Yale Keyfree & Keyless Connected Smart Locks REVIEWED

At Vesternet we've never been a fan of automated locks - they've either been absolute monstrosities that even the most ardent of DIY'ers would struggle to fit or they've required a specific type of door and lock mechanism to work with.

Support in the common Home Automation controllers such as VERA and Fibaro has also been patchy at best, with some devices working perfectly out-of-the-box and others requiring a substantial amount of fettling to get up and running.

Bottom line in our opinion is that any time you are dealing with security devices you need them to work perfectly and to have confidence in them protecting your house - after all, who wants to spend a chunk of money on something that ends up making your home less secure!

So we were incredibly excited when Yale contacted us earlier in the year to announce that they were bringing some of their US Z-Wave locks to the EU.

We're sure that you'll all have heard of Yale - they're pretty much the biggest lock manufacturer on the planet!

Check out our findings below on the Yale Keyless Connected Smart Lock and the Yale Keyfree Connected Smart Lock - could we finally be seeing automated locks that meet our high expectations?

Yale Keyless Connected Smart Lock

Most of us will be familiar with the "night-latch" style of lock which is still in use on millions of doors around the world.  The Yale Keyless is an easy to install retro-fit electronic "knob" that can be installed in place of the existing key barrel.

The Keyless has an exceptional quality feel to it with a black touch-screen that shows a glowing keypad when woken up.  It comes with an RFID Key Card and an RFID Key Tag in the box and our test device was also fitted with the Z-Wave Home Automation Module (you can alternatively opt for the Yale CCTV / Alarm Module or Yale Remote Keyfob Module).

It's worth noting that the device is, as its' name suggests, completely key-less, there's absolutely no fall-back if something fails with the device or the batteries go flat while you are out of the house.  Connecting terminals on the bottom of the keypad are available for a 9V battery which can be used as an emergency power source, but it would be quite extreme to carry a 9V battery around "just in case".  There should be plenty of "low battery" warnings beforehand though, so we suggest taking note of these and not ignoring them :-)

Installation only took half an hour or so - we installed our device onto a "lock block", essentially a chunk of wood set-up like a door, simply removing the existing key barrel and following the instructions to make sure everything was in the right place.  Incidentally, if you don't already have a compatible night-latch then one is available as an optional extra.

Once powered up, the out-of-the-box operation is intuitive and easy to get to grips with - place your palm on the screen to wake the lock, enter the PIN and press "*".  This makes the knob become "engaged" and allows you to turn it, which in turn opens the latch and allows the door to open.   Even my kids could figure it out from me saying "the code is 123456, open the door" .... a minute of prodding and twisting and they had it sussed!

The Keyless has an interesting design concept, although it's product name has "Lock" in it, it's technically not actually a lock - it doesn't physically lock or unlock the door.  As mentioned above, the knob is engaged, allowing it to be turned, or disengaged, which prevents it from being turned.  This is actually a really clever idea as we would imagine that this uses much less power than having to turn a locking mechanism - and it strengthens Yales' claims of 10,000 operations on a single set of AA batteries!

It should also be noted that if your night-latch has a button or slider that physically locks the latch then obviously the Yale Keyless won't be able to un-lock it - the knob will still engage when somebody enters a PIN or uses and RFID Key Card or RFID Key Tag, but the device but won't be able to turn the latch as it will be physically locked on the inside.

We also wouldn't recommend using the Keyless as the sole security on a door since it only works with a night-latch.  Most doors will need an additional lock such as a mortice lock or dead-bolt lock.

Basic user-friendly operations now tested we were keen to see what configuration options were available - the RFID Key Card and RFID Key Tag didn't work out-of-the-box so we assumed that we'd have to program them or something.  A quick read through the extensive user manual shows that Yale have really put some thought into how the device will be used in the real-world - there are a whole host of settings to play with and all are programmed from simple key press combinations on the touch-screen.

First up we played around with adding and deleting user PIN codes (up to 20) and RFID Key Cards and RFID Key Tags (up to 20).  These are all really simple to add and delete, but it's worth noting down which "slots" correspond to which PIN / Card / Tag.  If you have the Yale Remote Keyfob module installed then you can also add up to 5 Remote Keyfobs.

The RFID Card and RFID Key Tag worked well, but did need to be placed almost within direct contact of the screen.  To be honest we're not really sure how much we'd use these - with a PIN code entry it's a one-handed operation, enter the pin, turn the knob, push / pull door.  With the RFID Card or RFID Key Tag you have to hold that in your hand and touch it to the screen and it then proves quite difficult to turn the knob while holding either of them.  This makes it more of a two-handed operation, one hand to touch the RFID Card or RFID Key Tag on the screen and the other hand to turn the knob and open the door.  Perhaps some more experimentation is required here to get a one-handed technique that works :-)

Advanced options are also easy to configure on the touch-screen - you can change the volume of the keypad beeps and can change the PIN re-lock and Remote re-lock times so that the knob is automatically disengaged after X seconds.

