Thursday, March 28, 2024

Which August Smart Lock is the best smart lock?

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Built-in Wi-Fi is just the beginning

August Wi-Fi Smart Lock

august-wi-fi-smart-lock.jpg

$250 at Amazon
$250 at Best Buy
$250 at Walmart

Pros

  • Wi-Fi built-in (no external bridge required)
  • Nearly 50% smaller
  • Improved grip
  • Installs in 10 minutes or less
  • Don’t need to remove existing deadbolt (renter-friendly)
  • Less expensive

Cons

  • Shorter battery life

August’s 4th-generation smart lock, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, eliminates the bulk from previous generations and builds Wi-Fi support right into the lock.

Mostly obsolete

August Smart Lock Pro (3rd-gen)

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$280 at Amazon
$280 at Best Buy
$280 at Walmart

Pros

  • Longer battery life
  • Installs in 10 minutes or less
  • Don’t need to remove existing deadbolt (renter-friendly)

Cons

  • Requires external bridge for Wi-Fi connectivity
  • Larger
  • More expensive

The 3rd-generation August Smart Lock Pro requires an external August Connect bridge to connect to your home’s Wi-Fi network, and it’s quite a bit larger than the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. On the bright side, it’s got twice the battery life.

The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is August’s 4th-generation smart lock, and it shows. Everything is a pretty substantial upgrade, including built-in Wi-Fi, a significantly smaller design, and even better grip. August even dropped the price of its 4th-generation smart lock, but it also had to reduce the number of batteries inside, causing worse battery life than its predecessor. Regardless of this downside, though, it’s a no-brainer to choose the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock over the 3rd-generation August Smart Lock Pro if you’re in the market for a smart lock.

All the essentials built-in

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Here’s what’s impressive about the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock: it’s not only physically 45% smaller than the 3rd-generation August Smart Lock Pro, but it also packs a Wi-Fi chip right inside. That’s a stark contrast to all other generations of August Smart Locks, which require a separate Wi-Fi Bridge to be plugged into a wall outlet somewhere in your home. Building the Wi-Fi chip in eliminates the need for this extra $80 component (especially if you accidentally misplace it).

On top of eliminating the bulk and freeing up an electrical outlet in your home, August reduced the price of its latest generation smart lock and made it the most affordable smart lock the company has yet made. At $250, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock is $30 less than the 3rd-generation August Smart Lock Pro, which regularly retails for $280. That’s a win in any book.

Dimensions (inches) 2.8 x 2.8 x 2.75 3.4 x 2.22 x 3.4
Power 2x CR123 batteries 4x AA batteries
Wi-Fi Built-in, 2.4Ghz only Requires external bridge
Bluetooth Yes Yes
Remote lock Yes Yes
Remote unlock Yes Yes
Auto-lock Yes, via geofencing on app Yes, via geofencing on app
Door open detection Yes Yes
Guest keys Yes Yes
Virtual assistant support Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Siri Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Siri

Right in two

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Aside from no longer requiring two separate components to operate the smart lock, August has also significantly shaved quite a bit of bulk off the housing on the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. As a 4th-generation product, August was able to utilize newer, smaller Wi-Fi chipsets to reduce the size of the smart lock by 45% when compared to the 3rd-generation August Smart Lock. It’s also 20% thinner, which, ultimately, means a much smaller hunk of metal will be adorning the inside of your front door.

While smaller could sometimes mean more difficult to use, August redesigned the trademark look of the August Smark Lock Pro’s exterior to help give it a bit more grip. Instead of raised dots adorning the dial, you’ll now find a series of ridges that better facilitate gripping with a hand.

While a significantly smaller package and the presence of a Wi-Fi chip inside are incredible upgrades, not everything is perfect with the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. The real exception here is the battery life on the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, which August had to trade-off given the nearly 50% smaller build. There’s simply not enough room left inside to house four AA batteries like the 3rd-generation August Smart Lock Pro sports.

Instead of four-AA batteries, you’ll find two CR123 batteries, which look a bit like shorter, stouter versions of a AA battery. While this might be concerning at first, know that there are plenty of rechargeable versions of CR123 batteries like this RAVPower kit, which comes with batteries and a charger for $47. That’ll eliminate the need to buy batteries all the time for the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock, as a 2-pack of CR123 batteries typically costs around $10.

August estimates that the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock’s battery life will last between three and six months, depending on how often you use the automated locking mechanism and how strong a Wi-Fi signal you have. The stronger the Wi-Fi signal, the less hard the battery has to work to keep communicating to the Internet. Compare that with the six to twelve months average battery life on the August Smart Lock Pro (3rd-gen), and you’ll quickly notice that a physically half-sized lock means roughly half the battery life.

Newer is, indeed, better

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Not every new release is necessarily better than the previous one in the world of technology, but, in this case, August knocked it out of the park with the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock. At nearly half the size and with a more grip-friendly design, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock not only looks better on your door, but it’s also easier to manually lock, as well. Despite being 45% smaller than previous generations, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock has the Wi-Fi chip built-in, so you no longer need the $80 wireless bridge just to connect your smart lock to the Internet.

The only downside of the new design is the fact that the 45% smaller size quite literally cuts the battery life in two. Even still, it’s easy to find rechargeable CR123 batteries on Amazon or at other retailers, and a three to six-month battery life means you’ll only be changing the batteries out four times per year at the most.

An easier way to make your lock smart

August Wi-Fi Smart Lock

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Four generations of excellence

$250 at Amazon
$250 at Best Buy
$250 at Walmart

The fourth-generation August Wi-Fi Smart Lock not only shrinks the physical size, but it also packs Wi-Fi connectivity right in.

Still a great smart lock

August Smart Lock Pro (3rd-gen)

august-smart-lock-pro-official-render.jp

Easy and long-lasting

$280 at Amazon $280 at Best Buy
$280 at Best Buy
$280 at Walmart

The August Smart Lock Pro (3rd-gen) is still one of the easiest smart locks to install and use, and it’s got fantastic battery life, too.

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