Yale Guarantee Lock 2, Plus, and Contact overview: a sensible lock for each sensible residence

I need three issues from a sensible lock: a slim, engaging design, greater than two methods to regulate it, and the flexibility to connect with my sensible residence, with no single-purpose Wi-Fi bridge taking on an outlet in my home. Yale’s flagship sensible lock sequence, the Guarantee Lock 2, ticks all these bins. Plus, they work with all the key sensible residence platforms in the event you add the suitable networking module, and so they now are available fingerprint or Apple Residence Key variants.

The Yale Guarantee Lock 2 begins at $159.99, the Guarantee Lock 2 Contact (from $199.99) provides a fingerprint reader, and the Guarantee Lock 2 Plus (from $209.99) has Apple Residence Key. However you’ll be able to’t get each in a single lock, which is a disgrace, and Yale nonetheless hasn’t delivered on its promise of bringing Matter and Thread to its flagship locks.

Every lock within the sequence is a full deadbolt substitute lock with the identical ultra-slim exterior, the keyed fashions being barely longer to make room for the keyway (general, it’s the smallest keypad sensible lock I’ve examined). All of them share a pleasant, neat rear housing containing the 4 AA batteries and thumb flip (that is additionally one of many smallest I’ve seen), and so they can all be managed with the built-in keypad or by way of Bluetooth utilizing the Yale Entry app (iOS or Android) or the Apple Residence app (together with Siri voice instructions).

Help for different platforms comes by way of Yale’s ingenious swappable networking modules. The Wi-Fi module enables you to hook up with Amazon Alexa, Google Residence, and others, whereas the Z-Wave module is for Ring Alarm, Samsung SmartThings, and different Z-Wave techniques. Yale has mentioned it is going to supply a module for Matter over Thread, but it surely’s been delayed pending higher help for locks inside Matter.

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The Guarantee Lock 2 line is available in a couple of configurations on high of the bottom fashions. Right here’s the present lineup:

• Yale Guarantee Lock 2, $159.99 for a bodily keypad or $179.99 for a touchscreen, with or with no bodily keyhole. Add the Wi-Fi module for $239.99 or $259.99 (touchscreen) or Z-Wave for $189.99 to $209.99.
• Yale Guarantee Lock 2 Contact ($199.99) has a touchscreen keypad and a fingerprint reader and is out there with or with no keyhole. It’s $279.99 with the Wi-Fi module, and the Z-Wave module is coming quickly.
• Yale Guarantee Lock 2 Plus ($209.99) provides Apple Residence Key to the keyless touchscreen mannequin however doesn’t have a fingerprint reader. It’s $289.99 with the Wi-Fi module, and it’ll not work with the Z-Wave module.

I examined all three fashions, putting in the Contact on the entrance door (as fingerprint unlocking is my favourite entry technique and the best choice for my youngsters), the Plus on the again door (which I exploit each morning whereas caring for my flock of chickens), and the Guarantee 2 on the door from our storage (I’d beforehand examined this on my entrance door, too). Whereas all three are glorious locks, the Guarantee 2 Contact is my favourite as a result of fingerprint unlocking is the quickest, most dependable strategy to open a door. Whereas not completely hands-free, it by no means failed in my testing.

I discover fingerprint unlock extra dependable than Residence Key (my Apple Watch Sequence 6 is generally useless by the point I get residence after a day trip); it’s additionally simpler than pulling my cellphone out, and faster than typing in a code. Plus, my youngsters always remember their fingers or allow them to run out of battery.

Whereas Yale’s implementation is tremendous quick and dependable, the draw back is that the fingerprint reader is tiny and a little bit of a tough goal. Establishing the fingerprint was additionally buggy. You do it by way of the Yale app, and it stored timing out on me, though it did finally work. You can also’t add a number of prints to a person; it’s important to create a brand new profile for every finger. I wish to register three or 4 fingerprints per individual, two per hand. There’s additionally a restrict of 20 fingerprints.

The bottom Guarantee 2 at $159.99 is a superb choice if you are able to do with no fingerprint reader, and also you additionally get a bodily keypad at that worth. Whereas the touchscreen appears to be like higher, it’s costlier and fewer intuitive to make use of. When you get the hold of it, it’s responsive, and I’ve not had any points within the six months I examined the Guarantee 2, however the bodily keypad will likely be simpler for visitors to familiarize yourself with (or renters in the event you had been utilizing this for an AirBnB).

In the event you love the benefit of unlocking your door by merely tapping your Apple Watch or iPhone on the lock, the Guarantee 2 Plus ($209.99) with Apple Residence Key does this very nicely. But it surely’s disappointing there’s no fingerprint reader nor the choice of a bodily keyway (which you may get on the opposite two fashions). You can also’t get a bodily keypad — it is touchscreen solely. It does make it a sleek-looking lock, although, and it is fingers down the best-looking Residence Key lock with a built-in keypad.

