Following its debut at CES 2020 back in January, the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock has begun shipping to consumers—bringing a smaller form factor and onboard Wi-Fi networking to the company’s line of home security products. Whereas its larger brother, the August Smart Lock Pro, requires the separate Connect Wi-Fi bridge for remote management and enhanced feature access, the Wi-Fi Smart Lock does all of that sans bridge while shrinking 45% in volume and 20% in depth.
“We’re always looking to explore how far we can push front door access, and the next frontier we wanted to tackle was fitting all the benefits of an August Smart Lock into a more discreet, yet beautiful package,” said Jason Johnson, co-founder of August, in a press release. “Designing and building this new compact smart lock that offers as many capabilities as it does was no easy feat, so we are extremely proud to be able to provide our current and future customers with the best available product on the market.”
More Like a Door Knob, Touching Optional
For homeowners turned off by the oversized dimensions of the August Smart Lock Pro, the Wi-Fi Smart Lock is sized closer to a standard door knob, making for a less obtrusive aesthetic on the inside of your door. Like all August smart locks, it’s designed as a retrofit for the interior portion of the existing deadbolt, while the exterior housing and its keyed lock cylinder remain in place—so the lock can continue to be operated with the existing physical key if desired.
However, during the Covid-19 lockdowns and the CDC guidelines designed to help prevent the spread of the virus, locks such as the August Wi-Fi Smart Lock can be configured to be not only keyless, but entirely touchless—helping to eliminate the transfer of the virus from or to lock surfaces during operation. Specifically, with the onboard August Wi-Fi Smart Lock features, touchless geofencing-based automatic locking and unlocking is possible, as well as voice-controlled locking with Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, or Google Assistant. Of course, you will still need to touch the door knob or handle to open or close the door.
Myriad app-based locking and unlocking is also possible, including the native August app, the Apple Home app on iOS, Apple Watch, the recently-launched hubless integration with SmartThings, and still other integrations.
Some Twists on the August Model
The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock differs from the August Smart Lock Pro in a few other ways beyond size. The new lock housing brings a smoother turning mechanism, and foregoes the knurled surface of the Smart Lock Pro for textured ridges. Furthermore, a new backlit August badge is designed to give homeowners an easy way to discern the open or closed status of the lock at a glance.
Available Now
The August Wi-Fi Smart Lock has a MSRP of $249.99 and is available in either matte black or silver finishes. It can be purchased directly from the August website or from BestBuy stores in the U.S. The company plans to expand availability to more retailers later on May.
We plan to bring the lock into our Digitized House labs soon for an in-depth review.
