The Best Smart Door Locks and Keyless Entry Systems

This is the security pick, and the certification isn't marketing. ANSI/BHMA Grade 1 means the lock survives 360 pounds of static force and a strike test simulating a kick-in, plus a rated 250,000 open/close cycles. Grade 2 locks stop at 250 pounds, Grade 3 at 200. If you want the deadbolt on your front door to be the strong part of the door rather than the weak part, this is where the category tops out.

Apple households get the feature almost nothing else has. Home Key lets you tap an iPhone or Apple Watch to the lock and walk in — no app, no code, no fumbling. Apple's Emergency Reserve Power means it still works for a while after your phone's battery dies. Fewer than fifteen residential locks support it. If you're already deep in Apple Home, that alone probably decides this for you.

PCMag's review called out something we think gets underrated: the built-in door alarm. The lock senses movement and forced-entry attempts and pushes an alert to the app. That's a hardware layer, not a software trick, and it's genuinely rare at any price. Pair it with the activity log and you get a decent picture of who came and went, which matters more than most people expect once they have it.

Setup stays simple because the WiFi is built in. No hub, no bridge, no extra box on a shelf. It talks to Alexa and Google Assistant through the Schlage Home app, and it installs with a screwdriver on standard doors — 1-3/8 to 1-3/4 inch thickness, 2-3/8 or 2-3/4 inch backset. Bob Vila's research suggests roughly 85% of US exterior doors already fit that spec.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It's the most expensive lock in this guide by a wide margin, and owner feedback is genuinely split. A meaningful share of buyers report units that arrived defective or failed within weeks, and several describe Home Key pairing as fussy the first time through. When it works it seems to work for years — but the failure stories aren't rare enough to wave off.

Installation instructions and illustrations don't always match what's in the box, particularly around the strike plate. If you've swapped a deadbolt before you'll be fine. If you haven't, budget more than the advertised few minutes.

The interior housing is bulky. This is a full deadbolt replacement, so renters are generally out unless a landlord signs off.

If you rent, this is realistically your only good option. Nothing about your door changes from the outside. Your landlord's key still works, the exterior hardware stays put, and when you move you unscrew the interior half and take it with you. Tom's Guide timed the fourth-generation August at under fifteen minutes to install with just a screwdriver — the fastest retrofit in its comparison group.

The keypad mounts separately, which turns out to be more useful than it sounds. You can put it beside the door, on a post, wherever makes sense, as long as it's in Bluetooth range of the lock. That's handy on doors with odd trim or a storm door in the way. It handles fingerprints and custom codes, and the app's activity feed tells you when the kids got home.

Built-in WiFi means no hub, and auto-unlock triggers as you walk up. Owners describe the core lock as reliable — it grabs the deadbolt with enough torque to forgive a door that doesn't sit perfectly square in its frame, which is a common complaint with retrofits on older houses.

Everything you need ships in the box. No bridge, no subscription for the basics, no separate purchase to get remote access working.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The keypad's fingerprint reader is the weak link, and owners say so repeatedly. Some report it's slow, unreliable, or never enrolls certain fingers at all. Treat fingerprint entry as a bonus, not the main way you plan to get in — the code and the app are the dependable paths.

Battery life draws complaints too, with some owners burning through a set faster than expected. And because this bolts onto your existing deadbolt, it inherits whatever security grade that deadbolt has. A cheap builder-grade bolt doesn't become Grade 1 just because there's a smart motor on it.

For most people who just want to stop carrying keys, this does the job for a fraction of what the premium locks cost. Fingerprint, keypad, app, and physical backup keys — four ways in, all of them covered. Wyze rates the scanner at half a second, and the tempered glass surface resists the scratches and smudges that make cheap readers degrade over a year.

The USB-C port is a genuinely smart touch. If the batteries die while you're standing outside, any phone power bank gets you in. That's a better answer to the dead-battery problem than most locks costing several times as much, which typically give you a 9V contact point or nothing at all.

