You can give up the keys With the tranquility not to remain closed out of the house? This is the question we tried to answer with the review of the new Nuki Smart Lock Ultra, the latest evolution of smart locks.
In reality, this experiment was born two years ago, with the replacement of both “locks” (we will explain after in reality nothing is replaced) and the abandonment of the physical keys to open the main door of the house. First with the old generation of Nuki, now with the new more technological model, fast and pleasant to see.
In the photo the new Ultra (above) compared with the old Lock Pro (now Smart Go)
What is a smart lock?
There is often confusion when it comes to smart locks. In reality, the correct term, not very noble and suitable for most of those in circulation, would be that of electrical gichhiave. On balance, A smart lock is a device that does not necessarily require to change the cylinder or to replace the keys we already have and It is positioned on the inner side of the door that we want to manage.
Some checks should be made, well indicated on the Nuki website, but in most cases the locks with European cylinder are compatible. It is called GiCiave because, if you have a lock that can be opened from outside even when the key is inserted inside, the electric motor will take care of unlocking the door by acting right on the key inserted in the patch. What if there is a knob? Through a set of adapters, or by changing the cylinder with that supplied in the package in the case of the ultra, you can use the Girachiave as “turn knob”, obtaining the same result and avoiding sacrificing a key that, otherwise, should always be kept inside the device. In the Nuki range there are more choices:
- Nuki Smart Lock Ultra: includes in the package the new cylinder and 3 keys. This is the solution more elegant and compact and does not require to use the sticker or drill the door because it hooks perfectly to its integrated cylinder
- Nuki Smart Lock Pro: it’s a bit more protruding than Ultra, but it can be mounted on the existing cylinders. The installation can be made via bi-adhesive included or through support that hooks to the cylinder, but it is impossible to give an evaluation on simplicity because it depends on your door. On the official website there is a tutorial to take the measurements e Old keys are used.
- Nuki Smart Go: it is the previous generationwith a new name, some technical updates and is certainly more cumbersome than pros and ultra. It costs less, but if you want to unlock it remotely you have to pay € 49 to enable this function.
Nuki Smart Lock Ultra, how it works
The installation is quite simple If you know how to replace a European cylinder, and the main body (with the scooter) hooks and releases in a few moments thanks to the predisposition, without drilling the doorplaying with adapters or use stickers. Once this is done, the app guides us in all the steps necessary for the calibration: in practice the sensors of the electric scooter are tidy to understand how many sends of key to the opening and closing.
The same process applies to Smart Lock Pro and Go, with the exception that in those cases the cylinder should not be replaced. After the installation operations, the use is intuitive because we can open the door in different ways:
- with the traditional key: the smart lock always allows you to open from the outside with the physical key
- with the app: We open the app on the smartphone and block or unlock the lock (which acts on the internal key or knob)
- with the keypad (code/imprint): Nuki proposes a keypad that allows you to unlock the door via the NFC card, fingerprint, numerical code
- With more advanced methods if you have a Smart Home
And to close it from the inside? Very simple, the methods exposed above are used with the exception of the manual closure that is managed both via a ring integrated to be rotated by hand, and by pressing the central button.
Smart Home: Intelligent integration (but watch out for risks)
Nuki Pro security is guaranteed by a series of protocols: to use the app, for example, you need a secret code or fingerprint, so even in the event of the theft of the phone we are sure that nobody can enter the house. Any hackers who wanted to try to enter by acting through WiFi or Bluetooth would find the barred door (literally) from safety and encryption systems. In short, The presence of a smart lock does not increase the risks Because, for thieves and attackers, the easiest method to enter the house would still be the “historical” one: to break the mechanical lock.
Some more risk arrives if you decide (it is optional) to integrate Nuki Pro into the Smart Home, for a simple reason: it depends where and how integrated. Thanks to the support for Matter, in fact, Nuki can be integrated into Home Assistant, Homey Pro and Apple Homekit, but also supports Alexa and the like.
In practice, it is necessary to give the opening and closing authorizations to a system managed by third parties: it depends on how much you trust the safety of that system, or how diligent you are in configuring one of you.
Two months of use: it shows no sign to discharge
We tried to use Nuki Pro daily for two monthsduring which the physical keys have never been used. With different openings and closures every day, the lock has lost only 24% of the chargeconfirming the excellent declared autonomy.
In this test it was not abused the automatic closure which is a function Very useful if your home door is accessible from a public passage area Because it blocks the lock to each physical closure of the door. In this case the autonomy will fall a little; Considering the excellent performance with the basic use, however, you can easily hypothesize the need for a recharge every 4/6 months even with intense use.
During the test, however, the WiFi connection has always been active, so as to be able to remotely manage the closure or openinguseful for example when you have to let a neighbor or a relative enter the house to check something in your absence. And Matter, the protocol to integrate the Nuki lock into the Smart Home, was used to add the home assistant device.
Nuki then set up a security system that He warns us when the battery drops below 20% And it continues to warn us both through notifications and by email (if we want), so as to be sure that you never risk reaching zero. And in two hours, the lock is ready for another 4/6 months of use: in short, it is impossible to stay dry, but even if it happens, just use the physical keys recover the emergency deck from a friend or a relative.
Duplicate the keys in a few seconds
Remote management and the creation of virtual keys They are two of the advantages of a smart lock. Forget the need to create duplicates for friends, relatives and service staff: Just the app to give access to people more trusted, or A temporary code can be created To be used on the numeric keypad.
The code can then already have a pre-set expiration date, useful for those who manage a B&B or a rental house, for example: thanks to the WiFi connection, the lock can be managed remotely and we can download the register of activities that tell us which user has opened or closed the door on a certain date.
Defects and what to improve
Compared to previous generations, the new Nuki Pro has improved a lot in the opening speed and in size: it is now very compact, but still has a battery of excellent duration, and its electric motor is a brushless that opens the lock in a few moments. There is even more noisy mode that opens it in an instant by turning the key at extreme speed, but consumes more battery.
Sinhowever, that with Nuki It is not possible to manage two smart locks via a single touch on the app or A single numeric keypad. If you have a door with 2 locks, a non -rare scenario, you will have to buy two keypads.
Also by a sector leader like Nuki, you would expect that more something at the software levelsuch as the possibility of planning an automatic lock block when all family members have moved away from the house. Today it is possible to activate the automatic block based on the position of a single user, but if you are in several people it is a function that should not be activated because you risk that the other family members, perhaps in the garden, risk remaining closed out when the main user smartphone goes away.
Price and alternatives for all budgets
Nuki Smart Lock Ultra costs 349 €a figure that places it in the high end between the smart locks but must be considered that it includes the cylinder in the package.
From his, he has the advantage of being very rapid in operation, much more elegant and compact than some competitors, with many years of software development and reliability behind them and with app done well. It is also practically integrated with any smartphone and with the main ecosystems of home automation and smart house And it is probably the one with The most powerful engine Today on the market, impressive already in the basic speed. Staying in the house there is The PRO version: € 249 and it is not necessary to replace the cylinder. Excellent and compact.
Nuki Smart Lock Go costs 149 €it is the old generation that costs apparently less, but It was castrated with a software block. In fact, to have the unlocking remotely you have to pay, one -off, € 49.
If your budget is below 200 €, better to aim on other models, specifically the Switchbot lock pro That costs 139 € But it is available on Amazon in an interesting package: at € 169 includes the HUB that can be used with other Switchbot products and the numerical keypad with a fingerprint.
Nuki Go also offers a package with the keypad but costs more (€ 209) and does not have the fingerprint reader, in addition to the fact that the usual € 49 must be added for remote release that Switchbot does not require.