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Jul 27, 2023

Eufy Video Smart Lock Review

Part video doorbell and part door lock, the Eufy Video Smart Lock is a unique

Part video doorbell and part door lock, the Eufy Video Smart Lock is a unique hybrid smart home device that lets you lock and unlock your door using your voice, a fingerprint scan, a mobile app, a touchpad, or traditional keys. It's also a smart doorbell that offers sharp 2K video, dual motion sensors, intelligent motion detection, and free local video storage. It's expensive at $399.99, but its versatility, performance, and rich features earn it an Editors’ Choice award for smart locks.

The Video Smart Lock is a complete lockset that comes with everything you need to replace your old lock. It includes interior and exterior escutcheons, a Wi-Fi chime box, a strike plate and deadbolt assemblies, a pair of keys, mounting screws, and other assorted mounting hardware.

With rounded edges and a matte black and dark gray finish, the exterior escutcheon offers a sleek aesthetic, but at 7.2 by 2.8 by 1.0 inches (HWD), it's one of the largest locks we’ve seen. The durable metal alloy enclosure has an IP65 waterproof rating for protection from the elements. It contains a fingerprint scanner on the top, a 2K (2,560 by 1,920) camera, four infrared LEDS for night vision, a 12-button backlit touchpad, and a microphone. The touchpad has 0-9 keys as well as lock/unlock and back buttons. The lock also offers motion detection, a feature you don't get with the comparably priced Lockly Vision Doorbell Camera Smart Lock ($399.99). In fact, the Eufy lock uses dual motion sensors (PIR and radar) for enhanced detection.

A doorbell button below the touchpad glows blue when pressed or when someone approaches the door. The doorbell button lifts away from the face of the lock to reveal a keyhole for opening the lock with traditional keys. A speaker, a reboot button, and a USB-C port for emergency charging are all positioned on the bottom edge. Around back are the data and Wi-Fi cables that connect to the interior escutcheon.

The interior component shares the same finish as the exterior and measures 7.6 by 3.3 by 1.1 inches. It has a thumb-turn knob for manual bolt operation and a removable cover that hides the rechargeable 10,000mAh battery pack. The battery is rated to last up to four months with regular use. Simply remove the pack and charge it for several hours using a USB-C cable (not included). The battery compartment also contains a sync button for pairing the lock to the included Wi-Fi bridge.

The combined chime box/Wi-Fi bridge is the same plug-in device that comes with the Eufy Smart Lock Touch With Wi-Fi ($259.99). It contains 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios and connects wirelessly to the lock and to your home network. The bridge measures 3.7 by 2.0 by 1.0 inches (HWD) and has a gray cloth cover, two fold-out Wi-Fi antennas, and an LED indicator that blinks green during setup, glows solid blue when connected, and glows solid red when the internet connection is lost. A microSD card slot on the left side is used for local video storage, but you’ll have to supply your own memory card (up to 128GB).

The Video Smart Lock offers intelligent alerts that can differentiate between motion caused by people and other objects. It will send push alerts and record video when it detects motion or when the doorbell button is pressed and saves the video to the micro SD card. The lock supports Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands, routines, and video streaming, but it doesn't work with Apple HomeKit or IFTTT.

The Video Lock uses the same mobile app as other Eufy devices, including the Doorbell Dual ($259.99) and the Floodlight Camera ($179.99). A panel on the Devices screen displays the name of the lock, an image of the last captured event, and a play arrow. Tap the arrow to launch a live video stream that also features a Lock/Unlock button and manual Record and Snapshot buttons. There is also a two-way Talk button, a Mute button, and a Quick Response button that plays a prerecorded or custom response when pressed.

Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner to access the settings screen. Here, you can create custom responses, configure motion detection settings, and enable a Loitering Detection option. The latter will send a push alert, sound the chime, or activate a Quick Response if someone hangs around your property for a specific period of time. You can also configure a Leaving Detection option that will notify you when someone has opened the door but then leaves the area.

