Keep your deadbolt. Just add the brains
As you probably know, I am a huge fan of the company Wyze. Their smart home products are great and affordable. Currently, their product catalog include light bulbs, sensor kits, indoor cameras, plugs and now a smart lock. Before we jump in, Wyze has announced some upcoming products they are currently working on. Two products that I surely want to add to my house is the upcoming outdoor camera and the doorbell camera. These are probably two most requested products to come out of Wyze. Until then, lets get down to what this post is about, the Wyze Lock. So as you know, smart locks have been on the market for a few years. They include ones from August, Yale, Schlage and Kwikset. As you might not know is that all those locks from those manufacturers cost over $150.
Wyze has always been a company about providing smart home technology at affordable prices. Yes they are definitely affordable but the quality is by no means cheap. You also don’t need all these extra things like bridges and hubs placed around the house. For example, the Wyze camera was built with a usb-a in it, so when paired with the sense kit, its special hub snaps right in there discretely. The Wyze Lock from them will cost you $89.99 plus shipping. That price they made is extremely competitive for what you get. I was grateful for Wyze for sending me a unit to use and review. Let’s break down the features you get for $89.99 when purchased.
- Wifi & Bluetooth enabled (so if your wifi is out, you can still unlock it when your near via bluetooth)
- Remote lock/unlock from the app anywhere
- Auto lock/unlock -simply walk up to the door and the magic happens
- Door Position Detection (door left open or ajar)
- Easy share-share the lock with friends and family so they can get in when your not there
- Keep your key -the lock does not replace your outside deadbolt so your current keys will still be able to manually lock and unlock
- Lock History-see when your door was locked and unlocked
- Keypad (coming April/May)
- Use your voice (Alexa and Google Assistant, sorry no Homekit)
- Easy install-seriously, this lock too about 5 mins to install and setup
Whats in the box:
- Wyze Lock
- Wyze Lock Gateway
- 4 AA Duracell batteries
- Adhesive strip
- Mounting plate
- 3 Adapters
- Quick Start Guide
Once I got my review unit, I immediately took it out and got to work at getting this installed. To be honest, installation only took about 5-7 minutes. What’s great about the Wyze lock is that you are only replacing its inside deadbolt portion, which means your existing key will still work. In the box you get 3 colored adapters (see picture below), my lock used the green adapter. The quick start guide is there just because, everything is done in the app which is awesome. The app has visuals such as pictures and little videos on how to install the lock, its initial setup and test.
The Wyze App
If you have installed previous Wyze products, you already know how simple it is to add new products to their app. After installation, your main interaction well be with the app. You will be able to setup schedules for auto-locking, share access with family members, geo fence for unlocking as well as see history of the lock. Naturally in the app you will also be able to lock and unlock the door.
Auto lock/unlock
With the Wyze lock you have two ways to have the auto lock/unlock engaged. One being to do so after you shut the door by having it done either automatically or with a minute interval setup (1, 5, 10, 15, etc). The other is to have it recognize your home once your near the door by using bluetooth and geo fencing. To be honest, I haven’t had the need to use these features so much as most times my older kids or spouse are home to unlock the door, but its there if you need it.
User interface is pretty straight forward
The lock user interface is pretty straight forward. Once you call up the app and go into the lock, you will see a big circle button that has a icon of the lock. When locked it will be green and show locked. When its not lock, it will be orange and show unlocked. It will also show the history whether it was done manually or remote (remote being from the app) and manually whether it was your physical key or from the inside. The only issue I have run into is that the door icon at the top shows that its open when in fact closed. I have tried to trouble shoot this but this may be a bug.
Take away
For the last 2 months, the Wyze lock has been install in our door. After some settings change requests, the lock remains and works great. Overall, I think Wyze made a great first lock. I mean for $89.99 you cant beat the price for this piece of smart home technology. The software can always be upgraded to make other features added or bugs worked out. As I mentioned above, the only issue is that icon display of showing the door is open when its actually closed is bothersome. I have a ticket with Wyze to see about any work around to this as the only thing mentioned was to calibrate which I have done several times. Installation was quick and easy. I like how it can integrate with their other products, for example you have it setup with routines, so if it unlocks, it will turn on this, or shut of that etc. Now when we are away, we can give access to our dog sitter and family members who need access without giving them a key. It’s also convenient when your running out of the house with 4 kids and can just shut the door and no longer have to fumble with your keys. You can remote lock it from the car or have it auto lock based on your minute interval. Wyze is also set to introduce a outside keypad for it in the next month or so which I hope to add to it.
Lastly, this also works with Alexa and Google Assistant so you can lock and unlock via your Echo or Google devices. Sorry no Homekit support (yet) but honestly, we are an Alexa house anyways so it doesn’t matter since most smart home devices work with it. Since it just launched, its not yet available on Amazon like the other products so you can grab it here.
