This review is after the first 24 hours so the opinion may change - but I doubt it.
This was purchased not so much to allow us to open the door but to release the door for visitors as we live in a town house with three flights of stairs to negotiate to tell salesmen to 'go away'.
First Impressions
The lock was purchased together with a Smartthings adapter. The lock seems a solid piece of kit, as I would expect from Yale. The adapter is a tiny lump of plastic that plugs into the lock battery box.
Installation
Installing the lock was pretty straightforward. The only problem is it needs an existing or new lock with 60 mm between the edge of the door and the key. I did not realise that there were different locks and found ours was 40 mm. That would have worked still but the wide Yale unit would have interfered with the door frame. The easiest answer was to buy a 60mm lock and install it near the existing lock, which now adds security when we are away from home.
Installation was a simple matter of the usual carpentry jobs of drilling holes and chiselling that are required for any lock. If it is replacing an existing Yale type key cylinder on a 60mm lock it is just one extra 20mm hole in the door.
Once installed, without the Smartthings adapter, it is just a case of following the clear instructions of setting unlock codes..
In Use
To release the lock one can either place one of the supplied cards and tags on the lock or enter a personal code and it releases. To be honest it is just as easy to use a key so there is little advantage other than being able to give others a code so they can get access without having to hand out keys. It is possible to set codes that die after 24 hours or delete a code which is no longer required so this could be good when tradesmen need access. 20 codes are possible. The lock becomes a different animal once the Smartthings option is added.
Smartthings
This needs a small dongle to be plugged in to the battery box and the lock 'twinned' with Smartthings. Having read critical reviews on this option I was a little concerned but did not need to be. Having entered the code shown on the instructions into the lock I asked my SmartThings app to look for items. It took about 0.5 seconds for Smartthings to connect to the lock. I did this with the lock on my desk before installing and was a little concerned that the front door is a long way from my router in a steel framed house that is not good at sending wi-fi around. Our Ring doorbell needed a wi-fi extension near the door to work reliably but I need not have worried as the Yale works perfectly when twinned to the main router in our living room.
Once twinned the lock can be opened by a one button press on a Smartthings app and it's also possible to set up actions so that when the lock is opened any SmartThings lights, etc. are turned on.. The lock is now really useful. I can release it if required from anywhere in the world I have internet access, let people in without needing to go down three flights of stairs and release the front door as I get out of my car in pouring rain. Love it. I can also check, if required, which user opened the door at which time by looking at Smartthings log.
Amazon Alexa.
Once the lock is twinned with SMARTTHINGS It can also be twinned with Alexa but before reporting why this is useless a note on using the lock. When the lock is unlocked it is possible to set a time delay before it automatically relocks - which makes sense. The auto relock function can be cancelled so then a separate signal is needed to relock. Not sure why you would want to do this though. Having spent some time linking the lock to Alexa I found that any command to unlock is blocked and only relock commands are possible. Thinking about it this makes sense. If it was possible to say "Alexa unlock front door" it would be possible for any thief to shout through the letterbox !!
Conclusion
So far I am impressed. The kit was easy to install with little or no reference to instructions and it seems to work well. Using a code to enter is, I think, the last resort if you close the door and don't have a card or mobile phone to unlock with as it’s no quicker than using a key. With the Smartthings option (at extra cost) it fits in well to a modern connected household. If, like me, it's a long trek down stairs to the front door to let visitors in it is a useful energy saving option as well.
One small snag.
If I have a visitor who rings the Ring doorbell my phone opens the Ring app. I tell the visitor to come in but in order for him/her to do so I need to close the Ring app, open the Smarthings app and press the door release. By the time I have done all that the visitor has pushed the door and found it would not open as I am still changing apps. Not insurmountable but it would be great if I could release the door from within the Ring app. Makes sense and I now see this is possible with many remote operation locks but not Yale. come on Yale. Get together with Ring and get your locks integrated as well.
UPDATE
After a month of faultless use with code and SmartThings it has failed. In normal use the handle spins freely when the door is locked and after inputting code etc a sound is heard which must be some sort of internal bolt which connects the lock to the handle. Electronically it still works and the bolt can be heard to move. The snag is it no longer connects with the handle properly so although it unlocks the door when turned one way it now spins free the other way. The good news is having phoned Amazon on Saturday evening a new kit was delivered by Sunday lunchtime and is now fitted and working. I love the system so hope I just had a faulty product.
| Manufacturer | Yale |
|---|---|
| Part Number | YD-01-CON-NOMOD-SN |
| Product Dimensions | 8 x 6.5 x 15 cm; 787 g |
| Batteries | 4 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Item model number | YD-01-CON-NOMOD-SN |
| Colour | Satin Nickel |
| Style | Modern |
| Finish | Pushbutton Codelock Security Locks |
| Material | Brass |
| Pattern | Smart Door Lock |
| Shape | Rectangular |
| Power Source | AC |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Number of Pieces | 1 |
| Measurement System | Metric |
| Special Features | Brand New | An Easy-To-Use Checkout | Fully A-Rated Product | Export Quality Tools | Made By High Quality Material |
| Included Components | 1x Keyless Connected Smart Lock; 1x Key Card; 1x Key Tag; 4x AA Batteries; Fixing Pack. |
| Batteries included? | Yes |
| Batteries Required? | Yes |
| Battery Cell Type | Alkaline |
| Item Weight | 787 g |
