Josh Hendrickson
The August Smart Lock Pro is incredibly easy to install. It essentially slips over your existing deadbolt. That’s great for apartment dwellers and home renters as well, who often can’t change out their locks. But, that convenience came at the cost of large-sized hardware and a separate Bluetooth bridge. The new August Wifi Smart Lock fixes all that and adds improvements too.
August Pro Locks Are Bulky; August Wifi Locks are Sleek
If you haven’t seen an August Smart Lock Pro in person, it is fairly large. The lock works by slipping a large dial over the thumb turn of your door lock. When you want to lock or unlock by voice or app, motors in the dial physically move your thumb turn. It’s like having a butler at the ready to man your door locks.
That it slips over your existing hardware is convenient—most other smart locks call for a complete replacement of your existing locks. But jamming all that motor technology into a nice round dial wasn’t easy, and it ended up a large piece of tech. Worse yet, if you wanted remote control from anywhere, you still had more to work to do.
Remote connections call for a separate bridge device. It connected to your network over Wi-Fi, and then to your August lock over Bluetooth. Because of the short-range of Bluetooth, that meant you needed to plug it in somewhere near your door.
The new August Wifi Lock bucks that entire trend. It’s smaller—about the size of a doorknob—and it has Wi-Fi built-in. That means you don’t need a separate bridge anymore.
August changed up the general look of the lock too, instead of a perfectly round dial, it has more of a teardrop shape. The curves are very rigid, which should make the device easier to grip when you want to unlock by hand. August says the new lock is 45 percent smaller in volume than the August Pro Lock and compared it to the size of a doorknob. Overall, it makes for a better-looking package.
You’ll still get all the same features, from remote access to guest keys. And like the previous generation, installation should take all of ten minutes. August didn’t say when the new lock would release or what it would cost, but you can sign up for notifications at its site. The company plans to offer the lock in both silver and black. For reference, the August Smart Lock Pro currently goes for $230.
Source: Engadget
