Kevo vs August – Smart Lock Comparison, Review, Verdict, More
With smart locks becoming increasingly popular, it’s easy to see why a lot of people have a lot of trouble choosing a suitable one for their home.
Today, we’re looking at two of the most top-notch smart locks and pitting them against each other to judge which one comes out on top.
In this post, we’ll go over every aspect of these two smart locks. After that, we'll help you determine which one would be more appropriate for your home based on your particular needs.
Product Name | Versatility | Ease of Use | Budget-friendliness | Sturdiness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kwikset 99250-102 Convert | It offers many different access mechanisms. | The lock is easy to install but the app is clunky and can take time getting used to. | Quite inexpensive as far as smart locks go. | Extremely durable and secure. |
August Smart Lock | It also boasts many different access mechanisms and unlocks automatically when you arrive. | It’s easy to install and features an intuitive app that boasts streamlined usage. | Quite affordable as well. | Very sturdy and secure owing to DoorSense technology. |
Now that we’ve had a small introduction, let’s get into the detailed reviews for these two products: Kevo vs August.
Kwikset 99250-102 Convert Review - Durable, Sleek and Convenient!
Kwikset has been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to smart locks for years now and this product is no different. The Kwikset Kevo Convert is a simple-to-use, easy-installation smart lock. It can be mounted over the existing deadbolt that you have on your door.
It provides you with a number of different mechanisms for you to lock and unlock your door. You can unlock it through your smartphone which can be paired to the lock via Bluetooth or Wifi. You can also unlock it using voice commands using Alexa.
It also features a useful auto-lock feature which ensures you’re safe inside your home even if you forget to lock the door manually.
Features of Kwikset 99250-102 Convert
Dimensions: 11.2 inches x 6.4 inches x 3.2 inches
Weight: 2.1 pounds
Mounts onto your existing deadbolt
Pairs with your smartphone
Runs on 4 AA batteries
Benefits of Kwikset 99250-102 Convert
This lock makes it incredibly easy for you to lock and unlock your door when you have your hands full. Gone are the days of requiring mechanical keys to open doors. This smart lock offers one-touch locking and unlocking using your smartphone. It even locks automatically behind you once you’re inside.
The smart lock runs on 4 AA batteries and the battery life on this lock is also extremely impressive. On an average of 10 locks/unlocks per day, the smart lock is estimated to last up to 8760 hours on a single set of 4 AA batteries.
The Kwikset Kevo Convert also offers compatibility with Alexa (although, it requires the Kevo Plus Connected Hub). Once you have this lock paired with Alexa, you can utilize voice commands to lock and unlock your door. You can even make customizations to the smart lock using just your voice.
As we mentioned earlier briefly, the Kwikset Kevo Convert also features a very hand auto-lock feature. This feature is optional and you can choose to turn it off or on as you wish. It means that once you’re safely inside your home, if you don’t lock the door manually, it will lock automatically after 30 seconds. Not only will this give homeowners great peace of mind but it can also come in handy for people who tend to be forgetful.
The Kevo app also features the ability to give your loved ones and other visitors eKeys. They can then utilize these to unlock the smart lock and come inside your house. You can track their usage in detail using the app to see who’s been inside and outside your house. Access can be revoked any time you wish. This makes this lock not only great for visitors but also for people who may be renting apartments or other living spaces out.
For a smart lock that has this many features, the Kwikset Kevo Convert comes with a surprisingly low price tag at under $100. It’s very encouraging to see manufacturers like Kwikset producing smart locks that can be sold at such affordable prices. Everyone deserves to have a home that’s safe and secure.
Another great thing about the way this smart lock functions is that it only mounts to the interior of your door. From the outside, it looks like any other regular deadbolt lock. Thus, it provides you with all the convenience and security of an electronic smart lock while seeming like a regular lock to any outsider.
What Do the Customers Think?
When you’re looking to buy a new product, the experience of customers who have been using it for a while can be a valuable resource. You can go through reviews to determine whether it’s suitable for you or not. Our experience with the Kwikset Kevo Convert was fantastic. Thus, we had to look towards the internet to see whether other people had similar experiences or not.