In testing, Residence Key labored immediately to unlock the door. Utilizing my watch is my favourite technique, because it’s primarily hands-free (though twisting your wrist is a tad awkward). I want you possibly can share Residence Keys with individuals exterior your Apple Residence; at the moment the Apple Residence app solely enables you to share codes.

If you’re all in on Apple Residence, which is probably going if you’re utilizing Residence Key, then there’s no have to pay $80 for the Wi-Fi module. Nevertheless, in my testing, locking and unlocking the Guarantee 2 Plus remotely simply utilizing Apple Residence — no Wi-Fi module — was much less dependable. It generally timed out and failed. This has occurred with different Residence Key locks I’ve examined, so it’s not particularly a Yale situation.

All three Guarantee 2 locks work over Bluetooth and may be managed with the Yale and Apple Residence apps out of the field. In case you have an Apple Residence hub (HomePod or Apple TV), you’ll be able to management your lock away from residence, however in any other case, you’ll want a Yale connectivity module, so as to add help for different sensible residence platforms.

I examined the Wi-Fi Module ($80), which works with any Guarantee 2 lock and provides compatibility with extra platforms, together with Amazon Alexa, Google Residence, Samsung SmartThings (over Wi-Fi), Airbnb, and Philips Hue (to show your lights on whenever you unlock and off whenever you lock).

Controlling the locks over Wi-Fi was noticeably slower than Bluetooth, taking about 10 seconds to reply, but it surely labored reliably. I may additionally lock and unlock with voice utilizing Alexa or Google (pin codes are required for unlocking) and add the lock to sensible residence Scenes and Routines.

A Z-Wave module works with the Guarantee 2 and Guarantee 2 Contact so as to add compatibility with Ring Alarm, Samsung SmartThings hubs, and different Z-Wave techniques (on the expense of Wi-Fi; you’ll be able to’t have each). The Z-Wave module won’t work with the Guarantee 2 Plus. Yale says a Matter over Thread module will come in some unspecified time in the future to connect with a lot of the above (hopefully).

All three locks have built-in touchscreen keypads, apart from the bottom Guarantee 2 mannequin, which has a bodily keypad. The touchscreen keypad is matte and really clean-looking; it’s so unobtrusive that it’s a shock when the keys gentle up.

The draw back is that it doesn’t gentle up with a single contact. I found this at 6:30AM once I was rudely awoken by a loud banging on the door. My husband was again from work, and I hadn’t but educated him on the brand new lock. In his post-24-hour-shift exhaustion, he couldn’t determine learn how to get the keypad to indicate up. 

As I ought to have instructed him earlier, he wanted to place his palm over the lock or press the Yale button to get the keypad to indicate. (For the file, I hate branding on door locks; it’s one thing sensible locks have launched and must go away. My entrance door shouldn’t be a billboard.) All of that is pointless. Simply let me faucet the display. If that sounds prefer it’ll be a difficulty for you, go for the usual keypad model on the Guarantee 2. It has bodily buttons that are much less discreet however simpler for everybody to make use of.

Whichever lock you utilize, the Yale Entry app enables you to add limitless visitors to the lock and permit full app entry or give them a code and schedule the time they will use it. You get 250 codes, and you’ll revoke them anytime. It is value noting you can’t schedule entry for anybody with a fingerprint on the Contact mannequin; it’s all entry for them.

DoorSense is one other function accessible on all of the locks; it’s arrange within the Yale Entry app and allows you to see if the door is open or closed earlier than locking it remotely — the locks include a magnetic contact sensor that’s simple to put in on the door body. The app can also be the place you’ll be able to arrange auto-lock and auto-unlock and think about a log of each interplay with the door, together with who unlocked it and the way (until they use a key). 

The Yale app isn’t nice; it’s gradual to load and never intuitive. Whereas the walkthrough for bodily putting in the lock is detailed and straightforward to comply with, the app makes little try to indicate you learn how to arrange the lock’s options. With the Contact, it by no means prompted me to arrange fingerprints, so I needed to dig round to learn how to try this (and, as famous, had bother getting it arrange). Having mentioned that, I’ve but to discover a good sensible lock app, and Yale’s is likely one of the greatest within the scheme of issues. The excellent news is when you’re set-up, you’ll hardly ever want to make use of the app.

All of the locks work with Yale’s auto-unlock function, which makes use of your cellphone’s location and the lock’s Bluetooth radio to unlock the door whenever you strategy. That is by far the simplest technique, utterly hands-free, as your door robotically unlocks itself as you strategy… in concept.

