This smart lock offers one too many features for me, but you just might dig it

Price When Reviewed

$399.99 (a $69 low cost is on the market for pre-orders)

Best Prices Today: Eufy FamiLock S3 Max

As if on steroids, sensible locks have been advancing in wonderful and shocking methods during the last yr, with every few months bringing a brand new “first” to the market. Eufy’s FamiLock S3 Max gives yet one more sensible lock innovation that will have been unthinkable simply weeks in the past: It’s the primary mannequin we’ve seen that has a built-in, 4-inch video display screen on its inside escutcheon, relaying video from a digicam mounted on the outside escutcheon, no secondary system required.

It’s a neat concept however proper off the bat, it’s clearly not a lock that’s going to make sense for everybody. Like many owners, I’ve an enormous window set into the middle of my entrance door, so having a small video display screen that shows what is occurring on the opposite facet of that door isn’t going to do me a lot good. However, these with totally opaque doorways—particularly house dwellers –may discover this a way more compelling proposition than a peephole.

Specifications

The Eufy FamiLock S3 Max has quite a bit occurring, and consequently it consumes an enormous quantity of area. Both inside and exterior escutcheons are monumental, with the outside measuring 7 x 2.5 inches in measurement (HxW) and the inside 8 x 3 inches. Both components are greater than 1 inch thick. The full weight of the system is a major 2 kilos, 11 ounces, though you’ll most likely concentrate on that solely throughout set up. It carries a weatherization ranking of IP65, so in accordance with our IP code decoder, it’s totally shielded from particulate matter, like mud, and that it might face up to blasts of water from a tightened nozzle (however not a stress washer). Eufy additionally obtained an ANSI Grade 1 certification, which our ANSI/BHMA guide tells us is the best ranking for bodily safety.

The listing of options on the lock goes far past its video capabilities, however that’s the place we’ll begin. The four-inch show relays video from the front-mounted digicam, which captures square-shaped video at a most decision of 1600 x 1600 pixels, with a 180-degree (diagonal) viewing angle. Standard infrared video is in-built. Video is saved domestically by default on 16GB of non-upgradeable storage. A cloud backup service is on the market, however it’s definitely not required except you’re involved about somebody stealing the lock itself. The plan runs $3/month or $30/yr for one system or $10/month or $100/yr for as much as 10 gadgets. Both plans retailer a duplicate of all movies on-line for 30 days. (These costs nonetheless are going up on April 1, 2025.)

The unit additionally features as a doorbell, courtesy of a giant button that turns into ringed in blue gentle when movement is detected. There’s no inside chime included with the lock, however you possibly can configure an Amazon Echo system to function a chime when you set up the suitable talent. This labored nicely in my testing.

As far as entry goes, the unit has two main avenues of operation. First, a numeric touch-sensitive keypad helps a most of 100 PINs. Second, the unit features a now fashionable palm vein reader, permitting for touchless authentication by merely holding your hand a couple of inches away from a reader mounted on the highest of the outside escutcheon. The lock can retailer 50 totally different palm scans (as much as two per consumer). Lastly, along with app-based entry, the unit features a bodily keyhole that may be accessed by coming out the doorbell button, though notice I discovered it to be somewhat troublesome to get again into place securely.

The unit is uniquely powered by a chargeable 15,000mAh battery and 4 AAA batteries that function backups in case the first cell dies. These are wedged into the inside escutcheon atop the first cell, which is a part of the explanation why the inside escutcheon is so giant. Eufy says the first cell ought to final a minimum of six months, with one further month of operation supplied by the AAA cells in reserve. There isn’t any emergency energy port on the outside escutcheon, so don’t ignore the notifications of the first battery’s state—a minimum of not for lengthy.

With all of that prologue, we will lastly delve into how nicely all of this works. The quick reply, throughout, is kind of good.

Setup and set up

Christopher Null/Foundry

Physical set up isn’t troublesome, however it does take a couple of small further steps because of the wants of the video system. As is frequent, the outside escutcheon is bolted to an inside body with two screws, which in flip attaches to the inside escutcheon with a further 4 screws. Two electronics cables are wanted to attach the 2 items collectively, though these are straightforward to correctly route and get seated correctly. There’s a further piece on prime of the inside escutcheon that homes the video display screen, this snaps on with out the necessity for added {hardware}, overlaying up the battery packs. All of this goes collectively shortly and cleanly, regardless of the few further items within the combine.

