If the lock requires to continually reconnect to an obtain place or wake up thanks to polling from the obtain place, you’ll see a quicker drain. Battery daily life will also be impacted by how typically you lock and unlock your doorway, primarily about Wi-Fi or information connections. 

If you will not like the thought of holding up with the batteries on a smart lock, obviously this is not the merchandise classification for you. A two-pack of CR123s at your local significant box retailer should really price tag about $8 to $ten. The superior information is, as with previous generation August Sensible Locks, even if the batteries are useless you can continue to use a physical critical to unlock your doorway.

Take note: I did face a small battery warning just three days into screening the August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock. I realized my batteries shouldn’t be small so quickly. I was employing a beta edition of the August app and soon after conversing with the group, they found a bug in the battery prediction algorithm that led to a untimely small-battery notification. August engineers resolved the bug on the back again close, and I failed to have any difficulties soon after that. The August group certain me that clients will not see this the moment the smart lock is obtainable for buy.

When it arrives to stability, August implements ample capabilities to make me experience superior about putting it on my doorway. It uses two-issue authentication to log into your account or produce a new a single. It also uses Bluetooth encryption, AES 128-bit and TLS encryption for the cell app. You can even disable your August app and all virtual keys at any time via a special desktop site if your telephone is lost or stolen. Voice unlocking via the various virtual assistants necessitates a spoken PIN. 

August designs in comparison

Go through more: How to use your smart lock properly | What to know before shopping for a smart lock

A reviewer’s anecdote 

Just before I analyzed this lock at my home, I had a smart keypad ($47 at Ideal Invest in) on my entrance doorway. My spouse and I are known to operate or wander the pet devoid of our keys and telephones, so a keypad is a good way to get in and out of the home devoid of pockets entire of hardware and let family and neighbors in with their possess codes when desired.

The working day soon after I set up the August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock, we walked the pet about the neighborhood devoid of our keys or telephones. It is a  wonderful, electronic detox. In set up, I opted for the lock to relock soon after 5 minutes. When we got back again soon after half an hour, I understood I had no way to open the doorway because my telephone and keys have been within.

Luckily, we’d left a side doorway unlocked, but I had a fun sixty seconds of stress. If you’re switching about from a keypad or some other keyless exterior procedure, you’ll require to retrain your mind. If you possess an Apple View ($399 at Apple), you can prevent this difficulty altogether by putting in the August app, which will get the job done via geofencing just like your telephone. An add-on August keypad ($sixty)  is also an choice. 

To obtain or not to obtain?

If you’re intrigued in a smart lock, but want to keep your exterior hardware common, this is the lock for you. It is not low cost at $249, but keep in head that you won’t have to invest any extra cash on a Connect module to get Wi-Fi remote obtain benefits. That addition of Wi-Fi can make August experience fresh and updated. The reduction in measurement is good, far too. 

Other locks with Wi-Fi constructed in price tag just as a great deal and have to have replacing your entire deadbolt. The August Wi-Fi Sensible Lock turns a great deal more effortlessly than previous August designs, usually takes up considerably less room and is just as smart and protected. If you liked previous August smart locks, you’ll really like this a single. 

For people motives, we have made the decision to award it our Editors’ Choice for Ideal Sensible Lock, dethroning the August Sensible Lock Professional ($230 at Walmart). 

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