There was a point, as I climbed through a window in my home like the world’s worst burglar that I considered giving up on smart locks.
The latest addition had lost connection to its smart hub during its installation, leaving me stranded outside a locked door, trying to get the attention of two children who were more interested in the antics of the Minions than in letting me back into the house.
It wasn’t the first time I had fallen foul of a smart lock. But like the last mishap, it turns out that maybe I should have paid a little more attention to the instructions. Specifically, don’t close the door until you are sure set-up is complete.
There are good reasons people want smart locks. You can use your smartphone as a key instead of carrying a bunch of keys around with you. You can send people temporary keys when needed rather than handing over a physical version, and revoke access just as easily. Deliveries can be dropped off to a more secure place too, because you can unlock the door remotely. And you don’t have to fumble in pockets for keys in the dark when you are returning home.
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The one being installed on this occasion is made by Yale, which has years of experience in keeping intruders out of your home.
Yale’s Conexis L2 smart lock is essentially its original smart lock, the L1, with a few new features out of the box enabled by the inclusion of the plug-in smart bridge and the Yale Access Module. That gives you remote access to the lock, so you can always unlock the door from your smartphone regardless of where in the house – or the world – you are.
The lock also works with Bluetooth – encrypted, naturally – on your smartphone, or with contactless keys, so you are never dependent on your phone battery lasting to get you through the door.
Installation was relatively simple, even if you have never fitted a door lock before. Inside the box there are several packs that you choose from depending on the measurements of your door. Each has everything you need to fit the lock and you only need the most basic of tools.
Once fitted, you would find it difficult to distinguish the L2 from a standard door handle. The only distinguishing feature is the contactless panel on the outside, which could be mistaken for a design feature. It only takes four AA batteries, unlike other locks, so the inner lock is sleek too.
The most obvious point in the Conexis’s favour is that it works. On the outside, you have a standard door lock; pull up the handle and it locks, flashing a red LED and playing a short tone. When it unlocks, the LED flashes green to let you know you are good to enter. If you want to use contactless keys to unlock the door, you hold the card or fob just under the Yale logo on the outside of the door for a few seconds. It is all very simple.
Auto unlock wasn’t easy to get it up and running correctly
On the inside, you have a traditional thumbscrew, though it takes a bit of getting used to as you have to push it in and turn to activate the motor. When it successfully unlocks, you get a green LED and a cheery tone.
You also have the option of unlocking via the app: a big red circle means the door is locked, a green ring means it is unlocked. Because this device is designed to work with multipoint lift-to-lock doors, you can’t lock it from the app unless the handle has already been pulled up. That may not suit some people, particularly if you are granting access remotely.
You can make things more complex by adding automated features such as auto unlock, which uses your phone’s location to determine if you are close by and automatically unlocks the door when you are in Bluetooth range. You can also set up smart alerts to notify you if the door has been left ajar.
These are all unnecessary extras though and, in the case of the auto unlock, it wasn’t easy to get it up and running correctly. It frequently told me the door had auto unlocked as I pulled up to my house, despite being very clearly locked when I tried the handle.
Another caveat is that you don’t have a key or code bypass to get into your home if you walk out without the contactless fob or your smartphone. As in the case with any key to your home, it is best to leave a contactless fob with a trusted neighbour or family member. If you lock yourself out – as I did before setting up the contactless keys correctly – you would set a challenge for a locksmith.
Good
This is a solid lock, neat fitting and sturdy. It doesn’t feel like it needs constant adjusting – a problem I’ve had before – or tightening after a few weeks of use.
The motor is quiet when locking and unlocking. You can hear it operating but it’s not as noisy as others tested in the past. Outside, you would have to strain to hear it above traffic or people; inside, it’s just about audible.
It is easy enough to fit too, and should be compatible with most doors thanks to the different options for door widths and screw positions that are included in the box. Check Yale’s site to make sure before you buy, however.
Bad
There is no physical key or code back-up, so if something happens to the lock, you might find yourself in difficulty. If the batteries fail, you can use a 9 volt battery – the square ones you are usually hunting for at 3am because the smoke alarm has decided to start chirping – to give the lock enough power to get you inside, but I would suggest investing in key fobs (around €8 for a twin pack) so you aren’t completely reliant on your phone for entry.
The auto unlock was a bit temperamental – the lock frequently didn’t activate despite the app telling me that it would open, so I gave up on that eventually.
It is also pricey.
Everything else
The lock comes with a key fob and a smart card in the box, which need to be paired to the lock, either as a stand-alone contactless key or linked to a guest with app access. Unlike the L1, the L2 doesn’t require you to pay extra for more than six contactless keys. The contactless keys can also be smart tags that you can fix to the back of a phone.
If you need to give someone access to the lock on a temporary basis, you can do it through the app, sending a virtual key to their smartphone and setting a schedule that allows them to use it at certain times.
It is also available in several different finishes.
Verdict
Smart locks for those of us who just want something easy
