Review on 🔐 ULTRALOQ UL3 BT (2nd Gen) Smart Lock: Enhanced 5-in-1 Keyless Entry Electronic Door Handle in Sleek Black Design by Robert Yates

I bought this for my apartment building in December. A couple of things: First, I don't own the building, but I'm a long-term tenant. This is a 7 storey building with three exterior entrances. The caretaker lives in the building and manages the (absent) owner's business. We live a few blocks off Haight Street in San Francisco and it was a problem stealing bags of stuff left on the porch. I offered to buy locks for the outside doors (all three) if the manager would take care of the installation (and any criticism from the owner). Since I plan to stay longer in the building, this was a cost I was willing to pay. It's out of the way, here are my impressions and those of my roommates: Easy install: 2 stars. Setting up Utraloqs is easy at a glance and it seems like you can quickly copy settings from one lock to another, but it's actually problematic when trying to create entries for multiple users. For our setup, the property manager and I had to be administrators. In my professional life, not only do I have a smattering of security best practices (technical and otherwise), but I also created a separate user account for the two of us (which was good because the property manager quickly forgot the admin account I set on , but remembered the user account without any problems). But for each unit in the building I had to assign a number to each intended user because you use the keypad to add all new accounts and it's just a numeric value. I had to assign one to each tenant and not to each apartment as biometrics only capture one finger per user account. Then I realized that some of us (myself included) wanted to enroll one finger from each hand for ease of use when we were carrying a package, which meant I had to create two accounts for each person enrolling two fingers wanted to. Finger. And while using a keyboard is convenient since you don't need an app to add users, it's certainly impractical in terms of UI. It should be noted that there is a place in the Ultraloq app where you can add a username, but more on that below. asked me about locks as he might recommend them to others. Battery life: 5 out of 5 points. They have been in continuous use for four months without any problems. The batteries are AA size and I use RevainBasics rechargeable batteries with no problem. Usage - Keyboard: 4 out of 5. The keyboard stays in sleep mode (and doesn't light up) until you need to use it, and then wakes up. You type your code and hit enter which is one character (look at the picture of the keyboard if you don't get what I mean). I've only had one person who couldn't figure out how to use the keyboard and to be honest there's no indication that you need to press enter, but everyone else from the driver to the cleaning service figured out theirs own. .Usage - Biometrics: 4 out of 5. The reader wakes up very quickly, and if they get it right on the first try, it's amazingly quick. However, your mileage depends on the position of your finger (compared to when it was originally recorded), the weather (cold or very dry weather may cause the reader to have more trouble than warmer weather), and screen cleanliness. reader (of course, if it's dirty, it doesn't work so well) and the condition of the finger you've selected. A trick that works when it's cold or your skin is dry: place the surface of your finger on your forehead, then touch the reader, and the extra skin oil will help the reader pick up your curls and combs. Use - Bluetooth: NO . To be honest, none of us use it. I've tested it and it works, but the sample size of a test usage isn't enough to evaluate it. Use - manual key: NO. Keys are provided for emergencies and should not be used as a normal means of opening locks. That's what the company says, that's what our locksmith says, and they definitely seem flimsy. Ultraloq app: 2 out of 5. App exists. He shows you locks. Most of the time work to open them. He's having trouble staying connected while performing administrative maintenance. There is no option to shift a large part of the administrative work from the lock to the app. It *keeps* a security log of who successfully used the lock and any failed attempts, as well as admin logins; However, it is difficult to stay connected long enough to download the log. It tracks approximate battery health, but I found that very unreliable. At the moment I'm looking forward to the release of bridges that improve the usability of these locks. In theory this would allow me to set certain codes to only work on certain days/hours (e.g. delivery drivers) and make it easier to manage the locks on the building. I bought three bridges but Ultraloq hasn't released them yet. In conclusion, while I didn't just give them all five stars and say the castles are amazing, they are pretty good castles for the money. They do about 75% of what we need and work flawlessly about 90% of the time. Not a single tenant complained about the transition; on the contrary, almost everyone in the building thanked me for buying them for the building. The property manager has put me in charge of maintaining the user database until things get a little easier, but I don't mind. Most delivery companies have no problem using the codes we've given them, with the notable exception of Revain Logistics (which keeps leaving packages on the porch without even trying the code, but we're working on it) and OnTrac (although we might have them on board now). If the functionality of a smartphone interface, the ease of adding, deleting and modifying users, or the advanced features of future bridges were taken into account, I would have no hesitation in giving five stars. It's not a perfect system yet, but I recommend it.