August Home Smart Lock, 3rd Generation – Silver

It's easy to install and convenient to use. No need to buy a new lock and No need to carry a key any more or worry about whether you forgot to lock your door. You can set the door to lock as you go away via bluetooth and to unlock as you near the door. Great product, great technology.

I finally upgraded from the original first gen round August Lock (which I've been happy with your several years now) to this third gen version. The biggest reason I wanted to upgrade was the fact that the design of this one is like a regular lock.While the round one was working just fine, unfortunately other people unfamiliar with the lock just became baffled on how to unlock the door from the inside. With the design of this one, that eliminates that confusion for guests and it looks like a normal door lock to them.The additional features I like compared to the first gen one was the addition of the door sense feature. I haven't experienced it enough yet to really comment on it, but the initial testing of it was nice to prevent it from trying to lock when the door was still open. The issue I did have on the first gen one was that it could sometimes jam the lock if it tried to lock when not fully latched or closed.This one so far also seems to be a lot better with the smart alert notifications. The first gen one was hit or miss when notifications would actually work with the wifi hub. But so far this new one seems to actually notify every time per my settings.The only negative thing I have about the third gen vs the first gen is the missing sounds. On the first gen one, you could have it make lock and unlock sounds when used by the app or auto lock/unlock. Unfortunately the 3rd gen doesn't have the sounds built in. It is louder when the device is working, which somewhat substitutes for that so you can hear it working, but I'd still rather have the lock and unlock sounds option.Outside of that flaw, it is still a great product. If you are a renter, it is also perfect as the original keyed entry doesn't change, and you still only swap the inside part, and when you move out, you simply put the original inside piece back. That's why I preferred August Lock from anything else. It is simple, yet effective. Now I have a spare first gen one, maybe I'll just use it for the back door.

This is my second August lock and I love the way it functions. My favorite part is that I set the door to Auto Unlock when I come home. My second favorite part is being able to tell Alexa to lock the door for me when I come in and my hands are full. I also appreciate that I can set the door to lock automatically after a set time.

I'm not unhappy with this purchase, but I'm not especially thrilled either, given the price point.This August lock will work without a Wi-Fi Hub if you only want to connect with it when you're at home or are outside the door, and that can save you some expense. Buying the August Hub is not cheap.I've heard that August is extremely reliable and well-regarded so I wanted to give their Smart Lock a try, but I think that Wyze and SwitchBot, especially SwitchBot, might be a better value. Competitors like these have stepped up their game.I purchased the August keypad separately, and really like the modern design and red backlight. It's cool. However SwitchBot Lock Pro includes all the components - lock, hub, and keypad, even NFC access, at a significantly lower overall price.The indoor box that sits on the interior part of your door is heavy and bulky. It is very well secured by two lift levers but it still makes me a little uneasy as to how heavy this product is. I think all of the smart locks, except for Level, have this problem.Installation was quite easy, mostly because I've done this before with other brands. Although I didn't think the app was perfectly intuitive, I'm used to it now, and pleased.

So everything works as intended. However like other people have mentioned, the auto-unlock feature is a little quirky, but it's not because of the lock, but more due to my phone and its operating system and how it handles connections (bluetooth and WiFi specifically). So the auto-unlock feature works flawlessly if I have my phone in my hand and the screen is on, and that's because when the screen is on, the phone actively detects bluetooth and WiFi connections (it has to detect your home WiFi connection so that it knows you're actually "home", for security purposes). Since I'm typically on my phone, that works well. If my phone is in my pocket, the bluetooth and WiFi connections are detected passively (this is how it works on all Android phones to save battery power), and so the detection of the WiFi network switch happens slightly slower, but still reliably works about 80% of the time. Sometimes, I'll reach my door and it's still locked and the second I go to reach for my phone, my phone passively detects the WiFi (or is in the process thereof), and the door unlocks. The other thing people may not be aware of is that the app is watching for you to return to your "neighborhood" which is about 200 meters from your door. That said, this means that the auto-unlock feature typically doesn't engage if you go somewhere close, like your mailbox or to put the trash out for example. You've gotta travel outside of the 200 meter region that represents where your place is. The app works reliable to auto-unlock my door whenever I leave that 200 meter circle. On the way back the app, as I approach my neighborhood, the app shows up in my notifications with the auto-unlock feature engaged. By the time I park, and walk towards the door, it unlocks 9 out of 10 cases before I reach the door, and 1 out of 10 cases as I reach the door. If my phone is in my hand, this happens in 10 out of 10 cases. If my phone is in my pocket, roughly 9 out of 10 cases as I approach the door, 1 time out of 10 it'll open as I reach the door, or within a second or two after I reach the door (when my phone connects to my home WiFi and the app detects that scenario occurring). I have a Samsung Galaxy S9+ for reference. My son who has an iPhone XR has the same experience as I do with the auto-unlock on his phone. I'd say his works even more reliably than mine does. This lock is definitely worth the purchase. It works well, is easy to install, and now when I leave, it locks the door behind me too which I love.