The Power Manager setting lets you view battery life and choose between optimal battery life (doorbell only, no motion detection), balanced battery life (limited motion detection times), and optimal surveillance (60-second video clips). One-Touch Locking lets you lock the door with one long button press, and Auto-Lock will automatically lock the door after it has been open for a certain period of time. The Scramble Passcode setting lets you unlock the door by entering random numbers before or after you enter the actual passcode, and Wrong-Try Protection lets you set a specific number of wrong passcode entries before the device goes into a lockdown period of your choosing.

Other settings include video and audio quality controls, notifications, chime ringtones with an option to use Alexa as a chime, and calibration.

Installing the physical Video Lock is just as easy as installing any door lock. I started by removing my old lock (including the deadbolt and strike plate) and installed the new deadbolt and strike plate. I followed this with the exterior escutcheon, taking care to slide the tailpiece into the deadbolt slot and feed the data cable through the door hole, and then attached the escutcheon to the mounting plate on the interior of the door. I attached the data cable to the interior escutcheon, attached the escutcheon to the mounting plate, and used the thumb-turn to make sure the lock was operating smoothly. Last, I packed in the battery (make sure you charge it beforehand) and was ready to add the lock to my Eufy account.

Due to the required bridge, setting up the lock requires two major steps. First, I opened the mobile app, tapped the plus icon on the Devices screen, and selected the Wi-Fi Bridge & Doorbell Chime from the list of devices. I used my phone to scan the QR code on the bottom of the chime when prompted, plugged it in, and tapped Next. I pressed the sync button until the LED blinked green, tapped Next again, and entered my Wi-Fi password. I waited a few seconds for the chime to connect to my network, gave it a name, and waited a few minutes more for the firmware to update.

Turning to the lock itself, I tapped Add New Device when prompted, selected the Video Smart Video Lock, and selected the bridge that I had just installed. At this point, you can watch an installation video tutorial or skip it. I tapped the Sync button on the interior escutcheon for five seconds until I heard a beep, tapped Next, and scanned the QR code that appeared on the app using the doorbell camera. Within a few seconds of hearing a double beep, the lock was successfully paired with the bridge and added to the app. I tapped Next, gave the lock a name, followed the instructions to calibrate the lock, created a master passcode, and registered my fingerprint. After a quick firmware update on the lock, the installation was complete.

The Video Smart Lock worked flawlessly in testing. The touchpad was responsive, as was the fingerprint scanner, which provided instant lock and unlock operations every time. The lock had no trouble following app commands or executing voice commands to lock and unlock the door, and the Auto-Lock feature worked as described.

The doorbell camera delivered colorful 2K video during the day and sharp black-and-white video at night. Motion notifications arrived quickly, as did doorbell presses and motion event video recordings. The camera did a fine job of identifying human motion and disregarding motion caused by blowing leaves and passing cars. I created an Alexa routine to have a Wyze Bulb turn on when the doorbell button was pressed and it worked without issue.

The Eufy Video Smart Lock may cost more than most smart locks, but its 2K doorbell camera and excellent feature set make its $400 price a bit more palatable. This lock offers more ways to lock and unlock your doors than most smart locks, including your voice, your phone, a fingerprint scan, a touchpad, and with a traditional set of keys. The integrated video doorbell provides excellent 2K video and accurate motion detection, and installation is relatively easy. We’d love to see more interoperability with third-party devices, but that doesn't prevent it from earning an Editors’ Choice award for smart locks. If $400 is too rich for your blood, the $249 Ultraloq U-Bolt Pro Wi-Fi (also an Editors’ Choice winner) offers numerous ways to open and close your door and includes a fingerprint scanner, but it doesn't have a built-in video doorbell.

The versatile Eufy Video Smart Lock is pricey, but it offers multiple ways to lock and unlock your door and doubles as a 2K video doorbell.

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