Level Home

I just installed my first Level Lock. I love that I got to keep my existing hardware. Installation and setup was easy. There was a firmware update needed as soon as I finished pairing the lock. As for the app, it’s very very simple. If you’re used to the August app, this feels a little incomplete. The timers for auto-locking are way, way too short (5 minutes please!). The icon for toggling the lock doesn’t look button-y enough, so I wasn’t sure where to click. There are a lot of quality-of-life improvements that could be made just with the app. My 4-star review is just about the current app. But maybe you want to know about the hardware. It needs some work to make it a clear winner over the competition. It looks fantastic (while you can see it) and feels quite sturdy. Mine is harder to turn (with the door open — not an issue with the door frame alignment) than the dumb lock it replaced, so it’s having trouble turning all the way. There’s no sensor for whether the door is open, so it will auto-lock when the door is open (annoying!). It’s loud when it turns. And since it doesn’t have a companion keypad, I can’t give guests access easily. This product is SO GOOD already, but I really hope they keep working on making it a complete solution.

This is my third smart door lock and I have to say my early impressions are Level nailed it. My previous locks were bulky and didn’t work all that well either mechanically or technologically right out the box and only got worse as time went on. So far Level is working perfectly. The install is dead simple - with a small caveat I’ll explain below. The locking/unlocking mechanism has worked perfectly even in my older, slight wonky door and the HomeKit integration is top notch. The app itself is ok, it does what it says though I find the the lock/unlock “button” to be a little unintuitive on first glance - it looks more like a status than a tap target, but honestly other than set up I imagine most iOS users will be using HomeKit anyway. On to that caveat about easy install. Despite the appearance Level will work on most deadbolts, do check their compatibility section of the website on what locks work. I had a low profile Kwisket deadbolt that didn’t work as too much of the locking mechanism pushed in to the door. Wasn’t a huge deal as Kwikset made a slightly higher profile similar design that did work perfectly with Level even though it wasn’t on the official compatibility list. I’ll be keeping an eye on long term battery life and how it handles the expansion/contraction due to weather change, but so far, so good.

I have been looking to purchase a smart lock for over two years now to help me avoid me locking myself out of my house. What can I say? Most smart locks are either too expensive or large & ugly or both. Level Lock is ingenious in that no large flashy lock is in sight so to me that’s a plus. Plus as an Orthodox Jew I really appreciate that this lock is totally able to work with a key mechanically on the Sabbath & Jewish holidays. Nothing electronic to fiddle with if to allow that either. 👍 Installation was a bit of a pain & necessitated us buying a new lock, but that wasn’t a big deal. Got it done & installed in minutes once I had the new lock. The Concierge/Customer service has been very friendly & helpful. The app works fine. Integration with Homekit is “eh”. Are there improvements that I’d like to see, sure, and I’m sure they will come. In the meantime, I’m enjoying not getting locked out of my house anymore & being able to use a key when it’s needed! Great job fellas!!

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This lock uses Low Energy Bluetooth. The problem with Bluetooth is that it doesn’t work well through walls and the range is limited. So if you have a big house you won’t be able to lock and unlock your door if you are not near the lock (within 20 feet). To overcome this you need a hub. You can use a 4th or 5th generation Apple Tv( $200 +), Apple hub ( very expensive) or a Apple tablet( $600 or more). The Problem with a tablet as a hub is that it always have to be near your lock or no one not even your guest will be able to lock or unlock the door. Their Level App is buggy and when you call for support you have to delete the lock from your hub and your phone, unscrew the lock from the door to get to the reset button, reset it and then add it to the hub and your phone again, add your guests and do all the automations again. This is not a well designed lock and will cost you a lot of money. DO NOT BUY IT, it’s a waste of money.

The locks themselves are amazing! The in-door design is 100% why I bought all of mine. As for the app... keep up the improvements! A few minor bugs I noticed seemed to be resolved already... so keep it up! Requesting the ability to swipe left/right to lock/unlock or tap the status/icon even. The long press and then jumping out to a different screen is just not a great UX. If that’s to stop me from trying to talk to multiple locks at the same time... while the one is busy just dim the others like you do for Guests who are out of range of certain locks. Also requesting the ability to sort the order of the locks. Looks like they are in the order added and not adjustable. I want to change mine but can’t do it. Also requesting the ability to lock/unlock everything at once. I can do this via Homekit scenes... but wish I could do it here as well. The Level app is faster... I suspect because it uses bluetooth to communicate.