Setup within the revamped Eufy app (not referred to as Eufy Security) entails little greater than scanning a QR code on the inside escutcheon. Oddly, that is labeled as a Matter code (extra on Matter help later), however it additionally features instantly with the Eufy app. In my testing, the app linked shortly to the lock and I had it onboarded and linked to my 2.4GHz Wi-Fi community (5GHz networks are usually not supported) in lower than a minute.

Christopher Null/Foundry

The Eufy app is a sprawling system that isn’t significantly troublesome to navigate, however it does require a major period of time to grasp as a result of it has so many transferring components. The app is now a do-it-all system with separate tabs for “lights,” “security,” “clean,” and “care,” and it handles all the pieces from sensible locks to robotic mowers to sensible scales and breast pumps. You’ll discover the FamiLock within the safety part, the place a widget with the newest thumbnail from the lock’s digicam could be seen, together with fast entry to the lock/unlock icon. Tapping the thumbnail takes you to a bigger, reside view of the digicam, together with fast entry to on-demand recording, screenshot, as much as 3 “quick responses” that you simply file with your individual voice, and two-way discuss. You’ll additionally get to this display screen routinely if somebody rings the doorbell and also you faucet the notification.

Recordings are managed via the Events tab on the backside of the display screen, they usually’re introduced as a chronological view of all exercise—door lock/unlock actions, movement detections, and doorbell rings—with all movies accompanied by a thumbnail. You can set the digicam to file on all movement or solely when people are detected (and you may dial the detection vary from 3 to 20 toes). The onboard AI does an excellent job of figuring out if a human is within the video or not. An exercise zone, loitering detection mode, and “leaving detection mode” that notifies you if somebody departs are all additionally out there.

Performance

Video high quality is ok however nothing earth-shaking. The ultra-wide-angle view makes for fairly a distorted view, and except your customer is lower than a couple of toes away from the door, I discovered it was nearly unattainable to make out their face. Night imaginative and prescient is stable, partly due to a number of lights on the entrance of the system that illuminate when movement is detected.Clips loaded shortly all through my testing and might be simply downloaded with out bother.

User administration is tied to people, and you may configure every individual to have 24/7 entry, scheduled entry (expiring at a set time or based mostly on time/day of week), or one-time entry, utilizing a PIN that you simply set. Only after a PIN is added are you invited so as to add as much as two palm vein scans for the consumer, although these are optionally available. I had no bother utilizing both PINs or palms to realize entry to the lock, though the lock generally struggled with palm scans if my hand was introduced at an angle as a substitute of vertically.

Christopher Null/Foundry

Additional options I haven’t but lined embody auto-locking (5 seconds to 3 minutes, schedulable) and configurable wrong-try safety that locks down the system for as much as 5 minutes after 3 to 10 mistaken makes an attempt. A wide range of power-management modes can be found as nicely that allow you to decide when and for a way lengthy to file video. (“Optimal surveillance” will file for as much as 60 seconds when movement is detected, whereas “Balance surveillance” will max out at 20. “Optimal battery life” gained’t file on movement detection in any respect.)

Should you purchase the Eufy FamiLock S3 Max?

As famous beforehand the system helps Matter and could be onboarded on to a Matter hub by scanning the identical QR code on the inside escutcheon. I used to be ready so as to add the lock to iOS Home by scanning the code, however quickly discovered there’s little or no level to doing this, as there’s no help for a lot of the superior options of the lock via Matter—together with palm vein scanning and any of the video options. If you’re simply searching for a Matter lock that permits you to assign PINs, there are a lot of extra reasonably priced and easier choices round.

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

Lastly, at $400, there’s no method round the truth that the Eufy FamiLock S3 Max is extraordinarily costly—greater than the mixed price of a separate video doorbell and high quality sensible lock. That stated, does work very nicely contemplating its complexity; as such, it would make sense for individuals who desire a single system and who could make good use of the built-in video display screen.

If you do have a window in your door—or sidelights subsequent to it—you may wish to think about the Eufy FamiLock S3, as a substitute. It has the identical options aside from the built-in digicam and show, and it prices $50 much less: $349.99.