The PIN pad on this Wi-Fi smart lock is mind-blowingly cool

Price When Reviewed

$309.99

Best Prices Today: Lockly Secure Pro 2025 Version (mannequin PGD728WMBE1)

The Lockly Secure Pro isn’t a brand new lock, however moderately an improve to an outdated one: The authentic Lockly Secure Pro got here out manner again in 2019, therefore this launch’s full (and moderately awkward) title: Lockly Secure Pro 2025 Version.

The two locks have roughly the identical industrial look (although the brand new lock is reportedly 25 % smaller), so that you’ll have to pay shut consideration when procuring to make sure you’re getting the present model. While Lockly’s web site consists of the 2025 indicator within the title, many distributors, together with Amazon, don’t. Look for Lockly mannequin quantity PGD728WMBE1 to make sure.

Specifications

The largest distinction between the 2 locks is certainly a biggie: The 2025 Version has a built-in 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter and now not requires an exterior hub to bridge to your inside Wi-Fi community. (Lockly says the fingerprint scanner on the lock has additionally improved, however this isn’t almost as necessary: Lockly has lengthy had a few of the finest fingerprint scanning tech in the marketplace, so any enhancements are minuscule).

Other modifications are incremental, and plenty of are a part of wider business shifts, such because the transfer from a 9-volt battery terminal on the backside of the outside escutcheon to a USB-C port that may present emergency energy from an influence financial institution if wanted. The inside escutcheon and thumbturn have been redesigned to be extra interesting and simpler to understand, and the fingerprint reader has been moved from the facet of the machine to the entrance, simply above the touchscreen and set at a slight angle.

Lockly

Lockly’s PIN Genie keypad continues to be in impact, and for those who’ve by no means seen it, it does take some getting used to. Instead of being organized in numerical order, digits are grouped into 4 units of three, that are shuffled every time the lock is used. This makes it functionally unattainable to guess a PIN by observing somebody or by dusting the touchscreen for fingerprints, for the reason that numbers transfer round each time it’s used. The lock can be constructed to ANSI Grade 2 requirements, in response to Lockly, however it isn’t licensed as such.

Installation and setup

I’m pleased to report that Lockly has made nice strides in bettering its {hardware} and set up course of within the final six years. The disconnected crossbar that connects the outside and inside escutcheons is now constructed into the outside escutcheon, making setup far simpler than in earlier incarnations of Lockly {hardware}. The entire package comes along with two lengthy bolts that join a normal inside mounting body to the outside escutcheon, plus three extra screws attaching the inside escutcheon to that body.

It’s by and enormous a course of that’s pretty normal within the sensible lock business, and whereas I didn’t have any main points getting issues related, I’ll supply a professional tip: Make positive the deadbolt is prolonged if you connect the inside escutcheon, or the system won’t be able to calibrate, an necessary step for setting whether or not the door is left-handed or right-handed. (This calibration is finished by urgent the purple button positioned beneath the quilt of the inside escutcheon, after which the lock opens and closes just a few occasions earlier than finalizing setup.)

All informed, set up was clean—and even Lockly’s guide has been tremendously improved for the reason that authentic Secure Pro launched, do you have to want additional assist.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The lock continues to be powered by 4 AA batteries, and after they’re put in, you’re directed to the newish Lockly Home app, which changed the outdated Lockly app earlier this 12 months, for onboarding. The new app an enormous improve, too: It’s simple and painless to initially configure the app, and as soon as all the things is configured, it’s equally straightforward to make use of.

The major display affords a normal, front-and-center button for lock/unlock operations; the button doubles as an icon to point out whether or not the door is locked, unlocked, open, and/or closed. (A built-in wired door sensor that stands out from the underside of the inside escutcheon continues to be normal, although its use is non-compulsory.)

In addition to help for utilizing a bodily key or the app to open the lock, the lock (nonetheless) helps PIN and fingerprint-based entry. The lock helps a most of 52 customers, with help for a complete of 99 fingerprints and 49 entry codes. I don’t get the maths on these numbers both, besides that customers usually are not required to have each fingerprint and PIN, so it kind of is smart.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Users could be configured with full-time entry, as “sub-admins” who also can create new accounts, with time-limited entry that both expires at a set time or recurs every week, or one-time entry (which may also be set to run out). Up to 3 one-time or limited-time entry codes may also be configured, although notice that there are particular directions that have to be adopted (involving sure button presses and coming into the code twice) for these codes to work.

All informed, I didn’t encounter any points with consumer setup or administration—or utilizing PINs or prints to open the lock. As with earlier Lockly merchandise, all entry strategies had been wholly dependable.

Logging is powerful, although Lockly features a second, barely complicated “notification center” that duplicates some however not the entire data within the logs about lock openings, closings, and failed entry makes an attempt. These notifications (not the log entries) are what are pushed to your telephone—reliably so, in my testing.

Christopher Null/Foundry

A bevy of settings choices can be found for individuals who want to dig deeper, together with three energy modes designed to prolonged battery life (5 months is specified by Lockly, about half what the outdated lock affords), automated locking (customizable by time, or settable to lock at any time when the door is closed), and Lockly’s considerably maddening “random mode” which shuffles the digits on the PIN Genie keypad every time a button is pressed as an alternative of simply as soon as per use. Support for Alexa and Google Assistant are additionally included (although not Siri).

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

Should you purchase the Lockly Secure Pro 2025 Version?

The few non-trivial points I encountered with the lock had been connectivity associated. The app would generally take just a few seconds to connect with the lock, and on multiple event it didn’t join in any respect, forcing me to stop the app and check out once more. The open/closed door standing situation additionally didn’t replace reliably in my testing, although it was correct most of the time. In normal, the unit was loads dependable and its few connection hiccups had been simply resolved with a bit of persistence.

At $310, the lock isn’t considerably costlier than the 2019 mannequin, which continues to be out there for $260. Still, each are on the excessive facet for Wi-Fi-capable sensible locks, although not egregiously so. If you’re offered on Lockly, particularly its distinctive touchpad interface and barely dystopian design, the 2025 Lockly Pro sees the outfit acting at its finest.