Kwikset Halo Select review: Wi-Fi and Matter in a single smart lock

Price When Reviewed

$279

Best Prices Today: Halo Select Touchscreen Wi-Fi and Matter Enabled Smart Lock

Matter over Thread continues to work its approach into the sensible lock house, with the newest possibility arriving from Kwikset and its Halo Select lock. Unlike the U-tec Ultraloq Bolt Fingerprint Matter Edition, the Halo Select additionally works over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, so customers have added flexibility on the subject of connecting this lock to their sensible house ecosystems, albeit not with out some caveats.

The lock itself is pretty fundamental, providing solely a numeric touchscreen keypad along with bodily key and app-based entry. The 6 x 3-inch exterior escutcheon is dominated by the keypad, which illuminates when tapped. A easy (however re-keyable) keyhole is offered beneath. There is not any emergency energy port out there.

Design

The unit is offered in a matte black (examined) or satin nickel end possibility, although even the nickel model of the lock is generally black, inside the house and out. Also of specific notice, the lock is licensed with the best out there BHMA grade of AAA and contains a Microban antibacterial coating designed to maintain the door {hardware} germ-free.

Inside the home, the inside escutcheon, additionally 6 x 3 inches in dimension, options an understated thumbturn and a black cowl that conceals 4 included AA batteries. The batteries are themselves contained inside a removeable tray which makes it marginally simpler to switch cells once they die. Kwikset says a recent set will final for as much as 6 months if linked to Wi-Fi, however over 12 months if linked by way of Matter.

Of extra notice: A small magnet is included you can set up on the door jamb above the strike plate; this works to alert the lock if the door is open or closed, with no exterior sensor required. Installation is non-compulsory.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Installation

Kwikset has been iterating its sensible locks for years, and it’s clearly reached a degree of maturity right here: The Halo Select makes for one of many best installations I’ve encountered so far, requiring simply 4 bolts and minutes to finish. There’s no printed handbook included, however the Kwikset app capably walks you thru the method with ease. Once the elements are hooked up, you merely press a button on the inside escutcheon when instructed by the app to activate pairing, and also you’re linked.

I did encounter one moderately main drawback after the lock up to date its firmware, because the lock refused to hook up with my Wi-Fi community, even after repeated reboots of each the app and energy biking the lock. Tech help directed me to carry out “at least one” full manufacturing unit reset earlier than additional troubleshooting. Fortunately, it solely took that first manufacturing unit reset for issues to start out working, and I used to be capable of proceed with setup (after beginning over from the start, that’s).

Features and performance

Because the lock solely works with the app and numeric PINs (4 to 8 digits), there’s not lots to consumer administration. You can configure as much as 250 of them–an enormous quantity in comparison with most locks–and customers may be set as everlasting, time-limited, or recurring primarily based on time of day and day of week. There is not any potential nonetheless to create one-time codes. All entry is recorded on the useful logging system, which color-codes lock and unlock actions (together with handbook actions) for straightforward viewing.

Extra options are restricted to a time-based auto-lock mechanism (30 seconds to 10 minutes) and a geofencing possibility which might each auto-unlock if you arrive house and auto-lock if you depart. The geofencing function labored exceptionally effectively in my testing and didn’t miss a beat whether or not I used to be coming or going.

Wi-Fi and Matter configuration

If you’re utilizing the lock with a Matter connection (a Thread border router is required), you’ll lose entry to a couple of the above options, together with the geofencing function and entry to the door sensor. Matter connections additionally don’t help the lock’s intrusion detection system, which might notify you if the lock is tampered with. And lastly, Matter customers obtain a smaller variety of visitor consumer codes than Wi-Fi customers, although what number of depends upon which ecosystem you’re connecting to.

Unlike U-tec’s implementation, the Kwikset lock may be configured to make use of both Wi-Fi or Matter, however not each concurrently. This is an efficient factor, because it eliminates the potential for conflicting settings and entry codes. After my Wi-Fi testing, I switched the Kwikset lock to Matter mode (connecting it to Apple Home), which purportedly erases all of the lock’s settings and PIN codes and begins all the pieces over from scratch. The system largely labored tremendous throughout the iOS Home ecosystem, although once more there’s significantly much less you are able to do with it right here.

Christopher Null/Foundry

PIN codes may be arrange and shared with anybody, however app-based entry is restricted to customers with a sound iCloud account. Since PINs arrange with Matter can’t be time-restricted, app-based entry is the one option to configure an account that expires at a given time or which is restricted to particular days of the week and instances of day. This notably restricts the lock’s utility vs. utilization in its Wi-Fi configuration. (Features will fluctuate additional primarily based on which ecosystem you’re on.)

Oddly, whereas the transition to Matter prompted the lock’s touchscreen to not acknowledge the grasp PIN I’d already arrange – which I anticipated to occur from the system reset – it additionally wouldn’t let me reuse it, with iOS Home saying the PIN was already assigned. There was no option to appropriate this difficulty wanting one other manufacturing unit reset. I count on it is a small bug, but it surely’s one thing to bear in mind if you happen to do transition the lock from Wi-Fi to Matter. Note that even if you happen to don’t use Matter, the lock will nonetheless work with Alexa and Google Home if you wish to use voice capabilities.

One extra factor of notice: The inside escutcheon has a lightweight on it which always flashes both inexperienced or purple indicating if the lock is open or closed. This is clearly that can assist you see at a look if the lock is engaged, however it will probably shortly change into an eyesore if the lock is close by or in a darkish room through which you sleep. This conduct can fortuitously be turned off within the settings, as can sound from the lock (which particularly consists of numerous beeps).

Specifications

• Lock sort: Deadbolt
• Dimensions (exterior): 5.4 x 2.8 x 0.9 inches (HxWxD)
• Dimensions (inside): 5.8 x 2.9 x 2.3 inches (HxWxD)
• BHMA grade: AAA (highest)
• Coating: Microban
• Power: 4 x AA batteries
• Connectivity: Matter and Wi-Fi
• Number of codes: 250
• Smart house compatibility: Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, Samsung SmartIssues

Should you purchase the Halo Select Matter and Wi-Fi sensible lock?

At $279, the Halo Select is expensive for a lock that’s brief on options like biometric-based entry. However, its efficiency and high-grade safety certification do some work towards bettering that worth proposition to a level.

Matter help, whereas finally restricted, sweetens the deal a bit additional.