Many customers appreciated how easy it was to install onto their door. Many people mentioned how the smart lock mounting onto their existing deadbolt lock is great. No one wants to get rid of their existing lock.
Another customer was delighted to see how well the shared eKeys worked for visitors that came to their house.
One customer detailed about how the box that the lock came in was poorly shipped. Thus, the contents inside it were in disarray but the lock was durable and still worked perfectly fine with no hiccups.
Bottomline
The Kwikset Kevo Convert is an economical choice for customers looking to make their homes more secure and smart. It has a very simple installation process, provides great security and blends in very well with most interior decors.
August Smart Lock Review - Long-lasting and Efficient!
August Smart Locks started gaining traction a few years ago. At this point, they’re one of the most trusted manufacturers of smart locks in the market. This is their most popular smart lock that provides all the popular features that you would expect in a smart lock. The only difference is that the experience of using the August Smart Lock is better overall. Everything is more user-friendly, seamless and streamlined.
The smartphone app is well-designed and not clunky at all like most smart lock apps. If it’s your first time using a smart lock then this app will give you a great introduction about how to go about using it.
Features of August Smart Lock
Dimensions: 1.6 inches x 2.6 inches x 4.8 inches
Weight: 13.9 ounces
DoorSense Technology
Activity feed with notifications when used
Compatible with Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri (Requires Connect module)
Benefits of August Smart Lock
The August Smart Lock has a very small footprint and it barely takes up any space at all on your door. It may look small but the lock is extremely durable and will last you a very long time.
Just like most other smart locks, the August Smart lock also mounts onto your existing deadbolt. This means that you can still use your existing mechanical key to gain access to the lock in case of a power failure or malfunction.
The August Smart Lock provides several different access mechanisms to the user. You can pair it up with your smartphone via Bluetooth or Wifi (though pairing it through Wifi would require a Connect module). Once your phone is paired, all you have to do is create an account and you’re in. You can now use your phone to lock and unlock your door. The app also comes with an activity feed that posts notifications to you whenever someone uses the door to go outside or come inside. You can also give access to visitors that may be coming to your home through the app and can revoke this access any time you want as well.
Most smart locks in this price range come with an auto-lock feature but no auto-unlock feature. The August Smart Lock, however, has both an auto-lock and an auto-unlock feature built into it. This means that the lock smart enough to know to lock the door once you’re inside. It also senses when you’re approaching it from outside and automatically unlocks the door for you. This means you don’t even have to take out your phone to unlock the door with this lock which is super convenient.
The August Smart Lock also has built-in DoorSense Technology. This technology constantly checks the position of your door and makes sure that it’s properly locked and secure every time the lock is in place. This coupled with its auto-lock feature means that there’s zero chance that your door could be left insecure by mistake.
What Do the Customers Think?
As we said, the August Smart Lock is extremely popular with the general public. Hence, we decided to look up some online reviews to see what features make it so in demand with consumers.
One customer praised how easy the lock is to install along with how helpful the instructional videos are that come with the smartphone app. They tell how they had the lock up and running within 20 minutes. They also go on to detail how helpful customer support was when they ran into a small issue with the smart lock’s placement on their existing deadbolt.
Another customer loved how great its battery life was. They also appreciated the fact that it used AA batteries as this made it easy to use rechargeable batteries inside it.
Bottomline
With its sleek design, convenient features and adequate security, the August Smart Lock is a wonderful choice for any homeowner. It’s very easy to share access with guests and the auto-unlock/lock feature is something that’s very rare in smart locks at this price range.
Schlage Sense vs Connect - Buyers’ Guide
What are some factors to think about when buying a smart lock?
Here are some factors to think about that can help you determine which smart lock would be most suitable for you.
Battery Life
Most of the smart locks available on the market either use AA alkaline batteries or a rechargeable lithium-ion cell. It’s important for you to check online reviews and the manufacturer’s own claims. This will help you see how long one set of batteries lasts inside the smart lock you intend on buying. Furthermore, it’s very important that the smart lock you get informs you of when its batteries are low and need changing. You don’t want to be stuck outside your home without your mechanical key when the batteries run out inside your smart lock.
