The $99 SwitchBot Lock is the archetypal astute doorway fastener I’ve tested that doesn’t regenerate immoderate portion of your existing lock. Instead, it attaches to the backmost of your doorway implicit the apical of the thumb turn. This removes a large symptom constituent of astute locks: an progressive installation. But the SwitchBot Lock is truly unusual looking — my hubby virtually stopped successful his tracks and said, “What is that thing?” I had a akin absorption erstwhile I archetypal saw it and was wholly unconvinced this ample portion of achromatic integrative would person the powerfulness to unlock my deadbolt.

I was amazed to observe that the SwitchBot Lock moves that thumb crook conscionable arsenic good arsenic I can, and it stayed firmly enactment during my 2 weeks of testing, contempt being attached solely by double-sided sticky tape. (No connection yet connected semipermanent durability, but it looks promising truthful far).

The downsides are that it’s not precise astute and it’s missing a fewer cardinal features (haha). You besides request astir $70 worthy of accessories to adhd astute location power and a keypad. This puts it person successful terms to much elegant-looking solutions, specified arsenic the $230 August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, which needs a spot much enactment to instal but doesn’t permission you with a honking large portion of integrative connected your door.

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The SwitchBot Lock is simply a retrofit Bluetooth-powered astute doorway fastener that tin fastener and unlock your doorway utilizing the SwitchBot app connected a smartphone oregon Apple Watch. (It’s not Home Key compatible). It attaches to your doorway utilizing 3M VHB portion and uses a tiny integrative grabber to clasp connected to and crook the lock’s thumb turn.

That grabber tin crook anything. Videos successful Amazon reviews amusement it adjacent turning a key, making this an fantabulous solution for radical with nontraditional doorway locks and multipoint locks who can’t get immoderate different astute fastener to enactment (see a database here). It’s cleverly engineered with shifting basal plates that forestall the fastener from twisting itself disconnected portion turning the lock.

This is SwitchBot’s thing: making regular devices smart. They person a little bot that presses your airy power for you and a robot that crawls on your curtain rod to unfastened and adjacent the curtains. This 1 is simply a robot manus for your doorway lock. It comes with 3 different-sized adapters, truthful you tin find the close acceptable for your setup. The SwitchBot Lock doesn’t region immoderate relation — you tin inactive usage your key, and you tin inactive crook the deadbolt manually; it conscionable adds the quality to usage your telephone oregon ticker arsenic your key.

The Keypad Touch adds a fingerprint scholar for different mode to unlock your door.

There are a full of 7 ways to power the doorway lock: your key, the smartphone / Apple Watch app, NFC tags utilizing your phone, a cardinal codification utilizing a keypad, a fingerprint reader, an NFC keycard, and astute location / dependable control. That’s a batch of options — though lone the archetypal 3 enactment retired of the box.

The keypad and doorway lock.

For the keycard, keypad, oregon fingerprint entry, you’ll request 1 of SwitchBot’s 2 Bluetooth keypads. These connect with double-sided portion (or screws if you prefer). I tested the fingerprint version, which costs $60, and it worked rapidly and reliably.

The non-fingerprint mentation is lone $30, but fingerprint entree is my favourite mode to usage a astute doorway lock. The keypads besides enactment with NFC keycards. (One is supplied and you tin bargain a three-pack for $15.) Although, if you person a keypad, I don’t spot a request for a keycard, arsenic you tin dole retired permanent, temporary, and one-time codes to anyone who needs access. Annoyingly, six digits is the minimum here, which is simply a batch of digits.

If you don’t spell for the other keypads, different unlock enactment is utilizing the 2 NFC tags that travel with the lock. You tin brace those to your telephone to fastener oregon unlock the doorway with a pat of your phone. But you person to usage 2 tags: one to fastener and 1 to unlock. Sticking 2 achromatic pieces of integrative connected your doorway does not amended the wide look here, and if you person your telephone retired already, utilizing the iOS oregon Android fastener surface widget is astir arsenic fast.

The SwitchBot does enactment with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Siri Shortcuts (but not HomeKit), truthful you tin usage dependable commands to fastener and unlock the doorway and adhd the fastener into astute location Routines (Alexa and Google only).

But you request a $40 SwitchBot Hub Mini to link the fastener to Wi-Fi and marque these integrations; the fastener itself communicates implicit Bluetooth. You besides request the hub to power the fastener oregon cheque its presumption erstwhile you’re not astatine location utilizing the SwitchBot app. The hub works with each of SwitchBot’s gadgets but needs to beryllium installed adjacent the lock.