I’ve been testing auto-unlock on Yale and August locks (August and Yale are sister corporations, and the locks share the identical apps) for years now, and when it really works, it’s nice, however it isn’t dependable.

It fails about two occasions out of 10, in my expertise — and standing in entrance of your door for a couple of seconds ready for it to do its factor is past irritating. Right here’s the place I discover a fingerprint reader or Residence Key extra dependable and nearly as quick.

The Guarantee 2 and Guarantee 2 Contact each have the choice of a bodily keyway. There’s no key on the Guarantee 2 Plus.

In the event you go for the keyed mannequin, which doesn’t price extra, Yale sells substitute cylinders for Schlage and Kwikset keyways and might key them to your present locks. However if in case you have a number of exterior doorways, you don’t really want a keyhole on the one with the sensible lock, do you? I’ve been testing sensible door locks for over a decade, and I can’t keep in mind once I final used a bodily key to get into my residence. My teenage kids have by no means used one, as I discovered with some embarrassment once I dropped my son off at a school dorm for summer time camp.

The one situation I can consider — past some catastrophic mechanical failure — is that if I managed to let the lock run out of battery. Even then, you’ll be able to jolt the Yale lock again to life with a 9-volt battery lengthy sufficient to enter your code.

Whereas holding a 9-volt battery available feels weirder than sticking a spare key below a flower pot, it’s positively safer, and 9-volt batteries are simpler to get ahold of in a pinch.

The Guarantee 2 line affords one thing for everybody. From a $160 lock with Apple Residence and auto-unlock to a $290 lock that does all that plus works with Apple’s Residence Key, Alexa, and Google Residence. However the $200 Guarantee Lock 2 Contact with a fingerprint reader is the lock I’d decide.

Whereas I’d wish to see a lock with Residence Key and a fingerprint reader, the fingerprint-only Guarantee 2 Contact will work nicely for most individuals. It’s a superb sensible lock with a very good design that may mix in with most door {hardware}. It affords a number of simple and dependable methods to entry your door whereas ditching your keys, however you’ll use the fingerprint choice probably the most.

At $200, it’s additionally one of many least costly sensible locks that works with Apple Residence, so that you get away-from-home management if you have already got an iPhone and Apple Residence hub. In the event you’re an Android family, you’ll need to contemplate upgrading to the Wi-Fi module for sensible residence integrations and locking and unlocking exterior of Bluetooth vary.

I do want Yale had one lock that did all of it — a keypad, fingerprint reader, keyed choice, and Apple Residence Key help. Once I requested Yale about this, it cited price; one lock that does all of it will likely be very costly. However there may be already a lock with all these options for below $200 — the Aqara U100 (it additionally helps Matter!).

Nevertheless, Yale’s lock feels sturdier than Aqara’s, and I don’t advocate Aqara’s for most individuals as its design may be very techie, and it wants an Aqara Zigbee hub for many of its options, which bumps up the worth and complexity. (Although an Aqara U100 lock and M2 hub are nonetheless round $20 lower than any of the touchscreen Guarantee 2 locks with a Wi-Fi module.) 

It’s additionally disappointing that there’s no Matter / Thread module for the Guarantee 2 but. The corporate’s causes for the delay make sense: Matter help for locks is at the moment very restricted. Whereas I’m assured they’ll comply with by way of as soon as that adjustments (Yale already has one lock that helps Matter and Thread — a first-gen Guarantee lock, and it’s on the board of the group that runs the brand new commonplace) everyone knows to not purchase a product immediately based mostly on the promise of a future replace.

I’m enthusiastic about this, although, as a result of the Thread connectivity may clear up the issues that plague most sensible locks immediately — battery life (swapping your batteries out twice a yr is extra tiresome than it sounds), vary (I couldn’t management the Yale lock from my bed room over Bluetooth), responsiveness (Wi-Fi connectivity may be very gradual), and the necessity for further modules and bridges to regulate a lock remotely or with voice assistants.

However there may be nonetheless no sensible lock within the US with a fingerprint reader, Residence Key, a built-in keypad, and Thread/Matter connectivity — that’s kind of the Holy Grail of locks for me proper now. (The Schlage Encode at $300 has Thread, Residence Key, and Wi-Fi however no fingerprint reader and gained’t help Matter.)

Most individuals will likely be very proud of whichever of the Yale Guarantee 2 locks most closely fits their wants and finances, however when (okay, if) Yale releases its promised Matter / Thread module for the Guarantee 2, I’ll be first in line to check it.

Pictures by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

Replace October sixth, 2023, 10AM: This overview was initially revealed on September twenty fourth, 2022 as a overview of the Guarantee Lock 2. We have up to date the overview following testing the brand new Guarantee Lock 2 Contact and Guarantee Lock 2 Plus.