Many companies judge their product’s battery life in terms of cycles. These cycles refer to the number of times that it can be locked and unlocked.
Number of Access Mechanisms
Many people are skeptical about smart locks because they feel that the higher the number of access mechanisms a lock has, the more vulnerable it is. This, however, is not true. A well-designed smart lock will be secure no matter how many alternate entry options it provides. These alternate options will only add to the usability of the smart lock.
Bluetooth and Wifi options are great but then can sometimes malfunction and be unreliable no matter how well-built the smart lock is. Thus, it’s important for the smart lock to have other entry options in case something like this happens. Many smart locks have a touchpad on which you can enter an access code to gain entry. Other smart locks give you the option to install them onto the existing deadbolt lock that you have on your door. This allows you to keep your existing mechanical key. Thus, if the need ever arises, you can just whip out that physical key and use it to gain entry to your home the old-fashioned way.
Auto-lock/Unlock
Most smart locks these days are coming with the auto-lock feature built into them with fewer of them having an auto-unlock feature as well. This makes sense because an auto-unlock feature would require a lot more resources to implement that an auto-lock feature. If you’re a forgetful person that tends to forget to lock their door at night then an auto-lock feature in your smart lock can be a lifesaver, literally. As for an auto-unlock feature, it can be very useful for when you have your hands full. This can be when you're carrying groceries or when you’re trying to handle children while trying to get inside, etc.
Guest Keys
This feature is perfect if you have a lot of visitors around or are using the smart lock on an apartment that you use for short rentals. You may want to get a smart lock that is able to easily generate guest keys. These guest keys are normally generated using the smartphone app that accompanies the smart lock. You can then send these guest keys to your intended guest and they can then utilize this key to gain access to the lock when they visit. These digital keys are generally convenient and very easy to use and you can also make them unusable any time you wish. You can also assign timers to these digital guest keys to begin with so they expire after a certain period of time.
What are some advantages of a smart lock?
As mentioned earlier, the greatest reason why people invest in a smart lock is due to their convenience. All you need to do is tap your smartphone once in order to lock and unlock the door. In some cases, you don’t even need to do that as some smart locks unlock automatically when they sense you’re near. This eliminates the need for fumbling for your keys and makes entering your home seamless.
Other benefits include the ability to monitor who uses the smart lock and when. This is thanks to the history logs that a smart lock is able to generate within the smartphone app that accompanies it. You can look at this history log whenever you like to see who’s been using the smart lock to come in or go outside.
Guest keys are also a major reason why smart locks are a worthy investment. They can come in very handy if you have a lot of visitors or are using the lock for an Airbnb or guesthouse, etc.
What are some disadvantages of a smart lock?
Most disadvantages of having a smart lock tend to do with unreliability. This is because electronics and technological gadgets tend to be a bit more unreliable than mechanical locks.
Also, if you’re not tech-savvy, it will definitely take you a while to get used to the lock’s ins-and-outs. It’ll definitely take you a few days if not weeks before you start to seamlessly use the smart lock for leaving and entering your home.
Most of these disadvantages are circumstantial and most people don’t really have to deal with them. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t happen so you still have to develop a strategy in case something like a technological malfunction does happen.
Does Kevo Fob work with Kevo Convert?
No. The FOB is a device that needs a Kevo Touch-to-Open Smart Lock in order to be operational.
Which brand is more reliable: Kevo or August?
Both brands are extremely dependable and have been making high-quality products for years. However, we feel that August definitely has an edge over Kevo. This is due to the fact that their smartphone app is much more user-friendly. It's also because their customer support is a lot more helpful and responsive.
Final Verdict
It’s definitely a good idea to have a smart lock installed in your house. However, it’s important that you do your research and ensure you’re not buying a sub-par product that could compromise the security of your home.
After much discourse and testing, we’ve come to the conclusion that the August Smart Lock is the better of the two. It has an auto-unlock feature that the Kevo Convert does not have. It also has a much better smartphone app and its customer support is extremely helpful too.
This ends our comparison post for Kevo vs August.
Let us know which of these smart locks you’re using in your home and why you think they’re the best.
