Ultraloq UL3 Review – Bluetooth Smart Lock, Guide, FAQs, More

It’s hard not to agree with us when we say that with all the variety out there, it can be quite intimidating to choose the best smart lock for your home.

This prompted us to test and review one of the most popular smart locks available in the market right now, the Ultraloq UL3.

Today, we’ll discuss all its ins-and-outs, how it works, what features it offers and whether or not it’s worth your money or not.

Quick Summary of the Main Product

Smart locks are quickly becoming the zeitgeist when it comes to securing doors in public venues as well as homes. The Ultraloq UL3 is a perfect example of a product that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Both when it comes to delivering security features as well as convenience to the user. It works on the same framework as regular smart locks, however, there definitely are some things it does differently. It does not rely on a smartphone application. Rather, the Ultraloq UL3 has its locking capabilities built into its locking mechanism.

That being said, it also offers the users to connect their smartphone via Bluetooth if they do want to go that route. It boasts a capacity to store up to 95 fingerprints inside it. This may be overkill if you’re installing this in your home. However, if you install this at a public venue where a lot of people need to use it, this feature makes a lot of sense.

There are many ways to unlock it such as through your phone, through your fingerprint or by using the keypad. This makes this lock extremely flexible for different situations. You’ll find that owing to this, you can buy this lock for many different places inside your home or workplace. It’s a solid option if you’re in the market looking for a smart lock. 

Features and Benefits

• Weatherproof Exterior

Many smart locks we’ve reviewed over the years have many impressive features to offer but they also have one major flaw: they’re not weatherproof. This limits their versatility by a lot as this means they can only be used on interior doors. The Ultraloq UL3, however, is completely waterproof, weatherproof and dustproof. This makes it perfectly suitable for both interior as well as exterior doors. It’s rated IP65 so you don’t need to worry about rain or anything spilling onto it as none of that is going to affect its performance in the slightest.

• Fingerprint Access

One of the main things that most smart locks aim to achieve is the utmost convenience for its users. The Ultraloq UL3 achieves this in a number of ways and one of those ways is through its fingerprint access feature. It identifies your fingerprint within 0.5 seconds of you placing it onto it which enables you to use it seamlessly when you’re moving in and out of your home. It’s also a great feature for when you have your hands full and don’t want to go fumbling for your phone or your keys. All you need is your finger and you’re in.

• Four-second Re-lock feature

How many times have you come inside your home and forgotten to lock the door behind you? It happens to the best of us. However, all of that will be history once you get this smart lock as it features a four-second re-lock. This means that the door locks itself behind you automatically after four seconds even if you forget to do it yourself. It will enable your home to have maximized security. You'll have peace of mind that you’re safe inside your home even if you forget to lock your door yourself.

• Keypad Entry feature

Don’t want to make use of the fingerprint access feature that the Ultraloq UL3 offers? That’s okay, it features an incredibly responsive and large keypad on its body as well that you can make use of to program your own keycode into it. You can have many different keycodes that will gain you access to the smart lock. You can even customize these different keycodes to expire at different times if you want. This can be very useful if you have this lock installed at a public venue or a workplace. This is because you may want certain people to stop having access to it after a certain period of time.

• Can store up to 95 different users

As we’ve mentioned earlier, this smart lock can hold an astounding 95 users in its database. When we say 95 users, we mean it can hold 95 fingerprints.

• Sense-On Recognition

The Ultraloq UL3 is smart enough to recognize when you’re near it. When it detects this, it automatically lights up so you can see where the keypad and fingerprint sensor is. This is very useful if your lock is located in a low-lit area. So, you won't have to go fumbling for your phone and shine it onto the lock just to enter the access code. It’s a neat little feature that we think a lot of users will appreciate.

• “Anti-peep” Password

There are two primary ways in which you can get your access code stolen. The first is if someone studies the worn-out digits on the smart lock. The second is if someone peeks at you entering your access code when they’re standing beside you. The anti-peep password feature helps you hide your password and makes these two techniques useless. It works by letting you type as many numbers of digits as you want. As long as your password is embedded somewhere inside that long string of digits, you will gain access to the lock.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• It’s compatible with a backup key. It comes with a mechanical key of its own so if in some case, the electronics of the smart lock are not working, you can still gain access using the regular key. This is definitely a case that can happen to anyone as the smart lock runs on AA batteries. 
• It can store a very large number of users. As discussed earlier, the Ultraloq UL3 can hold up to 95 users which is a very high amount of people for a smart lock. 
• It’s very versatile. You can chalk this up to two features: The first one being that it has many different ways in which you can gain access to it. You can unlock it using a mechanical key, a fingerprint, an access code or via Bluetooth using your phone. The second one is that since it can store such a high amount of users. This enables you to use it for something as simple as your home to something as complex as a school or college. 
• It has a sleek design. It looks very elegant and has an exterior that will look great no matter what kind of door you have. The handle on it is also reversible so that it can suit right-handed as well as left-handed people. 
• It has a long-lasting battery life. It boasts up to 8,000 times access on a single set of 3 AA batteries. Not to mention that when the battery is low, the smart lock alerts you to this. It has a low-battery alarm on its OLED so you can get them changed before the lock completely loses power.

Cons

• It does not have Airbnb integration. While the lock is definitely very versatile, we were surprised to see that it is not compatible with Airbnb. 

• It uses AA batteries which may be inconvenient for some. Most people prefer AA batteries but we can definitely see some people being put off by the fact that it uses this method to power itself. 

Social Proof

Most of the customer reviews we found online were overwhelmingly positive. Many users talked about how easy this lock was to set up. Others said that even when they had trouble with setting it up, they contacted customer support. Customer support was extremely helpful and then they had the lock set up in no time.

We also found reviews that had been updated a year or so after the lock had been in use. These customers said that the lock is working just as efficiently as it was on the day they bought it. 

More Recommendations!

Guide to Buy

The Ultraloq UL3 is a very versatile lock but you definitely have to keep some factors in mind before you consider buying it. These factors are:

• Access Mechanisms

You can gain access to this smart lock in a number of different ways. However, you must ensure what type of environment this lock is going to be located in. You also need to check whether or not its access mechanisms can live up to the requirements of that environment.

• Aesthetics

• Price

The Ultraloq UL3 is one of the cheapest smart locks available on the market. Thus, if you’re short on cash but still want a smart lock, we would definitely recommend it. However, with that being said, a smart lock is still a big investment and you should ensure whether you’re ready for it or not before you go out and buy it.

What are some advantages of buying the Ultraloq UL3 that I won’t get if I buy from one of their competitors?

There are many things that make the Ultraloq UL3 stand out from its competitors. Some of these features are its insanely long battery life and its ability to store a large number of users. Its many different options that it provides in terms of accessing it and the amount of customization it offers are also welcome features. Another important advantage to all of this is that you can get this lock at a much more reasonable price than most smart locks on the market.

Does the Ultraloq UL3 work with Alexa?

Yes. If you have Alexa integrated into your home, you can easily pair it with the Ultraloq UL3 to make use of it through Alexa’s voice commands.