I installed the SwitchBot Lock connected my backmost door, which is simply a main entryway to our house. It leads into our mudroom from our store and gets a batch of ft traffic. The fingerprint scholar and keypad made it casual for my children to usage the fastener — nary request to download an app. Without those, though, determination is not an casual mode for a kid without a smartphone to entree the door.

I was besides disappointed that the notifications erstwhile the doorway is unlocked didn’t amusement which codification oregon fingerprint was used. This is simply a communal diagnostic connected different astute locks and 1 I personally usage to assistance support way of my older kids’ comings and goings erstwhile I’m astatine work. I could cheque the log successful the app to spot who unlocked it, though.

Locking and unlocking are accelerated erstwhile controlling it with the keypad, but the telephone app takes implicit 5 seconds to link — precise irritating if you’re lasting successful the rain. The Apple Watch connects much quickly, and if you didn’t person a keypad, is the easiest mode to power the lock. All these interactions are implicit Bluetooth, truthful you indispensable basal by the lock. To power it remotely with the app oregon dependable control, you request the hub.

The apical of the fastener pops disconnected for artillery replacement and to set the fastener to acceptable your door.

Setup and installation were quick, nether 5 minutes successful all. This is 1 of the lock’s biggest selling points, but it besides wasn’t wholly straightforward. There’s a spot of lining up to bash to marque definite the fastener volition crook earlier you portion it to the door, and you request to usage a tiny screwdriver (supplied) to set the spacing of the lock. Cleverly, it attaches successful immoderate direction, vertically oregon horizontally, truthful you tin acceptable it astir your doorway handle. It besides comes with a magnet to consciousness erstwhile the doorway is unfastened oregon closed, though I could inactive fastener it remotely portion it was wide unfastened without immoderate alert oregon notification.

The SwitchBot app is basic. There’s nary mode to make schedules to fastener oregon unlock the doorway astatine a acceptable clip of day, and the auto-lock diagnostic was precise spotty. It lone worked with some the “Lock aft a acceptable play of time” and the “Re-lock if the doorway has been unlocked but not opened” toggles on, and adjacent then, it was unreliable. This seems similar a bundle bug that whitethorn get fixed. But it did mean I had to get my telephone retired to fastener the doorway (there are iOS and Android fastener surface widgets to marque this quicker), usage the Apple Watch app, oregon usage my key. When I added the keypad, though, I could deed a fastener to fastener it.

There are immoderate utile notification options, including erstwhile the doorway is locked, if the doorway has been near unlocked, and if it’s been near ajar aft a definite magnitude of time. Notifications necessitate the hub to work, and really, they should conscionable merchantability this with the hub. It decidedly makes it a amended astute lock. With the hub, I could link to Alexa and adhd the fastener to an Alexa Routine that automatically locked it each nighttime astatine sunset.

It works, but it doesn’t look similar it should work.

The SwitchBot Lock a bully enactment for renters who can’t alteration their doorway fastener astatine each oregon for those who can’t oregon won’t region immoderate portion of their existing deadbolt. It does request to instrumentality to the doorframe utilizing a heavy-duty adhesive, which volition apt instrumentality immoderate overgarment with it if you ever region it. Similar retrofit options from August, Wyze, and Bosma necessitate removing the rear deadbolt, and they each outgo implicit $100.

But its astute features are constricted to controlling the fastener locally with your phone, Apple Watch, oregon existing key. When you adhd successful the Wi-Fi hub, you get away-from-home power and much utile astute location integrations, but lone with Google Home and Alexa; there’s nary HomeKit enactment and constricted IFTTT integration. (The fastener is lone a trigger, not an action.)

If you besides adhd successful the keypad — particularly the fingerprint 1 — this becomes a overmuch much utile proposition, but past you’re knocking connected $170, person to the terms of little disfigured options with amended smarts that don’t necessitate each this other instrumentality (but bash necessitate removing immoderate oregon each of your doorway lock). These see the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock positive Keypad and the Eufy Smart Lock Touch with Wi-Fi (fingerprint scholar and keypad successful 1 but a afloat fastener replacement).

The biggest payment of this fastener is its versatility. You tin adjacent usage 2 connected 1 doorway to woody with multipoint locking. Its quality to drawback beauteous overmuch immoderate benignant of locking mechanism, including a key, means it whitethorn beryllium the lone astute solution that works for your door.

Photography by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge