Kwikset - Kevo Touch-to-Open Bluetooth Key and Electronic Smart Door Lock (2nd Gen)

I bought the Kēvo to help me from having to fumble around for my keys every time I try to get in my house. It’s also great for when you have your hands full of groceries. All you need to do is tap the deadbolt and it unlocks. Very convenient. Will purchase more for my other doors.

Okay, I read the reviews and bought the lock. Once home, I read the directions and downloaded the Kevo app onto my phone. Once installed, the app said it is not compatible with my phone. Looking harder into why the app won't work, I discover that the app only works with older phones. I have a Note 8, and the newest phone the app works with is a Note 4. Then ... I see in the reviews that a fair amount of people are finding the internal moving parts are plastic (like the gears) and have a short service life. I never even took the lock out of the box, and returned it the next day.

It’s amazing and I love that when I’m not home I can secure my office from my toddler getting into stuff

So far this product has been great! I read a lot of reviews online and was skeptical because many of the reviews were so-so or gave this product poor ratings. I decided to take a risk and give this a shot anyways. After about 2 weeks, I'm really liking this lock! Now, I'm not using it as an entry door lock so take that for what it's worth. I'm using this as a lock on my master bedroom door. As foster parents, we needed to limit access to our bedroom for safety and privacy reasons. Hoping that this would make it easier to go in and out frequently without using a key. The touch to open feature using Bluetooth works well, but sometimes does not connect right away and you have to touch it two or three times before it will open, making you stand there for 10-15 seconds. Installation was easy but took longer for me because I had to drill out for a new deadbolt. If you already have a deadbolt, this should take someone with no handy skills about 20-30 minutes to install. This mobile app is nice and shows if the door is locked or unlocked. You can lock or unlock from your phone when on wi-fi. You can also send ekeys to other people to allow access to the lock. The app also shows who locked/unlocked the door and when. I have other Kwikset locks on my house and the smart key feature allowed me to re-key this lock by myself to my current key in about 10 seconds. Awesome! This saved me from having to have a locksmith rekey the lock. Overall, I am satisfied with this product and would recommend it to others. I hope they come out with a combination door handle and deadbolt smart lock in the future. If you have an entry door with a separate deadbolt, that kind of defeats the purpose of this product because you still need a key to open the door handle lock. If they make a product that can do both, I'd buy it the day it comes out for my front door!

#1 BATTERY USAGE: This lock goes through AA batteries way too fast. I use very good quality name brand batteries but this lock uses them up quickly because it is battery operated for everything it does. The lock mechanism for opening and closing uses battery power and it's on standby mode all day and night just waiting to detect someone touching the lock which and this uses up the battery. #2 BATTERY COMPARTMENT ACCESS: It wouldn't be that bad (just the cost of the batteries every so often) but Kwikset designed this lock in such a dumb way that to replace the batteries you can't just pop off the cover and switch them out. You have to go get a screw driver and unscrew these 3 teeny tiny itty bittty little screws on both sides and 1 on the bottom. The screw on the bottom is directly over the door handle so it's tough to get the screwdriver in it and you must angle the screwdriver. Over time unscrewing the bottom screw with the bit head angled the way it has to be will strip the screw head rounding it out to the point it won't even catch anymore. These screws are very small an easily lost so if you have carpet below your door be careful not to drop a screw and if you have wood floor, as I do, or tile be prepared for a hunt as well because they do bounce far. #3 FALSE TOUCH LOCKING: I've been inside feet away from the door with the door wide open and no one has been near the door in at least 5 minutes and all of a sudden it will activate and lock. I don't have it set to auto lock after 30 seconds or anything like that and there was no one around to brush by it let alone touch it. It happens fairly often but fortunately I've only noticed it locking but that may be just because if the door is open the lock is in the unlocked position so it only has the option of locking. #4 I'm not sure but I think the Kevo App is also using my phone battery because I've noticed my Galaxy S7 doesn't make it 3/4 of the day anymore and it started right when I got this lock. #5 Any time my phone dies and I have to charge it up and power it back on or if I reset my phone or turn it off then on I have to remember to go back into the Kevo app otherwise it won't work with the lock. The app must always be running for it to work with the lock. #6 I called customer service at 1343 hours and they said they are experiencing a high volume of calls (THERE MUST BE A LOT OF UNHAPPY KEVO CUSTOMERS!) and they gave me the option to leave a call back number and they would keep my place in line and call me back once my number came up... well I left my number and now it's 1433 hours and I still haven't heard from customer service so that's over a 50 minute wait which as far as customer service goes I would say that's pretty bad. Overall bad design flaws, bad power consumption, and bad customer service... all for the price of about $250+tax so $275?

Kwikset has done a nice job with the upgraded Kevo, but its just not fully baked. If you have your compatible IOS or Android device (I have an Iphone 7 with IOS 10.1 as of this writing) in your pocket or purse you should be able to have the app running in the background and tap the outer ring of the lock and the door should unlock. I have troubleshooted this with Kwikset multiple times and it just doesn't work consistently. The blue ring just spins and nothing. Kwikset claims to try again as the lock is "calibrating". Multiple times and ...nothing. This is not a dealbreaker, but it does require removing the phone from your pocket and opening the app and unlocking the door with the app. Hence, defeating the purpose and taking longer than it would to take a key out of my pocket and open the door. This is not to say that I would not recommend Kevo. I love that I can remotely (with the Kevo bridge, an additional upgrade) open the lock remotely for guests or vendors that I need to let into my home. Its also nice to be able to check to make sure you locked the door. Although I have on occasion checked the app and it says the door is locked when it isn't. This is a VERY serious issue and in Kevo's defense I have not contacted them. I assume that this might be an issue of the app not getting updated as I had just unlocked the door and gotten in the car and attempted to lock the door with the app, possibly not allowing enough time for the app to receive the updated information. All in all, it is a good product that has great potential but still needs some work. I'd still recommend it. But its important to have the right expectations.

I bought this lock on recommendation from the wirecutter. It is a nice lock, and the touch to lock/unlock is without a doubt an amazing experience (I still get a little excited even multiple weeks with it). That being said, it was not a smooth experience in the slightest. The connection is at times wonky. The initial setup failed multiple times. When actually using the app to lock/unlock it takes longer than I'd like for the status to sync and be usable. All in all, it's a nice luxury to have, the touch to lock/unlock feature alone is great. Getting the Kevo + (separate $100 attachment that lets you lock/unlock all nearby kevo locks remotely) makes it even better. It also enabled Alexa integration. I also like that from the street it likes like a normal lock, and doesn't draw extra attention. Part of me wishes I had waited for the Nest + Yale smart lock, but I think the normal appearance and touch to lock would have still made me choose this one.

I did research this lock before purchasing. I missed the part saying the wifi is not part of the purchase. This only Bluetooth compatibly out of the box and cannot be unlocked from your phone unless you are within 30 feet. For $99.99 more you can purchase the device to make it wifi compatible to unlock from anywhere. Very disappointed about this. They should make the box read it is smart compatible. I do like the lock other than stated above. Easy to install. The lock fit on the existing holes. Was easy to setup and work. Really have had no problems so far.