Smart Locks

Most owners call the Encode rock-solid and well-built, and love the built-in WiFi that needs no hub plus managing guest and contractor codes from the app with lock/unlock alerts. The biggest recurring complaint is faster battery drain on WiFi, which some owners ease by switching to Thread. A few report WiFi dropouts, a lock that stopped responding, or clunky smart-home integration, but the consensus is that it is one of the best smart deadbolts you can buy.

Owners overwhelmingly love the Schlage Encode Plus for its Apple Home Key tap-to-unlock, solid build, and long battery life, with many calling it the most reliable smart lock they've owned. The main frustrations are connectivity drops where the lock goes unreachable remotely and the fact that it performs best inside a robust Apple or Thread setup. A finicky tap range and high price round out the complaints, but most owners say they wouldn't go back.

Most owners find the Assure Lock 2 reliable and well-built, praising its clean look, flexible protocol modules, and smooth smart-home integration. The big recurring complaint is the WiFi module, which drains batteries fast (some report a fresh set lasting only weeks) and drops offline, so many owners stick with the Bluetooth or Z-Wave versions instead. Touchscreen models can be hard to read in sunlight and slow in cold weather, and HomeKey isn't available on every variant.

Owners are genuinely split on the Level Lock. The fans love that it looks like a plain deadbolt instead of a smart lock, keeps the original key, and unlocks with a tap of an Apple Watch or phone via HomeKey, and many say it went from flaky to rock-solid after the Matter/Thread update. The detractors run into constant connection drops, batteries that die suddenly with little warning, firmware updates that break HomeKit/HomeKey pairing, and feel it's overpriced for how often it fails when you actually need it.