Simpled SF Weatherproof SlimSeries Smart Lock Touch, 7-in-1, Fingerprint Keyless Security Entry Door Lock, Bluetooth Electronic Deadbolt, Smartphone Access - Designed for The UK Weather, Matt Black

Simpled Chrome Doorlock Review08 June 2022This lock bas been installed now for around 8 weeks, during that time it has had its problems and I have needed to speak to support on their whatsapp chat. Here is my honest review of the Simpled Smartlock.Firstly, as you might expect, the installation.After researching this type of lock for 2 weeks I had made up my mind to go with Simpled, reviews seemed to point to good aftersales support which is important to me. I spoke via whatsapp the Simpled about the lock and if it would work on my composite door and they asked me to send some photos via whatsapp which I did. They stated that it would 99% work but may nned some modifications to the door. ( see photos )I ordered and it arrived promptly, unboxed and read the instructions and started to fit it.Im quite DIY orientated so nothing seemed too daunting to me, other than drilling a 25mm hole in my door!! after some measuring, trying the handle to make sure it would fully function, I drilled the hole, actually a lot easier than I thought and luckily?? it didnt hit the existing lock mechanism ( its very close ). ( see photos )The handle fitted fine and the instructions are actually clear, the fiddly bit is getting the outside wire through the new hole to the inside of the lock.Screwed it all up and went to put the batteries in, now it becomes clear why you need that 25mm hole, you have to push the slack back into the 25mm hole, if you dont then the batteries will foul on the wire and you cannot get the final cover on. Be warned!Now the lock was fitted, batteries in and you can hear it working, theres some beeps and a voice. Grabbed the phone, added the app and setup my account, and added the lock,VERY easy.Proceeded to add my thumb print, I did it 4 times, Terry 1 to 4 as the naming. Pressed it a few times, it unlocked then locked again after 5 seconds, all good, or so I thought ;) . I then added one of the ic cards, you ONLY get 3, bit tight in my opinion, 4 would have been much better for a family. So, there it was fully fitted and working in under an hour.... Then the wife came home, added her thumb print same as mine, Elaine 1 to 4, all worked great, then I locked her out for a laugh, she pressed the sensor, error, after 4 attempts the alarm sounded on the lock which meant I had to open the door and use the phone app to reset it. How annoying.We readded her thumb but this time 8 times, Elaine 1 to 8, same issue, I thought it might have been her handcream so got her to wash her thumb and try again, it sometimes worked but it was 50 / 50 which just isnt good enough, so back on whatsapp I went, this is where a company can fail miserably or succeed.Simpled support is great, you can talk to someone, an actual human, they know their product so can answer without the " Ill get back to you " stuff. I was pleased, after some to and froing they said they would send me a new handle.... to be continued.While waiting on the new handle I installed the Wireless Gateway, the bit that allows you to remote unlock and lock the door plus some more monitoring, alas this is where this product drops the ball, its slow as a snail when used, my signal according to the app is WEAK, I have an Eero Mesh network at home and a ring doorbell next to the lock so WiFi is not an issue, this leaves the Bluetooth connection to the lock from the Gateway, I have tried moving the gateway closer to the lock (see photos ) and various other locations in the porch and the best I can get is medium strength, I even taped the gateway to the lock and that was medium so there is a serious issue with it, again in my opinion. It can take upto 1 minute to remote unlock so not really acceptable, some notifications that the lock has been unlocked can also take ages to come through even though I was expecting near realtime notifications.Anyway, we move along and the new front handle arrives to be fitted, I was busy so couldnt do it for a few days and when I got around to it dismantled it all, fitted it, bolted it all up and then noticed the connections were not compatable, gutted dont quite cover it. ( see photos )Put the original one back and went onto whatsapp to explain, they was fine about it and sent a complete new lock this time, this had the right connection so I only used the front handle, fingerprint reading is much better on this one, the handle firmware is older than the one we had problems with so maybe something was added in that messed it up, who knows.After having it working now for some time I am happy to say that I am well pleased with the lock, very strong and well made, support is great. I would have no problem reccomending this lock.Cons: fiddly wire inside the battery compartment, gateway needs some serious upgrading, only 3 IC cardsPros: Great support, well made product, nice looking. I love it!!I am happy to answer any questions you may have regarding the lock and gateway, Terry

