Welcome to Home Deals, where we pick out the best deals on things you need for your home, garden and beyond. Like our cousin, the Cheapskate, we’ll give you a regular selection of smoking-hot deals, but for house and home. This time, we look for smart deals on smart locks.
Most people’s first experience of the smart home is a smart lock. These nifty devices turn an old-school manual lock into a high-tech marvel, allowing you to open a door remotely, issue and revoke electronic keys at the touch of a button and see who is coming and going. Many of these devices are expensive, but it doesn’t have to be that way: Here are the smartest deals we could find on smart locks.
The Kwikset Kevo smart lock, which offers keyless security.
Kwikset announced its Obsidian lock at CES this year, which gets rid of the key completely: You open it with a Bluetooth dongle or smartphone or program it to open with a key code. If that’s a bit too hi-tech for you, there are plenty of deals out there on their older models, such as the Kevo, which combines a conventional keyed deadlock with the ability to open it with a Bluetooth key or Bluetooth-equipped cell phone. Best Buy has refurbished units for $179.99, while Sears has new units for $199.99. Both of these deals are for the second-generation units that Kwikset launched in 2016, which we reviewed here. There are still a few places that are selling the first-generation version for less: One seller on Amazon has a few units for $87.99, and they show up on eBay for a similar price a lot. The differences are that the first-generation model has a larger part that fits inside your door, and the second-generation works on a wider range of door types. They are fundamentally the same otherwise, though, so stepping back a generation could save some cash.
Schlage is another big name in smart locks that offers a range of models. Its Sense model works with Apple’s HomeKit system, so you can unlock your front door by asking Siri. At $209 for each lock, it’s on the pricey side, though. Build.com has refurbished units of the same BE479 deadbolt on sale for $144.99, a savings of $60. You only get to pick from the Aged Bronze and Satin Nickel finishes, though. If you can forgo getting Siri involved, you can save even more by getting a keypad combination deadlock like the Schlage BE365 for $79.99. It doesn’t have the same smarts as the more expensive model, but it allows you to program and remove codes to open the door at less than half the price of the fancier models. If you are adding smart locks around the house, those savings could mount up.
The original version of the August smart lock, now on sale for $129.99
CNET
Newcomers to the smart lock market have their share of deals on offer. August launched a version 2.0 of its smart lock in 2016, which means that the original version is now on sale. NewEgg has refurbished models in a variety of finishes for $129.99, a $100 saving off the newer version. You can read about the differences between the two models in our review of the new version.
Have you found a great deal on a smart lock — or bought a lemon? Let us know in the comments below.