It ships with eight AA batteries and Wyze rates it at eight months. Owners consistently describe installation as quick — a straight deadbolt swap in around fifteen minutes — and setup through the Wyze app as painless. If you already own a Wyze video doorbell, you can unlock straight from the live feed after you see who's there.

Owner feedback here is the most positive of anything in this lineup by a clear margin, which counts for something in a category where the expensive options draw a lot of angry reviews.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It's BHMA Grade 2, not Grade 1 — 250 pounds of static force instead of 360. That's fine for most doors but it's a real step down from the Schlage if security grade is what you care about.

The IP53 rating is for light splashing, not driving rain. On a fully exposed door with no overhang, you'd want something rated higher. There's no HomeKit or Matter support either, so Apple Home users should look elsewhere.

Some owners struggled to enroll certain fingerprints during setup, though most got there eventually. The keypad beep is quiet enough that a few people wished they could hear their own presses.

Nothing else in this category disappears the way this does. Level puts the motor, the electronics, and the battery inside the bore hole, so from the hallway and from the porch you see a normal deadbolt. It's about 62% smaller than typical smart locks with no chunky interior housing. If you've held off on a smart lock because they all look like a gadget stapled to your front door, this solves exactly that.

It's certified BHMA AAA and ANSI Grade 1/A, with a bump- and pick-resistant cylinder — the same top rating as the Schlage, in a package with no visible hardware. Matter over Thread means it works with Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, and SmartThings through one standard rather than a brand-specific bridge, and Thread's low latency makes commands feel close to instant.

Door status detection is built into the lock itself. No stick-on magnet on your door frame, no adhesive sensor to peel off later — it just knows when the door is open and tells you. Small thing, but it's the kind of detail that separates this from locks that bolt a sensor on as an afterthought.

There's no keypad and no fingerprint reader, which is the trade. You unlock by phone, by Apple Watch tap, by voice, or with a key. For some households that's cleaner. For others it's a dealbreaker, and you should know which you are before buying.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Remote access needs a Matter hub or Level's own WiFi bridge, sold separately. Out of the box you get Bluetooth. If you don't already own a HomePod, Apple TV, Echo hub or similar, budget for another purchase to get the remote features working.

The app draws the sharpest criticism. Owners report login and password-reset loops that lock them out of the software even when the hardware is fine. Some also flag uncertainty about Level's long-term support, which is worth weighing on a product you expect to keep for a decade.

Installation is more involved than a surface-mount deadbolt because the hardware goes inside the door. Several owners found the lock itself easy to remove and the new one fiddly to seat correctly.

The Level Lock Pro is backed by a two-year limited warranty.

If you want every entry method and you don't want to pay premium prices, this is the one. Fingerprint ID, a keypad with anti-peep entry so someone watching can't read your code, app control, auto-unlock as you approach, web portal access, eKey sharing, voice control, and two physical keys. Ultraloq says the reader stores up to 100 fingerprints. Nothing else in this lineup covers that many bases at once.

It's ANSI Grade 1 with an IP65 rating, meaning it's sealed against dust and water jets — not just splashes. That matters on an exposed door in a place with real weather. The set includes a matching handle, so you're not hunting for hardware that coordinates with your new deadbolt.

The eKey and code-sharing setup makes this a natural fit for short-term rental hosts. You can issue and revoke access remotely, see a timestamped log of every entry, and get alerts when the door opens. Built-in WiFi handles all of it with no hub. It works with Alexa, Google Home, SmartThings and IFTTT.

Ultraloq's customer service comes up repeatedly in owner feedback as a genuine strength. Several owners describe failures well into ownership that got resolved with replacement parts. That's not nothing in a category where support quality varies wildly.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Battery drain is the recurring complaint. Multiple owners report going through a set far faster than expected — a few weeks in the worst accounts. Auto-unlock and the WiFi radio are the likely culprits, and turning off geofencing helps if you can live without it.

The bundled handle isn't as well made as the deadbolt. Some owners report the knob seizing or failing while the smart lock half kept working fine.

It's 2.4 GHz WiFi only, which trips up people on mesh systems that don't let you separate the bands.

Ultraloq covers the mechanical parts for life and the electronics for 18 months.