The best smart locks can help anyone who constantly misplaces keys or who frequently wonders whether they locked the front door. I am in the latter camp. After years in apartments, I recently moved to a large enough house that checking whether the door is locked can feel like a chore, especially once I’m all cozy in bed.
Installing a smart lock doesn’t mean throwing away your house keys—you probably still want to bring them with you. These locks are all about convenience, offering multiple ways to enter, like a passcode via a keypad, fingerprint scanning, or through an app. You can easily share codes with friends and family, so no need to fuss with crappy key copies, and you can usually set them to auto-lock when the door closes. But there are a lot of models out there, and not all will work with your door. Don’t worry, I’ve been testing smart locks for nearly a year and have lots of advice in this guide. Most folks will be happy with our top pick, the Yale Approach Lock with Keypad Touch, but we have several options—even a lock that fits a sliding door.
For more smart home recommendations, read our Best Video Doorbells, Best Outdoor Security Cameras, Best Indoor Security Cameras, and Best Robot Vacuums guides.
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Before You Buy a Smart Lock
Here’s a few things to check before you purchase a smart lock.
How thick is your door? Yes, you need to measure how thick your front door is. If it’s close to or more than 2 inches thick, you might need some kind of expansion kit, like the Ultraloq Thick Door Kit for the company’s smart locks, designed for doors between 1.75 and 2.5 inches. My door is on the thicker side, and while I could install most locks like the Lockly Visage and Aqara U50 no problem, a lock from Kwikset needed an expansion kit. Once you know your door size, you can check it against your lock of choice to see if it’ll fit and if you need any expansion tools. You don’t want to get started only to find out you need to order something extra.
Will you need a bridge or a hub? Some locks, like those from Yale, have a separate Wi-Fi bridge that needs to be plugged in nearby. Companies like Aqara and Abode have hubs you’ll need to set up to get more features. But some models don’t require a hub or bridge at all. Double-check if there’s anything extra you need and if it has to be plugged in close to your door. Do you have an outlet readily available?
Can you switch out your whole lock? If you’re a homeowner, than you can (probably) buy any of these locks without having to worry. But renters or folks with a strict set of homeowner’s association rules might find that they can’t change their lock as freely. Depending on your freedom, there’s both full lock replacements, which will replace your entire front door lock, and retrofit locks, which only replace the backing. Retrofit is a great option if you don’t want new keys or don’t want to tip off your landlord you changed out the backing.
Tools You’ll Want for Installation
Your specific lock of choice might have more requirements, but for each lock I installed, I found myself using:
- A measuring tape
- A Phillips-head screwdriver
- A precision screwdriver kit
- A gallon ziplock bag (to place my old lock pieces into)
Most locks do not recommend using a power drill out of risk of damaging the lock. The precision tool kit might sound silly if you’ve already got a screwdriver, but many of these locks use tiny screws that are much easier to control with a precision tool kit.
Double-check if batteries are included so that you’re ready to pop them in after the installation.
Best Smart Lock Overall
Yale’s lock might look like it’s a full lock replacement, but this is a retrofit design that only changes out the back of your thumb-turn dead bolt. That means your existing keys will still work, and everyone outside of your house will have no idea that it’s smart. It’s ideal for renters, but also nice for anyone who doesn’t want to switch out their front lock and swap keys. All of that also means installation was fast and easy—the hardest part is keeping your existing lock from falling to the ground while you swap out the backing, but it only takes a few minutes to complete.
As its name suggests, the Yale Approach Lock (8/10, WIRED Recommends) can sense when you approach. It uses your phone’s location to do this, and within the app, you place a small range to establish what counts as you “arriving” home. I have a patio and a small staircase between my door and my car, so I made a larger range that could sense me once I hit the staircase. That worked better than placing the range on the center of my home, since it wouldn’t count me as arriving until I was already at the door.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Yale’s parent company, Assa Abloy, acquired smart-lock brand August back in 2017, and if you’ve ever used an August lock before, then the included Wi-Fi bridge will look familiar. The bridge connects to the smart lock via Bluetooth, so it has to be plugged in close to your door. This is what connects the lock to Wi-Fi for remote unlock functionality (plus other features). The whole setup is pretty similar to how August’s locks have worked in the past, though I like the design of the Yale Approach better than the silver cylinder of the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock.
You can choose to get a keypad for the Approach, and there are two different styles to choose from. The basic Keypad bundle includes Yale’s numerical Keypad, but the biometric Keypad Touch bundle has the numerical keypad and a fingerprint scanner. I recommend upgrading to the fingerprint reader—it’s insanely convenient and fast. Just a single touch and your door is unlocked. You can also purchase the lock without a keypad ($130) if you don’t have anywhere to place it, but keypads are a great addition to a smart lock, so that you can give out guest and temporary codes, and it also allows you to get inside without your keys or phone.
Best Smart Lock With Biometrics
If you thought the fingerprint reader on the above Yale Approach sounded handy, then let me introduce you to the Lockly Visage (8/10, WIRED Recommends). Not only does the Visage have a fingerprint reader, but it has built-in sensors to recognize your face to unlock the door as you walk up. That’s right, this lock can see you coming.
When installing this lock, I recommend moving fast when you get to the battery stage. Don’t put in the rechargeable battery until you’ve downloaded the app, located the activation card inside the box (keep this safe in case you ever reset the lock), and are prepared to finish the in-app setup steps, specifically the Visage ID—Lockly’s face-recognition tech. The battery activates a Bluetooth signal that was only live for a few minutes in my testing, and you’ll need to input the code and finish the steps in that amount of time. Restarting it over and over is frustrating, but possible. Lockly says it has pushed an update to fix this short-lived Bluetooth window, but I’d still plan to be ready to roll once you put in the battery.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Once set up, I had zero connection issues and was happy with how quickly this lock could recognize my face as I walked up (even with sunglasses on!) or how quickly it could read my fingerprint. The Visage uses infrared (IR) sensors and a camera to see when a person is approaching and who they are. The sensors in the lock have both live-body detection and face recognition, so it isn’t spoofed by pictures. The infrared sensors have about a 2.6-foot range, and I did find that to feel accurate in my tests. The company promises no stills are captured, and the live face-tracking data is encrypted and is saved on-device. It’s nice to have both the face and fingerprint options, so members of your household can choose whatever they prefer. There’s also a keypad and a regular mechanical key, with two keys included.
The Visage Zeno uses the Lockly Home app (iOS, Android), Lockly’s newest app. It works specifically with the Zeno line. There’s another Lockly app that will work with this lock, but it doesn’t look as nice. Within the app, you can easily generate codes for guests, customize notifications, and set up preferences, like having your door automatically lock after a certain amount of time.
A door sensor also sticks to your door below the lock, and a second part sits on the door jamb to sense whether or not the door is closed. You can customize notifications around that as well, and it’s a nice add-on, though the whole system isn’t the most attractive on the door itself—it’s a little cluttered.
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