You can also disable the re-lock entirely, but it's important to understand that this means the device will not disengage the knob unless you manually lock it again by placing your hand over the touch-screen.  Obviously you can't do this from the inside, so there's the potential that you end up leaving the Keyless with the knob engaged, thus leaving the door permanently open-able from the outside.  We therefore recommend leaving automatic re-lock turned on!

Rounding out the feature list are on-screen low battery warnings and a security intrusion alarm if the outer part of the device is damaged.

Yale Keyfree Connected Smart Lock

While the Yale Keyless is designed for easy retro-fitting, the Yale Keyfree is definitely not!  Designed to fit modern "multi-point locking" doors the Keyfree is only available as a professionally installed solution, you can't order and install it yourself unfortunately.

To be fair, having seen one of these fitted ourselves, even the most experienced DIY-er would be crazy to attempt it.  The internals of a multi-point door aren't for the feint-hearted and we would suspect a pile of screws and levers on the floor and a door that no longer works would be the end result of a self-install!

 

After the installation we started to play with our new device and, as with the Keyless, the Keyfree is outstanding quality - both these devices really do put every other lock we've seen in the past to shame.  Our device came with the Z-Wave Home Automation Module already fiited (you can alternatively opt for the Yale CCTV / Alarm Module or Yale Remote Keyfob Module).

Unfortunately there's no RFID capability with the Keyfree, we're guessing that this would have been difficult to squeeze in to the sleek form factor.  Unlike the Keyless though, the Keyfree does actually come with keys - 2 of them are included in total. These can be used in an emergency as an alternative to the 9V battery terminals which are also present on this device, hidden away under a sliding panel at the bottom.

First impressions were excellent, the Keyfree operates in a very similar fashion to the Keyless - entering a PIN engages the handle which allows you to push it down to open the door.  If the door is locked then pushing the handle down retracts the multi-point locking mechanism as well as the latch.  If the door is un-locked then pushing the handle down retracts just the latch.  After a short period of time the handle is then automatically disengaged.

To lock the door from the outside you simply enter the PIN and then raise the handle.  From the inside you just push the button and then raise the handle.  Simple!  Oh and the Keyfree also talks to you as well, giving you directions and status updates - it's a really nice touch and certainly helps with the end-user experience.

At this stage we realised that installing the Keyfree had actually improved how our door worked - previously to prevent the door from being opened from the outside, you had to physically lock the door from the inside by raising the handle to engage the multi-point locking mechanism and then turning the key in the internal barrel.  But now, since the Keyfree disengages the external handle automatically, we effectively have two levels of security - "locked" (handle disengaged) and "securely locked" (handle disengaged AND multi-point locking mechanism active).

Adding and deleting user PIN codes (up to 20), registering Yale Remote Keyfobs (if you have the appropriate Yale Remote module fitted) and configuring the Keyfree is the same as on the Keyless - simple and painless - you just use the keypad to access the various menu sections following the detailed instruction manual.

The Keyfree has the same settings available as we already detailed above for the Keyless, so we won't go over them again here.  A few additional options are available including the ability to set the lock to "passage" mode whereby the handle is permanently engaged or setting the lock to "child" mode which makes an alarm sound for 10 seconds if the internal handle is used to open the door.

Finally the Keyfree also has an audible low battery warning, a security intrusion alarm if the outer part of the device is damaged and battery life is quoted as being approximately 1 year based on 10 operations a day - pretty good in our opinion!

Z-Wave Compatibility - Hero or Zero?

OK, so we know that the hardware is outstanding and as a stand-alone solution both devices work very well, but what about that all important Z-Wave compatibility?  Do the Yale devices play well in the common Z-Wave controllers?

Fortunately Yale have a lot of experience with Z-Wave as they've had Z-Wave devices available in the US for many years.  So it's no surprise that their Z-Wave implementation is robust, stable and well thought out.

The Z-Wave Home Automation Module allows you to engage and disengage the knob / handle remotely, configure user PIN codes (including setting access schedules) and adjust device settings.  Instant status change and event reporting are also supported with pretty much all aspects of the device covered, for example "bad pin entry", "low battery", "lock button pressed", "lock fails to operate", etc.

One thing to note is that only PIN code operations are reported over Z-Wave, RFID and Remote Keyfob events aren't reported, neither can you manage those user types from the Z-Wave controller.

Obviously the Z-Wave features and functionality are also largely dependent on what the Z-Wave controller supports, so we took the opportunity to carry out some basic testing in the Vera Edge and Fibaro HC2 Z-Wave controllers.

Conclusion

All told the Yale Keyless and Keyfree Connected Smart Locks are cracking bits of kit and we're sure they will go down well with our customers in the EU that have been waiting for Yale to release these devices over on this side of the world.

Get yours on order today!

Martyn