Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before buying this lock, I did a lot of research. I looked at (e.g., read the articles, specs, and user reviews) August, Schlage, Kwikset, and Yale. And I thought hard about what my family would and would not be willing to do on a daily basis. I slowly realized that for my wife, who has a borderline intolerance for most tech, this lock needed to be functionally invisible, easy in every way, and not too alien or unfamiliar. For my kids, who are tech savvy in that way all kids are, I needed this lock to have an app that installed and worked with little to no fuss. For me, I was up for just about anything as long as I could check on the door's status remotely, integrate it into my Smart Things hub, and unlock or lock the door as needed. The August Smart Lock Pro (purchased along with the Smart Keypad) has given me all those things. I've had it for a little more than a month, and I think I now know enough about it to write a fair review. For my wife, the lock has basically dropped from her daily awareness (a very good thing). When she gets home, the door is unlocked by the time she gets to it. She lets the door lock itself whether entering or leaving. The only time she notices the lock is when she's sitting in her car in the driveway talking on the phone and the autolock re-locks the door before she actually gets out of the car. I think she's then either used her app or her key depending on whether she's still talking on the phone. Then and only then does my wife complain about the tech. Otherwise, I think she actually likes not having to unlock the door all the time. She's only used the keypad once, and it worked perfectly. For my kids, the lock has also worked flawlessly. They never use their keys -- they either use their phone or the Keypad to open the door. The lock has come in handy a number of times -- when my daughter has had to get a ride from someone or when my son goes out and then gets home after we've gone to bed. I did have to give my son grief a couple of times for not closing the door completely -- the door couldn't lock. [I don't remember if it notified me. I was home both times it happened and heard the warning beep from the lock when the locking process failed.] We've also had folks working in/on the house get access to the house via the Keypad. They also had zero trouble getting in. And I can set the time of day and day of the week that the code they are using works and receive notifications when/if it has been used. There's a weird glitch in the app that doesn't show the right access time after it has been set and saved. And I admit that I haven't tested whether the code works outside the timeframe. But part of the reason why I've been blase about not knowing is that we also have an alarm system, and I know the access times on that sucker works! For me, the lock has worked well. I like the easy access. I like how the interior metal drum feels in my hand when I lock the door (mindful of the batteries, I tend to turn the drum manually when I get home). But the lock set-up is not perfect -- I've noticed a few flaws. The August app requires you to turn on the internet -- otherwise the default is bluetooth. So when you open the app to get remote access to the lock, you have to push a little button to activate the 'net access. I'm not sure that makes sense (I imagine they are doing it for a reason but I don't know what that reason is), and it makes for a clumsy and unnecessarily slow app experience. The app UI also seems very primitive and while not confusing, it could certainly be a bit more intuitive. The app integration with my apple watch is so crappy and slow as to be nearly useless. On rare occasions (twice over the past month), the door has not been open when I've gotten to it. Once it opened right after I took my phone out of my pocket but before I could do anything. The other time, I ended up opening the app and opening the door. Since I've gone in and out of the house a ton of times, these two occasions don't bother me or even stand out much. And while the smart hub integration works, the interaction feels a little clunky (see, e.g., app) and somewhat limited. The installation could not have been easier. The invitation/owner designation process was a little clunky, but manageable. So I can say that the whole upfront thing was pretty easy. I'm not giving the August Lock Pro five stars because: (1) it's still a little bit overpriced for what it is; and (2) for this much money, I'm expecting a Lexus/Cadillac-level app experience rather than the Fiat/Fiesta experience that is actually provided. If you've got the cash, a technophobe significant other, and some tech savvy, but zero-patience-for-hassle kids, then I would highly recommend this lock. And I would get it with the Keypad -- not because you absolutely have to, but because the Keypad really completes the package for everybody.