Before I ever heard of Lockly, we had reviewed a number of door locks, and even had a video doorbell shootout a couple of years ago. A neighbor installed one of the other Lockly door lock models. I was impressed with its fingerprint scanning capability. We had never reviewed a lock with this feature. I don’t know if Lockly was first, as today a couple of the big name brands have a model or two with fingerprint. But, I believe it is Lockly that has pushed that capability to us end users, as a better solution.
like the idea of integrating everything into a single product. Of course, there’s likely to be a feature or two that you can’t find on a combination unit like this Lockly model, that might show up on individual video doorbells or door locks, but, not having “every” feature, is typical for multi-function devices.
This Video DoorBell Review – Background: I just replaced a very small I replaced my front door lock every year or two, to do my next review. In this case so I can review the Lockly Vision Elite – their flagship device. It was time. My last lock was the Kwikset Obsidian, which only had a keypad to open it – no backup key, etc.
My problem with that older lock, is “old tech”. I switched almost two years ago to the Eero 6 Pro Wi-Fi router system – reviewed here, they do mesh Wi-Fi between the 3 Eeros, to cover larger areas.
Like virtually all smart locks, until just a few years ago, my Kwikset relied on Z-wave technology, which was the dominant communications solution for security. But more and more locks and other security devices are going to Wi-Fi and or Bluetooth. In other words, without router Z-Wave compatibility (think SmartThings – Samsung), my old Smart Lock wasn’t very smart at all. It was basically reduced to being a Keypad lock where you could have multiple codes for different people. It was complemented by a Ring Doorbell. This Lockly easily replaces both!
This Lockly Lock is certainly the closest thing to an all-in-one solution since the really expensive smart door, that Nikki wrote about, a few weeks ago (here). That door costs thousands and thousands of dollars!
With a $495 list price – the Lockly Vision Elite immediately sounds pricey. That is, until you understand all it can do. After all, it is a smart lock with doorbell, video camera, night vision, four ways to lock unlock:
- Fingerprint
- Keypad
- Key (old school)
- Wi-Fi
- 9 volt battery connection on bottom (to power keypad if battery is dead)
That’s only the beginning.
Lockly Vision Elite Video Doorbell Capabilities
- 1080p resolution video camera
- Local Storage using 32G TF memory card (card is not included but costs less than $10)
- Doorbell button
- DoorBell is inside the lock facing home interior
- Night Vision
In the Box:
The Lockly comes with plenty of documentation, a mounting template, stickers on the various pieces with quick installation steps, and lots of pieces to it’s puzzle, but overall it’s easy to install.
Before we started, we laid everything out, made sure all the pieces were there (they were)! In addition to the documentation below, many detailed stickers of info on various pieces.
