Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock (99250-202): Secure Keyless Entry for Your Home

Gilberto Jimenez Jauregui: Quiero tramitar la garantia, todavia no cumple 1 año de la compra

Mexico on Oct 04, 2022

DieuDieu: We got this door lock on October 2021 last year despite reading all the really bad reviews. We just really liked the idea of being able to use our smartphones as the key to our house, and I'm so very, very glad that we ignored the reviews and tried it out for ourselves because we just love using the lock! Makes coming home and leaving so easy! We didn't do any special setup, just took it out of the box, installed it, which was super easy, installed the app on our phones, and it worked. We use an iPhone and an android smartphone without any problems. I did notice that I need to be a foot from the door, with my phone in my left pocket. Once I figured that out, I never had a problem with unlocking and locking the door since. We also re-keyed the door to work with our old key, but you do have to have the golden colour key to rekey the lock. We had a key cutter cut our silver coloured old key onto the golden key blank, which I had tested and confirmed that it fits into our old lock, so after copying the key onto the golden blank, it worked! It does suck that it doesn't come with the wifi terminal, that you have to buy it separately. We haven't bought one yet, seems...

Canada on May 20, 2022

Mark A: I've had mine for 2 years and will give my impressions of the lock - good and bad.

This is the only lock on the market with touch to open. It is incredibly convenient when coming home with 2 bags of shopping. I just press my arm against the lock, let Kevo unlock and then press down on the handle with my elbow. Truly hands free. All other products either need you to take your phone out and use the app, or have a code pad.

I dislike code pads as someone could see you enter your code or could even look at which keys are smudged/worn to guess your code. Codes are also hard to input when carrying large items.

Geofencing is not secure. Phone GPS just isn't that accurate and locks that open if you are standing "just outside your door" will often open with you in the house. Kevo uses a bluetooth proximity instead. I have found it to be remarkably accurate - and I have tried to find a flaw in it. No matter where I leave my phone inside the house (even sitting right next to the lock), I have never been able to get it to unlock. I am completely convinced by Kevo's security.

And now the bad. About a year ago, Android presumably changed something....

Canada on Jan 23, 2020

Walkie: Good quality deadlock, well made hardware. Love the fact that I can re-key it and use the same key for all my normal Kwikset deadlocks (I have three). Also love the IFTTT integration, I have set it up to switch on a lamp in our entry hallway if someone enters after sunset. Only have 4 stars because the touch to unlock is a bit hit and miss. The lock can be recalibrated to improve this however didn't help much in my case. Sometimes it locks/unlocks immediately other times it takes more than one touch. Usually if it is struggling, pulling my phone out of my pocket will make it work. This is a nuisance when loaded up with bags for example. I've decided can live with it though. Would like to see Google Assistant integration.

Australia on May 17, 2019

Paul: I have been wanting to install a smart lock for awhile but, could never find one that I liked. I was watching an episode of Shark Tank and UniKey was on showing their software for a smart lock. What they demonstrated was exactly what I was looking for. I searched to see if I could find a UniKey supplier and learned that they had licensed this technology to Kwikset which is what is used in the Kevo. I did further research on Kevo and really liked what I saw so, I ordered a lock along with the Kevo Plus. One of the major reasons for shifting to a smart lock was that my wife and kids routinely lost their house key. However, they have never lost their cellphones. So, a smart lock was a win-win.

When the lock arrives they suggest downloading and installing the Kevo app on your phone. I highly recommend this because it has great interactive instructions for installing the lock. It took me about 15-20 minutes to install the lock and everything went very smoothly. It was very easy through the app to setup my initial eKey. Please note that you do need to setup an account first before you can generate an eKey. Once the eKey is generated and on your phone...

United States on Jul 28, 2018

Big K: The “Kēvo Smart Lock” is far from smart.

I have to say estheticslly it’s a nice lock, looks great and has a lot of potential but they completely missed the mark. The only thing Kēvo did right was making it look like a “normal lock”

Install was fairly simple, if you can change a deadbolt this is one level harder but with the app install directions most people should be able to do it without trouble.

Nothing is automated, it really isn’t “smart” in any way.

Tap to open feature: works mediocrely well but the app has to be running in the background on your phone (I have the iPhone X). If you close the app the lock doesn’t function. The key fob’s work much better than the phone app but that’s just one more thing on your key ring which isn’t really a step forward for technology.

Now for my biggest issue with the Kēvo lock, connectivity, they dropped the ball. It doesn’t connect to anything, doesn’t allow remote access without “Kēvo Plus” (scam). The Kēvo plus service is $99USD or for us in Canada $179 and then you pay shipping on top of that price to get their little “smart gateway” to you....

Canada on Dec 09, 2017

Peter A. Butzin: Update: 12-4-2018: The unit works even less reliably than my October, 2017 review. You just can't count on it. Sometimes it will lock (or unlock) when you touch the lock, but, in my experience, that's less than 50% of the time. Since I bought this so I wouldn't have to fumble for a key, it's pretty much useless.

In my review of October, 2017 I responded to the question "would I buy it again?" At the time, I said "yes" for my particular application. No longer. If I were doing this again, I'd select a standard deadbolt and try the August device.

If you're interested in an electronic lock, I suggest considering the August lock. I don't have one, but we successfully used this for a recent AirBnB rental in Denver. It was reliable and the app was easy to set up. I originally opted for the Kevo because the August device fits over a standard deadbolt. I thought that the Kevo would provide a more permanent solution. Live and learn.

I should add that I have a rental property that has a Kevo lock with a keypad. It works reliably, and I would recommend this lower tech solution. But avoid the Kevo lock that uses Bluetooth.

Update:...

United States on Jun 23, 2017