My first experience with smart locks was when I moved into my current house two years ago. It was fitted with a Yale Conexis L1 smart lock which offered two/three ways to open the door: a key tag / phone sticker or via a smartphone. Despite calling Yale support several times, I never managed to get my phone to open the door. The key tag was OK, but if you left it somewhere, you were locked out. That's the same as an ordinary key, of course, but shouldn't smart locks be... smarter?There were other problems with the Conexis that we learned to live with. Like the loud motor, ratcheting and chiming noises it made when opening and closing the lock--sometimes it woke my kids up when they were sleeping upstairs! The noise would continue for up to 20 seconds and end with some kind of chime.I later learnt that there was a chime for opening, one for locking and one for lock failure. The manual doesn't (cannot) explain this, so I sometimes went out leaving the door unlocked because I didn't know that particular chime was a sign of lock failure.The Conexis batteries lasted around three months--not great, but making all those loud noises must take its toll on the batteries...In the end, these annoyances, together with poor reliability, drove me to look for a new door lock. I found several smart locks, but the Simpled SlimSeries was the one I decided was the best buy.If you are wondering why I have detailed my experience with the Yale Conexis lock, it's because it explains why I love the Simpled lock so much. Read on...I fitted the Simpled lock myself. It is quite easy, but I had to drill two holes through my door. The scary bit was I had to drill the holes through the door AND the mortise lock. I'm no locksmith. I did look at the mortise lock, and I THOUGHT I would be drilling through a part that would not harm it. It was one of those moments when you take a deep breath and just do it. Luckily no harm was done. You may not have to do this--it just depends on the size and location of your existing mortise lock.One small annoyance was that the Simpled body is not quite as long as the Conexis, so I was left with a gap to fill and paint. See picture. A very minor matter in the scheme of things.I fitted the lock and set up the app. It worked! I set up fingerprints for myself, my wife and my six-year-old daughter. They worked! Of course, I would never give a six-year-old a key tag in case she lost it, but she's not going to lose her thumb! Then I set up unlock codes. They worked too. Finally, I registered the key tags that Simpled supplied. They worked too. I even repurposed the old key tags I used with the Conexis lock, and they worked too. So now we have spares.Now, my wife and I can get in with a fingerprint, an unlock code, a key tag and with our smartphones. Even if someone forgets their key tag, unlock code AND smartphone, they can still get in with their fingerprint. Wonderful. And best of all, unlocking the door with a fingerprint is reliable and faster than using a key!With the Conexis, you could walk away from the house and forget to lock it, but the Simpled automatically locks within a few seconds of being unlocked, so unlocked doors are now a thing of the past.Also, the Simpled is eerily quiet. Mechanically, it barely makes a murmur as it locks and unlocks. But it does have a little voice that says, in English, not in chimes, "Door locked" and "Door unlocked". Very clear but not loud enough to wake the kids!Finally, the Conexis had a safety feature that the Simpled lacked. To open the door from the inside with the Conexis, it was necessary to turn a chrome knob anticlockwise before the door could be opened. The knob was awkward and sometimes took a couple of tries to make it operate. Presumably, this was intentional to make opening the door childproof. That's a useful feature.The Simpled does not have this--the door can be opened from the inside by pulling the handle down--even a two-year-old could do it! So, if you have vulnerable people (even smart pets) in the house, you will need to fit something to prevent this. There are plenty of suitable gadgets. We simply keep the existing night chain engaged all the time.There we have it. This lock is a huge leap forward compared with the Conexis L1, and that is why I love it. All that remains is to find out if it is reliable in the long term and if the batteries really do last up to 12 months!