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CES 2022: Schlage Introduces Encode Plus Deadbolt With Support for Apple's Home Key Feature
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This is nothing special. Any smart lock can be opened with an NFC chip stuck next to your door if you know what you are doing. Plenty secure too if you dont write much to anything to the chip. Automation would only work on iPhones configured to do anything with the NFC. Like a web hook call into home assistant to open the lock. Plenty secure - set to works on wifi only (youll be on wifi at your front door). does literally nothing to anyone else that scans it. I don't see the big deal here with this product.
No to electronic locks for me. I've been in too many hotels where they were malfunctioning, and too easy to get through.
Check out LockPickingLawyer on the YouTube for some interesting and frightening videos.
Check out LockPickingLawyer on the YouTube for some interesting and frightening videos.
Yeah, thats not how it works at all. More like, "Hey Siri, Open the front door"...."You need to unlock your iPhone first"....or if its a HomePod, it would be like,. "I've sent the request to your iPhone"
From their photo, it means you just have to move your watch close to the lock
i just bought their non-homekey but homekit compatible version over the weekend but I don't think the hassle + exchange is worth it just for homekey. oh well.
You don’t need to use Siri with this lock. That’s the feature advantage of this new version - NFC communication with Home Key. Just tap the lock with your phone or watch and you’re in. Done ✅
Yes, I realize that but I was responding to his theoretical situation.
No to electronic locks for me. I've been in too many hotels where they were malfunctioning, and too easy to get through.
Check out LockPickingLawyer on the YouTube for some interesting and frightening videos.
The mechanism/functionality of my Schlage Sense lock is rather different from any of the hotel door locks I've seen (though it's been a while), and it's worked reliably for nearly four years. Just FWIW, do what you're comfortable with doing.
... and yes, people tend to think their locks are far more secure than they really are. A couple strong kicks will bust right through the typical wood door frame if they've not been reinforced. Or throw a rock through the sidelight and unlock the door. Someone truly determined to get inside will do so.
Unless you can think of some specific usecase for homekey, you're probably just fine. With my situation - single family detached house - I can't see it being a benefit to me.
Putting in a port for a traditional key is like an iPhone with a headphone jack. Let’s move on. Considering lock picks can be purchased on Amazon, I don’t need a back door to my back door.
Also, if it’s WiFi I don’t see how any battery is going to keep it running reliably.
Also, if it’s WiFi I don’t see how any battery is going to keep it running reliably.
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I am a new homeowner who had to replace 5 door lock sets after getting the prior owner's keys but explicitly went cheap and dumb because I figured CES would give us some products using HomeKit+Home Key.
Trying to decide what I want to do to keep everything keyed to one key set for the family. I'll probably end up buying two of these smart locks for the main ground level access points and 3 more dumb lock sets that match the key for the smart locks. Got old folks in the home too, so I don't want to complicate the physical security too much.
At least I didn't get myself screwed up any worse by spending too much on the temporary solution. lol
Almost did the same thing. Purely a case of coincidence and indecision that I didn't. Will continue to put this off until this thing comes out and there are some reviews. At least what you got has good reviews and a track record of performance. That provides a lot of comfort.
FWIW, I've owned a Schlage Sense homekit lock for nearly four years, installed it in March 2018.
While you may not see how any battery will keep it running reliably, my experience is that I've changed the batteries (4xAA) exactly twice.
As for retaining a keyway... it comes in handy when one of the AA batteries leaks/fails while you're away a couple days and you come back to a completely unpowered lock. (and lockpicking isn't a concern outside the movies - someone breaking in will bust a window or kick in the door)
THIS lock should be standard for all new homes built and condo's. Been waiting for this to happen for years now.
Next up ... well I'm not saying.
Next up ... well I'm not saying.
Designate two front doors so siri replies "which one?". Problem solved.
I would buy this in a heartbeat if I could, but alas, I can't. There are literally no integrated HomeKit compatible smart locks available for European mortise-style lock fittings. I don't get it, there's so much internal space for building an amazing smart lock, shouldn't even be a challenge to make it look good considering how much internal space there is. Yet nobody has done it, all we get are the ones that attach on top of or instead of the thumbturn on the inside, which is obviously not ideal in any way considering it means any signals to/from the lock must travel through the thick door (which often has a metal core as well).
