Tested: This smart lock is so good, I'd switch to an iPhone for it

Price When Reviewed

$299.00

Best Prices Today: Avia Smart Deadbolt+

Spend sufficient time on this enterprise and also you’ll start to really feel such as you’ve seen all the things. After reviewing greater than 80 good locks thus far, I used to be certain that there have been no extra design or performance stones left to overturn on this section of the good dwelling market. And then alongside comes Avia.

A European model newly out there within the U.S., Avia is an altogether totally different idea in good locks regardless of which means you take a look at it. So, let’s begin with its design. While the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a normal good lock that replaces each exterior and inside escutcheons, you gained’t discover it from the surface, at the least from a distance.

Externally, the lock—which is obtainable in black and satin nickel—seems loads like a conventional, non-smart machine (or for that matter, a Level Lock+ good lock): Its round escutcheon is simply barely bigger than the borehole it matches into, and there’s a keyhole in its middle. Look intently, nevertheless, and also you’ll discover 10 bodily quantity buttons organized alongside the highest of lock, organized in two rows of 5. You have to pay additional to get an exterior PIN pad for a Level Lock.

Christopher Null/Foundry

A plastic-covered sensor hides beneath the lock, practically invisible to the informal observer. Press one of many buttons on the keypad and the numerals mild up in shade (within the hue of your selection), together with the Avia emblem, which seems on either side of the machine, offering a postmodern vibe to an in any other case classic-looking lock.

While the outside impact is putting, the inside escutcheon is way extra conventional (and really a lot unlike a Level Lock). It’s a squat rectangle in two-tone silver and black with a easy thumb flip, powered by 4 AA batteries below a plastic panel. Note that there isn’t any exterior port for emergency energy. Avia says recent cells will final for as much as 18 months. The producer additionally says its lock meets the best stage of ANSI and BHMA testing however that it’s nonetheless awaiting formal certifications.

Installation and setup

The lock goes collectively considerably unusually, because of the inclusion of a second mounting body that matches on the within of the door. This is an extra plastic body upon which a smaller steel body sits, each of that are sandwiched along with the outside escutcheon by way of two small bolts. (The want for this second body isn’t defined within the lock’s documentation.)

The exterior escutcheon has two electrical connectors: One connects to the inside motor unit, as anticipated, however the different attaches to a port on one of many frames. This all is perhaps extra intuitive if Avia included a printed instruction guide; sadly, your solely academic choice is to observe one in every of Avia’s online videos or go step-by-step with the Avia app.

I discovered getting all the things seated correctly to be a bit extra sophisticated than the standard lock I’ve reviewed, because of the additional mounting body and that second cable; however for essentially the most half, it was a simple set up—or so I assumed (extra on that later).

Christopher Null/Foundry

The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ helps Matter over Thread, nevertheless it presently works with iOS completely, being designed solely round Apple HomeEquipment and Apple’s Home Key know-how. If you don’t have already got an iOS dwelling hub (e.g., an Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini), Avia says you should utilize the lock straight over Bluetooth. But there’s actually no level in buying this lock when you don’t even have a kind of three units, as you’ll miss out on lots of the lock’s options—together with any type of distant accessibility.

Setup may be very a lot consistent with commonplace HomeEquipment configurations, and whilst you can set the lock up straight in iOS Home, you’re properly suggested to make use of Avia’s app to get began, starting with scanning the QR code printed on the within of the battery cowl. I needed to run by way of the scan-and-wait course of a few instances earlier than it accomplished efficiently; in any other case, the method was simple.

Using the Avia Smart Deadbolt+

Once configured, Avia’s lock affords a sturdy assortment of entry strategies, together with the beforehand talked about numeric keypad and a bevy of “smart” methods to open the door. The lock is suitable with Apple Home Key, so as soon as it’s put in and configured, you may simply faucet your iPhone or Apple Watch on the lock to open it—you don’t have to open the app in your cellphone.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Users with out an iPhone can use one of many two included NFC fobs to do the identical trick; these are simply enrolled throughout the Avia app. You may even unlock the door with a Siri voice command—after you authenticate your self in your iPhone.

One restriction of observe: While you may share Home Key entry with as many customers as you’d like, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ helps solely 10 PIN codes and 6 key fobs (two of those are included with the lock). PIN and fob entry should be configured by way of the Avia app straight. PINs may be restricted primarily based on a schedule (recurring or in any other case), however fobs have 24/7 entry. Home Key entry should be granted by way of the iOS Home app. There is not any facility for one-time entry codes.

The lock has only a few different options, together with auto-locking (delayed by as much as 4 minutes) and the PIN pad lighting results I discussed earlier. These are configured by way of a shade wheel within the app. You can even choose a two-digit code to lock the door from the surface, a step made needed by the absence of a “lock” button on the outside escutcheon. A sturdy logging system (see the screenshot above) retains monitor of each lock and unlock operation.

Avia Smart

The Avia Smart Deadbolt+ is a nifty machine, aside from one quite massive and weird anomaly I encountered proper after I completed setting it up; specifically, the lock wouldn’t open until I had the bodily key in its cylinder, and I might solely take away the important thing from the lock when it was within the locked place. Any try and unlock the lock with out the important thing resulted in a jam, regardless of how I attempted to open it, together with bodily turning the inside thumb flip. I requested Avia about this and the corporate advised the lock had both been put in with the spindle the mistaken means or with the deadbolt not retracted, however upon disassembly, all the things regarded as if it was put in appropriately.

Nevertheless, after a number of extra reassemblies and resets of the lock, fastidiously following Avia’s emailed directions, I did lastly get it working correctly. All advised it was a irritating scenario, however maybe only a fluke because it was ultimately resolved.

Should you purchase the Avia Smart Deadbolt+?

Apart from than that important setup hiccup, the Avia Smart Deadbolt+ works properly, and its design is excellent. The lock operates easily and fairly quietly, the keypad is responsive, and each one in every of its technique of digital entry labored flawlessly and practically immediately in my testing.

The sturdy Home Key assist is mostly a game-changer, because you don’t have to open an app and even have your cellphone with you—so long as you’re carrying your Apple Watch. Needing to open an app or faucet in a code to get into the home turns into tedious over time.

At $299, nevertheless, the lock may be very high-priced, particularly given its limitations. For that type of outlay, I’d count on flawless operation proper out of the field, extra sturdy consumer assist, and a USB-C port for emergency energy. All that mentioned, it’s nonetheless $30 cheaper than the Level Lock+ that’s its closest competitor.

This assessment is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best smart locks.