{"id":3680,"date":"2015-03-22T11:16:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-22T01:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/?p=3680"},"modified":"2015-04-06T21:51:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T11:51:48","slug":"august-smart-lock-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reckoner.com.au\/reviews\/august-smart-lock-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: August Smart Lock"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"August<\/div>\n

Tell me if this sounds familiar\u2026<\/span> you come home after grocery shopping at your local supermarket, you load yourself up with as\u00a0many bags as you can in the hopes to only make one trip from the car to the house and start running\u00a0to the front door before your fingers start to fall off. Only problem is, you get there, fingers beginning to turn purple but the door’s locked. You start dancing around like a dying praying mantis doing an impersonation of Peter Garrett trying to get keys out of your pocket and then into the keyhole until ultimately giving up in frustration, dropping the bags to floor and use your hands in an I-have-opposable-thumbs-and-can-hold-things, human kind of way.<\/p>\n

Now imagine you make it to the door but instead of it being locked your phone has communicated your presence to your door and automatically unlocked it allowing you waltz right on in. You can now put your shopping down on the kitchen bench and as the colour begins returning to your hands\u2019 extremities you hear the door lock itself again behind you. Sounds pretty good doesn\u2019t it? Well, thanks to the August Smart Lock that\u2019s exactly the experience I\u2019ve been living for the past two weeks. Almost.<\/p>\n

“[I] had it installed in
\nunder 10 minutes”<\/p>\n

From August, the Smart Lock is the first, and currently only, product from the company. Formed by design guru Yves B\u00e9har (Jawbone JAMBOX & OLPC) and co-partner Jason Johnson the lock was announced and began collecting pre-orders for US$199 way back in early 2013.<\/p>\n

It promised keyless entry with the addition of an eco-system that allowed easy control over who and when could also open your door. Having a guest visit for a week would no longer mean loaning them a set of keys you\u2019d simply add them to your August Smart Lock with a given time period and once expired so did their access to your home. Have a cleaner visit once a week? Give them access for just those few hours on a specific day. The whole while each unlock is being securely logged for you to keep a track of people\u2019s comings and goings.<\/p>\n

Twelve months later the promises were fulfilled\u00a0as the product began shipping to it\u2019s original purchasers and then, it\u2019s biggest boon to date, Apple choosing to stock the item in their retail stores back in\u00a0October 2014. On top of the originally promoted feature set new ones have been added such as the ability to \u201cAuto-Unlock\u201d based on proximity – albeit in beta and for iOS users only at present.<\/p>\n

\n

Setup<\/h1>\n

I\u2019m not sure why but I had it in my head that\u00a0installing the unit was one going to be far\u00a0more complicated than what it actually was. Put it down to the jet lag I was experiencing having just returned from America (which is where I bought the lock) but in getting ready for installation I allotted a few hours, pulled out my electric drill and even found a drop cloth as I assumed there\u2019d be some mess making involved.<\/p>\n

\"August<\/p>\n

The reality was I opened the very beautiful, very nicely magnetically sealed box the lock came in, read the instructions and had it installed in under 10 minutes!<\/p>\n

Installation is as simple as removing the backing plate of your existing dead bolt and attaching one of three included August plates – based on the model dead bolt you have or if you don\u2019t know the model, which lines up with your screw holes. Once the plate is in place you slide an adaptor onto the turning rod of the dead bolt and clip your August Smart Lock into place. That\u2019s it, job done.<\/p>\n

Once the physical side of things is done you move into the virtual world, installing the August app on your iPhone or Android device (sorry Windows Phone) and going through the setup wizard.<\/p>\n

The wizard verifies both your email address and phone number before creating your August account and only then allows you to search for the newly installed lock. Once connected to the lock you\u2019ll be taken through a very simple calibration process to ensure the device is turning the dead bolt the correct way and with necessary force to lock and unlock your model.<\/p>\n

\"August<\/p>\n

Further setup can continue should you wish, the enabling of August\u2019s \u201cEverlock\u201d feature for example that auto locks your dead bolt after a given time of your choosing. For iOS users it\u2019s here you can also enable Auto-Unlock, the software asking you to confirm your location on a map and adjust the geofence radius the application will use before it starts to look for your lock to unlock it once in Bluetooth range of your phone.<\/p>\n

If you have others whom require access to your lock you can \u201cinvite\u201d them\u00a0to it through the app. You can select someone from your phone\u2019s contacts or enter a phone number manually to invite them. You\u2019re then given the option to choose the type of access they\u2019re to have, permanent, meaning they can use the lock just like you, a temporary date\/time driven pass or reoccurring access for a given day of the week and time. If whom you\u2019ve invited doesn\u2019t already have the August app installed with a valid account they\u2019ll receive a text message asking them to download it.<\/p>\n

\n

Everyday Smart Lock living<\/h1>\n

A little over two weeks in and the August Smart Lock has very much assimilated itself into my life. Each morning I manually roll the barrel of the gorgeously designed lock to the left releasing my dead bolt to leave for work. By the time the elevator arrives to take me downstairs I hear it latch closed automatically making use of the Everlock feature.<\/p>\n

\"August<\/p>\n

Returning home I enter the recently updated smaller geofence of 100m of my apartment building where it activates my phone\u2019s Bluetooth to look for the lock and as I exit the lift and walk the length of my hallway (approx 12m) I hear the door unlock just as I step in front of it – 80% of the time. The other 20% is split between standing there looking at the door like a child sent to the naughty corner for 2\u201310 seconds until it unlocks and me getting my phone out, launching the app and unlocking it manually. Not once has it gotten to the point I\u2019ve needed to get my keys out to unlock the door by hand.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the Auto-unlock feature isn\u2019t as simple as relying on your Bluetooth connection alone. When you install your lock and enable the feature it starts to build a profile based on your use of the lock. This in conjunction with your proximity are used to determine if it should unlock automatically as a safety precaution against stolen phones.<\/p>\n

“The August Smart Lock has become a regular part of my routine…”<\/p>\n

Unfortunately I don\u2019t have a cleaner, which should I ever get I would hire purely on the fact they have a smartphone and would use the August app now, but I did have an overseas guest that visited since installing the lock. Guinea pig guest stayed for a couple of nights and was made to download the August app, invited with a temporary pass and used it flawlessly. They had Galaxy phone and was therefore stuck with \u201cmanual\u201d operation of the lock but it just worked and with no reliance on electricity or WiFi being battery operated they had no problems getting into the apartment even during a short power outage. I can see this being a huge seller for AirBnB hosts who if you\u2019ve ever used before often means searching for a key hidden in a combination box around the back of some building in a nook that quite often makes you look like a hobo or thief to passers by.<\/p>\n

In just a couple of weeks the lock has definitely gained my confidence from a general day to day operation point of view but you\u2019ll note I\u2019m still conscious of ensuring I hear it function. I wont go into the lift until I hear it lock in the morning and when I return home hearing it unlock signifies to me it\u2019s definitely been locked all day. August have addressed this in a way by releasing an accessory that plugs into a power socket called \u201cConnect\u201d. It\u00a0links to the lock via Bluetooth and then to your local WiFi to allow you to remotely check your lock\u2019s status and lock & unlock it. It’s a US plug though and I’ve not been able to confirm it operates on 240V so for now I’ll stick to listening for it operating.<\/p>\n

What works<\/h3>\n