Somehow level manages to fit everything inside what can't be more than 20% of the space available in a mortise lock fitting, but yet nobody builds one for me. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
More manufactures will now come out with Home key support at varying price points. Cheaper alternatives should arrive soon!
I was learning to pick locks all last year, and it's amazing how easy some locks are to pick. Heck, some you don't even have to actually pick. They almost demand people to bypass them. Master Locks are notorious for being near complete inert pieces of crap. They can be 'combed'. Literally pushing the pins higher in the lock, and *POP* the lock is open. Across most of their models, it's a common 'feature'...
I can't remember what brand it was, but one electric lock was really a bugger to get into, but the core they provided for emergency and battery dead access was so cheesy, it made the entire system a screaming joke. Sad, but...
There’s no way the lock you have uses WiFi built-in and runs on AA batteries.
Regarding your statement that “a key comes in handy” I would point out that Nest/Yale locks let you out the head of a 9V battery on the bottom of it for emergency power.
That's the one thing that I found odd when I started picking locks. Sure, and uneducated/impulsive/violent person is going to smash the door down, or smash a window, but that proves there was access made. Picking a lock, contrary to what they seem to always resort to on Cheesy Cop Shows (TM), doesn't leave any outside evidence that there was any access. Unless the person picking the lock used a drill bit, file, or had bad DT's, there won't be any damage to the keyway at all. A neighbor where I grew up claimed that someone broke into his house and stole some stuff, and the cops couldn't prove that anything happened likely because either the guy was lying, or someone picked the lock. Some locks actually are so easy to pick, someone can use a bent bike spoke to 'snap' the core, and the pins all just jump and with a slight amount of tension, *POP* you are in. And still many cores are notoriously susceptible to combing, and raking. I mean, watch Lockpickinglawyer go through a lock like it's nothing. Granted he has a lot of experience, but he can usually pick a lock in under a minute. Even locks I'd think were pretty safe from being picked. Wafer locks, and disc detainer cores are challenging, but *POP* he can get them open. He and the newly retired Bosnian Bill have a wealth of knowledge out there for would be pickers. Do NOT assume that a core is 'secure'. I've been able to pick high security challenge cores and I'm not very good at picking locks. If someone wants into your stuff bad enough, and want to make it look like you are lying, they can pick dmn near every lock available out there in seconds. Even, and especially anything at a big box store. And many electric locks are ridiculously easy to defeat.
The only hope people have is to try to make their locks depraved enough that someone will give up. At a major bike race I attended 4 years ago now, there was, as always at these events, a rash of bike thefts. Getting a really durable and 'safe' bike lock is extremely difficult, and some are just not even a deterrent at all. But that weekend, there was someone cruising around with a cordless impact tool and a crescent wrench. Yeah, they were either quickly dispatching the cheesy lock and taking the bike, or were disassembling the rack, and taking it and the bike(s). One guy backed his vehicle up until the rack was tight against a brick wall, and came out to find the crooks STILL managed to get his rack and bikes. I was able to find a hotel that allowed me to take my bike into the room with me, and I still locked it to the bed frame with three separate locks, and had a video camera running when I left. (The housekeeper came in and checked it out, and dropped off new towels and left) Any lock is a deterrent if the person wanting what's secured will be seen and identified while trying to take it.
Exactly the kind of tech crap for which I have no patience.
Strictly speaking, the Sense is bluetooth to whatever you use for a HomeKit hub; in my case it's an AppleTV4K.
If you wish to be picky about wifi vs bluetooth, check out the existing Schlage Encode Smart WiFi lock. 4.7 out of 5.0 across over 11,000 reviews, 93% 4 or 5 star ratings. The announced Plus version adds Homekit support, as well as the NFC stuff, and I'd imagine would provide similar battery life to the existing model.
So while you may not see how any battery is going to keep a WiFi deadbolt running reliably, there's a lot of people who've found the reality to be different.
Oh and as for 9V batteries vs a key - I can keep a spare key hidden somewhere for years without worry of it failing.
Yes, I consider locks to be a deterrent. Something to incent the ne'er-do-well to decide it's easier to go after someone else's stuff instead of mine. I also consider them a layer rather than a do-all; while my door may have the Schlage Sense lock, I also have external cameras and interior alarm system with door/window/motion sensors.