What turns me off to a lot smart home products is that “quality of form” does not meet the aspect of the functionality the product is trying to represent. An example of this for me is the August brand of smart locks. This brand gets a lot of praise for the functionality of its smart lock, but it will not get one moment of consideration from me cause it’s design is absolutely ridiculous. If I had it on any of my doors, I know that It would have to be replaced in the future if I decided to move because the very look of it screams smart home and draws attention to itself negatively, not to mention, reducing the overall value of the home it sits in. I believe the smart home should be discrete, not screaming “Hey! Look at me! While it may be ok for smart lights to do this once and awhile. I feel much differently when it comes to the security of my home.
The Level Door lock aims to make the smart home discrete. While it is not perfect and installation was far more difficult than it had to be, the ending results make this product worth the effort. The product itself was not easy to install. I’m not a smart home novice. I install Lutron Caseta smart switch’s for breakfast and have other brands of smart locks in my home and for a lock that boasts ease of install it shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was. I blame this on the design. This product does not meet the “it just works” criteria that well designed products usually do. As versions improve with time I feel this would not be something difficult to correct. This product came with all the parts required and instructions were very clear. Pointing back to the slightly flawed design. The opening for the lock shaft rotates back and forth “obviously” to lock and unlock the door. This sleeve while a robust piece of metal it extends slightly past the entire body of the locking mechanism. When fastening my door lock switch face plate back together, tightening down the screws back to normal was causing the rotating sleeve of the lock to be pinched by the face plate of the lock. This pinching was hindering the locking and unlocking operation causing jams and time out which gave me errors in the app and home kit. After fiddling and adjusting the final solution was to ease up on how tight I was screwing in the face plate. To me, this isn’t an acceptable solution as with time the screws would eventually back out with constant locking and unlocking. Since I knew that the screws would loosen over time I added a bit of lock tight to resolve this. I know that the solution to my problem is only about a sentence or two long but the process to getting there results in a two star grade. The average user might have called it quitting time and returned the product.
This part is important! After you get the Level App installed and the lock has been added to your home via home kit or however you control your smart home. Go into the Level App and into the settings and perform a calibration for the lock. This helped a lot with the lock functionality as before this I was experiencing jams and time outs. The calibration fixed this completely. For Apple home kit users, you may notice unresponsiveness or incredibly long pauses between locking and unlocking, yet in the Level App it is nearly instantaneous. In the Level App under settings again, make sure the “boosted range” switch is on. This greatly improves home kit performance. I can’t flaw the Level Lock for this nor speak on the behalf of other smart home services. My money is on that it is most likely an Apple problem as most situations regarding responsiveness usually are.
Despite the more complicated install I am super pleased with the ending result. The lock looks like nothing was ever changed. Despite the automation of locking and unlocking and the chime that goes along with those actions one would never know that it is smart.
| Brand | Level Home Inc. |
|---|---|
| Special Feature | Level locks are engineered to meet ANSI standard strike plate dimensions. If your current strike plate cutout height measures 2 ¼", be sure to add a Level Lock Short Strike Plate to your cart. This item is sold separately. |
| Lock Type | Deadbolt |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 3.31 x 1 x 2.25 inches |
| Material | Stainless Steel |
| Style | Bolt |
| Color | Satin Chrome |
| Finish Type | Satin Chrome |
| Included Components | Level Bolt, Strike plate, CR2 battery, 3 Tailpiece adapters, 4 Screws |
| Controller Type | Apple HomeKit, IOS, Android |
| Shape | Round |
| Item Weight | 1.07 Pounds |
| Control Method | App |
| Manufacturer | Level Home Inc. |
| Part Number | C-D11U |
| Item Weight | 1.07 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 3.31 x 1 x 2.25 inches |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Item model number | C-D11U |
| Batteries | 1 CR2 batteries required. (included) |
| Size | The smallest smart lock |
| Finish | Satin Chrome |
| Pattern | Deadbolt |
| Power Source | Battery powered |
| Item Package Quantity | 1 |
| Special Features | Level locks are engineered to meet ANSI standard strike plate dimensions. If your current strike plate cutout height measures 2 ¼", be sure to add a Level Lock Short Strike Plate to your cart. This item is sold separately. |
| Batteries Included? | Yes |
| Batteries Required? | Yes |
| Battery Cell Type | Lithium Manganese Dioxide |
