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Who should buy the Level Lock+ Connect?

This smart lock is a great option for anyone, regardless of their smart home platform. Now bundled with the Level Connect Bluetooth-to-Wi-Fi bridge, the Level Lock+ Connect is fully compatible with all three of the major smart home platforms: Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit (including Apple’s “home key” NFC tech), and Google Home. Activating the Thread radio in the Level Lock+ Connect renders it compatible with Matter devices.

In addition to its compatibility, it’s a breeze to install simply by replacing your existing deadbolt, and requires just a Phillips screwdriver to accomplish. Its understated design is a big key to its appeal. It can function on its own, or be integrated into a broader smart home system.

It can be controlled locally via Bluetooth or over the internet. The ability to create one-time guest codes is particularly handy.

Level Lock+ Connect: Further considerations

The inclusion of the bridge erases the biggest cons we had for this minimalist lock that looks as good as it operates. It remains our highest-rated smart lock–there is nothing better on the market today.

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Who should buy the Kwikset Halo Select?

The Kwikset Halo Select strikes a good balance between the minimalism of our top pick in smart locks, the Level Lock+ Connect, and the ultra-sophisticated–and uber-expensive–Lockly Visage Pro. While it lacks a fingerprint reader and doesn’t support Apple Home Keys, it delivers lots of other features and it supports all the other smart home ecosystems, including Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. It supports both Wi-Fi and Matter connections.

The Halo Select is straightforward to install, with the aid of a Kwikset app should you need it. Management of the lock is also straightforward, with operation of the lock happening via the app or a numeric pin of 4 to 8 digits. The Halo Select offers a generous 250 pin codes, which can be set as permanent, time-limited, or recurring based on time of day and day of week.

Kwikset Halo Select: Further considerations

You can integrate this attractive smart lock into your smart home system using either Wi-Fi or Matter over Thread, which will deliver much better battery life. While enabling the latter disables some of Kwikset’s own special features, the system you’re integrating it into can presumably provide equivalent functionality. We also appreciate that Kwikset made the effort to obtain BHMA certification for this lock, not all manufacturers do.

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Who should buy the Tapo DL100?

If you’re working with a tight budget and you can do without a fingerprint reader to gain admission to your home, the Tapo DL100 is a great and full-featured smart lock for not a lot of money—it’s less expensive than our favorite retrofit product.

It’s BHMA certified as an ANSI Grade 3 lock, the lowest of the three grades, but those ANSI grades are for commercial, as opposed to residential, locks.

This lock is outfitted with a numeric PIN pad and a conventional key cylinder, and it’s a Wi-Fi lock. That means you don’t need a bridge or hub to integrate it with your smart home. It’s compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings, and IFTTT. What’s missing? A fingerprint reader, Matter certification, and Apple Home support.

Tapo DL100: Further considerations

Tapo promises seven months of battery life from four AA batteries when connected to Wi-Fi (that rises to 10 months if you only use a Bluetooth connection), but there’s a USB-C on the bottom of the lock that will power it up if the batteries die while you’re out.

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Who should buy the Level Bolt Connect?

Now that it comes bundled with the Level Connect Bluetooth-to-Wi-Fi bridge, the Level Bolt Connect is compatible with all three of the major smart home ecosystems–Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, and Google Home–making it a great choice for those looking to retrofit their locks regardless of their smart home platform. Level has also activated the Level Bolt’s Thread radio, adding Matter support to its long list of features.

Level Home’s Level Bolt Connect is our favorite retrofit smart lock, thanks in large measure to its ability to disappear. The smart components of the Bolt hide inside your door, where they replace the interior mechanical elements of your existing deadbolt. You re-attach your existing interior and exterior components, so that your door’s overall aesthetic doesn’t change in the least.

Level Bolt Connect: Further considerations

You’ll need to purchase specific hardware based the length of your door’s backset.

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Who should buy the Lockly Visage Zeno Series Facial Recognition Deadbolt?

Yes, it’s a very expensive smart lock; and no, it doesn’t support Matter, but if you want the ultimate flexibility when it comes to opening your door, there’s nothing quite like Lockly’s high-end offering.

This smart lock’s facial recognition technology works delightfully well, and it can be opened via a host of other ways, too: Fingerprint, PIN code, smartphone app, NFC tag, and for those in the Apple Home camp, either an iPhone or an Apple Watch.

There are a large number of components to this sophisticated lock and installation can take some time, but there are thorough and helpful instructions if you take the time to read them carefully.

Lockly Visage Zeno Series Facial Recognition Deadbolt: Further considerations

Our enthusiasm is mildly tempered by this lock gargantuan proportions and less-than-elegant industrial design, but there’s just no competition in terms of its sophistication.

You can thank the hospitality industry for finally pushing locks into the digital age. Hotels learned long ago that keys are easily lost, expensive to replace, and simple to bypass, as thieves can pick locks or simply make copies of a key to allow for unfettered future access.

On the flipside, hotel guests have readily accepted key cards (and in some cases, smartphone-based solutions) as the primary means of getting into their room. The electronic solution is just so much simpler. Lost hotel key card? Replacing it is no big deal.

But the biggest benefit of electronic entry systems is that they are highly configurable. Digital locks can be changed at a moment’s notice (which is why that old hotel key card in your wallet isn’t good for anything), and the property owner can generate a record of when each door was opened.

In a more advanced setting, different keys can be generated for the same lock, so a homeowner can tell when each member of the family came in, or when the housekeeper arrived.

This is a young and wildly immature space, and many products on the market are still extremely rough around the edges. Even top products can balk when dealing with old or stiff deadbolts, doors that don’t shut well, or environments where non-standard fixtures are in use.

The bottom line is that it’s tough to declare that any product is universally perfect for every home. That said, here are some key considerations to take into account to help you narrow down your shopping list.

Some “smart locks” don’t work with a smartphone app or any smart home networking hubs at all; they’re really just electronic locks that use a code instead of a key to open up.

One step up from that, you’ll find Bluetooth-only locks. These work with a smartphone app, but can’t be monitored remotely or via a smart home system. That’s fine if you’re looking to get rid of the keys in your pocket, but less impressive if you want to make your entrance portals a true part of your home network.

Finally, there are full-on smart locks that connect to your smart home system via Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Wi-Fi.

You’re forgiven if you don’t want to replace your antique doorknob on your vintage Victorian with a metallic device that looks like it would be more at home keeping people out of a strip mall bank branch.

A sizeable number of smart lock products don’t require you to replace all your existing hardware. Instead, they are installed on the inside of the door only, replacing only the interior part of the deadbolt. You can continue to use a standard key from the outside or open the lock via a smartphone app.